Cellphones and Soccer Balls: BDS versus Israel

BDS, the growing international anti-Israel/antisemitic movement which aims to totally ostracize the State of Israel from all normative activities and weaken it until it's no longer viable has recently been putting pressure on one Israel's big cellphone companies, Orange, and its participation in FIFA the international soccer body.

Knesset parley on fighting BDS grows heated when Meretz and Arab MKs take the boycotters' side

“BDS opposes Israel as the Jewish state. It wants to blacken us and destroy us as a Jewish and democratic state,” Shaked explained. “The boycotters don’t talk about Judea and Samaria, they talk about the State of Israel.”
According to Shaked, “It’s not politically correct to be anti-Semitic today, but it’s super-in to be anti-Israel,” and as such, “People used to delegitimize the Jews and now they do it to our country.
“BDS is anti-Semitism in new clothes,” she said.
Shaked called to fight back against BDS and “boycott the boycotters,” and listed the many government ministries, including hers, that are taking part in the efforts to fight delegitimization... (Jerusalem Post)

Israelis are pretty much used to the fact that some celebrities excuse their refusal to perform in Israel due to their fear of BDS reprisals if they do come here, but there are enough who are perfectly willing to boycott the boycott. Enough Israelis are willing to shell out outrageous sums of money to attend mega performances to make it worthwhile for top performing artists, their entourages etc to show up in Israel.

Rolling Stones in Israel, photo Benji Lovitt

Those who do defy the boycott generally find it worth their while and enjoy the enthusiasm of Israeli fans.

This week's BDS news has been full of cellphones and soccer balls.

Apparently to distract sports fans from corruption charges, FIFA has been targeting Israel. They are claiming to be concerned that Arab soccer players are subject to the same security checks as any other people, but it doesn't bother them that Jewish Israelis are forbidden to enter Arab areas, even to do something as banal as watching a soccer game. There is no protection for ordinary Israelis, who are threatened with death, while Israeli Arabs in Israel have the freedom to go any place.

Also this week, the French cellphone giant Orange has been broadly hinting that it does not want to defy BDS any longer. It wants to close down its Israeli operations.

French telecom operator Orange Chairman and CEO Stephane Richard told reporters in Cairo that his company wished to distance itself from its role in facilitating Israel’s rule over the Palestinian territories.
Orange, which has an affiliate agreement with the Israeli firm Partner, is one of Israel’s largest cellular service providers. (Jerusalem Post)

I have no doubt that one of the real reasons is because they aren't making as much money here as they once did. Many Israelis, like my family, have gone to the smaller less expensive companies. My husband and I are very happy with Golan, which not only gives us unlimited internet on our phones, but unlimited calls in Israel, most countries abroad and two foreign numbers for people to call us. Anyone in the states can just call us as if we were in New York. Orange doesn't offer anything like that.

The fact is that there is more freedom in Israel, even for Arabs, than any other country in the Middle East. The BDS is just modern Naziism, plain and simple. And just like the rest of the world contentedly sat by while Jews were discriminated against and then slaughtered in Nazi Germany, most people are perfectly happy to let the BDS chip away at the State of Israel, not caring about its true aims.