http://mondoweiss.net/2016/06/occupation-platform-beholden/

Last week the Democratic Party Platform drafting committee had a public hearing in Washington in which the Israeli-Palestinian issue was a source of great dispute. Bernie Sanders’ surrogates said that the platform must include references to the occupation and settlements. Hillary Clinton surrogates said they did not want a divisive platform, and one said that settlements and “what you refer to as occupation” shouldn’t be in there.

For those who think this issue ought to divide the Democratic Party, there was encouragement in Sanders proxy Cornel West’s declaration that the country is at a “turning point” on this issue. He advocated for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to alleviate the misery of Palestinians, even as Clinton surrogate Robert Wexler said that BDS is anti-Semitic. And West said that “for too long the Democratic Party has been beholden to AIPAC,” a reference to the Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
---
We must recognize that Israel’s continued occupation of Palestinian territories and its daily restrictions on the most basic political and civil liberties of the Palestinian people run contrary to fundamental American values. We must reject the idea that we have to sacrifice our values in order to stand with our allies.

The special relationship also “hinders” the U.S. relationships in the region, creating a “deep well of resentment from which extremists draw freely and profitably.”

http://972mag.com/french-pro-israel-group-threatens-to-scalp-thousands-of-bds-activists/120109/

The ‘Brigade Juive’ claims to have sent the threatening email to 8,000 activists worldwide, lamenting that since French law doesn’t do enough against boycott supporters it must take matters into its own hands.

A right-wing group calling itself the “Brigade Juive” (Jewish Brigade) says it sent thousands of threatening emails and messages to boycott Israel activists around the world overnight Thursday, promising to “put an end to BDS.” The messages were apparently sent primarily to activists in France, Australia and Israel.

The senders, who addressed recipients as “dear boycotters” (in French), warned (in English): “We have are a very particular set of skills, skills We have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make us a nightmare for people like you.” It concluded in French: “boycotters should understand, we will be scalping you one by one, group by group, organization by organization.” A message on its Facebook page clarified that it referred to scalping figuratively — and had “nothing to do with the Indian custom, of course.”

The email, sent to 8,000 email addresses according to the group’s Facebook page, included a link to a longer Facebook post in which the group claimed that BDS activists are fans of Hitler, Holocaust deniers and inciters of hate. It went on to explain that French law doesn’t do enough to stop boycott-supporting activists and organization operating in the country, so it must to take matters into its own hands.