The open letter examines a case of strange bedfellows, all knotted up, in the BDS (see below) campaign against Israel. HP is the client of Texnology Inc., whose president is active in ISM (International Solidarity Movement); This past week, she called for a demonstration at the Harvard graduation to protest US House vote to fund Iron Dome anti-missile system. HP itself is a long-standing target of BDS.
Dear Ms. Whitman,
It’s a curious juxtaposition.
On one hand, Hewlett-Packard is a target of the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign, that potent and diffused instrument of an economic and propaganda war that seeks to isolate and enfeeble Israel. And on the other, we see that HP has a prominent place, as a high profile client, on the web site of a company called Texnology Inc. (http://texnology.com/ ), a service provider of publishing software. So where is the contradiction?
The rub is that Texnology’s owner, Amy Hendrickson, uses its resources – its e-mail servers – to disseminate anti-Israel propaganda to advance the objectives of BDS; these objectives include boycott and divestiture of HP because of its business interests in Israel.
This past week, Texnology’s servers were the source of a mass distribution e-mail, composed by Ms. Hendrickson, that set its sites on the “Iron Dome,” Israel’s cutting edge missile defense system, whose sole function is defensive. Its primary purpose? To thwart incoming Grad Katyusha missiles fired at school buses and other civilian targets in southern Israel by Hamas terrorists from the Gaza strip. But Hendrickson’s missive insists that the project will “kill Palestinians, destroy their land and homes and make war on neighboring countries.” Her e-mail clamors for protest at Harvard’s graduation ceremony this week against US funding of Iron Dome, recently approved by the House of Representatives by a vote of 411 – 2.
Such a lopsided vote affirms Israel’s right to self-defense and its historic strategic and intelligence sharing relationship with the United States, which is undermined by Hendrickson’s false protestations of Israeli aggression.
So, let’s connect the dots. Ms. Hendrickson supports the terrorist group Hamas and BDS; she uses her company’s servers to advance their ends; HP’s name links to Texnology prominently on those same servers. So HP endures the shame of association with a terrorist sponsor and is itself a target of that sponsor. Isn’t that just great?
I would add that HP might want to rethink its high visibility business relationship with a company whose president uses company resources as a tool of war against an ally of the United States. Thanks for your attention.
Sincerely,
Harry Kanigel
A Decent Respect 