08 November 2013

BDS - not an issue of color

Ynet has published a somewhat indignant response to the latest act of Irish BDS activists: placing a yellow sticker on an Israeli product:

A pro-Israeli activist residing in Dublin, Ireland, was shocked this week when he discovered that a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) organization had taped yellow stickers on Israeli products reading "For justice in Palestine, Boycott Israel".

Among the many items found carrying the yellow boycott sticker was a pack of dates from the Jordan Valley. One of the stickers read: "Organic dates – produce of West Bank; Israeli Settlement Produce."
Here is the offending sticker:


The writer of the article was too indignant to report the details correctly. You can clearly see in the picture that the yellow sticker carries a message that doesn't really distinguish between a settlement produce or any other Israeli ware, it just calls the customers not to buy anything from Israel. As for the other text, such as the mention of West Bank and "Israeli Settlement Produce" - this is not a handiwork of BDS gangs, rather Tesco following the directive of EU, which in its wisdom decided to mark the settlements' products in this way.

Accidentally, I am a serious consumer of medjool dates, which I happen to like very much (once called “the fruit of kings”, medjool dates are now called more politically correct “the king of fruits"). And, while reading the Ynet article, I recalled a box of dates in our fridge. Here is how it looks:


As you can see, the sticker on the side of the box, while not round, is of the same color. The sticker, by the way, tells in two languages (Hebrew and Arabic) that the enclosed product is kosher. The carton in question, as its contents, is produced in the "politically kosher" kibbutz Eilot (which is near Eilat, but is not Eilat). Not that I would mind to consume the dates produced in that other place, but, unfortunately, the best produce here usually goes for export.

Now back to the intrepid and hardheaded BDS folks. I don't think that their choice of color was intentional, while some people find it offensive. I prefer to pay attention to the BDS movement true motives. And yes, I am more than sure that many, or even most of them, are not antisemitic. Some of them surely are, though. However, antisemitic or not, they are driven by a common dream: Middle East without the state of Israel. Whatever it takes. And no, ask one (or each) of them whether this dream is not antisemitic, and you will get a truly innocent look full of total lack of understanding: who is antisemitic? Moi?

So no, it is not an issue of color, far from it.

10 comments:

SnoopyTheGoon said...

I love Mejdool dates, too. They sell the Israeli version from Costco.I once bought a box of dates from Saudi Arabia or Iraq at a Lebanese owned super market and couldn't eat them without washing them first from the sand they came with :) From then on I don't make the mistake of NOT buying Israeli dates anymore. When I find them at Costco I buy them. When not, then I live without them.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

I too love Mejdool dates. They are best tasting version of dates. It is hard to find sometimes but worth it.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

I'm reminded of the days when I actually had time to blog:

http://judeopundit.blogspot.com/2007/09/more-dates-to-boycott.html

http://judeopundit.blogspot.com/2007/09/date-up-date.html

http://judeopundit.blogspot.com/2007/09/date-goes-on.html

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Yummy....

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Gosh, how can you? I mean, how can you live without?

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Yep. I know, for some reason dates seem to raise the worst histrionics in BDS folks. I wonder, is it because dates are so similar to legless cockroaches?

SnoopyTheGoon said...

You'll be surprised how many things one can live without and still be miserable :)

SnoopyTheGoon said...

They DO look like roaches, which is probably the unconscious reason I never liked them. That, and they're too sweet.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Sweet indeed, why my normal intake is usually four of them. Better than sugar anyway.

SnoopyTheGoon said...

Would I? Possibly.