Buy Israeli Goods day

Two years ago I wrote [1] of the difference between an acronym [2] and an initialism (or alphabetism) [3]. Essentially an acronym’s a pronounceable word (e.g. NATO) where an initialism’s pronounceable only by its letters (e.g. FBI). The initialism I most detest is BDS. Applying to Israel, it denotes boycott, divestment and sanctions [4]. In the 22,964 days since 14 May 1948 when Israel declared independence, she hasn’t known a single minute of peace. She’s a robust liberal democracy with strong legislative, executive and judicial arms. And she has a free media plus many other checks and balances that ensure a tolerant and fair society. But none of this matters to the lunatics who promote and support BDS. They label Israeli society as apartheid even though, should they open their closed minds to look, it’s self evidently not [5]. And once a year they hold Israel Apartheid Week [6]. From my vantage point here in rural Tasmania, I see that Israel needs to fight these scurrilous slurs. But she’s always done a poor job of it. And she still is. It’s clear who’s adopting an apartheid policy [7, 8]. Set against this background, today’s Buy Israeli Goods day [9, 10]. It’s been created to counter an annual BDS day of action – which is today too. So today, if possible, buy at least one item made in Israel. And tell the store owner what you’re doing. You don’t need me to tell you what you’ll achieve by doing this. Thank you.

farmdoc's blog post number 682

Apartheid. It’s an Afrikaans word (from apart apart + -heid –hood) dating from 1947, and defined as a former policy of segregation and discrimination against non-Europeans in South Africa. Now it’s being extrapolated to Israel. Welcome to Israeli Apartheid Week [IAW]. But hold your horses: Israel’s Arab citizens have full rights including full voting rights. Thirteen Arabs sit in the current 120-member Knesset. But factual evidence of non-apartheid in Israel doesn’t stop the lunatic fringe continuing their bleeding heart support of totalitarian theocracies. If these myopic halfwits were genuinely concerned about apartheid, they need look no further than their darling Palestinian Authority [PA] and Hamas. Are there Jews living in Gaza? (That’s a rhetorical question, folks.) The PA’s called Jewish West Bank settlements an obstacle to peace. To them Jews shouldn’t be citizens of a possible future Arab West Bank state. Well if that’s not apartheid, I hop to hell on a toothpick. This is the sixth IAW. Starting in Canada, it’s metastasised like the evil malignant cancer it is. It’s university-based. The responsible (pun intended) student morons should go to more classes – because IAW (N.B. Week) spans two weeks (from 1-14 March). And the prize-winning poster (above left) gives its dates as 1-7 March. Recently Ontario’s legislature condemned it. Unanimously. A legislator said ‘If you're going to label Israel as Apartheid, then you are also... attacking Canadian values…The use of the phrase IAW is about as close to hate speech as one can get without being arrested, and I’m not certain it doesn't actually cross over that line’. Yes sir.