US, Israel approve of endangering peace: Activist

Press TV has interviewed Paul Larudee, a member of the Free Palestine Movement in Berkeley, about US Vice President Joe Biden criticizing Israel’s settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. 

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: How important is it that Joe Biden said this at the AIPAC gathering?

Larudee: Well the attendees at the AIPAC gathering are generally not in favor of peace and they are in favor of settlements, they are not in favor of a two-state solution, so I think he said something they all want to hear that Israel is endangering the prospects for a two-state solution, that Israel is undermining peace, and so they should all be celebrating for this.

Press TV: And obviously not to downplay Joe Biden’s statement at AIPAC but certainly we have been hearing a lot of statements for many, many years when it comes to the Palestinian issue. Will any of this translate into real action?

Larudee: Well did Biden actually say that he was criticizing Israel for doing this? Because when he says that Israel is endangering peace, well doesn’t the United States endanger peace? So why …, it seems that there is no disagreement about Israel endangering peace. The question is whether they want to do it or not, and from everything we have seen both the United States and Israel want to endanger peace. They do not want peace there.

So it does not sound like criticism to me, it sounds like praise. They like the fact that Israel is endangering peace and there is nothing new in this. They have been saying for 20 years, 30 years, maybe even longer that Israel is endangering peace and what happens? They go on endangering peace. Peace recedes farther and farther away and nothing is done about it because the United States approves of destroying peace and so does Israel.   

Press TV: So then what exactly, what instruments do we have at our disposal right now? Obviously many people talk about BDS as being quite successful and many of the recent successes that people point to specific companies of course which are leaving or have already left some of those occupied territories?

Larudee: When you say what resources do we have, it depends what you include in “we.” The United States has the most powerful military on the face of the planet. If they want to get Israel to back off, Israel will back off, but obviously they do not.

So the “we” that we are talking about is those of us who do not have an army, a navy and a military to back us up but still we have resources and BDS is one of them but I think BDS does not go far enough. BDS has to apply to every Israeli citizen, every Israeli supporter, every Israeli product, not just … what is helping to enforce the occupation.

The entire country should be boycotted and no Israeli citizen should be allowed to travel anywhere in the world. They should be stopped and arrested and life should be made difficult for them. You have to do this in order to end the injustice that is happening to the Palestinians and the injustice that Israel deliberately pursues in having a racist state that is for … people who have a certain pedigree and not others.  

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