Muhammad Idrees Ahmad

Who said boycott’s don’t work? Look at the panic it is causing inside Israel.

Israelis have reacted angrily to proposals by the University and College Union and Unison, the largest public sector workers’ union, to boycott Israel in protest at its treatment of Palestinians. The proposals follow a similar resolution passed by the National Union of Journalists earlier this year.

Before yesterday’s weekly meeting of the Israeli cabinet in Jerusalem, ministers said they were concerned at the prospect of a boycott. Israel’s trade minister, Eli Yishai, said he would hold talks on how Israeli industry would respond. 

The last few times the international civil society tried to hold Israel accountable for its crimes in the occupied territories, it cried ‘antisemitism’. Some say Israel has devalued the currency of this charge through its overuse. So what defence is Israel going to use this time? 

The minister for social affairs, Isaac Herzog, said the boycott proposals were part of “a long trail of anti-semitism in Europe, which includes one-sided articles and anti-semitic harassment, topped by torching of the synagogue in Switzerland. This is a great challenge for the Israeli government to deal with.”

Britain exported £1.35bn of goods and services to Israel in 2005, with Israel exporting about half the amount to the UK. Other groups said they would launch anti-British initiatives. Dudu Himmelfarb, union leader at the Maman Israeli cargo company, told the Israeli news website Ynet: “If the British decide to go ahead with the boycotts, we will stop unloading cargo from British Airways aircraft and imports from Britain.”

In a widely circulated email, a “friend of Israel” urged Israel’s supporters in the United States and Canada to boycott British products. The email notes that a British boycott could have long-term consequences for the Israeli economy and embolden other European unions to implement their own boycotts.

The email goes on to say that although the British government has opposed the boycott, its other actions suggest it is not “a friendly state”.

At least they didn’t use the holocaust card this time.

The perception of some of the Israeli right wing is that Britain is pro-Arab, a hostage to Muslim opinion, and also partly responsible for the Holocaust.

These views are becoming mainstream. Criticism of Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza is seen as identical to anti-semitism, and even mainstream figures equate the proposed boycotts of Israel with the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany.

Ah well, the industry flourishes.