Trading with the enemy

I received this note in an email:

Israel firms look for opportunities in Gujarat

A business delegation from Israel is exploring opportunities for tie-ups with agro-business entrepreneurs in Gujarat, an official said on Wednesday.
According to Gujarat Agro-industries Corporation Managing Director D Thara, a 30-member delegation representing, among others, 17 companies of Israel is currently on a visit to the state to explore the possibility of business tie-ups in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, dairy sector and irrigation.
"We have given them a list of entrepreneurs with whom they can interact," Thara said.
Leader of the delegation Yitzhak Kiriati said: "There is considerable similarity between Gujarat and Israel in terms of agro-zones and water scarcity."
The delegation represents companies with business interests in sectors like water management and drip irrigation, agro-feed, dairy, fisheries, greenhouse, seeds and storage facility.
Israel's consul general in Mumbai Orna Sagiv, who was present at a conference in Ahmedabad Tuesday said that her country was looking for tie-up opportunities with Indian companies in their area of agricultural excellence.
The Gujarat government gave a presentation where it put forward its objective of doubling its irrigated cropped area from the present 3.1 million hectare of a total cropped area of 10.6 million hectare.

So I replied:

that's good news, these firms have some excellent intellectual property, technology and know-how that our people can do with, we should open up even more to these firms. can do nothing but improve our farmers, citizens and and and.

I got a comment saying that Israeli persecutes and does land grabbing, so the trade off is not justified. And my response was:

Well, I suppose it matters if one draws an equivalence between people who just happened to have the same passport. In other words, you are saying that every Israeli firm and person is jointly responsible for the persecutions carried out by Israel, yes?
if that is indeed the case, one will not deal with Thailand, Indonesia, China, Australia, US, Saudi Arabia, UK, etc. etc. which have been accused of the same kind of persecutions or landgrabbing or both. We see the same logic when people draw an equivalence between people who just happen to share religions. I dont think I will like it if somebody tells me that I am not going to be given a job because I happen to share the same sex, religion or nationality as some country, group or religion somewhere. There is a reason why collective punishment is wrong.
For that matter, we are, at this moment, using not less than 2-3 Israeli inventions or discoveries or patents or technologies in the areas of high-tech, biotechnology, medical devices, irrigation etc.. If one is using a mobile phone, using a computer, the internet, etc. etc. then the chances are that one is using Israeli tech. Obviously one has made the judgement call that its worth using Israeli tech :)
We use Israeli technology when it comes to saving the lives of our jawans. The amount of help, tech, knowledge and knowhow that our indian military forces have received from Israeli is massive. So many lives have already been saved. Israeli technology has been used extensively in our communications networks, our medical infrastructure, our research and development infrastructure, and so on and so forth.
So I guess what I am saying is that the question of trade off just does not exist :) The Israeli companies, just like the British, Thai, Chinese, Australian etc. companies all come to trade, we welcome them and we trade right back. :)

Its frankly very amusing how people go all narrow eyed and tunnel vision when it comes to blaming Israel. The fact that the moral equivalence they draw is frankly illogical is besides the point. And you see this time and time again, specially with Israel. And pretty much because every other country, group or religion is excluded, this behaviour is very frequently driven by anti semitism. Simple way to test it, take 100 people who have expressed anti Israeli thoughts, find out where they have exhibited similar thoughts for another country. The vast majority will not have done so for another country. Investigating deeper, you will find that the only difference is that the country is Jewish, hence the anti semitic accusation sticks.

#usefulidiots.

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.

Israel shrugs off boycott effort

I have written quite often that I find the boycott Israel efforts by the seriously brain damaged morons in the unions and other places in western society completely stupid. I mean, it doesnt do anything, doesnt change public policy, does not impact the actual facts on the ground and worst of all, actually screws up the principles of the bodies themselves (so when are these unions going to talk about China, for example? and when they dont, they clearly show that they are anti Semitic). Here’s another story on this. I quote:

…..But she concedes that the movement has few concrete results to show for its efforts so far.

That perception is shared on the Israeli side, where economists and business leaders say they have yet to register an impact on exports, growth and investment. Even Israel’s fruit growers and exporters, by far the most visible target for consumers outside the country, say they have not noticed any drop in demand for political reasons.

“In my experience, this is a marginal phenomenon at best,” says Ilan Eshel, the chief executive of the Israeli Fruit Growers’ Association. “It is simply a question of supply and demand: if avocados and mangos are missing in Europe, they take our avocados and mangos.”

Activists such as Ms Hunter stress that applying economic pressure to Israel was never expected to yield results in the short term. “Our model is [the campaign against apartheid-era] South Africa. But people forget that the boycott campaign didn’t happen overnight. It took time.”

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.

Frankly a stupid exercise but then, nobody said that these chaps were smart. Oh! did I forget that they are hypocrites that they dont go after the China’s of this world ? not to mention being pig ignorant and actually what I would call as lazy idiots. Lets go after dates because that’s easy and I can go speak to Tesco. All this while, i am happy to be treated using Israeli medical technology, I am happy to coordinate my campaign using Israeli technology such as computers, mobiles and software.

HT: Ram Narayan: Here’s a great book of how Israel does this. And check out this article. Bit of an Israeli head banging article, but fascinating to read.

Boycotts do not work, Ms. Klein

Typically, Ms. Naomi Klein, has proposed to go after Israel to boycott, divest and sanction, and the 4 points that she mentions are so blindingly stupid that one regrets reading it. But then, she has never been one to be intellectually incoherent and prefers to be the shout out and drown out school of political activism.

For example, would she agree to do punitive measures against the USA for doing the same thing with other countries? Would she agree for the same measures against USA for the still continued prevalence of racism? How about using this BDS tactic against USA? and how will you communicate without Israeli inventions? And to think that even sober people have brought into this idea that sanctions work. But then, there is no dearth in people following stupid crazy ideas. The idea that boycotts work is endlessly recycled. I mean, Israel has been boycotted for decades and frankly nothing much work. But then, we need useful idiots to back economic illiterate and politically stupid arguments.

If you go for the reductio ad absurdum principle, then you think that USA is supporting Israel, so it should be boycotted and since she is an American, presumably she is asking for a boycott of herself? Here's my previous full length essay refuting main argument.

Technorati Tags: boycotts,Israel,South Africa

Commonwealth threatens Pakistan and Pakistan yawns!

So Pakistan faces being suspended from the Commonwealth. Oh! my word. And what is that supposed to do? make the generals quake in their boots? You will withdraw British Council Library funding? Or not invite General Musharraf to the Commonwealth Heads of State Meeting?

Gosh, I am sure that makes him so worried. Silly gestures like this dont help anybody and makes the person making these gestures look utterly foolish and inconsequential. See the OIC and Arab League? Would you really listen to their inane foaming declarations? No, nobody does. Both bodies are a joke and full of hot air slogans.

The Commonwealth Commission should stop doing this rot and stick to cultural, educational, social and economic development. It does not have the clout to deal with politics (even the UN doesnt, how on earth does the Queen think that she will be able to twist Pakistan's arm?). Remember what happened last time Pakistan got suspended? The Commonwealth went crawling back to it. Supine!



All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

The Burma Boycott story – why boycotts are stupid and wont work!

A great column by Gideon Rachman in the FT on why Boycotts are stupid when we talk about Burma.

I quote:

It is very hard to make the argument for engagement with Burma now, with blood being shed on the streets. The Americans and Europeans clearly feel the need for some sort of symbolic act of repudiation of the Burmese government. That is understandable as an emotional reaction. But do not confuse sanctions with a real strategy to bring change and democracy to Burma.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Here we go again with another Boycott saga

I was sent this link about a Muslim organisation complaining about Muslim shops selling Israeli dates (as in the fruit). And now we have more boycotts of Sweden being planned here.

Boycotts do not work, they are a false placebo rather than something that will really aim at behaviour changes as I explored in detail here.

All this will do is to give them a warm cuddly feeling and that's it. Something akin to eating a bar of Mars chocolate.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Technorati Tags: Sweden , United Kingdom , Islam , Muslims , Boycott , Israel

Your ideological purity check questionnaire

I found this to be absolutely hilarious. This is an ideological purity check questionnaire for the participants at the British University "xxxxx conference". The good professor who wrote this up has been very tongue in cheek and its very humourous indeed. Some examples:


Dear Professor xxx,

Congratulations on your selection to deliver the keynote address at the Biannual Conference for Semi-Quantitative Methods in Socioeconomic Biophysics, which is being held this year at the University of Snoring, in Great Snoring, UK. The decision by colleagues in your field represents a richly deserved vote of confidence in your scientific accomplishments.

Before your invitation can be effected, it must clear the Political Bureau of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education. It has come to our attention that your home country is on our list of Zionist fascist oppressor states, which requires us to add a few questions to our usual formalities. Please fill out the enclosed questionnaire, and send it back. Specialists at the Congregation for the Doctors of Philosophy will examine your conscience and decide on your fitness to be accepted as an honorary civilised human being.

5. Who is the greatest English-language poet since Shakespeare?
a) T. S. Eliot
b) Ezra Pound
c) Amiri Baraka
d) Writing poetry after Deir Yassin is barbaric

7. What does Israel need to be truly democratic?
a) A queen
b) An Official Secrets Act
c) An empire
d) Baptism

.......

Do read the whole thing, it is worth reading. Hat tip to Judeosphere.

All this to be taken with a grain of piquant salt!!!

Economic War and Democratic Peace

Now here's some additional insight on the oft quoted statement that democracies rarely go to war with each other. The author has picked up on another dimension on this by checking out whether the democracies go after others via economic sanctions and they have found it is indeed so. Curiously, sanctions have been provent hat they rarely work, see here for an argument that economic boycotts and sanctions rarely work!

The graph is quite interesting with the democracies living in the lower part of the saddle!

Economic War and Democratic Peace
Cullen F. Goenner, Department of Economics, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA
Conflict Management and Peace Science, Volume 24, Issue 3 September 2007 , pages 171 - 182

Abstract
Research has shown that democracies rarely, if ever, engage each other in war and are less likely to have militarized disputes than when interacting with authoritarian regimes. Economic sanctions are an alternative to militarized conflict viewed by the masses as more acceptable. The conflict-inhibiting effects of democratic norms and institutions are thus weakened with respect to the use of sanctions. This paper examines whether a country's decision to initiate sanctions is influenced by its regime type as well as that of the potential target. The results for the period 1950 to 1990 indicate that the more democratic a country is, the more likely it is to initiate sanctions. Democracies, however, are less likely to target other democratic regimes relative to nondemocratic regimes. With respect to sanctions use, pairs of democracies are not peaceful.

Doctors slam British Medical Journal for boycott op-eds - Haaretz - Israel News

Doctors slam British Medical Journal for boycott op-eds - Haaretz - Israel News

Another example of the sheer stupidity of the British professional bodies. Just when the dust had hardly settled on a cantankerous episode of boycott Israel in the academics, lawyers and journalists, now its the turn of the doctors.

Here's a PRO article while here's an ANTI article

As it so happens, the survey has been closed. No doubt saner minds have shown up, but seriously, this harms the image of British intelligentsia as a hot bed of antisemitism. Nothing else explains the fact that Israel is solely targeted for this form of political action. Well, the Jews and Israeli's (and yes, I AM combining them purposefully) might be accustomed to this form of behaviour for couple of millinea, but I am shocked and utterly condemn the behaviour of the British professional bodies.

Update: 30 July, 2007. More than 10,000 academics oppose the silly UK academic boycott. Quite interesting, no?

Update: 30 July 2007. Here's what an ex-editor of the BMJ has to say. He seems to give credence to the fact that doctors need to debate this. Erm, no, they dont need to do that in their medical journal. That's for medicine. What's next? Whether or not houses should have sod roofs or not? The fact that something needs to be debated does not mean that every has to do it in every place!!!!!