WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PALESTINE SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT?

A comment by Norman G Finkelstein

I am unaware of a single hunger strike in support of the people of Gaza.

I am unaware of a single sit-in in support of the people of Gaza.*

I am unaware of a single demonstration in support of the people of Gaza.

I am unaware of a single public forum in support of the people of Gaza.

I am unaware of a single petition in support of the people of Gaza.

***

BDS pretends to represent Palestinian civil society.

Why, then, is civil society in the West Bank silent?

The official BDS website states: “Gaza is under siege but not alone! Supporting the call for a comprehensive military embargo on Israel is the most effective response to Israel’s ongoing massacre.”

Really?

It’s most improbable that a single person in Gaza believes this.

Gaza is crying out for concrete support now.

(It’s wise to occasionally listen to those you pretend to represent.)

***

Academia is chock full of radical professors who chant BDS and One State.

Question: Where are these tenured radicals in Gaza’s moment of truth when it’s facing an imminent bloodbath?

Answer: Chanting BDS and One State (and other irrelevancies).

***

The Palestinian diaspora moans and groans that no one cares about Palestinians.

But in Gaza’s hour of need, the Palestinian diaspora is missing in inaction.

***

Israel is gearing up to drown the people of Gaza in a sea of blood on May 15.

Don’t say you didn’t know.

Don’t lash out at “the Zionists.”

They just do what they’re programmed to do.

In fact they deserve respect.

They don’t just shout mindless slogans and cut radical-chic poses.

They act.  They do.

***

It’s you who allowed the bloodbath to happen.

It’s you who failed Gaza.

Its martyred people have seized control over their Fate.

They’re ready to die.

But as they brace to march into the Valley of Death, you abandoned them.

To your eternal shame.

*The one shining exception is the progressive Jewish group If Not Now.