There is an international movement called BDS. Founded by Omar Barghouti, who curiously enough studied at Tel Aviv University, the group seeks to impose an international boycott on Israel, cultural and economic, whether the subject matter relates to Israel pre or post 1967 borders.

So if 171 non-governmental Palestinian organisations started off the protest, you would surely expect to see Palestinians running from any opportunity to support business with Israel?

And then along comes Hani Alami, 43 years old and star of the Palestinian telecom scene. Alami has just purchased 30% of Alvarion, former leader of the Israeli internet industry. According to a Hebrew article, the bidding closed around 48 million shekels, about US$14 million.

And this poses the question, who else is trading with Israel?

Well, there is an official trade agreement between the two sides, signed by the Prime Ministers. There is a chamber of commerce. There is around 3 billion dollars of recorded annual trade. And this is in addition to a plethora of on-the-ground projects that are rarely featured in the international media – sharing water resources, open networking by CEOs, and even occasionally at retail level.

BDS is an evil non-sequiter. Peace can only come through promoting cooperation and further mutual understanding, but BDS prohibits the two sides coming together. And if BDS was so interested in human rights, why does it not object to Palestinians trading with China or Russia, or why does it not complain about Hamas executions of criminals?

David Olesker wrote:

The most extreme detractors of the Jewish state assert that the key to understanding the region (and perhaps the whole world) is to understand that “Israel is the problem.” Like the classical antisemite, the ideological enemy of Israel sees Jews and Israel behind everything that is wrong in the world. Most reasonable people who are generally supportive of Israel’s rights can’t easily be seduced by the conceptual frame that defines a world where “Israel is the problem.” However, they can fall prey to its less extreme form of the frame, which can be summed up as “Israel is the issue.”……If Israel is the issue, then all problems can ultimately be resolved only by actions on Israel’s part .

And thus the circle would be closed, except that there are still enough Palestinians out there who understand that hatred serves…….. hatred. It never creates prosperity nor harmony. Witness Alami, who would happily show you how much Israeli tech has been installed into the Palestinian mobile and telecom sector in recent years.