Cuomo signs executive order halting state business w/groups that boycott Israel

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

There's something worse than a totalitarian regime and that's a racist people who democratically enact their war crimes.

Antisemitic Azrael is at it again. How many times a day do you think about the evil (((Jews)))?

Also lol @ people who think BDS, if successful, would "bring Israel to the table". If anything, it would embolden the right and guarantee them electoral victories for years to come.

Well it would be a very long-term project. The US might not support Israel at the UN, hurting Israel on that front. BDS would have to ultimately help change the behavior of the US, otherwise it would be an abject failure that would have done nothing substantially but help the right electorally. Not a certain thing by any means, but a bet that is worth it.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

There's something worse than a totalitarian regime and that's a racist people who democratically enact their war crimes.

Antisemitic Azrael is at it again. How many times a day do you think about the evil (((Jews)))?

Also lol @ people who think BDS, if successful, would "bring Israel to the table". If anything, it would embolden the right and guarantee them electoral victories for years to come.

Well it would be a very long-term project. The US might not support Israel at the UN, hurting Israel on that front. BDS would have to ultimately help change the behavior of the US, otherwise it would be an abject failure that would have done nothing substantially but help the right electorally. Not a certain thing by any means, but a bet that is worth it.

And if that's their goal, then they need to stop terrorizing Jewish students on campus and acting like a hate group. Because currently, they're not doing a very good job of being anything else besides the latest front for acceptable anti-semitism in this country.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

There's something worse than a totalitarian regime and that's a racist people who democratically enact their war crimes.

Antisemitic Azrael is at it again. How many times a day do you think about the evil (((Jews)))?

Also lol @ people who think BDS, if successful, would "bring Israel to the table". If anything, it would embolden the right and guarantee them electoral victories for years to come.

Well it would be a very long-term project. The US might not support Israel at the UN, hurting Israel on that front. BDS would have to ultimately help change the behavior of the US, otherwise it would be an abject failure that would have done nothing substantially but help the right electorally. Not a certain thing by any means, but a bet that is worth it.

And if that's their goal, then they need to stop terrorizing Jewish students on campus and acting like a hate group. Because currently, they're not doing a very good job of being anything else besides the latest front for acceptable anti-semitism in this country.

I am not sure if they have such long-term planning. That's not the ideal game plan they should be following if they want to succeed. They need to change the frame of the conversation, and put the staunchest defenders of Israel on the defensive.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Thinking BDS would change the Isareli''s mind is like saying the Gaza blockade will make the Palastinians more likely to change their minds. I.e. Accurate, but not in a particularly healthy direction.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Either a boycott and sanctions regime would be incredibly and unjustly punitive or it would be too paltry to do anything other than feed into Likud's already-existing 'us against the world' narrative. Retraction of US diplomatic cover might be worth considering, yes, but not to the point of actively siding against Israel.

[Angel of Death]

Either a boycott and sanctions regime would be incredibly and unjustly punitive or it would be too paltry to do anything other than feed into Likud's already-existing 'us against the world' narrative. Retraction of US diplomatic cover might be worth considering, yes, but not to the point of actively siding against Israel.

Why would effective punitive sanctions be unjust, especially since Israel prides itself on being a "democracy" (meaning that their citizens would be in a position to force a change in behavior)? Whatever hardships they would endure, they would still pale in comparison to what they themselves are inflicting on the Palestinians for many decades now.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

That's honestly not a contradiction. Jews are a race (well more accurately a group of ethnicities is how I'd phrase it) as well as a religion. Not every religious Jew is an ethnic Jew (see converts and the Beta Israel) while not every ethnic Jew is a religious Jew (too many examples to name including a few Atlas posters.) But obviously Islam is not a race*.

*Well actually there was an ethnic group that used to simply be called "Muslims" but they make up a very very small percentage of Muslims worldwide, and now are instead primarily referred to as "Bosniaks".

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Either a boycott and sanctions regime would be incredibly and unjustly punitive or it would be too paltry to do anything other than feed into Likud's already-existing 'us against the world' narrative. Retraction of US diplomatic cover might be worth considering, yes, but not to the point of actively siding against Israel.

Why would effective punitive sanctions be unjust, especially since Israel prides itself on being a "democracy" (meaning that their citizens would be in a position to force a change in behavior)? Whatever hardships they would endure, they would still pale in comparison to what they themselves are inflicting on the Palestinians for many decades now.

Punitive sanctions are never just treatment of a civilian population. Significantly worse behavior than Israel's would be necessary for me to contemplate overriding that consideration.