Portland, Oregon Defending Their BDS Decision Against Israel

Boycotting, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) means to keep American businesses
out of Israel, depriving both of making a living.  It's use is to try to force Israel
into complying with people backing it, which now include
the mainstream Protestant churches in the USA. Caterpillar Tractor Company  is one of the
businesses they are trying to harm.  

Portland, Oregon's City Hall received this decision to harm Israel with BDS.  

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                                  

Israel puts terrorists in prison just like the USA would,
but also treats them humanely; not like Turkey would.   They even receive salaries from
their Palestinian leaders for being there, something that wouldn't happen in the USA.  So they're being paid to terrorize civilians that BDS is designed to harm.   (Turkey threw a female relative and friend of mine, author Gene Hirshhorn LePere,  who was a tourist in Turkey , into the female prison where she might have had to stay for life.)

Out here in the Wild West of Oregon, our largest city and my home town, Portland,  has voted for BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) against Israel right now at this point in time and why?  What is going on to create this decision?  I contend that it's a build-up of anti-Semitism that always lies near the surface of people's minds, and sometimes even permeates  into our own Jewish people who suddenly turn against their own.  It's different from honest criticism.  Anti-Semitism is showing hostility or prejudice against Jews.  Israel is a Jewish country of 6 million Jews and 1.7 million Muslims and some Christians, etc.  Even Alice is showing prejudice and not any sort of helpful criticism.  She doesn't live there.  She's judging from afar or heresay.  Israel is the ONLY Jewish majority country in the world whereas there are at least 48 Muslim majority countries in the world--and that is without a Palestine yet.
                                                                             

I watched a TV program last night about the Irish and a leader of the IRA said, "Turn against my own people?  Never.  I'd rather die first."  Their group had just managed to kill quite a few people.   Yet we have people who go along with the masses and do not trust their own.  They're few and far between, yet they exist, and Alice Rothchild is one of them. What upsets me is that she attacks without knowing any of the circumstance.  She's joined the followers of Noam Chomsky. She's a medical doctor and like Chomsky, uses her background, which has nothing to do with the history and current events of the Middle East, to sway the public.    Her big guns have been brought into our town to defend our City Hall's decision for BDS.
                                                                           

Arafat, originally leader of Fatah terrorists.  His leadership molded the minds of the Palestinians.

Fatah terrorists from Judea and Samaria, formerly following Arafat
who was replaced by Abbas.  They're hooked up with Hamas of Gaza.  

   
The Oregonian newspaper published what is evidently a wonderful opinion piece of hers that took up 3/4 of a whole page including a huge picture which was all for BDS.  It has been followed up with a  running stream of comments for BDS, and very few against it.  If against it, the sentiment is that stupid accusation of anti-Semitism and oh, they feel wrongly criticized if they say anything against Israel and this is another point against us.  .
                                                                         

Hamas terrorist, who branched off of Fatah,  who shoot missiles, mortars and rockets into southern Israel from Gaza,
and make attacks on Israel's civilian population 

          For some time now, I as a Jew have felt the atmosphere here in the USA is leaning towards Germany's in the 1930s, getting worse and worse each year towards the same feelings that grew with Nazi power in the late 30s.  This is just the icing on the cake.  Jews have stepped out of their 2nd class Dhimmi status of the Middle East and of many other cities in Europe and are being put down by those worried about it.                                                                                

Demonstrations in Europe Against Israel 

There's a fever of attacks by those of the Muslim persuasion in Europe, but BDS must be used against the Jews of Israel,  who for the first time in over 2,000 years,  live in their own state and are being noticed.  Attacks in the UN are far more against Israel than any other group with the result that masses think they are the bad guys of the world.
                                                                               

The spill-over of population density of Arabs  now in Europe  have been treated  royally.  They have been given "the right to free education, free social services and free health care.  They have the right to voice their opinions in the media and to vote in democratic elections.  They are not disenfranchised.  Yet the Europeans get back attacks for their kindness and their troubles.  They are experiencing what Israel has been experiencing.
                                                                               
The same thing has happened in Israel.  Israel has offered the very same things to those 1.7 million who are citizens and also to those living in Judea, Samaria, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and find they are the ones affected by the Khartoum Conference of 1967 whose motto is NO, NO AND NO.  Israel has been as frustrated as Europe now is.  Israel as even higher standards of morality than any other country in the world, so it hurts them even more to keep to their standards when being attacked all the time.
                                                                         

With people on the fringe of respecting Israel or Jews, they are just not looking at the situation through  normal glasses but with damaged ones.  They've turned things around in their heads and see a teeny country of Israel,   who has been successful in defending herself against a horde of Arabs with medieval standards,  as the bad guy even though they may turn against them as well.

This week, what has happened in Israel to cause Alice's opinion piece to be published?  The USA's Obama does not consider the Golan Heights as a part of Israel and has published this.  Netanyahu has said it is.  Israel has sovereignty in this high  area which before 1967 rained rockets, mortars and missiles down on Israel.  It is populated now by the Druse, an Arab group who are peaceful and a part of Israel.  It connects to the famous historic city of Safed (Tzfat)  where I lived for over 4 years.  Please read "THE SOURCE" by James Mitchener.   When Israel's only defender keeps arguments going publicly against Israel, it brings down the defensive walls Israel has to protect its citizens.  This argument alone can cost lives.

For weeks, attacks have been happening mainly in Jerusalem of Palestinians with knives against civilians there.  This Palestinian "intifada of the knives" is blamed by those outside of Israel on some lack of hope for a better future, anger and frustration.  However, every sort of American type opportunity and help have been offered to them, and their leaders always come up with the 3 NOs (from 1967's Khartoum Conference) , and the results are attacks against Israelis.  The nicer Israelis are, the worse the answer is.  It doesn't help that Hamas is ruled by the more recent and obvious more bloodthirsty terrorists who have control of the old terrorists who were run by Arafat and now Abbas, the PLO.
                                                                          

On April 19th, the Israeli IDF detonated the Hamas terrorist attack tunnel it found 10 days before which lead from the southern Gaza Strip into Israeli territory.
                                                                             

Israel already experienced 80% of the promised Jewish Homeland being stripped away
and given to King Abdullah for the creation of Jordan.  Now the Palestinian Arabs want Jerusalem, too.
After experiencing the Holocaust with the murder of 6 million Jews, Israelis have had to deal with accusations of being in a country the world leaders said YES to while the Arabs have said NO to.  

On April 21st, Shin Bet (The Israel Security Agency) said the identity of the Palestinian who detonated a bomb on an Egged bus in Jerusalem earlier in the week was confirmed.  The terrorist was Abdel Hamid Abu Srour, 19, of Beit Jala.  He had died of injuries in the attack which wounded 20 men, women and children; 7 of them seriously.

April 21st and Sin Bet announced that security forces uncovered a Judea-Samarian Arab terror cell that plotted to kidnap a settler in order to gain leverage in negotiations to free Palestinian prisoners.

Update: 5/16/16/2:18pm from Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the USA:  While it's not an economic problem for Israel, BDS is a moral problem. It is an attempt to demonize Israel, to cast it as a pariah state that has no legitimacy and should be destroyed. . .

Reference: Oregonian Newspaper, Sunday-May 8, 2016 page A21, Divestment is an appropriate response to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. by Alice Rothchild-(in my opinion)
The Jerusalem Report magazine, May 16, 2016, page 2, 3. by Bjarne Tolstrup of Copenhagen and staff.
Author Gene LePere nee Hirshhorn: : 2 books and a TV movie from the book, Never Pass This Way Again

http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2016/05/protestants-against-israel-now-for-bds.html

http://goldfoot_genealogy.blogspot.com/2016/05/illegal-refugee-relative-of-my-relative.html