I am not necessarily in agreement with all of Israel's activities vis-a-vis the Palestinians, but I would like to make this point to those who favor divestment from Israel: Israelis have been major innovators contributing to the U.S. and international economies. They have invented and/or helped to develop the cell phone, USB flash drive, medical pill camera, Waze navigation system, sniffphone for diagnosing disease, robotic suit for paraplegics, RSA encryption, Watergen system for extracting water from air, Azilect drug for Parkinson’s, copaxone drug for MS, solar panel water heaters, the first computer microprocessors, the bandage of choice for the U.S. military, flexible cardiac stents, the computer firewall, the ICQ instant messenger, the first infrastructure for electric cars, and many other innovations which are vital to modern society. They are continuing these endeavors now, which will be vital to us in the future. These benefits have been shared with the world, without any attempt to limit their use by countries whose policies were not acceptable to Israel. One could even say that the Bible was a product of Israelis, Jewish and Christian, freely shared with the world. The present Israeli/Palestinian conflict raises questions of morality on both sides. So maybe those who have benefited from Israeli innovations should not suddenly feel they have the right to deny Israel the benefit of American investment. Even from a practical viewpoint, divesting from Israel could impede the development of other innovations of great benefit to society.
I am not necessarily in agreement with all of Israel's activities vis-a-vis the Palestinians, but I would like to make this point to those who favor divestment from Israel: Israelis have been major innovators contributing to the U.S. and international economies. They have invented and/or helped to develop the cell phone, USB flash drive, medical pill camera, Waze navigation system, sniffphone for diagnosing disease, robotic suit for paraplegics, RSA encryption, Watergen system for extracting water from air, Azilect drug for Parkinson’s, copaxone drug for MS, solar panel water heaters, the first computer microprocessors, the bandage of choice for the U.S. military, flexible cardiac stents, the computer firewall, the ICQ instant messenger, the first infrastructure for electric cars, and many other innovations which are vital to modern society. They are continuing these endeavors now, which will be vital to us in the future. These benefits have been shared with the world, without any attempt to limit their use by countries whose policies were not acceptable to Israel. One could even say that the Bible was a product of Israelis, Jewish and Christian, freely shared with the world. The present Israeli/Palestinian conflict raises questions of morality on both sides. So maybe those who have benefited from Israeli innovations should not suddenly feel they have the right to deny Israel the benefit of American investment. Even from a practical viewpoint, divesting from Israel could impede the development of other innovations of great benefit to society.