Alan Wallach

Overview

Alan Wallach is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and is the Ralph H. Wark Professor of Art and Art History and Professor of American Studies Emeritus in the Department of Art & Art History at the College of William & Mary (William & Mary).

Supporting BDS

In January 2018, Wallach signed a petition, published by the anti-Israel CODEPINK organization, condemning anti-BDS legislation aimed at non-citizen activists. The petition also called on American politicians to “denounce new Israeli ban on groups support the nonviolent BDS Campaign.”

As of December 2018, the published phrasing of the petition was altered.

The petition specifically sought to defend Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).

Wallach also signed an open letter calling for an end to US support for Israel.

The July 31, 2014 letter, addressed to former U.S. President Barack Obama and the American Congress, called “to suspend US military aid to Israel, until there is assurance that this aid will no longer be used for the commission of war crimes.”

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true. 

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”  

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.

Social Media and Weblinks

Twitter:https://twitter.com/axwall8

University Website:https://www.wm.edu/as/arthistory/faculty/wallach_a.php