"A Huge [Green] Stain On Germany's Moral Standing"

Writes Benjamin Weinthal in the Jerusalem Post:

'An initiative by Germany’s neo-Nazi NPD party last year in a state parliament to demarcate Israeli products came to light this month and closely resembles the recent Green Party bill that would label Israeli products from settlements.

The revelation last week that an anti-Israel bill from the mainstream left-liberal Green Party in the Federal Bundestag mirrors, in key provisions, the language of a far-right party stirred criticism from Israeli and German experts on modern anti-Semitism.'

He quotes NGO Monitor head Professor Gerald Steinberg of Bar-Ilan University as saying:

"This alliance between the Greens and the far Right to promote blatant double standards is a huge stain on Germany’s moral standing. Duplicitous product labeling is the thin wedge of the BDS [Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment] movement, and central to the Durban strategy of political warfare and demonization that targets Israel."

And he quotes Dr Efraim Zuroff, head of the Simon Wiesenthal’s Jerusalem office, thus:

"The fact that a mainstream German party initiates such a measure is a sad reflection of the distorted view of Middle East politics so common in recent years in the political discourse regarding Israel in certain circles of the Federal Republic. In that respect we see an unfortunate growing erosion of the traditional German support for the Jewish state which is part of a dangerous tendency in elements of German society and certain intellectual circles to extricate Germany from its moral obligations in the wake of the Holocaust. The initiative by the Green Party to have all products produced in the disputed territories is clearly short-sighted and counterproductive and will not help bring Israelis and Palestinians any closer to real and lasting peace."

Read all of Weinthal's article here

Meanwhile, Sydney academic Professor Jake Lynch and his supporters have been cautioned that their proposed severance of links with Israeli institutions of higher learning contravenes Australian anti-discrimination legislation:

'According to NSW Solicitor Andrew Hamilton of Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has been recognized as anti-Semitic by leading authorities such as the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in the United States, and in a report recently released by the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

In the letters Hamilton pointed out that the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 made it "unlawful for a person to do any act involving a distinction, exclusion, restriction of preference based on race... national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of any human right or fundamental freedom in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life."

Hamilton also warned that any "successful" boycott of Israel was illegal under the Competition and Consumer Act of 2010 if they damage the businesses they target, and that as a result parties could be investigated by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and face legal action for damages....

Lynch [et al] seek to impose restriction on those having Israeli and Jewish national, racial or ethnic origins, whether these are goods, services , persons and organizations. The participants of the BDS movement clearly seek to violate freedoms guaranteed by federal law," Hamilton said.'

Read more here (hat tip: reader Ian)

And here's an encouraging development!