No Pepsi

Recently, an old college buddy sent me a video about a crazy bunch of aging Berkeley hippies storming a local Trader Joe's and defacing any product from Israel. (I'd post the video but it's on the boring side.)

They make the ridiculous claim that Israel is an Apartheid State. This despite the fact that Arabs living within the borders of Israel enjoy a higher standard of living than their brethren in Syria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and every other country in the region.

I'm not blind Israeli supporter, I'm well aware of the plight of Palestinians living in Gaza and the burden placed on those living in the West Bank. And yes, there have been civilian deaths due to hostilities. But I would argue, the horrible living conditions have been brought on by inept, absurdly-corrupt leaders who squandered billions dollars of international aid. And the causalities have been brought on by reckless rocket launches and suicide bombings.

And now the hippies don't want us to buy Israeli cheese, couscous or tangerines. But why stop there? Why not boycott the Israeli technology found in our computers, many of Intel's chip were actually developed in the Apartheid state. As were advances in cell phones, software, nano-technology, and much of today's medical equipment.

While we're at it, let's stop drinking Pepsi because as Arab propagandists would have us believe Pepsi is code for "Pay Each Penny Save Israel." Amazing that political discourse on the Arab street amounts to nothing more than 4th grade acronyms.

I find it most ironic that most of the activists in this ill-informed movement are women. If they are so interested in stamping out inequality and the abuse of human rights, perhaps they ought to look at the world just outside of Israel (8,522 square miles).

In the fertile crescent of Southern Asia and northern Africa (57,255,000 square miles), women are told what to wear, how to behave and what to think, more accurately what not to think, since many are denied an education. In addition to the beatings, the stonings and the rapings, according to the UN, up to 5,000 women lost their lives to honor killings.

That's all part of an Apartheid Culture.

Perhaps the Northern California do-gooders should redirect their energies? Maybe they should boycott imports from the Muslim World? Of course that could prove difficult. Apart from murder, intolerance and unrefined oil, nothing much is exported from those countries.