BDS: A threat to the entire Middle East
As a Jordanian politician, I feel obligated to speak out against the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and its effect on the Middle East and the world. I represent the point of view and interests of the Jordanian people. By doing so, I have freedom that many others may not. My views on BDS are unbiased and balanced because I am not an Israeli and nobody could accuse me of being anti-Arab.
Let me be clear: BDS is a reckless act of hatred that threatens the security and stability of not only Israel, but also my country, Jordan, and the entire Middle East. BDS seeks to attack and isolate Israel. But what is Israel’s importance to Jordan, and to the world? Why should anyone care if Israel is hurt? This is what the president of the Jordanian opposition, Mudar Zahran, wrote last year in Israel Hayom: ”If the day were to come when Israel falls, Jordan, Egypt and many others would fall, too, and Westerners would be begging Iran for oil. “We can hate Israel as much as we like, but we must realize that without it, we too would be gone.” Israel is at the front of the war against terror in our region, and if Israel is hurt, we all will suffer, and Jordan will suffer the most. Therefore, BDS is a threat to us all — a threat to America as much as it is a threat to Israel, Jordan and our Palestinian brothers.
BDS claims to target Israel because Israel oppresses the Palestinians. If so, why does BDS never target Jordan’s government, which oppresses and destroys the lives of the majority of Jordanians of Palestinian origins, and where many of my own people, the Bedouin Jordanians, go hungry? Why does BDS never boycott Lebanon, where Palestinians are banned from working as taxi drivers? Why does it not boycott Syria, where President Bashar Assad has killed thousands of Palestinians in Yarmouk camp? BDS, admit it: You are racists and anti-Semites. Your activities are a threat to Jordan, and it is my mission as Jordan’s shadow commerce secretary to enhance, expand, strengthen and promote trade between my country and Israel.
But BDS is not alone. It could not survive without support, both financial and political, and we in the Jordanian opposition have information that BDS receives support of various kinds from Arab dictators. From day one, Arab rulers have been telling us that Israeli is the enemy, and that we should forget about our own hungry children and our ruthless governments and focus exclusively on hating and killing Jews. BDS promotes the very same bankrupt concepts. I say, BDS: Shame on you. Shame on you for attacking the only country that offers jobs to my Palestinian brothers. Shame on you for attacking the country that provides free health care for Palestinian cancer patients. Shame on you for selling your souls to Arab regimes.
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http://spme.org/boycotts-divestments-sanctions-bds/bds-threat-entire-middle-east/23207/