Eretz Israel is our unforgettable historic homeland...The Jews who will it shall achieve their State...And whatever we attempt there for our own benefit will redound mightily and beneficially to the good of all mankind. (Theodor Herzl, DerJudenstaat, 1896)

We offer peace and amity to all the neighbouring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East.
(From Proclamation of the State of Israel, 5 Iyar 5708; 14 May 1948)

With a liberal democratic political system operating under the rule of law, a flourishing market economy producing technological innovation to the benefit of the wider world, and a population as educated and cultured as anywhere in Europe or North America, Israel is a normal Western country with a right to be treated as such in the community of nations.... For the global jihad, Israel may be the first objective. But it will not be the last. (Friends of Israel Initiative)

Friday 23 May 2014

Not A Man-Bites-Dog Story: In Britain, "black" leftist students endorse BDS

Reports Middle East Monitor:
'The UK's National Union of Student's Black Students conference has endorsed the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) at their national conference at the University of Warwick. The annual gathering passed Motion 402: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions by an "overwhelming" majority, according to NUS National Black Students' Officer Aaron Kiely [pictured left and below] ....
 The motion condemns Israel's "multitude of human rights and international law violations", describing "Israeli expansion on Palestinian land" as "a settler-colonial project, predicated on the ethnic cleansing and expulsion of its indigenous people". The motion also slams "systemic" racism in Israeli state policy, including "anti-Arab, anti-African and anti-migrant discrimination"....'
The report adds:
'The motion commits the Black Students campaign to lobbying "institutions to adopt academic boycott of Israeli universities", disseminating "resources and materials on how to run successful BDS campaigns", and supporting "the annual Israeli Apartheid Week initiative".
The Black Students conference awarded Student of the Year to Malaka Mohammed, a Palestinian from the Gaza Strip recognised for her achievement in defying the blockade to study at Sheffield University, and then going on to win a full time sabbatical role in her student union with a record number of votes. Conference also gave an award for international peace and justice to King's College London for their campaign work for Palestine including right to education and BDS.'
(Read more here and here)

Hardly a man-bites-dog story, for this result was probably inevitable, given the idiosyncratic but no-longer-unusual-these-days (I'm thinking of the UK's National Black Police Association, which has a high-profile Iranian member) definition of what constitutes "black" to include Asians (for many of whom read "Muslims") and Arabs as well as the apparent far left bent of the "black" group leaders like Mr Kiely (see this post) himself.

We're told here:
'The role of Black students in leading the left to secure victories in NUS must not be underestimated. Piers Telemacque and three of newly elected Block of 15 left wingers are all members of the NUS Black Students’ Committee (Aaron Kiely, Zarah Sultana and Abdi-aziz Suleiman). It was the NUS Black Students’ Campaign that successfully proposed, alongside others, NUS’ new free education policy – and has been the main section of NUS that has consistently argued for free education for the past decade whilst the majority of the NUS leadership capitulated to tuition fees and student debt.'
That's on the website of UK-based Student Broad Left.  And this, that website's masthead, is all too eloquent regarding the obsession with Palestine that characterises the far left in general.  I mean, despite an international section, Palestine's a category all to itself!

1 comment:

  1. Unlike other groups this lot admit they want to destroy Israel
    UK Black Students' Society Votes for Israel Boycott
    "66-year occupation"
    Although proponents of BDS - including many of those at the conference - often argue these that their cause is not anti-Semitic but simply about "defending’ human rights" in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, the motion passed by this conference left no doubt that it is the existence of the Jewish and democratic state itself, rather than real or imagined human rights violations in the territories, that is under attack by BDS.
    This is vividly clear, as the motion text slams "the ongoing 66-year long occupation of Palestine" - referring to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, not just events since 1967. It is the very existence of Israel - the self-organisation of Jews into any meaningful state - that is labelled an "occupation" and singled out for attack, effectively termed a human rights violation. The words "West Bank" or "Gaza" are not even mentioned a single time in the motion.

    Schadenfreude story of the day.
    BDS Movement to Boycott Billionaire George Soros for Investing in SodaStream

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