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While so far ISIS has focused on attacking fellow Muslims whom it regards as apostate, it also targets Christians and Jews. Meanwhile, extremist ISIS forces have established their own beachheads throughout the region, including in Egypt’s Sinai, on Israel’s southern border. Iran’s influence, direct or by proxy, now reaches into Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, and Iran has renewed ties with Hamas in Gaza. The rising power of Iran, whose leaders talk openly of destroying Israel, heightens the concern. In fact, Israelis see themselves as being in the position of David, surrounded by a Goliath of nations and terrorist groups that have made no secret of their wish to see Israel destroyed and have acted on that wish many times before. There is a natural urge, given this account, to sympathize with the David figure.īut Israelis, even those who sympathize with the average Palestinian, view the situation differently, and for some very good reasons. The Palestinians, on the other hand, seem only to have rocks (and, in Gaza, Katyusha rockets) to fling at the oppressor.
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Israelis have a vaunted military and one of the most technologically advanced economies in the world, and they are backed by the United States, the world’s only superpower. In the context of Israel-Palestine, Israelis appear to be the Goliath while the Palestinians are the David. Whereas Jewish settlers on the West Bank are Israeli citizens and benefit from Israeli tax dollars and the Israeli military, Palestinians in the territory are stateless, and subject ultimately to Israeli policy and control.
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There’s no question that Palestinians living under Israeli occupation endure daily restrictions on travel, political activity, and economic opportunity. This argument is reasonable on the surface, and it fits both Christian liberationist and Christian realist analyses of politics. And because Palestinians have little leverage on the ground, pressure on Israel must come from the international community and the court of public opinion. Because Israel can be expected to change its policies of occupation only under pressure, pressure must be applied. The movement posits that a just future for Palestinians lies first of all in disengagement from and resistance to Israel.īut does it? The BDS movement operates with a fundamental assumption: those with power never give it up voluntarily. Though this approach has mostly symbolic meaning in the West, it has tangible effects in Israel-Palestine, where it discourages Palestinians from everyday cooperation with Israelis on education, commerce, political administration, and the management of natural resources. The deep message of BDS is that interaction with Israel is tantamount to collaboration with the oppressor.