Fighting BDS – How SodaStream Changed the Conversation Around Settlements
honestreporting.com/fighting-bds-how-sodastream-changed-the-conversation-around-settlements
Alex Margolin
February 20, 2014 15:31 by Alex Margolin
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Today’s Top BDS Stories:
1. Proof that the SodaStream episode is helping change the conversation about settlements: a writer for the Independent went to visit the factory in Maale Adumim and realized that something with missing from the BDS analysis of the situation:
Not only are the anti-SodaStream campaigners barking up the wrong tree, they’re not even in the right forest. Apart from posing no threat to Palestinian nationhood and employing said Palestinians in large numbers, the reality of life in Ma’ale Adudim blows the case for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) to smithereens.
That 80% [of settlers] isn’t just geographically entwined with Israel, but economically too. Contrary to the assertions of many activists, boycotting just the West Bank and not Israel itself simply isn’t feasible. Beyond that, it’s morally wrong. The people who live in places like this aren’t criminals or fanatics, but Israeli citizens.
As our visit demonstrated, they are quietly, and independently of the politicians, learning to co-exist with their Palestinian neighbours. This process will take a very long time and may yet fail, but it is palpably happening.
Meanwhile, a group from the Presbyterian Church, which has been deeply critical of Israel in the past, decided to forgo a boycott against Israel after making its own visit to the SodaStream factory.
