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First let's define success. It's worth noting that virtually all of the divestment resolutions have been symbolic, and quite a few have even explicitly disowned BDS. Stanford SJP is holding up the torch of corruption yet again: http://mondoweiss.net/2015/02/stanford-divestment-landslide/ "The resolution states that the Undergraduate Senate is* not connected to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement* and *affirms both Israelis and Palestinians’ rights to life, safety, and self-determination.*" Worth noting that the actual text of the resolution also begins the entirety of the conflict in 1967, throwing Palestinian refugees (like the ones they silenced) under the bus. A recent NYU Grad Student Union resolution was actually much better and actually endorsed BDS and the rights of refugees: http://mondoweiss.net/2016/04/nyu-and-umass-graduate-employee-unions-vote-to-divest-from-israeli-apartheid/ But none of these actually move money. In fact the companies that have actually pulled investments out of settlements and the like are facing financial penalties and legislative attacks. BDS is raising awareness and political consciousness but there is no actual follow-through as of yet. In the time that BDS has exploded, US support for Israel has increased. Politically, Israel has less popular support and is more subject to criticism (we saw that from both Bernie and to a much smaller extent, Trump), but it isn't having any meaningful political consequences on the ground in Palestine as of yet. In my view many of the Western activists have made this into a livelihood rather than a moral calling. As a result, Palestine solidarity activist groups are highly averse to taking meaningful risks and very unlikely to meaningfully challenge entrenched racism out of fear, cowardice, reputation concerns, and of course, donor pressure. The answer in my view is to have greater working class and migrant involvement in the Palestinian cause. Right now it's almost entirely ritzy university students and NGOs. In my experience the people from those backgrounds (working class immigrants, particularly Muslim-Americans and/or African-Americans) are less likely to have the same kind of garbage politics that you have seen corrupting the liberal Palestine solidarity circles. While none of these communities are anti-Semitic (despite the incessant slurs against them) most of them are genuinely concerned about racism and in my experience very few of them go around witch-hunting for Jew-hatred. They are not trying to pander to the media or to what liberal white/Jewish people want to hear. And yet they have significant numbers and organizational potential. I think a successful Palestine solidarity movement would function around organizing members of those communities and the org that I am currently working with is trying to do just that. But ultimately I think it will ultimately matter very little what Palestine solidarity activists in the West do. They/we are not as important as they/we think. I also think this article sums up some of the most important contradictions: http://www.warscapes.com/opinion/bds-10-years-anti-colonial-demands-liberal-framework - Amith On Sat, Apr 30, 2016 at 2:06 AM, Ken Hiebert via Marxism < marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote: > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > From the outside it appears to me that the Palestine solidarity movement > in the U. S. is weak and fragmented. The situation in Canada is not much > different. > Nevertheless, there have been some small successes for Palestine > solidarity work in the US. > These include endorsements of BDS by student associations, academic groups > and even some small union groups. > Which groups can take responsibility for these successes? What can we > learn from them? > ken h > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: > http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/amithrgupta%40gmail.com > _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
