To boycott or not

Collision

Christoph Kleine is from the North German disobedience organization Avanti. His explanation is:

- You can’t use the »boycott Israel« slogan in a country where anti-semitism was, or is, strong. For us as Germans it’s completely impossible. The Nazis used to say »don’t buy from the Jews«.

To Christoph it doesn’t matter that the war in Germany happened more than 50 years ago.

- Today we’re not guilty, but we’re responsible for making sure that this will not happen again.

Israel & Jews – not the same

Dror Feiler was born in Israel, and like any other young Israeli male Dror did his three years of military service. He was with the parachute troopers.

Dror Feiler is Jewish, but when he is confronted with arguments like the ones from Christoph Kleine, his first respond is:

– Give them a real fight.

His background doesn’t stop him from boycotting his own native country. In fact Dror boycotts everything that supports the state of Israel, and he doesn’t have a problem about using the word »boycott«, even though it might gives somebody associations to crimes from the 2nd World War.

– The people who think that’s a problem have to understand that Israel and Jews are two different things, Dror says.

Terrorism or intifada?

The two men also disagree on whether the demonstration yesterday should call for solidarity with the Palestinian uprising or not.

– The intifada is a perfectly understandable reaction to the Israeli suppression, says Dror, who thinks its ok to attack settlements – but not individuals.

– As long as Israel doesn’t accept the Palestinian people, I can’t justify the existence of an Israeli state, explains Dror.

For Christoph it’s difficult to separate the attacks:

– Today, suicide bombings are a main part of the intifada – not throwing stones. For us that’s an unacceptable form of political struggle.

Is support for the intifada then a support for terrorism?

– Yes, it can look like that, if you don’t make a distinction between people organizing attacks on civilians and other people fighting for the Palestinians with other means.

The Israeli occupation of the West Bank has completely destroyed the Palestinian society. Isn’t that the reason for the violence?

– Of course – that’s the explanation. We also want the occupation to end. But just because we can explain the reasons of the suicide bombers it doesn’t mean that we can support it.

By Ulrik Kohl and Betina Dalgas