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At 11:48 05-08-15 -0700, Ken Hiebert via Marxism wrote: > > In my opinion, BDS has been the occasion for a real step forward in >Palestine solidarity work. (unquestionably!) > I do not regard human rights as "bourgeois rights." I am sure almost everyone on this list recognizes the validity of "human rights" according to any reasonable definition of that term. I know that some intellectuals or contrarians might find it enjoyable to split hairs over the matter, but in practice any leftist will be in favor of struggles advancing the rights of the oppressed (the oppressors don't need "rights," they hold power regardless). Just because some rights were first championed during the bourgeois revolution (aka "democratic revolution) doesn't mean that we can't claim them for ourselves and struggle on that basis as we do routinely whether using that language or not. Of course there is one category of bourgeois rights that we certainly don't support: property rights. But that is not what is normally understood by "human rights" and in fact our message typically counterposes human rights to property rights should there be any doubt. Likewise, the curious American legal definition of corporations as "persons" defies any reasonable understanding of who are the proper beneficiaries of the rights in question. Nor does the fact that human rights extend to humans of all classes reduce their validity. Whenever our struggles (such as for Palestine) can be framed in terms of basic rights, then as a matter of course our explanations include such wording. This isn't controversial and I'd worry about any efforts to the contrary. - Jeff _________________________________________________________ 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
