Israel/Palestine

It would have been much easier for me if you would have put up someone with extreme views as an example, like Ali Abunimah, Richard Falk or Gilad Atzmon. Then I could refute the whole thing by saying that your example is an idiot and not representative.

It's a little bit more difficult to refute myself, however...

Am I then one of those "leftists" the article is trying to respond to? No, not even remotely.

The article fail to include me thanks to the gratuituous use of hyperbole and descriptions of intent that just doesn't fit me. I hope you understand the concept of a description becoming less inclusive when several properties are strung together. I'm definitely not all of those things that define the description of the left in the article, probably not even a single one of them. Let's look at the definitions/ positions you brought up:

No. I think it's a moral imperative to boycott Apartheid and nothing else. There's no Apartheid in Israel, so I have no problem buying Israeli products. I do have a problem with the fruits of Apartheid coming from the West Bank.



I've very consciously chosen my stand on boycotting the settlements based on Palestinian rights and justice only, and nothing else. Removing the settlements means in no way an elimination of the Jewish state, but it would automatically mean an end to all morally justified boycotts.



Frankly, most of the problems that the Palestinians have right now stem from the occupation, even in Gaza, which is still under de facto occupation. There's no way these problems can be addressed without the removal of the occupation, and they will remain until it ends. It's of course important to speak up when the PA or Hamas are acting badly, but the way to change things to the better goes through the removal of the occupation.

(The 1947 partition? Where is the sane basis for using it under any circumstances?)



I'm criticizing Israel because Israel is a democracy, and I think that democracies should have the tools to stop discrimination, especially blatant legal discrimination against non-Jews inside Israel and just as blatant Apartheid in the occupied areas controlled by Israel. Additionally, I think that it's almost impossible for non-democratic countries to implement Apartheid, so Israel is currently the only Apartheid country since South Africa gave it up.

In the end your list reads more like a misunderstanding about what "leftists" believe than anything else.