Saturday, June 21, 2014

"I advocate a two-state solution, based upon the pre-1967 borders, that includes recognition of the plight of, and redress for, the refugees from 1948, and also guarantees equal rights under law for all citizens of the region, whatever their religion or ethnic background..." The Rolling Stones and Tel Aviv: EXCELLENT letter by Roger Waters (of Pink Flyod) in the NYTimes


 Roger Waters
[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/18/opinion/the-rolling-stones-and-tel-aviv.html
Re “Let it bleed” (June 10): Roger Cohen struggles in his column with a tangled web of his own making. He supports two objectives of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement: the end of the occupation and the recognition of equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel. Yet he rejects the third objective: the right of refugees to return. His acceptance of the legitimacy of B.D.S. demands for equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel is a tacit admission that Israel is a racist and apartheid state that has different laws for citizens of different ethnic and religious groups.

As for apartheid in the occupied territories, we need not repeat, ad nauseam, descriptions of the wall, the checkpoints and the settlements and roads intended only for Jewish settlers. The fact is the occupying Israeli Army subjugates an indigenous population by using lethal force, including the murder of unarmed children, as Human Rights Watch reported recently.

I won’t lower myself to answer the slur of anti-Semitism yet again. But it is spurious and a smokescreen. It is a charge that should be reserved for extremist bigots; not thinking people who believe in equal rights for all, including Jews and Palestinians.

I advocate a two-state solution, based upon the pre-1967 borders, that includes recognition of the plight of, and redress for, the refugees from 1948, and also guarantees equal rights under law for all citizens of the region, whatever their religion or ethnic background.

The Israeli government has repeatedly rejected such a course. That is why I support B.D.S., a nonviolent global movement vital to applying pressure on this settlement- and occupation-hungry government.

“To stand by silent and indifferent is the greatest sin of all.”

That is why Nick Mason and I protested the Rolling Stones’ gig in Tel Aviv. Their crossing of the picket line was, willy-nilly, an endorsement of the occupation. We will not stand silently by.

I would like to ask Mr. Cohen and his J Street friends what they would propose as an alternative to B.D.S. to encourage the Israeli government to change its reckless course?

Roger Waters, New York
The writer is one of the founding members of Pink Floyd.

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