We recently discussed the highly disturbing cases of 12 protesters who called for the boycotting of Israeli products. France’s Supreme Court (the Court of Cassation) upheld the shocking prosecution of the twelve anti-Israel activists in a blow to free speech. Now, England is moving to bar local councils, public bodies and even university student unions from boycotting “unethical” companies.
All “publicly funded institutions” will lose the freedom to refuse to buy goods and services from companies involved in the arms trade, fossil fuels, tobacco products or Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn denounced the plan as “an attack on local democracy” and the denial of the right of people . . . to decisions free of central government political control. That includes withdrawal of investments or procurement on ethical and human rights grounds.”
The move appears to reflect a growing support for the boycott. In April, a French-owned multinational water, energy and waste management company, Veolia, closed done its operations in Israel. Whatever the merits of the movement, the question is whether the government should be moving to penalize those groups which support the movement. The sponsors insisted that support for the boycott “undermined good community relations, poisoned and polarised debate and fuelled anti-Semitism.” Of course, there is less debate when you bar support for one side of the dispute.
What do you think?
po: I realize that, by definition, an ultrasubcretin such as yourself wouldn’t be able to discern what the prefix “ultra” means and that you would also probably be too lazy to even look it up, assuming an ultrasubcretin knows how to look things up (which is doubtful), but have you made any progress at all in grasping the meaning of “ultra”? Working on such a simple thing in total isolation for several days might actually lead to you ultimately mastering the meaning of the prefix, and would at least help to elevate you, over time, to the level of a subcretin. I have confidence that with many such long hours of daily study on such matters that you will achieve that goal in perhaps as short a period as 7 years.
Ralph, again, there is reason that you, as an UBBERcretin, cannot see that ultrasubcretin is both inefficient and illogical. Your quest is quixotic, for the enemy, the ultrasubcretin is within, it is you.
It is as doomed to fail as George Costanza’s festivus.
Give it up.
Islamonazi, though just as idiotic, has still a certain je ne sais quoi…but ultrasubcrein just …just ain’t cutting it.
I’ll give you one more chance to break it down for us, cretin!
po – I am with Ralph on this one. Ultrasubcretin could be a word if you wanted it to be. Right now it is two against one.
Paul, if you say so, then I’ll bow before your wisdom. I am very accommodating.
Let’s split the baby, I accept it is a word and Ralph accepts it applies to only him.
Deal?
Deal!
Signed in blood, let’s not revisit it, Ralph, lest you confirm what Nick has been saying about you.