JBIG smaller in JC

These Jews for boycotting Israeli goods get around. They were in the Jewish Chronicle on Friday, cheek by jowl with Linda Grant. It was the same letter as was published in the Guardian last week but, according to Deborah Fink on the Just Peace list, the JC omitted a crucial section. Here's what they published:

Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG) welcomes the courageous decision of the NUJ.

Given Israel¹s disregard for international law, pressure has to be increased by civil society if justice is to be achieved for Palestinians as well as Israelis. A boycott of Israeli goods is a legitimate form of grassroots action and is particularly appropriate as Israel is destroying the Palestinian economy. Such a boycott has been called for by peace organisations in Israel including the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

We believe that Israel¹s actions betray Jewish ethical traditions. The continuing occupation and exploitation of Palestinian land blocks a resolution to conflict in the Middle East and its global ramifications endanger world peace.

Deborah Fink, Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, Mike Cushman, Tony Greenstein, Deborah Maccoby, Professor Moshe Machover, Mike Marqusee, Ruth Tenne
jews4boycottingisraeligoods@yahoo.co.uk

Here's what they omitted to publish:

As a result of its illegal occupation, Israel is able to exploit Palestinian land and resources and flood the Palestinian market with its products while preventing Palestinian farmers from growing and trading their own. The separation barrier and expanding Jewish colonies have turned the West Bank into ghettoised enclaves separating Palestinians from their fields and workplaces. Olive trees are uprooted, harvests destroyed and produce left to rot in the fields. Border crossings, checkpoints, road blocks and a discriminatory permit system make it almost impossible to transport or trade what little is produced.

Just to show that whilst she gets my honest and legitimate comments banned from the Guardian, she is welcome here, here's Linda Grant's offering:

On Friday morning I read a letter from Roslyn Pine condemning Jonathan Freedland for his silence on the NUJ boycott of Israel (Letters, April 20).
Twenty-four hours earlier, I had read a lengthy article by Freedland in The Guardian condemning the NUJ for the vote. Some writers have a personal blog they update five times a day. Others don¹t, and use the pages of a national newspaper to express their views, in this case, The Guardian, whose editor had already condemned the motion in an interview with Ha'aretz, and published a leader in a similar vein.
Linda Grant, Ferme Park Road, London N8

So there you go you JC readers. Don't worry about the Guardian, zionists have complete editorial control.

Incidentally, on the subject of zionists and editorial control, I see that Linda Grant has now left the editorial board (or whatever it's called) of Engage. I remember a "chat" with her on Nick Cohen's site when she thanked Engage, I think it was, for campaigning against a boycott of Israel. She was a part of the Engage set up at the time. Now she appears not to be. What's all that about? Perhaps she doesn't want her objectivity compromised.