Sara Yael Hirschhorn
@SaraHirschhorn1 · Think tanks & analysts — US/UK
Sara Yael Hirschhorn is a University of Haifa historian and author specializing in Zionism, settlements, and identity politics.
In case you missed it, my op-ed for @Haaretz on the UK settlement goods boycott -- a misguided policy at best, a dangerous one at worst: https://t.co/J47AY77gEi
It's been a long time since I"ve written for @haaretzcom, my sincere thanks to @amirtibon for encouraging me to write - I am often accused of being a Cassandra of Israel politics, I hope this prediction about UK sanctions/elections doesn't come to pass! https://t.co/J47AY77gEi
One can only hope (?) that Israel may have a new gov't this fall and engage with it about serious policy concerns/dangerous escalations. Yet, a post-October 7 reality exists. It's time for the West to confront what that means for policymaking - this is pointless. END (18)
If this is true, and there is a complete detachment between policy goals and punitive (virtue-signal) action, then there's something deeper at work that isn't about stated goals, is about the State of Israel. And only the State of Israel, since UK is boycotting other goods (16)
Which brings us to the elephant (camel?) in the room: antisemitism. To recap - there is a real concern that economic boycotts have will have absolutely no impact -- or at best an extremely negative one -- on the policy goals about settler terror and two state solution. (15)
From the broader perspective of how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict works [already addressed] but I add: Intl law says settlements are illegal, not settlers. Economic boycotts blur the line btwn land & people for the longterm that is also a real opening toward violence (14)
Further, that these new sanctions, as far as we know so far, don't really address the institutions and ways money/good move or really differentiate between the toll on the economy of Israel within the Green Line, Israel beyond the Green Line, and the Palestinians? (13)
Does bureaucrat here understand how the Israeli economy works? That the lid of the container made in Ariel is filled by hummus from Ashkelon? That the economy of Israel and the West Bank (and even Gaza) are inextricably tied? That int'l trade doesn't work this way? (12)
First, timing: What good is announcing this policy, that only becomes a domestic election issue, rather than a serious conversation that (maybe) could have been had with a new/more constructive Israeli gov't? All accomplished here is helping right-wing/Bibi win again (11)
What did you think, wks before an Israeli election, other than accusations, at best, of a complete misunderstanding of how the Israeli economy (not to mention the I/P conflict!) work, and at worst, deep-seeded antagonism toward very existence of Israel and antisemitism (10)
The economic boycott is being sold as a "big stick" but in the total absence of a diplomatic process, 3 years after slaughter on both sides, and a West Bank PA at the verge of collapse, less Israeli couscous on UK shelves will not change the reality on the ground (8)
Moving on to economic boycott as a tool of the 2 state solution, especially given recent announcements about E1 and new outposts, please try to connect the dots for me from the post-October 7 reality on the ground to someone no longer buying Israeli dates at M&S. (7)
By the way, if you think economic boycotts of settler goods will somehow help Palestinians barricaded in homes in Qusra, or had olive grove torched, etc, think again. All that's likely to happen is Palestinians working in a factory/agriculture for settlers will lose jobs. (6)
The settler terror issue is just a nonstarter. It's the worst kind of virtual signal that does nothing to address the problem, only stirs the activists and voter base who support it, and weaponizes Israelis (both settlers and non-settlers) who oppose it against a minority (5)
UK (and other country) involvement writ large, but especially sanctions on economic goods that don't target specific actors of settler terror known to the Shin Bet, will have zero impact on deterring these activities yet will certainly energize their base to do more of it (4)
Settler terrorism is conducted by a very small (<2%) of the settler movement and not all the actors are even settlers themselves. This is an internal security and law enforcement issue that the Israeli gov't, due to coalitional politics and right-wing drift, is not stopping (3)
The first concern we need to address is to separate the issues - settler terrorism vs. settlement growth in areas that compromise a future 2 state solution and boycotts of economic goods - these matters do not naturally go together and the latter doesn't solve the former (2)
As a scholar both of settlements and of antisemitism, I feel uniquely qualified to opine on the UK (and now Canadian and French) ban on settlement goods - a thread 🧵: (1)
It seems to me there's a % of Israeli voters that if told Bibi himself went to the border at 3am on Oct 7, opened gates, and gave every HAMAS terrorist a handshake, they still wouldn't care or pay attention- Independent State Commission of Inquiry NOW!!! https://t.co/XAiL4dKlGA
Here a hint, people who are not antisemitic usually don't blame (((Mossad))) when uncomfortable revelations are brought to light:
You mean a bunch of ordinary Israelis gathered at the Kotel and prayed some penitential poems before the High Holy Days? The only thing they were storming was "Selichot"! PS:The firat Selichot prayer book was written in the 9th century, and the service was not canonized in any particular order until the 16th century...
Don't be distracted by the 30 yr old gossip- a phenomenal and frightening interview about what makes Bibi tick: Ruth Bar recounts Benjamin Netanyahu affair, Likud primaries, political ascent https://t.co/gGMiSYgEOV
Moshe Feiglin's comeback is really something - To understand how a settler anti-Oslo activist sentenced to sedition against the State of Israel (!) is back in politics, see chapter 5 of my book "City on a Hilltop: American Jews and the Israeli Settler Movement" @Harvard_Press!
I don't care if it's owned by Jews for Jesus or Martians, there must be a zero-tolerance policy for Haredim bullying a business out of its lawful hours of operation: Jerusalem's Cafe Basimta says it may close on Saturdays amid weekly Haredi protests https://t.co/UAb3Elu8yG
If this footage is verified, we are one small "whoopsie" away from Eilat being hit and being right back into a regional war:
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