Image above: Better Place's CEO Moshe Kaplinksy at the first of his electric parking lots in Israel. From (http://sunhomedesign.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/the-end-of-petroleum-for-personal-transportation).
DEFINITION: Chutzpah; (noun, slang) 1. 1. unmitigated effrontery or impudence; gall. (origin - Yiddish khustpa - Aram huspa) unmitigated (http://www.disappearednews.com/2010/06/israel-redefines-chutzpah.html)
My usual working definition of the popular Yiddish word “chutzpah” is: A man kills both his parents and then appeals to the judge for mercy because he is an orphan.”
That’s still the best I’ve seen, but Israel is coming up with its own definition. Because of its tight, damaging and illegal blockade of Gaza, the boycott Israel movement is gaining some steam around the world, and there is a separate boycott movement in the West Bank. So now a bill introduced in the Israeli parliament would force the Palestinian Authority to compensate Israel for its losses due to boycotts.
The Land of Israel, a right-wing parliamentary lobby group committed to Jewish settlement of the West Bank, submitted the bill with the support of 25 politicians from right wing and centrist parties. If approved, it could theoretically force the Palestinian Authority (PA) to pay thousands of dollars in compensation to Jewish businesses affected by the Fayyad-led boycott campaign, a scenario that would likely spark furious reaction from Palestinians.
The move comes amid a growing global backlash against Israeli policies, which has intensified since Israel launched its bloody raid on a Turkish-led humanitarian convoy trying to breach the blockade of the Gaza Strip. [The Independent (UK), Israel plans to send bill to Palestinians over boycotts, 6/11/2010]
For more information on the worldwide Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, see the website for the Global BDS Movement. For an article on the boycott of goods made in the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, see Fayyad Challenges Israelis With Boycott of Settler-Made Goods (Bloomberg/Business Week, 6/11/2010).
It may be hard to find Israel-made products in Hawaii to boycott. One obvious target, not here yet, will be one of the darling electric vehicle projects embraced by Governor Lingle and DBEDT. Better Place is an Israeli company that will manufacture electric vehicles and charging stations to be used in Hawaii.
More about Better Place in this article. According to the article, Better Place has already installed charging stations at illegal settlements in the West Bank. Palestinians themselves are not even allowed to use those roads.
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