Aharoni: Arguing with BDS supporters wastes time

Story by Donald H. Harrison; photos by Shor Masori

SAN DIEGO – Israel’s consul general for New York, Ido Aharoni, told a San Diego gathering of the Jewish National Fund (JNF) on Sunday, May 1, that arguing with the supporters of BDS is a sterile exercise, not likely to influence the 95 percent of the American population who care little about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Rather, Aharoni told a large brunch crowd at the San Diego Del Mar Marriott Hotel in Carmel Valley, it is far more productive to “build relevance” with Americans by talking about Israel’s contributions in the arenas many Americans care deeply about—for example, ways to increase water supply, dealing with a changing environment, improving cultural life, and combatting desertification.

Because JNF deals with such issues, he added, it is one of the few established Jewish organizations where one sees young faces.

Aharoni, 53, who plans to complete his diplomatic career in mid-July, has not disclosed what he plans to do next, but he made it clear that he will continue to advocate for Israel in one capacity or another.

The diplomat told a questioner he believed the BDS campaign is being funded by the Palestinian Authority, Iran and other adversaries of Israel in an effort to force Israel to accept an imposed international solution to the questions of borders, refugees, Jerusalem, and other outstanding issues with the Palestinians.  However, he said, Israel will not submit to such pressure, adding that the road to peace goes through Jerusalem (which is Israel’s capital) and not through Paris or Washington, D.C.

Aharoni outlined the rationalization by which BDS advocates, including American academicians, have concluded that Israel is automatically wrong, and Palestinians are automatically right.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he said, a new “demon” arose, according to these academicians—the demon of neo-colonialism.  As the old colonial order was collapsing in the 1960s, they say, Israel was beginning a new colonialist chapter, the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

“According to this narrative, Israel is a result of the Holocaust,” Aharoni continued. “It is not that the Holocaust was a catalyst; they constantly and conveniently ignore 70 years of active Zionism and building the nation in (British Mandatory) Palestine.  They say the world felt guilty because of the Holocaust so they gave the Zionists a state at the expense of the poor indigenous, oppressed Palestinians.  And therefore, because in today’s world the oppressed are not accountable for their actions, their opposition to the occupation is legitimate.

“You can see that coverage of acts of terrorism against Israelis – and by the way against Americans too in Israel – gets very little coverage in the media. An American student is Jaffa is killed, very little coverage.  There is this new thing in the academic world: there is no absolute truth, everything is relative, morality is relative.  How can I judge ISIS? they say.  Seriously, that is how they look at it.  Therefore the ‘oppressed’ are exempt from any moral responsibility for their actions. That is the narrative we are dealing with.”

That being the case, Aharoni said. arguing Israel’s case with facts, fugures, citations from history, or the law are pointless; it’s “a waste of time.”

He said that Israel currently has 8.5 million people, but is projected to have 16 million people in 2050.  This is going to make greater development in the Negev and the Galilee – two areas within pre-1967 Israel—absolutely imperative.    If anyone is in the mood for investment, he suggested, one should buy real estate in the Negev.

He told another questioner that there already is a train between Tel Aviv and Beer-Sheva, considered the regional capital of the Negev, and plans are on the drawing board to continue that rail line from Beer-Sheva all the way to Eilat on the Red Sea.

One of the loudest bursts of applause of the morning came after State Senator Marty Block (D-San Diego) who chairs the Jewish Caucus in the California Legislature, told Aharoni about the bill moving through the California Legislature to prohibit the state from contracting with any company that supports such a boycott as BDS.

Aharoni thanked Block for the bill, saying he hoped few if any companies would be on that list.  He said he appreciated that the measure can be a deterrent to any company thinking of supporting BDS.

How does one recognize BDS? Aharoni asked.  What distinguishes it from normal criticism of Israeli policy?  The answer he said lies in the double standard applied to Israel.  Every country has a right to promote its tourism, but if someone says Israel cannot celebrate gay pride, because that is “pink washing,” that is an example of BDS.  If people are critical of Israel, but say nothing about Iran killing 2,800 people a year without trials, that is BDS.  When they talk about deaths in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but say nothing about the half million people who have been killed in the last five years in Syria (as compared to fewer than 20,000 people in the last 120 years of the Arab-Jewish conflict, that is BDS.
The consul general said that the world needs to know that Israel, once beset by droughts, through its smart water management is today water independent, and in fact can export water to its neighbors.  The world needs to know that both the Palestinian Authority and Jordan deal their water needs with the help of Israel.

Further, he said, Israel’s creativity extends beyond water, and beyond technology.  Its wine industry is growing (in fact, according to JNF Regional President Lauren Lizerbram, Israel is even exporting wine to France, beer to Germany, and gluten free pasta to Italy.)  Israel is the third largest exporter of creative material to Hollywood.  And now, with its natural gas discoveries in the Mediterranean, Israel is poised not only to be energy independent, but to be a net exporter of energy.

The brunch began with a motzi prayer by Rabb Scott Meltzer of Ohr Shalom Synagogue, who expressed thankfulness for, among other blessings, being able to eat bagels again after the eight day Passover observance when matzo was substituted for bread products.  Other speakers included event co-chair Myra Chack Flesicher, and Rick Krosnick, JNF’s Chief Development Officer.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com Comments intended for publication in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence. (City and country for those outside the U.S.)