Reality sets in: An Australian town council voted to boycott Israel, and did the number-crunching of what it would cost to replace “Israeli” products with something else: $3.7 million (and even in Australian dollars, that’s a lot). It’s being inundated by calls from angry taxpayers demanding that the council STFU about things that don’t affect them and don’t get involved in international affairs.
The Greens-dominated Marrickville Council, in Sydney’s inner west, voted in December to back the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which boycotts all products said to be directly or indirectly associated with Israel.
A new Marrickville Council business paper reveals the boycott could cost taxpayers $3.7 million if all the recommendations contained within the document were adopted.
Advertisement: Story continues belowMore than $3 million of that would come from replacing all the authority’s Hewlett-Packard computers, which the BDS website claims are used at Israeli military checkpoints that restrict the movement of Palestinians. The BDS movement was started in 2005 in protest over alleged oppression of Palestinians.
It’s a beautiful thing, reality. Whether or not the councillors will listen to their angry constituents is going to be decided next week. Oh, and this council has voted to boycott a nation before: Burma.
The council has a similar long-standing boycott on Burma, which does not impact on residents, Ms Byrne said.
“The Burma boycott shows that councils can take a stand on human rights issues, like the occupation of the Palestinian territories, without having a negative financial impact on residents,” Ms Byrne said in the statement.
Of couse they can boycott Burmese products because Burma is not filled with us wily Jews, who invent things like SMS (think the council members will stop texting?). Really, what does Burma produce? And the BDS movement is so absurd, they’re boycotting HP computer products because the Israeli Army uses them. (I am typing this on an HP Pavilion. Muahahaha!) That’s one of the biggest problems for Marrickville: They have to replace all of their computers as a result of the boycott, and that’s the biggest part of the cost of not doing business with Israel.
My guess: This boycott is not going to move forward. Not if residents’ taxes are going to go up. One of the councillors agrees:
“It’s not a local council issue. There’s so many of these issues around the world. Why single out this one?”
Good for you, Mr. Macri. Good for you.
And, a pleasant surprise, the newspaper story refers to “alleged oppression” of the Palestinians.
I think Israel has made substantial contributions to Intel’s chips so to be consistent the council should get rid of any computer, HP or otherwise, that has Intel in it. Israel has also made a number of important medical advances and perhaps someone should furnish the council with a list of these; I’m sure the council members would want to insist that they are not treated with anything whose source is oppressive Israel.
This shouldn’t be a problem because they could always substitute medical methods and advancements from the Arab countries such as…well, there’s…who can forget the lives made better by….there must be something.
I’m sure the Greens are all in favor of gay rights; I wonder how they’d react to a recital of the plight of homosexuals in Arab countries as opposed to Israel…or the status of women in Arab countries as opposed to Israel.
Alex,
We should never forget the great advance in medical technology from the Arabs of a new style of lancet suitable for bleeding the patient more effectively, thereby ensuring better control over the four humors of the body. It was the most important medical development of the 12th Century.
On the matter of the treatment of homosexuals and women in Arab countries, don’t bother the Greens with facts. Postmodernism has proven that facts do not exist, and the Greens are resolutely postmodern in their quasi-religious beliefs.
Burma exports oil and refugees from savage governmental oppression. Sort of like so many Arab states.