Lastly, Kathleen, your description of Israel as “recalcitrant” deserves and requires an answer. Webster defines recalcitrant as “stubbornly refusing to obey rules or orders.” On this count, am proud to accept your accusation and to wave a flag announcing “guilty as charged.” Yes, Israel refuses to obey rules and orders issued by the international community, for a simple reason: We have learned the lesson of accepting international “help,” vis-à-vis the Palestinians and on other stages. I, for one, will not allow you or the international community to decide what Israel’s interests are and how to best achieve them. We Israelis are more than competent at figuring out what’s best for us, and driving towards that goal.
Ultimately, Kathleen, the BDS campaign against Israel will be futile, for three reasons. First, no BDSer is truly committed to boycotting Israel. If you were, you’d give up the Intel processing chip in your computer and dump your cellphone in the nearest rubbish bin. You’d certainly advise your Palestinian neighbors to find alternate treatment for their sick children, rather than take advantage of medical care in Israeli hospitals.
Second, I share your pain over Palestinian victims of Israel’s military. Yes, it is true: The combination of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian incitement is a combustible one. Having served in an IDF combat unit, I can attest that serving at checkpoints and nighttime raids to arrest terror suspects are scary jobs. The situation is given to tension and fear, and therefore to occasional abuse. I can also attest to the fact that several members of my unit spent time in military jail for abusive behavior at a checkpoint.
But here, I return to an earlier point: When Anwar Sadat visited the Knesset in 1977, he spoke passionately and eloquently about Egyptian interests, and about the Palestinians . But his message to Israel was clear and unmistakable: No More War. It was the only message Israelis wanted to hear, and it got him back the Sinai (for better or worse). Here, too: The Palestinians have the ability to emulate Sadat. It is in their hands to ramp down Israeli fears; that, in turn, will improve treatment at checkpoints.
Third, and most important: Your accusation that Israel is an illegal occupier in the Land of Israel is hardly unique, and hardly new. The 12th century Biblical commentator Rashi predicted it, in his very first comment on the Torah.
“There will come a day,” Rashi wrote 900 years ago, “that the nations of the world will accuse the Jewish people of illegally occupying the Land of Israel. They will say the Jews stole the Land of Israel from the Seven Nations.
The answer to that canard, said Rashi, must be simple, straightforward and to the point: “The entire world belongs to God. He made it, and granted the Land of Israel to the nations who found favor in His eyes. In His free will he gave it to them [i.e. the nations of the world], and in His free will he took it from them and gave it to us.”
So, go ahead and boycott. Justice is on our side, and will win in the end.