By Neil Goldberg , , kirkland
Richard Silverstein is entitled to his opinion on the divestment issue against Israel (“Divesting, not boycotting,” June 13). That, of course, is his right. What he should not be entitled to: self-proclaimed comments invoking how they are not meant to prevent Israel from protecting itself, or that his position is not an attack on the IDF. Divestment would do exactly those two things. Regardless of which government is in power, there are certain lines that should not be crossed. Divestment obviously harms any productive country it is used against, but when someone makes a claim that mimics exactly the claims from those who want Israel destroyed, then that claim becomes encouragement, and emboldens the terrorists. One does not have to agree with everything Israel does — but neither should one intentionally bring harm to Israel, particularly on an issue that the terrorists themselves applaud. If one walks and talks like a duck….
For Israel, divestment brings harm to every aspect of Israeli life. In one of the smallest nations on earth — nearly all of those aspects directly or indirectly involve her ability to defend herself: divestment in any form translates into a victory for the terrorists, and that equals dead Jews!
Sprinkled throughout his article are some key expressions that show us exactly what Mr. Silverstein applauds. He thinks the blatantly anti-Israel World Court in The Hague (Yasser Arafat’s favorite) is some kind of guiding light; he approves of going after Caterpillar (is he a supporter of the notorious International Solidarity Movement?); he apparently wants the security fence eliminated (yep, the one that clearly saves Jewish lives), just to name a few. The clincher: his comment, “the occupation is just as entrenched as it was 41 years ago.”
Really? I guess he has just forgotten Gaza — and we all know the sad results, for both sides — since Israel left there!
I guess he does not like the dispute over land (not many do) — negatively using the word “occupation” at least 10 times. This is a nasty issue that the parties themselves need to settle for sure, but most certainly not via divestment, with Israel being the only punished party. With friends like Mr. Silverstein….
What happened to the traditional “we are one” that has served Jews so well for so long? It is, perhaps, absent, but not forever lost. We all need to keep the disagreements on point and factual, and, above all not bring harm to our own family.