Israel Matzav

Boycott of Samaria products devastating

A successful boycott of the products of Jewish cities and towns in Samaria would be devastating... for the 'Palestinians.'

“Do you realize what you’re doing?”

That’s what David Ha’ivri, executive director of the Shomron Liaison Office, would like to ask activists within the UCC who are pushing for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

Ha’ivri represents the Jewish communities in Samaria and regularly takes visitors on fact-finding tours in the region. He said people are often surprised by what they see and learn.

For example, he said, Barkan Industrial Park is an ecologically friendly area, featuring well-tended parks and gardens tucked in amongst 140 factories. The factories employ 6,000 people – roughly half are Israeli citizens (including Jews and Muslims) and the other half are Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens.

“All of the Palestinians who work in all of the factories are protected by Israeli law,” said Ha’ivri. “They receive the same salaries and the same benefits. Whatever an Israeli employee receives, the Palestinian employee receives.”

People employed in the Jewish communities of Samaria earn a base salary about three times higher than they would earn in communities controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), said Ha’ivri. This is crucial because many Palestinians have large families: he knows of some who support 15 relatives on what they earn in Jewish-owned businesses. A worker who loses his ‘settlement’ job will have a hard time finding employment in the PA-controlled areas and any job he does find will pay much less.

“When you say ‘boycott the products that are manufactured in the settlements,’ 50 per cent of factory workers are Palestinian, so who are you going to put out of a job? If a factory is being boycotted and they’re losing business, what are they going to do? The boycott movement is not considering that and, in my opinion, they don’t care.”

No, they don't. They'd rather sacrifice more 'martyrs' on the altar of a 'Palestinian state.' Read the whole thing.

Labels: BDS, Judea and Samaria

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:50 PM