RRD:It pains me to have to defend the rights of those whom I loathe but I have little choice in the matter.There is no such thing as the right to force people to buy goods that they do not wish to buy,or to censor those who call for such boycotts.
I have no sympathy for either the boycott and divestment movement,or for hypocrites who will loudly condemn Israel:even though not all Israelis support this bill,even though--even with this bill-- Israel is a virtual paradise of civil liberties compared to it's neighbors.Even though European countries are persecuting people from Bardot to Geert Wilders.
Even though a man cannot publish a cartoon of Mohammed(or Mickey Mouse with a beard) without fearing imprisonment or death.
Even though--in our own country--Stephen Breyer wants to carve out a special protected status for the Quran.
Even though Poland is persecuting a young woman for blasphemy.(fn1)
Even though Britain's censorship laws are infamous;I know two things are true.
The first is that this law is a violation of Individual Rights and must be fought on those grounds.
The second is that even after this censorship bill is struck down by the Israeli High Court(as is will almost certainly be) there will be hypocrites who will ignore that,& cite the passage of the bill as if it were still on the books (just as they cite torture by Israeli agents while ignoring the fact that the court ruled it unconstitutional,and ignore that torture goes on in American jails,and that no one claims the US is "illegitimate" as a result).
They will proclaim that this eviscerates Israel's "claim" to be a free country(ignoring all the examples I mentioned above) and use it to drive a wedge between Israel and the United States.
Meanwhile,there will be no "flytillas" to Saudi Arabia's "chop-chop" square.
The blame,however cannot be laid on the Israel bashers alone:they did not pass this insane law,the right did. (For a example of the one sidedness I am thinking of see below) A Special Place in Hell-Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News source. http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/israel-s-boycott-law-the...
ADL issues rare criticism of Israel over 'Bo... JPost - Headlines
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=229028 fn1
Polish pop star faces two years' prison for blasphemy
http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2010/05/08/polish-pop-star-faces-two-years-pr...
I have no sympathy for either the boycott and divestment movement,or for hypocrites who will loudly condemn Israel:even though not all Israelis support this bill,even though--even with this bill-- Israel is a virtual paradise of civil liberties compared to it's neighbors.Even though European countries are persecuting people from Bardot to Geert Wilders.
Even though a man cannot publish a cartoon of Mohammed(or Mickey Mouse with a beard) without fearing imprisonment or death.
Even though--in our own country--Stephen Breyer wants to carve out a special protected status for the Quran.
Even though Poland is persecuting a young woman for blasphemy.(fn1)
Even though Britain's censorship laws are infamous;I know two things are true.
The first is that this law is a violation of Individual Rights and must be fought on those grounds.
The second is that even after this censorship bill is struck down by the Israeli High Court(as is will almost certainly be) there will be hypocrites who will ignore that,& cite the passage of the bill as if it were still on the books (just as they cite torture by Israeli agents while ignoring the fact that the court ruled it unconstitutional,and ignore that torture goes on in American jails,and that no one claims the US is "illegitimate" as a result).
They will proclaim that this eviscerates Israel's "claim" to be a free country(ignoring all the examples I mentioned above) and use it to drive a wedge between Israel and the United States.
Meanwhile,there will be no "flytillas" to Saudi Arabia's "chop-chop" square.
The blame,however cannot be laid on the Israel bashers alone:they did not pass this insane law,the right did. (For a example of the one sidedness I am thinking of see below) A Special Place in Hell-Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News source. http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/a-special-place-in-hell/israel-s-boycott-law-the...
ADL issues rare criticism of Israel over 'Bo... JPost - Headlines
http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=229028 fn1
Polish pop star faces two years' prison for blasphemy
http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2010/05/08/polish-pop-star-faces-two-years-pr...
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