“The reason is simple; No recognition, No normalisation. Just Boycott, divestment and sanctions, until the Apartheid state is defeated”
This is the explanation George Galloway MP gave for walking out of a debate after stating he doesn’t “debate with Israelis”.
Everyone from Harry’s Place through to the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has condemned Galloway’s overtly discriminatory views.
I find it extraordinary that someone who claims to working for peace in the region will refuse to talk to an entire nation of people.
By saying he won’t debate with Israelis, is he saying that he won’t debate with the millions of Palestinian Arabs who hold Israeli citizenship as well?
Or is he saying he won’t with Jewish Israelis?
His view makes no sense. The very suggestion that every Israeli citizen is tacitly involved in the Israelis state oppression of Palestinians is inaccurate and insulting.
It is insulting to the Israelis working at the human rights group B’Tselem. It is insulting to Israeli journalists like Gideon Levy who have devoted their lives to exposing the realities in the occupied territories. It is insulting to anyone who is trying to hold onto a vague sense of shared humanity in this conflict that seems so determined to strip people of this.
Both pragmatically and principally, Galloway’s stance is wrong.
Expect an apology…from George Galloway? No chance.
Galloway later turned to twitter to defend his stance:
Hynd's Blog 
Now he’s quibbling about semantics. https://twitter.com/georgegalloway/status/304649543738339328
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P.S. That doesn’t mean I agree with George Galloway! His views are counterproductive and racist – we should all be able to engage with Israelis and Palestinians on this issue.
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I would say that every Israeli citizen IS tacitly involved in the Israelis state oppression of Palestinians. Which is exactly why B’tselem exist – because they want to change the system because they don’t want to be part of that oppression. Just the same way as I, as a UK citizen, was involved in the invasion of Iraq war: my taxes paid for it.
Surely this is why justice movements often exist – not just because they recognise an injustice, but because they recognise their part in it, and want to change that because they cannot conscience it.
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