BDS Suddenly Very Circumspect On Sanctions Of Murderous Iran Regime

“A few hundred, or even a few thousand, dead civilians isn’t always a big deal. Context matters when calling for BDS.”

New York, December 5 – Leaders of the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement that targets Israel over treatment of Palestinians resorted to uncharacteristic rhetoric urging patience, skepticism, and detachment regarding ways to pressure the Tehran government over the brutality of its crackdown on protests, with a death toll in the last two weeks alone far greater than the number of Palestinians Israel has killed in the last five years.

BDS activists around the country encouraged adherents and supporters to wait for more information on the veracity of claims by human rights organizations that forces loyal to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have killed more than a thousand Iranians and injured, tortured, or imprisoned far more.

“We can’t rush into demanding the world take such drastic measures in the face of these developments,” explained self-proclaimed journalist Ali Abunimah, editor of Electronic Intifada. “That would be irresponsible and counterproductive. A few hundred, or even a few thousand, dead civilians isn’t always a big deal. Context matters when calling for BDS.”

Abunimah elaborated that while Iran has pursued ethnic cleansing in swaths of Syria and Iraq and settled its own Shiites in the now-vacated towns, such behavior does not rise to the threshold that the movement has set for demanding international action against the perpetrator. “There’s a key element to the equation that’s just not present, but if you look carefully at all of our other advocacy and protest actions you’ll be able to figure out what that common thread is.”

Code Pink activist Ariel Gold concurred. “Sanctions hurt the wrong people, always,” she noted. “It’s the beleaguered Iranian demonstrators and their families who will suffer most from sanctions, since the country’s elite decision-makers are insulated from what effects the masses or working class. And since sanctions only sometimes work, they would be definitely hurting innocents while only possibly affecting those responsible for the killings. Our organization cannot accept such blanket, indiscriminate policies that would hurt everyday Iranians even if the goal is a worthy one.”

“In any case we’re busy with our other advocacy right now, and I’m planning another goodwill trip to Iran next year,” she added. “The suffering in Xinjiang, Tibet, eastern Ukraine, Syria, Cyprus, Western Sahara, Venezuela, all around Africa, among other places, demonstrated the importance of focusing on the right priorities. Since Israel took over territories from Jordan, Syria, and Egypt, Palestinian life expectancy, education, economy, and all-around quality of life have all improved, and that’s not acceptable. BDS! But not for Iran. Bad idea.”

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