[Peace-discuss] @HuffPost: Yes, #ScarJo, There's a Line Between Israel and Palestine

[Robert Naiman]

Summary: ScarJo has tried to spin this as a debate about "BDS," but even
Peace Now* supports the boycott of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

*if you don't follow these things, you might not appreciate why I would use
the phrase, "even Peace Now." Peace Now is like the MoveOn of the Israeli
peace movement, with one foot in the camp of the peace movement and one
foot in the camp of "mainstream Israeli politics." It's against "BDS," but
as I show in this piece, it supports the boycott of Israeli settlements. (I
put "BDS" here in quotes, because the debate about "BDS" has a bit of a
Life of Brian-like quality, with neither supporters nor opponents having an
agreed definition of what it is that they support or oppose.)

PS: Huffington Post appreciation moment: "Huffington Post is doing for
entertainment what Dave Zirin did for sports." Speaking of which, note that
we have a Thunderclap which is set to go off during the #SuperBowl, when
people on Twitter will be talking about ScarJo's TV ad for SodaStream.
Thus, we are obeying ScarJo's instruction to try to "broaden the
conversation." :)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/scarlett-johansson-israel_b_4697959.html

Last June, the Israeli anti-occupation group All That's Left marked the
anniversary of Israel's military occupation of the West Bank by "re-painting
the Green Line<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/06/05/painting-a-green-line-through-jerusalem4.html>"
on the international border between Israel and Palestine, highlighting the
border that supporters of Israel's occupation of the West Bank are always
trying to erase.

Unfortunately, celebrity Scarlett Johansson didn't get the memo. As a
result, Johansson will no longer be a "global ambassador" for Oxfam,
because, as Oxfam
noted<http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/reactions/oxfam-accepts-resignation-scarlett-johansson>
,

Johansson's role promoting the company SodaStream is incompatible with her
role as an Oxfam global ambassador. Oxfam believes that businesses, such as
SodaStream, that operate in settlements further the ongoing poverty and
denial of rights of the Palestinian communities that we work to support.
Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal
under international law.

Johansson's statements on the controversy have tried to obscure a crucial
issue: *what relationship should people who support the two-state solution
have to Israeli settlements in the West Bank?*

On January 24, as the controversy "bubbled," Johansson
wrote<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scarlett-johansson/sodastream_b_4661895.html>
on
The Huffington Post:

"I remain a supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction
between a democratic Israel and Palestine... I am happy that light is being
shed on this issue in hopes that a greater number of voices will contribute
to the conversation of a peaceful two state solution in the near future."

Clearly, Johansson wants us to believe that she supports a two-state
solution to the conflict.

In a statement Wednesday announcing that Johansson and Oxfam were parting
ways, Johansson's representative
said<http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/139459/Scarlett-Johansson-Parts-Ways-With-Oxfam-Due-To-A-Fundamental-Difference-Of-Opinion>,
"[Johansson] and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards
to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement."

This statement was deeply misleading. It was not "a fundamental difference
of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement"
that led to the split between Johansson and Oxfam. It was a fundamental
difference of opinion on the proper relationship of people who support the
two-state solution to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Oxfam's view is that someone who supports the two-state solution should not
be promoting economic ties with Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Johansson's view, apparently, is that it's ok to claim that you support a
two-state solution and then turn around and promote economic ties with
Israeli settlements in the West Bank, thereby bolstering and normalizing
the occupation.

Oxfam's view is normative among sincere advocates of a two-state solution.
Johansson's apparent view is marginal among sincere advocates of a
two-state solution.

For example, the mainstream Israeli peace group Peace Now has supported the
boycott of Israeli settlement
products<http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Peace-Now-launches-boycott-of-settlement-products>.
So has its American counterpart, Americans for Peace Now. As APN President
Debra DeLee said in July
2011<http://archive.peacenow.org/entries/apn_joins_peace_nows_call_for_boycotting_settlements>
,

"Today we join Peace Now in urging all those who care about Israel's
character as a democracy to boycott settlements and products made in
settlements. *Settlements are not Israel.* Such a boycott is the best way
to show our support for Israel and to register our commitment to Israeli
democracy." [my emphasis]

As Debra DeLee wrote this week in the
*Forward*<http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/191768/love-israel-oppose-bds-reject-sodastream/>
:

Under normal circumstances, I would buy SodaStream and recommend it to my
friends. But the circumstances under which the product is made are *not
normal*. And because Israel's occupation of the West Bank is such an
anomaly, as much as I may like Scarlett (and seltzer), *I will not buy
SodaStream, not until it moves its headquarters away from a West Bank
settlement.* [my emphasis]

By claiming to support a two-state solution while helping to bolster the
occupation, Scarlett Johansson is acting as a Susan
Collins<http://www.thenation.com/blog/177342/senator-susan-collins-barrier-transparency-accountability-drones>
for
the occupation, pretending to be moderate, while acting to bolster
extremists.

Oxfam did the right thing in taking a principled stand. You can thank Oxfam
for their principled stand at MoveOn
here<http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/oxfam-thank-you-for-cutting?source=c.em.cp&r_by=1135580>
and
on Thunderclap here<https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/8554-thank-oxfam-for-scarjo-split>.
The Thunderclap is set to go off on Sunday evening during the #SuperBowl.
Let's extend that conversation about the two-state solution that Johansson
called for to people watching her TV commercial for SodaStream.
-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
(202) 448-2898, extension 1
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