The coincidence of the NSO and Ben and Jerry's stories reveals the duality of Israel's response to BDS: NSO shows Israel is economically robust against 'threat' of BDS as tech sector is unboycottable and repressive states provide lucrative markets outside lib democracies. 1/
While BDS may not threaten Israeli economy, the Ben and Jerry's story shows just how far, economically and socially, Israel still cares about being part of the 'west' and how far US soft power still matters. The prospect of being shunned by US brands is disturbing to Israelis 2/
BDS, if it makes deeper inroads wouldn't be an economic threat, it would just deepen ties to authoritarian states. But cultural threat is existential. Israel may be becoming part of da facto bloc of oppressive states, but it doesn't want to be a cultural part of that bloc. End/
Would add to this that impact of BDS on Diaspora Jews is a v different matter. There is a case for arguing that, while BDS isn't a serious threat to Israelis, it has a much more serious impact on Diaspora Jews.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Keith Kahn-Harris

Keith Kahn-Harris Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @KeithKahnHarris

29 Mar
#Shtisel season 100 episode 1, Summary: Bewildered woman turns down Shulem's marriage proposal. Kiva looks sad and burns paintings of his 15th wife (killed in bizarre gardening accident (. Lipa trys to talk Giti round, forgets what he is actually trying to talk her round about...
Ruchami and Hanina (still in teens) have difficult conversation on their 40th wedding anniversary. Shulem's other son (the one who sings) finally accepts that he is a secondary character.
Two young people have an awkward date in a hotel and they actually order something to drink.
Read 5 tweets
6 Dec 20
Re the IHRA definition of antisemitism: I have reservations too. But in the end, one of the lessons of the Labour antisemitism crisis is that definitions matter less than who interprets them and how they are used.
In fact, it's ironic that one of IHRA's major weaknesses is that it doesn't fully address structural issues of organisational culture. For example, Manchester United adopted IHRA this week - but is this just a cost-free gesture or part of wider organisational accountability?
There is all sorts of potential in IHRA for tendentious interpretation - but there is in any definition of racism. Anti-racist practice requires culture change and soul-searching. Without that you have very little.
Read 4 tweets
10 Aug 20
Thread: I'm starting to find western tankie discourse more chilling than the propaganda of the regimes they defend. In states like Belarus, figures like an 80% electoral victory free of rigging, are not meant to be literally believed 1/
In dictatorships the absurdity of the lie is precisely the point - it is an expression of dominance. Citizens of such countries become adept at living with multiple truths simultaneously. Even regime supporters show bravura discursive skills. 2/
Western tankies miss the point. They behave as if propaganda from dictatorships was actually supposed to be believed. Ironically, they are so imbued with western democratic norms that they have no ability to engage vin cynical doublethink. 3/
Read 4 tweets
16 Apr 20
[Thread]
I am becoming concerned that the future of the NHS is imperilled by fundamental misunderstandings about what it is as an institution. This has disturbing parallels to threats to democracy across the world. 1/
There is, as far as I can tell, v little public support for 'privatising' the NHS and certainly almost none for abolishing it. However, if you understand the NHS simply as an institution that provides free healthcare, then you might misunderstand what privatisation means 2/
A privatised NHS would not necessarily be one in which healthcare is no longer free. Rather, it would be an NHS run by a constellation of private companies that would need to extract a surplus from their fees in order to pay shareholders. 3/
Read 9 tweets
6 Dec 19
Thread: One of the reasons why the Labour Party antisemitism crisis arose is because some left anti-racists have shared platforms with those who have racist views, favouring one type of anti-racism over another. In calling this out, it's vital not to mirror that behaviour 1/
This weekend's demonstration by the @TAAntisemitism @antisemitism is a classic example of falling into this trap, providing a mirror image of that which they are opposing. 2/
@TAAntisemitism @antisemitism The presence on the bill of @COLRICHARDKEMP is the main problem. He not only has a history of Islamophobia, he is also a climate change denialist. His defence of Jews is not part of a wider anti-racism and he doesn't share UK Jewry's predominant liberalism. 3/
Read 6 tweets
5 Sep 19
Although the last couple of days have been a bit more hopeful, one of the things that has struck me about my reaction to the whole #Brexit process is how personally vulnerable and precarious it has made me feel. And this has taught me something... [Thread]
Part of what it means to be middle class, male, white(ish in my case) and educated in the UK, is to feel that, while you may be horrified by what a government might do, ultimately you will be all right. As a leftist, I've been disgusted by most governments in my lifetime BUT..
...this was mainly because it was horrible to witness what they were doing to others, not to me. Now though, since no-deal Brexit became the goal of most of the Leave movement, I've felt a personal vulnerability I've never felt before...
Read 10 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(