Portside

Fifty years after the Six-Day War, a mistaken account of how settlement began still plagues Israeli politics.

The finance committees of the House and Senate have approved amendments to a trade bill (TTP) that equate boycotts of West Bank settlement products with boycotts of Israel, strengthening efforts by the Israeli right to silence opponents of West Bank settlements. A separate measure approved by the House panel as an amendment to the customs bill goes a step further and takes action against some foreign companies if they shun the settlements.

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Sharon died last week, eulogized by the very people he despised and turned into a shallow folk hero. The Ministry of Education compared him to Moses. In real life he was a very complex person, as complex as Israel. His personal history is interwoven with the history of Israel. His main legacy was catastrophic: scores of settlements which he implanted all over the West Bank – each of them a landmine which will have to be removed at great risk when the time comes.

Western activists and diplomats are focusing on Israel's settlements in the Palestinian territories, and if peace talks fail, the rain of boycotts and sanctions could turn into a flood. This past week a second American academic organization overwhelmingly endorsed the economic and academic boycott of Israel.

According to reports from a new Bank of America whistle-blower, BoA is seeking to avoid providing required payments to homeowners to compensate for an initial round of illegal practices by selling off the servicing rights to fly-by-night organizations that specialize in abusing customers.