Galus Australis<\/a>, on which Philip Mendes of Monash University had issued a number of ill-informed criticisms of the foundation and the Centre for Peace and Conflict\u00a0Studies.<\/p>\nOne of those who posted a response, “Akiva,”\u00a0observed:<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s pretty apparent that Mendes is punching considerably above his own weight here. Inaccuracies such as Stuart Rees points out are unacceptable and evidence of the sort of \u2018sheltered-workshop\u2019, closed-community approach to this sort of discussion. What may reassure one\u2019s own (already convinced and paranoid) mainstream community just may not be good enough on a wider\u00a0scale.”<\/p>\n
According to a large scale opinion survey, carried out in the UK and six other western European countries in 2010 by the polling company ICM, public understanding of the realities of the conflict has become much stronger over recent years. Fully 49 per cent of respondents could successfully identify Israel as an occupying power, compared with earlier surveys suggesting the proportion was much lower. Daud Abdullah of the Middle East Monitor, which commissioned the poll, linked this increased level of understanding, in turn, with “a growing rejection of Israeli policies,” after a long period in which Israel enjoyed a “high level of support \u2026 because it was perceived as a progressive democracy in a sea of Arab\u00a0backwardness”.<\/p>\n
This transition has probably travelled still further since the poll was conducted, as the world has witnessed another attack on Gaza, involving what Human Rights Watch called “serious violations of the laws of war,” along with the fatal shooting of activists on board an aid vessel bound for the territory. The materials on board were needed because Israel keeps Gaza under a state of siege, designed \u2014 according to US diplomatic cables disclosed by Wikileaks \u2014 to “keep its economy on the brink of\u00a0collapse”.<\/p>\n
That, by the way, makes it a collective punishment and therefore, according to the distinguished international jurist, Richard Falk, another war crime. The effects include the poisoning of Gaza\u2019s water supply, declared undrinkable earlier this year because authorities there cannot import the parts they need to repair sewage systems damaged in the 2008-9 attack Operation Cast\u00a0Lead.<\/p>\n
These are among the reasons why, elsewhere in the world, there has been a steady growth in the BDS movement. Activists in civil society take matters into their own hands when their governments appear to condone such excesses on Israel\u2019s part. The double standards are frequently outrageous. The European Union has accorded Israel full trading rights, the obsession over Iran\u2019s alleged nuclear ambitions is seldom matched by calls for Tel Aviv to declare its own arsenal and join the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and so\u00a0on.<\/p>\n
Even that may be changing. What Britain and other countries have, which Australia so far lacks, is a substantial group of high level political figures, including members of parliament, who have taken the trouble to research the conflict and listen to multiple perspectives. The Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding, in London, for instance, has strong connections in all the major\u00a0parties.<\/p>\n
Some of what passes for debate here, of course, is the distinctive Australian political activity of contriving rustic justifications for meek followership of Washington. In the recent past, this has led us on to the extreme pro-Israeli fringe of world political opinion. A couple of years ago, Australia joined just six other countries in voting down a motion at the UN General Assembly (GA) condemning Israeli ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem, and reaffirming support for the internationally recognised border. Julia Gillard apparently wanted us to repeat the performance last month when the GA debated granting observer status to the Palestinians, until an intervention by Bob Carr, which pulled Canberra\u2019s vote back to an\u00a0abstention.<\/p>\n
But many European countries \u2014 including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Spain, Italy and Norway \u2014 voted in favour. Tellingly, the pressure was on those who abstained; UK Foreign Minister William Hague, attributed his government\u2019s decision to the Palestinians\u2019 unwillingness to commit themselves to “negotiations without\u00a0preconditions”.<\/p>\n
This has been the mantra since the Oslo Accords: talks must take place with no regard for Palestinian rights or international law. A weak party \u2014 a dispossessed people clinging on to the remnants of a non-self-governing territory \u2014 is pitched in with a much stronger one, a national security state that boasts one of the world\u2019s most sophisticated militaries. Guess who is to broker these talks? Israel\u2019s chief arms dealer and diplomatic\u00a0patron.<\/p>\n
According to an insider account by Martin Indyk, the Australian who served as America\u2019s Ambassador to Israel, at the failed 2000 Camp David summit President Clinton humiliated one Palestinian negotiator after another by bellowing at them, red-faced, for their refusal to make more concessions. Another Clinton adviser, Robert Malley, recalled how Clinton\u2019s administration was prepared to concede the political difficulties confronting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak; whereas the Palestinian leader, the late Yasser Arafat, was expected to deliver his people, tribal style, to whatever was agreed \u2014 or take the blame for failure. Indeed, that\u2019s how it turned out, and shortly afterwards the Al-Aqsa Intifada\u00a0commenced.<\/p>\n
Looking at the record of such episodes, it may be a case for Occam\u2019s Razor \u2014 the simplest explanation being the most salient. Having a peace process necessitates a lead role for the US in the Middle East, which \u2014 given the region\u2019s geopolitical and economic importance \u2014 represents a strategic prize. Peace itself would risk giving up that role. So, hitching our wagon to the US may not put us on the side of peace; something that more and more other governments seem to be concluding, as they refuse to follow the Americans through the voting\u00a0lobbies.<\/p>\n
Until very recently, the world at large has, in effect, condoned and supported Israeli militarism and lawlessness, and failed to empower Palestinians. While that imbalance remains in place, the pattern of violence \u2014 direct, structural and cultural \u2014 will continue. This is why Palestinian civil society issued the call for international solidarity in the form of BDS, and why we at Sydney University\u2019s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies joined it in the first place. Yes, there are dissenting voices within Israel, but they are not strong enough to effect change by themselves, and neither can we expect the Palestinians to wait until they\u00a0are.<\/p>\n
The boycott campaign is a lead indicator of substantive political change at other levels. That is underway, and it was manifest at the most recent UN vote. Australia should get ahead of the curve or it will find itself on the wrong side of history.<\/p>\n
_______________________<\/p>\n
Jake Lynch is Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney, member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment, and an advisor to TRANSCEND Media Service-TMS.<\/i><\/p>\n
Go to Original \u2013 newmatilda.com<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Join the BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS<\/i> <\/b><\/span>campaign to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\nDON’T BUY<\/b> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/b> BARCODE<\/b> STARTS WITH<\/b> 729<\/b>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sydney University academic Jake Lynch has come under fire this week [13 Dec 2012] for his stance on Israel. Today he argues his case: Palestinians and dissenting Israelis need international support to achieve justice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tms-peace-journalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24042\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}