Boycotting is a stupid idea

I think that boycott’s are a stupid idea and they simply do not work. As soon as anybody talks to me about boycotts or I read about it, all kinds of flags go up signifying that the thinking behind the idea is rather patchy and its an emotional response. I move away quietly then.

Here’s a report on how Israel is coping with this. I quote:

On the face of it, the make-up of the Israeli economy should indeed render it acutely vulnerable to boycotts and divestment campaigns. More than most other countries, Israel relies on exports – which account for about 40 per cent of gross domestic product – to fuel economic growth and jobs. The country’s much-admired technology and software industry, meanwhile, is heavily dependent on venture capital funding from abroad, in particular the US.

Yet experts argue that looking at Israel’s reliance on foreign buyers, suppliers and financiers alone is not enough. “Yes, you can boycott Israeli oranges and dates. But what Israel is really good at is providing inputs into other products. That means if you want to boycott Israeli goods, you have to boycott computers and cellphones altogether,” says Dan Catarivas, the director of foreign trade at the Israeli Manufacturers’ Association.

That view is shared by Leonardo Leiderman, an economics professor and the chief economist at Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s biggest lender: “People are not really paying that much attention [to political criticism]. The number of delegations coming here from abroad, whether related to high-tech or the stock market or financial services, is quite amazing.”

And now OECD has invited Israel to join it. Go figure.

And just as I wrote this, I came across this link. Found it funny, lol, there is some paint dripping down her jumper, lol.

Also, read what Amitav Ghosh writes when some anti Israeli rage boys talked about him rejecting the Dan David Prize. He also thinks that boycotts are silly and he doesnt believe in them. And as typical, these people who ask for boycotts are mainly interested in sound arguments, just sound.