Clearly Israel isn’t alone among the depressingly long list of countries that blatantly abuse human rights. The reason why there’s such a push to divest etc. from Israel and not from, say, Zimbabwe or Congo is because the US government doesn’t throw billions of dollars and tons of hi-tech weaponry at Zimbabwe or Congo, but does indeed shower such largess on Israel — a largess that continues unabated regardless of the Netanyahu regime’s appalling actions. Thus those wishing to see Israel rejoin the league of civilized nations, recognizing that the US government will never change its support, look for other means to impose costs that may ultimately nudge Israel towards a less inhumane posture regarding its neighbors.

The terrible irony for Israel is that were it to act in a more humane manner, its enemies would have no excuse for their own anti-Israeli posture and would in turn come under pressure to behave in a more adequate manner. As it is, everyone’s sympathies lie with the Palestinians, whom the Israelis increasingly seem to be treating in the same manner that Hitler’s regime treated their own ancestors less than a century ago: forcing them into de facto ghettos, depriving them of liberty and work, confiscating their assets, and dehumanizing them. One must hope that the logical conclusion of this path is not reached once again to stain the annals of human history.