by Abed Almaala
Someday soon, Jordan will be free and we will build a new system that will work closely with Israel, through partnership, not competition, and through true cooperation rather than just a cold peace.
As a Jordanian
politician, I feel obligated to speak out against the anti-Israel
boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and its effect on the Middle
East and the world.
I represent the point
of view and interests of the Jordanian people. By doing so, I have
freedom that many others may not. My views on BDS are unbiased and
balanced because I am not an Israeli and nobody could accuse me of
being anti-Arab.
Let me be clear: BDS is
a reckless act of hatred that threatens the security and stability of
not only Israel, but also my country, Jordan, and the entire Middle
East.
BDS seeks to attack and
isolate Israel. But what is Israel's importance to Jordan, and to the
world? Why should anyone care if Israel is hurt?
This is what the president of the Jordanian opposition, Mudar Zahran, wrote last year in Israel Hayom:
"If the day were to come when Israel falls, Jordan, Egypt and many
others would fall, too, and Westerners would be begging Iran for oil.
"We can hate Israel as much as we like, but we must realize that without it, we too would be gone.
"
Israel is at the front
of the war against terror in our region, and if Israel is hurt, we all
will suffer, and Jordan will suffer the most.
Therefore, BDS is a
threat to us all -- a threat to America as much as it is a threat to
Israel, Jordan and our Palestinian brothers.
BDS claims to target
Israel because Israel oppresses the Palestinians. If so, why does BDS
never target Jordan's government, which oppresses and destroys the lives
of the majority of Jordanians of Palestinian origins, and where many
of my own people, the Bedouin Jordanians, go hungry?
Why does BDS never
boycott Lebanon, where Palestinians are banned from working as taxi
drivers? Why does it not boycott Syria, where President Bashar Assad has
killed thousands of Palestinians in Yarmouk camp?
BDS, admit it: You are racists and anti-Semites.
Your activities are a
threat to Jordan, and it is my mission as Jordan's shadow commerce
secretary to enhance, expand, strengthen and promote trade between my
country and Israel.
But BDS is not alone.
It could not survive without support, both financial and political, and
we in the Jordanian opposition have information that BDS receives
support of various kinds from Arab dictators.
From day one, Arab
rulers have been telling us that Israeli is the enemy, and that we
should forget about our own hungry children and our ruthless
governments and focus exclusively on hating and killing Jews.
BDS promotes the very same bankrupt concepts.
I say, BDS: Shame on you.
Shame on you for attacking the only country that offers jobs to my Palestinian brothers.
Shame on you for attacking the country that provides free health care for Palestinian cancer patients.
Shame on you for selling your souls to Arab regimes.
As a Muslim, I know
that since my Prophet Muhammad was welcomed in Medina by the Arabs and
the Jews, he traded with and even signed a mutual defense agreement
with the Jews.
And as a Jordanian and a
member of Jordan's opposition, it is time we stopped talking about
peace and began living peace through economic prosperity; this is our
promise and our mission.
BDS is not only hateful
and shameful, but also strengthens Arab dictators who hypocritically
criticize Israel for alleged human rights violations when they,
themselves, are the world's top human rights violators.
A man is known by the
company he keeps; if the biggest supporters of BDS are Arab and Muslim
dictators, what does this say about BDS?
We Arabs have boycotted
Israel for 70 years. Where has it gotten us? We are light-years behind
Israel in technology and the economy. We will stop this in Jordan and
begin learning from our Israel friends.
This dream is not new.
It was the dream of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who saw
economic prosperity as the road to peace. That is why I was honored to
organize a memorial event for him in the U.S. Congress when he was
killed, more than 20 years ago.
Let us make his memory
live through action. Let us turn the lost hopes into a beautiful
reality, and disappointment into happiness. And let us all put BDS
where it belongs, in the dust bin of history.
Someday soon, Jordan
will be free and we will build a new system that will work closely with
Israel, through partnership, not competition, and through true
cooperation rather than just a cold peace.
And we will turn Jordan
into a model for Arab countries to follow through cooperation with our
Israeli brothers and sisters and the blessings of our American
friends.
Am Yisrael Chai. Am Yarden Chai.
Abed Almaala is a member of the Jordanian Opposition Coalition.
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=17109
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