BDS Movement Reconsidered Because Of South African Drought

BDS Movement Reconsidered Because Of South African Drought:Â In this episode, we will be talking with Mitch Danzig on the BDS Movement. There is a movement of not just countries neighboring Israel but around the world that has been brought into this effort to try and hurt Israel through this BDS movement. Tune in now to learn what the BDS movement is and how we can help Israel.

Air Date:Â 05/23/2018

Guest: Mitch Danzig

On-air Personalities: David Barton, Rick Green, and Tim Barton

WallBuilders | American historical events, founding fathers, historical documents, books, videos, CDs, tapes, David Barton’s speaking schedule.
Coupons: Use promo code WBL17 to receive 10% off your entire order on ALL WallBuilders Store Products!!
Leadership Training Program
TEAM
Stand With Us
Helpful links:

Listen:

Download: Click Here

Transcription note: Â As a courtesy for our listeners’ enjoyment, we are providing a transcription of this podcast. Transcription will be released shortly. However, as this is transcribed from a live talk show, words and sentence structure were not altered to fit grammatical, written norms in order to preserve the integrity of the actual dialogue between the speakers. Additionally, names may be misspelled or we might use an asterisk to indicate a missing word because of the difficulty in understanding the speaker at times. We apologize in advance.

Faith And The Culture

Rick:

Welcome to the intersection of faith and the culture. This is WallBuilders Live! We”re talking about the day”s hottest topics on policy, faith, and the culture. All of it from a biblical, historical, and constitutional perspective.

We’re here with David Barton, America’s premier historian and the founder of WallBuilders. Also, Tim Barton, national speaker, pastor, and president of WallBuilders. My name is Rick Green, I’m a former Texas legislator.

You can find out more about us at WallBuildersLive.com, that’s our radio site. And then also WallBuilders.com where we’ve got a lot of great tools for you to equip, and inspire, and educate, you and your family. Check that out at WallBuilders.com.

Later in the program Mitch Danzig will be back with us. He was with us a week or two ago talking about the Saudi prince and some of the amazing comments that have been made and just some interesting things happening in the Middle East. And actually, I gained a great new perspective on some of the history on the Middle East, so looking forward to having him with us later in the program as well.

Right now with David and Tim. And guys, Mitch will be with us later to touch on some of this, but last time we had him on we talked about specifically in the Middle East. But the Israeli issues, really, are international and some of it we’ve covered on the program, we’ve had guests talk about the BDS movement, maybe we can explain what that is. But there’s really an effort of countries not just neighboring Israel, but around the world that have been brought into this effort to try to hurt Israel through this BDS movement.

David:

South Africa is one of those nations. South Africa has gone through a lot of turmoil in recent decades. When they came out under apartheid, I think those in 1994, Nelson Mandela became the president and so they were no longer a white minority nation or white run minority nation when a majority of black folks were there.

History of the ANC and BDS Movement

David:

So, it is now popular vote, universal suffrage across the nation, everybody is allowed to be elected. But they’ve had a lot of trouble with corruption. The ANC party was the African National Congress that had been the party there for, I don’t know, 90 years there abouts. I think they go back to 1920 or somewhere in that vicinity – 90-100 years. And now they’ve even had splits in recent years because of the close ties with the Communist Party, and now they’ve started seizing private property, and so there’s still a lot of scandals going on in South Africa.

Generally the ANC gets about 60 or 65 percent of the vote, 68 percent of the vote. And that number is falling. But as part of South Africa being somewhat in that liberal direction, communist ties, or whatever you want to say, maybe inclinations, they see Israel as an enemy. And they see Israel as what South Africa used to be. They claim that Israel is an apartheid state, that what they’re doing to Palestinians is what white folks did to them as blacks. And their heart is with the Palestinians and so they’re against Israel.

So, they joined the BDS movement, which BDS stands for Boycott Divestiture and Sanction. And so what they say is Israel is an apartheid nation, it”s a racist nation, they are brutal to the Palestinians, so every nation in the world, we call on you to boycott any Israeli products. Anything that”s made Israel, don’t buy it. Then, any kind of economic holdings you have to divest yourself from them. If you’re part of an investment group and they have any holdings in Israel you divest from that.

And then number three is you need to sanction Israel just like we do to North Korea, just like we do to Iran. We need to have sanctions just like Syria.

South Africa In a Tough Spot

David:

So, that’s BDS. And here South Africa is part of that movement. Well, it turns out South Africa in the midst of all of its problems has just about run out of water. And in a nation of millions, and millions, and millions, to run out of water – that’s a serious problem. Guess who holds the solution that they need to be able to have water in the nation?

Rick:

The very people they don’t want to do business.

David:

That’s right. It”s the technology of Israel. Israel has technology that will get South Africa out of its problems. Now, when you think Israel is your enemy and they’ve got the solution that allows you to survive as a nation, what do you do? And so South Africa is really in a tough spot now. All these people they claim to hate, and claim are so racist, and that they claim are so anti humanitarian, they’re the ones saying to South Africa, “We’ve got the humanitarian stuff you need. We”ve got the solutions for your problem and we’re willing to help you fix your problem.”

So, South Africa is in an interesting spot right now and Mitch Danzig who watches over so many things that involve Israel and he’s with a group called Training Education About the Middle East. But he also is with StandWithUs which is friends of Israel. He has a great perspective on what’s going on in Africa.

Rick:

Mitch Danzig back with us when we return. Stay with us. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Leadership Training Program

Rick:

Hey, friends! We’ve got a great program to share with you today. It”s the WallBuilders Leadership Training Program and it’s an opportunity for 18 to 25 year olds to come spend two weeks diving into the original documents we’re always talking about here on WallBuilders Live.

Tim, you’ve already been doing this a couple of summers and seen the results of young people coming to this program. We’re going to see more of them coming this year.

Tim:

Yeah, Rick, it”s something that”s been cool to see the transformation with young people coming in. The emphasis, for us, largely is a pursuit of truth. We have a culture that doesn’t know what truth is. We don’t know what biblical truth is, or constitutional truth, or the American heritage that we have. And so we really dive into original documents and say, “Well, what did they actually write? What did they actually do? Not just what did somebody say, what is actually true, and the truth is what’s transformational.

David:

Yeah, guys. This really is a remarkable opportunity. And for those who want to spend time with us and spend time in the original documents, this is a great program. So, if you’re from 18 to 25, or you know someone who’s 18 to 25, send them to sign up for one of our three sessions this summer at WallBuilders.com/leadershiptraining.

Moment From America”s History

David:

This is David Barton with another moment from America’s history. Federal courts have made several amazing rulings recently. Ordering the removal of a cross from a cemetery, banning religious holiday displays, removing the Ten Commandments from public view, prohibiting student prayers whether verbal or silent, and numerous other similar restrictive rulings.

As one current justices noted, “The Supreme Court has now become quote, a national board of theology.” Our Founding Fathers would be astounded. They designed the first amendment to keep the federal courts completely out of this issue.

As Thomas Jefferson forcefully declared, “I consider the federal government as prohibited by the Constitution from meddling with religious exercises. The first amendment was designed to keep decisions on religious expression out of the federal courts and in the hands of the local communities.” For more information on God’s hand in American history contact WallBuilders at 1-800-8-REBUILD.

South Africa Changing Their Tune?

Rick:

Welcome back. Thanks for staying with us today. Mitch Danzig with us. We”ve got some great programs we’re looking to do with him this week on the issue of Israel. And the first one has to do with what South Africa has now decided to change their tune with regard to purchasing, or potentially purchasing, some of the tools from Israel with regard to water. Mitch, good to have you, sir. Thanks for coming on.

Mitch Danzig:

No, thank you for having me, Rick.

Rick:

Hey, man, so initially South Africa said, “We don’t care if you’re the best in the business at getting water and providing it to your folks. We’re not going to buy from you because we’re part of this boycott Israel.” Why are they changing their tune?

Mitch Danzig:

Well, frankly, because they’re running out of water. It’s truly incomprehensible to think of it. But talking about a city like Capetown, South Africa which is a city that’s home to about 4 million people literally running out of water by the middle of the summer. It’s difficult to imagine, but South Africa, it’s kind of the tip of the spear. We’re looking at a water crisis worldwide.

And those who want to boycott Israel, or not do business with Israel because they’re buying into the really disgusting anti-semitic propaganda of the BDS movement. Or the appropriation of suffering claims by the Palestinians, when they are the creators of their own suffering so to speak. Think about that, like how much do they want to join in on this anti-semitic boycott at their own expense?

Rick:

And I didn’t realize that South Africa had really bought into that. So they’d kind of been on that bandwagon I guess for the last year or two.

It Would Have Been Unimaginable

Mitch Danzig:

Unfortunately, it’s been longer than that. But, yeah, the ANC which is the controlling party in South Africa has been, despite the fact that many, many, South Africans recognise that the BDS and Palestinian claims that Israel is an apartheid state like South Africa was before apartheid, the apartheid regime that collapsed is ludicrous. And it’s actually an offense to those who suffered under apartheid in South Africa to say that.

The greatest evidence of that, of course, is the fact that in South Africa during the time of apartheid it would have been unimaginable even conceive of an indigenous African being on the Supreme Court in South Africa. Let alone sentencing the white South African head of state to jail. Yet in Israel, an arab member of Israel’s supreme court sentenced the former Jewish president of the country to jail.

Rick:

Wow.

Mitch Danzig:

So, if anything speaks to the lie of the apartheid claim against Israel that certainly does. And then getting back to the technology issue–

Rick:

Hey wait, before you go there, Mitch, let me just ask you one more on the propaganda side of it. So there I guess South Africa has been somewhat like our college campuses here in the US from the standpoint of they’ve only been getting one side maybe for a while and they bought that lie. Is there an effort to turn that tide and tell the truth about how the Israeli government works and the participation of, frankly, everyone and how different it is? Is that happening at all, is there a concentrated effort there? Or do you know?

Mitch Danzig:

Yeah, there’s definitely an effort. I’m personally a member of a group called Stand with Us which fights to combat the anti-semitic propaganda that’s out there, the hypocrisy and double standards that are imposed on Israel. Including with respect to these types of claims like apartheid state and coloniser and those kind of things.

The Problem

Mitch Danzig:

But the problem with those things are first of all is that they are buzzwords. And you throw out a buzzword like apartheid, or coloniser, or war crime, and that’s what these people do. That’s what this side does.

Rick:

And then the label sticks.

Mitch Danzig:

And then every one of those buzzwords requires a one three sentence response at least.

Rick:

Yeah.

Mitch Danzig:

And people– we live in an age where people have a 22 second attention span.

Rick:

Richt, right.

Mitch Danzig:

It”s hard to fight that.

Rick:

Yeah.

Mitch Danzig:

We are making an effort. I know, for example, that Stand With Us has actually sent Ethiopian Jewish students from Israel to South Africa to speak at these college campuses in South Africa.

Rick:

Wow.

Mitch Danzig:

To tell them, “My ancestors, right, my parents, my grandparents, are the only Africans brought out of Africa – not to be slaves, but to be free citizens in the land of Israel.”

Rick:

Wow.

It”s Powerful When They Speak to That

Mitch Danzig:

It’s powerful when they speak to that.

Rick:

No doubt.

Mitch Danzig:

We are still climbing uphill when it comes to that.

Rick:

Yeah, yeah. Okay, cool. I was just curious – that sounds great. So, the same effort– I didn’t realize you all are active there as well just like what you’re doing on college campuses in the U.S..

Mitch Danzig:

Most certainly.

Rick:

You were vets because that technology and I took us back down the rabbit trail. So, back to that part.

Mitch Danzig:

Yeah, look, all countries – especially those countries in Africa and in other places where they need the water technology the most like India. Are in fact, many of them are coming to the realization that a) the Arab propaganda and the far left propaganda against Israel is just that. Probably from a more practical standpoint is that they need Israel way more than they need to succumb to this propaganda.

Rick:

Yeah.

Technology at a Level Like No Other

Mitch Danzig:

Israel”s water technology is at a level that is like no other. It’s why Israel today is a country that has ten times the population it had in 1948. Something like 40 times the economic output it had in 1948. And half of the water fall, half the rainfall that it had in 1948. Yet, it has a surplus of water such that it could provide the Arabs in Judea and Samaria with water. It can provide Jordan with water, right.

Rick:

Wow.

Mitch Danzig:

So, it has a water surplus because of all the technology. And it’s not just the desalinization plant, for example. Which even now Israel has already provided to California. There’s a plant in Carlsbad, California that”s an Israeli desalinization plant that’s going to enable California agriculture to use desalinated water, ocean water, in a drought ridden state like California. Which provides something like a third of America’s agriculture, right, to the country.

So, America is benefiting from this directly. But not only this desalinization plant, it”s all kinds of other technology. Just one example. In the average American city, in the average European city, we lose something like 30 to 40 percent of our water to– after we’ve already paid and spent the energy on filtering it, to leaks in our pipes.

Rick:

Wow.

Mitch Danzig:

In third world countries that number is closer to 60 to 65 percent. In Israel’s major cities now like Jerusalem, it’s 11 percent. Because they employ technology that finds those leaks and seals them.

Rick:

Wow.

The Best in the World

Mitch Danzig:

Israel also has technology that enables it to recycle its water. Israel’s currently recycling 89 percent of its water. The next best country in the world is at 13 percent. They”re literally leading the world in helping to capture and use our most precious resource now and one that’s disappearing fast – water.

Rick:

It”s almost like you”ve got a– I’m picturing in a movie the bad guy that’s been hurt or whatever and now the good guy is coming to administer medical aid to them. And they reluctantly, gritting their teeth, right,–

Mitch Danzig:

Yeah.

Rick:

–except the aid. And a lot of these folks that jumped on this BDS bandwagon and have been maybe even some of the more vocal ones are going to have to just bite their tongue and say, “Okay, you’re right, you’ve got the best solution. I’m going to have to do business with you even though I didn’t want to.” That’s kind of starting to happen.

Mitch Danzig:

Oh, of course. I urge your listeners to go look up Innovation Africa. It’s an Israeli entity that is bringing water resources directly to African villages. In Uganda there are African villages that have been drinking essentially sewage water and their people are dying and they’re starving because they can’t even– they don”t have water that lets them plant for fruits and vegetables. Innovation Africa is going into these places, they’re building for them solar power water facilities that are literally bringing water, clean water, into villages that have never had it.

Rick:

Man, man. Phenomenal.

Mitch Danzig:

And it’s changing their lives.

Crying Uncle?

Rick:

And so do you think the South Africa piece are they just considering at this point or are they finally crying uncle and saying, “Okay, Â yes, we need your help.”

Mitch Danzig:

Well, I think it’s a difficult– I don’t know the honest answer.

Rick:

Yeah.

Mitch Danzig:

My expectation, based on what we’re hearing in the media, what we’re seeing, is that kind of quietly they’re trying to get that help now without appearing to have to eat too many of their words from before, right.

Rick:

Right.

Mitch Danzig:

And try to save some face. But they’re in a desperate situation. And they need every aspect of the Israeli technological solutions that are out there.

Rick:

Yeah, no doubt. Well, Mitch, we appreciate your expertise. Out of time for today though, man. We appreciate your time.

Mitch Danzig:

My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Rick:

Stay with us, folks. We”ll be right back with David and Tim Barton.

Share a veteran’s story

We Want To Hear Your Vet Story

Rick:

Hey friends! If you have been listening to WallBuilders Live for very long at all, you know how much we respect our veterans and how appreciative we are of the sacrifice they make to make our freedoms possible. One of the ways that we love to honor those veterans is to tell their stories here on WallBuilders Live. Â Once in awhile, we get an opportunity to interview veterans that have served on those front lines that have made incredible sacrifices have amazing stories that we want to share with the American people.

One of the very special things we get to do is interview World War II veterans. You’ve heard those interviews here on WallBuilders Live, from folks that were in the Band of Brothers, to folks like Edgar Harrell that survived the Indianapolis to so many other great stories you heard on WallBuilders Live.

You have friends and family that also served. Â If you have World War II veterans in your family that you would like to have their story shared here on WallBuilders Live, please e-mail us at [email protected]. Â Give us a brief summary of the story and we’ll set up an interview. Thanks so much for sharing here on WallBuilders Live!

Rick:

We”re back on WallBuilders Live. Thanks to Mitch Danzig for joining us once again today. We’re back with David and Tim Barton. And, guys, again, just a wealth of information from Mitch. I love learning from this guy, this good stuff. But I had no idea South Africa was even paying attention to the Israeli situation or that they were in the trouble that they were in. So, it tells you how much I pay attention to international news.

But it sounds like they’re softening, just as Mitch said, out of a need. It’s not necessarily that their philosophy has changed, but they don’t have anywhere else to turn. They’ve got to do this.

David:

Hey, man, you’re an American, you don’t care anything that goes on outside the continental 48. You don’t even know where Hawaii and Alaska is. You”re just an average American.

Rick:

I”ve been accused of that. Yep, sometimes it”s true actually.

Taking Land From White Farmers?

Tim:

But, Rick, to your point it is interesting. South Africa was in the news in the last couple of months, but it was because there was that vote to take away land from white farmers – is kind of what the headline read. And so really we just– we don’t hear much about their position. And if you’re not plugged in politically you really don’t know much even about how Israel is perceived by the world.

But certainly we don’t hear South Africa’s position on Israel. That’s not a normal thing. You hear about the Muslim nations that surround Israel if you’re a friend of Israel, if you follow and care about kind of some of the politics in Israel, but you certainly don’t hear about South Africa.But, yeah, it’s fascinating that in times of need you can put away bias and go, “You know what? I actually kind of need some help in this scenario and who is someone that can help me?”

And I had no idea the levels of technology even that Israel has when it comes to water. We talk about Israel, I feel like fairly often–

David:

And by the way, before you get into water I was just looking– I kind of enjoy my GPS based navigation, but I had no idea that Israel is the one who developed GPS based navigation.

Rick:

I didn’t know that.

So Much of What We Do Was Developed in Israel

David:

Can I point out that they’re the ones who developed the flash drive, that that came from Israel. And what we’re doing now with driver assistance systems that avoid collisions, collision avoidance devices in cars, that’s from Israel. As was instant messaging came from Israel. I started looking and going, “My gosh, so much of what we do in America actually was developed in Israel.”

And that was the point I was going to make is when you start looking even at something like water, we don’t realize how many technological discoveries and breakthroughs have come from Israel. Certainly, when things, as you mentioned, that we enjoy– kind of one of those first world things you enjoy benefits and blessings and don’t always recognize where they come from. Which certainly, even as Christians one of the things we even point out in some of our presentations is we are so blessed to be Americans. And we’ve failed to recognize sometimes God’s great blessings on America because we take them for granted.

Well, if you live in South Africa one of the things as an American we take for granted is the fact that we turn on water, we have water that comes out of the faucet. That’s a normal natural thing for us. For many nations that is not always normal and natural. And even the idea that we have clean drinking water, you can go to almost any faucet in America and have clean drinking water. Certainly not true for most nations.

But then hearing what Israel does when it comes to technology for even helping their pipes not leak. I had no idea how much water was lost, in some sense is wasted, because of leaky pipes. I had never heard that before. That’s astounding to me. But Israel has technology they can go and find the link to those pipes and they can clean those up. It’s only 11 percent of their water actually is lost or wasted in their pipes. It’s just crazy to me what Israel has done and certainly overlooked.

But it’s great to see that in times of need people are able to put away their bias and go, “Hey, can you help us? We’d like to have some water to drink. We’d like to stay alive and you’re pretty good at this. Can you help us out?” It’s a neat to see South Africa’s position at least formally changing– well, and in a sense a formality that they have to be able to be friends to work this deal out. But I had no idea all the things he’s pointing out when it comes to water and Israel.

Rick:

And very cool to see God blessing Israel through this ingenuity and these inventions. Hey guys, quick break. We’ll be right back. Stay with us, folks. You’re listening to WallBuilders Live.

Moment From American History

This is Tim Barton from WallBuilders with another moment from American history. Alexis De Tocqueville, a political official from France, traveled to the United States in 1831 and penned his observations in the now famous book, “Democracy In America.”

Being from France, what he found in America was completely unexpected to him. He reported, “Upon my arrival in the United States, the religious aspect of the country was the first thing that struck my attention. And the longer I stayed there the more I perceived the great political consequences resulting from this. In France I had almost always seen the spirit of religion and the spirit of freedom marching in opposite directions. But in America I found that they were intimately united and that they reigned in common over the same country.”

Did Tocqueville recognized that it was Biblical Christianity and the morals it produced that made America great? For more information about Alexis Tocqueville and the positive influence of Christianity in early America go to WallBuilders.com.

Rick:

Thanks for staying with us here on WallBuilders Live. Final segment today and thanks to Mitch Danzig, by the way, for joining us earlier in the program. David, Tim, back on South Africa topic. Sorry I interrupted you to hit that break.

David:

Well, we were talking about Israel and technology. And I kept looking and it turns out Israel also did the ability to transmit the voice over the Internet. They did drugs for the treatment of Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis, they do biological pest control, robotic spinal surgery, and the list is just unbelievably long.

Shooting Yourself in the Foot

David:

So, when you’re saying let’s do BDS, let”s boycott Israel, you’re essentially saying, “Let’s boycott the things that make our own life easier.” Israel has contribute is so many things. It’s almost like, “Let me shoot myself in the foot and see if I can enjoy making you hurt.” No, you’re hurting yourself. And so in the case of–

Rick:

And by the way, all for a false propaganda and false stories.

David:

That’s right.

Rick:

So, you may think you’re helping humanity when you’re actually hurting.

David:

Yeah. For those who want to find out, the Palestinians, it is not apartheid. There is not the mistreatment going. You need to go to Israel and see yourself. And by the way, you need to notice that the Palestinians and Israel, by a margin of 3 to 1, prefer to be governed by Israeli authorities than Palestinian authorities. So, take that from the Palestinians.

Rick:

You don’t hear this stuff.

David:

Right.

Rick:

College campuses don’t teach it. You guys talk about it when you do the leaders training academy, or leaders training program, in the summer and I’m sure there’s a lot of wide eyes in those young people when they’re hearing some of this for the first time.

More Indoctrination Than Information

David:

Well, they don’t get it on colleges. Progressive left is not concerned about truth and so they’re concerned about agendas. That’s what kids are getting today is more indoctrination than they are information. And since we don’t teach them to think anymore they don’t think about looking, “Is there a second side of this story? Should I look for more information and see if there’s something else out there?” They just kind of accept it.

But now you’ve got the propaganda that’s been going in South Africa and they”re at the point of, man, the solutions for our problems is in the hand of people we’ve been calling enemies and been trying to hurt and and what do we do? So, as Mitch said, they’ll probably keep it kind of under the table and quiet, but it may be that the very people they’re trying to hurt will be the very people that save South Africa, at least the people. Because again, when you’ve got millions there– and I was struck by his comment, too, about how Israel has less rain now annually than they did in 1948, but they have more water on hand.

And I certainly have seen that. They”re the guys who came up with drip irrigation 20-25, 30 years ago, whatever it was, where that it takes very little water to be able to grow lush fields of crops. The production they get out of Israel– and again, for people who have never been there it’s worth the trip.

WallBuilders, we periodically do trips to Israel and we do them a little different from other folks in that we take you to see some political stuff and some of this rhetoric that goes on. You get to actually see stuff for yourself and Palestinian areas as well. It’s very, very, revealing. And by the way, we still do all the Bible stuff and all the other stuff, it”s just a little less tourism and more on information education, a lot more fun, a lot more applicable.

But Israel is just a terrific nation that is doing so much for the world and it’s just hard for the world to recognize it until they get in need. And then they find that Israel is the one that’s got the answers for what they’re looking for.

Rick:

Hey guys, so we mentioned, by the way, a few minutes ago this leaders training program where students are learning these things about Israel and so much more. As we’re closing out today’s program, Tim, how can folks sign up for that and what’s the age group to go to that leaders training program?