Unfortunate
ArchPundit
Apparently DP World is an enthusiastic supporter of the Israeli boycott by some Arab nations.
It’s illegal for those in the US to do business with those observing the boycott.
There’s been a bizarre meme popping up repeatedly since 9-11 that any criticism of Israel is anti-semetic. Never mind that one could be making the same criticism of the Sharon government as Ehud Barak makes, if one criticizes Israel some of the more annoying Bush sycophants have claimed that is anti-semitism.
For many of us who criticize some of Israel’s policies, but also understand that it is fundamentally a democracy and that it faces a damn near intractable problem with the Palestineans given the Palestineans inability to agree to non-violent solutions under a negotiating framework, this meme is especially maddening.
Of course, it gets more bizarre when certain (certainly not all and probably not a majority) evangelicals have become pseudo-Zionists and claim to be great friends of Israel, but only so that God can kill all the jews before the end times.
But now, the administration which has fed such claims over the last several years is in the position of defending a country and nation that is apparently dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state. And here. That is unacceptable. One can argue that such states might have to be dealt with in a complex world, but that doesn’t mean we need to be supporting their state run enterprises with American contracts.
How can one claim they are a great ally in defeating terrorism when UAE is an enthusiastic supporter of Hamas? I view the struggle between Israelis and Palestineans as far more complex than simply one side is good and one side is bad, but attacks on civilians, and even on military targets cannot be justified when non-violent alternatives are available.
Not only would this port deal mean the US is agreeing to work with a company that boycotts business with Israel, but it would be supporting a state run company in which the state is actively funding terrorism in Israel.