The BDS Movement: Do Americans Really Care?
A new survey released by the Pew Research Center revealed that the BDS movement has made minimal inroads into the consciousness of most Americans. This is in spite of the many attempts by its supporters to make the issue prominent in American politics,
According to the survey, 84 percent of American adults said they had heard “not much” or “nothing at all” about the BDS movement. Of those surveyed, only five percent had heard “some” about it. And of those five percent, only 2 percent strongly support it.
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The movement strives to isolate Israel politically, culturally, academically and economically. Fundamentally, it seeks to wrest Americans away from their long-standing support of the Jewish state.
Overall, two-thirds of Americans expressed at least a somewhat favorable view of the Israeli people. This includes one-in-five who say they feel very favorably toward Israelis. In contrast, 52 percent of those surveyed said they have a favorable view of Palestinians. Yet, only one in 10 expressed a very favorable opinion of Palestinians.
What is the BDS Movement?
BDS stands for:
Boycott: Urging consumers to stop buying or selling products made in Israel or by Israeli companies; encouraging individuals and academic institutions to end affiliations with Israeli cultural and academic institutions, and pressuring artists not to play or exhibit in Israel.
Divestment: Demanding financial institutions, state legislators and universities remove all investment or other connections with Israeli companies or businesses that affiliate with Israel.
Sanctions: Calling for international sanctions against the State of Israel, including pressuring governments to expel Israel from international forums such as the UN and FIFA.
BDS and Anti-Semitism
Supporters of the BDS movement often righteously claim that they are simply “anti-Zionists” and not anti-Semites. Yet, BDS stands for at least three of the 11 categories of anti-Semitism as defined by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IRHA).
IRHA’s definition of anti-Semitism has been adopted by the U.S. government. It has also been adopted by 33 other countries, the United Nations and the European Union, among others.
Specifically, the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism includes the following points, all of which are violated by the BDS movement:
“Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavor.”
“Applying double standards by requiring of it a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation,” e.g., calling out Israel but not the numerous other countries internationally that are involved in land disputes (Turkey in Cyprus, China in Tibet, Russia in Crimea, Morocco in Western Sahara, Serbia in Kosovo, etc.)
“Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.”
The BDS Movement's Real Goal is to Destroy the Jewish State
The BDS movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 as a self-described “Palestinian-led movement” that aims to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.”
Barghouti repeatedly states that the goal of the movement is to end the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. He believes in a “one-state solution,” with the main caveat, according to the BDS website, “the right of return for all Palestinians.”
“By definition, Jews will be a minority,” says Barghouti of a future state called Palestine where each person will have one vote.
Barghouti views the right of return of all Palestinian “refugees” as the “most important” of BDS’s stated goals.
For his part, Barghouti has admitted that 2005 “was not the beginning” of the BDS movement, but rather “a culmination of decades of Palestinian boycott initiatives” and “for more than a century Palestinians have used boycotts.”
Specifically, Arab boycotts against Jews and Jewish-owned businesses in pre-state Israel started in the 1920s and gained steam in 1945 with the official Arab League boycott, parts of which are still in effect today.
The BDS Movement Revives an Old Stratagem
BDS stands for the most recent scheme to demonize and delegitimize Israel and the Jewish people. It is simply the latest incarnation of the blood libel. It uses the popular buzz words of our time – racism, apartheid, colonialism, supremacy. With this framing, BDS advocates garner the support of intersectional allies who they draw into this insidious fight.
From campus campaigns led by groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine to street actions by organizations such as Within Our Lifetime, physical attacks on Jews are on the rise. Due to the rhetoric of BDS promoters, which often appropriates classic anti-Semitic tropes, supporters of the movement have either directly inspired these attacks or carried them out themselves.