<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" http-equiv=Content-Type>
<META name=GENERATOR content="MSHTML 8.00.6001.23569">
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>
<DIV id=header>
<DIV id=masthead>
<DIV id=branding role=banner>
<DIV id=site-title><SPAN><A title=Mondoweiss href="http://mondoweiss.net/"
rel=home><IMG border=0 alt="The War of Ideas in the Middle East"
src="http://f8wee1vvia32pdxo527grujy61.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/images/graphics/mondoweiss-logo.png"
width=491 height=76></A> </SPAN></DIV>
<DIV id=site-description> </DIV>
<DIV>The War of Ideas in the Middle East</DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=access role=navigation>Rabbi Brant Rosen: BDS “akin to the Montgomery
Bus Boycott”</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=main>
<DIV id=container>
<DIV id=content role=main>
<DIV id=post-85191
class="post-85191 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-activism category-american-jewish-community category-bds category-gaza category-israel-lobby category-israel-palestine category-israeli-government category-nakba category-occupation-israel-palestine category-us-politics">
<DIV class=entry-meta><EM><A title="Posts by Annie Robbins"
href="http://mondoweiss.net/author/annie" rel=author>Annie Robbins</A> on
October 11, 2012 <A class=com-bubble
href="http://mondoweiss.net/2012/10/rabbi-brant-rosen-bds-akin-to-the-montgomery-bus-boycott.html#comments">11</A></EM>
</DIV>
<DIV class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled">
<DIV class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing">
<DIV class=sd-content>
<UL>
<LI class=share-end></LI></UL></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=entry-content>
<H5 class=right><IMG alt="9 9 11 Brant Rosen"
src="http://f8wee1vvia32pdxo527grujy61.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/images/2012/10/9-9-11-Brant-Rosen.gif"
width=200 height=250><BR>Brant Rosen</H5>
<P>“<EM>I’ve come to believe that solidarity should ultimately be driven by
values, not tribal allegiances. It should be motivated by the prophetic vision
that demands that we stand with the powerless and call out the powerful. Of
course, in the case of Israel, this form of solidarity presents a very painful
challenge to many Jews. I understand that. But at the very least, shouldn’t we
be talking about this challenge and what it represents for us?</EM>“</P>
<P>That’s one choice quote from an exceptional interview with <A
href="http://mondoweiss.net/2012/09/wrestling-in-the-daylight-a-rabbis-path-to-palestinian-solidarity.html">Rabbi
Brant Rosen</A>, author of <A
href="http://justworldbooks.com/wrestling-in-the-daylight-a-rabbis-path-to-palestinian-solidarity/">Wrestling
in the Daylight: A Rabbi’s Path to Palestinian Solidarity</A>. Rosen discusses
the two state solution, Palestinian solidarity, apartheid and more with
Truthout’s Mark Karlin.</P>
<P>Rabbi Rosen doesn’t shy away from controversy and has been <A
href="http://mondoweiss.net/2009/04/rabbi-brant-rosen-jews-dismissal-of-bds-represents-a-refusal-to-recognize-who-the-weaker-dispossesse.html">discussing
BDS for years</A>. He keeps pushing the envelope.</P>
<P><A
href="http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/12009-a-rabbis-path-to-palestinian-solidarity">Truthout</A>:</P>
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<P><STRONG>Mark Karlin: Can you expand upon your viewpoint toward the boycott,
divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS) in relation to Israel? For so many
Jews, this is akin to crossing the line into making Israel into a
pariah.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Brant Rosen:</STRONG> I realize that boycotts conjure up hot-button
memories for Jews, but once we accept that Israel is the overwhelmingly
powerful party in the equation, I think we can see the BDS movement for what
it is and what it isn’t. BDS is <EM>not</EM> a weapon of the powerful against
the powerless, a la the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses in 1930s Germany.
The Palestinian BDS call is more accurately akin to the Montgomery Bus Boycott
in the American civil rights movement or the divestment movement against South
African apartheid. It is a form of nonviolent direct action directed by an
oppressed people who seek popular support for their liberation.</P>
<P>The Palestinian BDS movement was founded in 2005 by a coalition of
Palestinian civil society groups motivated by Israel’s continued refusal to
comply with international law in any number of instances – and the
unwillingness of international political powers to hold them to account. In
other words, in the absence of political pressure to change this inequitable
equation, Palestinian civil society is seeking to leverage people power.</P>
<P>Yes, it is enormously painful for many Jews to see Israel targeted in this
way. But if Israel is becoming a pariah, that’s due largely to its own
actions. Defenders of Israel complain that BDS delegitimizes Israel; I’d say
that, up until now, Israel has been doing a very good job of delegitimizing
itself. Israel simply cannot consider itself to be “the only democracy in the
Middle East” if it insists on implementing policies that put it on the road
toward
apartheid.</P></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>