Support for the boycott — and justice

Hurray to the Olympia Food Co-op for boycotting Israeli goods. The Palestinians have been made prisoners and outcasts in their own land by the Israeli government since 1948. It has gotten worse over the years and the Co-op’s action is courageous, and definitely not anti-Semitic.

The U.S. government is responsible for Israel’s behavior because they fund it and benefit from it, in keeping their proxy thumb on the oil-rich Middle East. As a Jewish American I feel a special responsibility to speak out and try to right the crimes of U.S. and Israel against Palestinians.

I support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions' movement for justice.

— Adrienne Weller, Seattle

Human rights upside down

The Olympia Co-op boycott of Israeli products is a way to “compel Israel to follow international law and respect Palestinian human rights.” Its reasoning twists reality and rewrites history and facts to reverse the conditions as they exist.

Regarding human rights, the answer to the following questions is — in all cases — “yes” for Israel; usually “no”, sometimes “minimal” or “limited” — but never “yes” — for Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Syria:

Is there free speech and freedom to assemble? Are there fair and open trials? Is religious freedom protected and/or tolerated? Can females travel without their husband’s consent? Is there legal protection for gays from discrimination and hate crimes? Are honor killings outlawed? Are there free and fair elections? Are opposition parties legal? Is there minority participation in government? Israelis are far more lenient in punishing convicted felons. There is no beheading, no stoning to death — in fact, no death penalty.

The blatant hypocrisy of the co-op in ignoring the true abuse of human rights throughout the Muslim world and many other well-documented countries is typical of the hate and violence being fostered by the pro-Palestinian community as it seeks to destroy the legitimacy of Israel and the country itself.

— Jack Warnick, Tacoma

A call for end to boycott and apology to Israel

The Olympia Co-op’s demonstrated level of ignorance on the subject of the Israel-Arab conflict is astounding. It quotes the goals of the boycott as follows:

“As in the Palestinian Call for Boycott, the boycott will end when: 1. Israel ends its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantles the Wall; 2. Israel recognizes the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; 3. Israel respects, protects and promotes the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in U.N. resolution 194.”

The first item is ludicrous in that Israel has attempted to give the Palestinians 95 percent of the West Bank, with border adjustments to cover the remaining 5 percent, and have been turned down. With regard to the “Wall,” it was erected in response to Palestinian homicide bombers as a security measure and has been quite successful. I note that there was no suggestion to boycott Palestinian goods due to the homicide bombings. The second item is a non-starter since all Arab citizens of Israel have the same rights as all other citizens of Israel. More rights, I might add, than are enjoyed by the citizens of any surrounding Arab country.

The third item is beyond ludicrous. Most of the Palestinian refugees left Israel of their own accord or at the direction of their leaders when the state of Israel was declared in 1948 following the U.N. partition vote.

Israel didn’t attack the Arab countries; they and local Arabs attacked Israel. They lost and that is their tough luck. It should also be noted that over the next few years at least as many Jews were forced out of surrounding Arab countries with nothing but the clothes on their backs as there were Palestinian refugees. It was a fairly even population exchange. In many ways it was similar to the population exchange between India and Pakistan.

Unfortunately, in the case of the Palestinians, the Arab countries kept their Arab brethren in refugee camps and refused them citizenship. Again, that is their tough luck. The object of this item is to destroy the Jewish character of the state of Israel by creating a majority Arab population. There are already sufficient Arab countries. Israel is the only Jewish country. The Jewish connection to this area goes back over 3,000 years. This connection has never been broken.

I suggest the co-op rescind its boycott and apologize to the state of Israel and the Jewish people.

— Frank Lippman, Seattle