I've been meaning to post in support of Naomi Klein's call in the Guardian for an international boycott of Israel (a move that seems to be having some effect). But while I support refusing to buy Israeli goods as a way of pressuring the Israeli government, I can't support the actions of the cafe owners in Invercargill and now Kaikoura in banning Israelis from their premises. Quite apart from the obvious illegality of the move (nationality is a prohibited ground of discrimination in the Human Rights Act, as is political opinion), its also pointless, counterproductive, and just plain shitty. Random Israeli civilians on holiday aren't representatives of their government; punishing them makes about as much sense as, oh, bombing random Palestinian civilians in response to the actions of Hamas. And of course it gives the Israeli PR machine more grist for their "it's all anti-Semitism so we can murder whoever we want" spin job.
(See also: The Hand Mirror)
