Judea-Samaria boycott and the mark of Cain

My first reaction to the latest controversial Meretz-sponsored bill in the Israeli parliament was, mark of Cain.

The original meaning of the phrase in Genesis is a sign of safety and protection for Cain, a warning to others that killing will him provoke the vengeance of G-d, that if Cain is harmed it will only boomerang sevenfold. Over time, and throughout Christian history, due to prevalent anti-Semitism, the phrase was interpreted negatively and in today’s parlance has come to mean a mark of shame.

Zahava Gal-On of the left-wing Meretz party has proposed a bill that all would require food manufacturers to mark where their product was made, distinguishing between Israel and Judea and Samaria, the West Bank, as if that was not part of Israel.

I have heard responses from the settlement community, sarcastically thanking Gal-On for helping them out. Now they will know how to limit their purchases strictly to products manufactured in the West Bank. This reversal in interpretation of the purpose of the bill is not the response shared by those in the leadership, who can’t afford the luxury of coping humorously with very serious situation.

While Israel is faced with BDS pressure from the outside, now it has reached the point where this destructive pressure is being mounted from the inside as well.

If politically left-leaning Israelis prefer not to purchase products manufactured in the West Bank, so be it. The economic wisdom of that for both Israelis and Palestinians is, at best, questionable, but let people decide for themselves in their personal lives. It’s their business.

But to suggest formalizing a divide in the country; to suggest officially marking products — which, let’s face it, is only one step away from formally marking people —at a time when the threat of BDS is real, is downright disturbing. It gives BDS credibility.

Replace for a moment marking products manufactured by settlers in the West Bank with marking Arab produce in the territories. It is simply outrageous.