from some Lebanese analysis of the AUT boycott reversal, Rami G. Khouri
'One of the leaders of the boycott campaign, Palestinian engineer Omar
Barghouti, told me that the AUT rescinding of its decision to support the
boycott was neither surprising nor very damaging, given the intense
counter-campaign that has been launched against the boycott. He makes two
important points about the boycott campaign and its meaning today.
"We expected to lose the AUT support, given the intense campaign launched
by Israeli and pro-Israel groups, but we see this as losing a round that we
expected to lose. The more significant thing is that we are now in the ring
fighting. The issue of sanctions against Israel today is actively discussed
in the international community and the mainstream West, partly because it
is being modeled on the boycott of South Africa in the apartheid era. We
are saying that Israeli occupation and oppression of Palestinians is
immoral and illegal, that Israeli universities are complicit, and that this
situation cannot be allowed to persist with total impunity or by allowing
Israel to be exempt from international law requirements. The key
breakthrough we have made to date is to show that Israel is boycottable,
like South Africa was boycottable."'
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id
=15481
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