Israel boycott could harm Palestinian cause, says Noam Chomsky

U.S. academic and political activist claims that the South Africa apartheid-Israel analogy is misleading.

By Haaretz | Jul. 3, 2014

The campaign calling to boycott Israel in an effort to change its policies toward the Palestinians risks backfiring because of limited support, leading American academic and political activist Noam Chomsky has said.

In an article posted in the Nation on Wednesday, Chomsky targets the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. He says that while there is international support for two of the movement's main goals – ending the occupation of territories captured in the 1967 war and granting equal rights to Arab citizens of Israel, there is no significant support for its third objective – allowing Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in Israel.

Insisting on the right of return for Palestinian 1948 refugees, he writes, "is a virtual guarantee of failure."

Calling to boycott Israeli academic institutions is also undesirable, he says, since it opens the door for "glass house" principle: "if we boycott Tel Aviv University because Israel violates human rights at home, then why not boycott Harvard because of far greater violations by the United States?" he asks.

in full: http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.602832