The BDS crowd is, predictably, furious.
Abbas’ comments conflict “with the Palestinian national consensus that has strongly supported BDS against Israel since 2005,” Omar Barghouti told The Electronic Intifada.The truth is, as usual, the exact opposite of anything that comes out of Barghouti's mouth.
A founder of the BDS movement, Barghouti emphasized that he was commenting in a personal capacity.
“There is no Palestinian political party, trade union, NGO [nongovernmental organization] network or mass organization that does not strongly support BDS. Any Palestinian official who lacks a democratic mandate and any real public support, therefore, cannot claim to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people when it comes to deciding our strategies of resistance to Israel’s regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid,” Barghouti said.
It is true that Abbas' words are a little suspect because under existing agreements with Israel he is not allowed to push any boycott of Israel within the Green Line. However, even his call to boycott settlements have been roundly ignored by his own people.
Abbas tried to ban any Arab from buying goods from Jewish-owned stories in the territories - and failed. His economic minister threatened PA residents by saying that their license plates were being recorded when they visit Jewish-owned shops. They kept coming to shop and work there.
The number of Palestinian Arabs employed by Israel and by Jews in Judea and Samaria has reached new highs - over 100,000 altogether.
Even in Gaza, storekeepers and shoppers don't boycott Israeli candies and ice cream - they advertise them prominently in their markets!
The funniest part of Barghouti's furious response is that he is saying that Abbas doesn't represent Palestinian Arabs because he lacks a democratic mandate. Yet who elected Barghouti to anything, ever? He is a self-defined leader of a group whose goals he himself flouts.And the actions of ordinary Palestinian Arabs, day in and day out, show that they do not support any boycott of Israel. Like Barghouti himself and all the other BDS hypocrites, people decide what is best for themselves and resist being told what to do by others. It is easy for these hypocrites to insist that others boycott goods and services but they themselves have no compunctions to ignore their own call to BDS when it is convenient to them.
(h/t Lawrence)