Lawrence Wittner

Overview

Lawrence Wittner [Lawrence S. Wittner] is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and has demonized Israel.

He is co-chair of the National board of Peace Action, an organization that has expressed support for the violent protests held in Gaza in 2018 and published a letter charging that “Israel used US weapons… to kill Palestinian children.”

Wittner is a professor emeritus in the Department of History at State University of New York, University at Albany (University at Albany). 

Supporting BDS

In a tweet, published on November 19, 2018, Wittner expressed support for Airbnb’s support for BDS. In his tweet, Wittner wrote: “I urge you to follow #Airbnb’s announcement, and tell the truth about your listings: East Jerusalem is occupied territory, not part of Israel. Don't profit off Palestinian suffering! No #StolenHomes.”

On August 24, 2018, Wittner tweeted at singer Lana DelRey encouraging her to join BDS and cancel her upcoming performance in Israel. Wittner wrote: “Don’t let your music cover up injustice. Cancel your performance at the Meteor Festival in Israel. Stand with us on the right side of history to create a better world for all. #LanaDontGo.”

On November 14, 2015, Wittner signed a petition to “thank President Obama for defending the EU’s labeling of products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and for re-affirming that Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank are not part of Israel.” 

On November 13, 2015, Wittner tweeted a link to the petition, encouraging others to sign, as well. 

Wittner signed a 2014 open letter to former U.S. President Barack Obama expressing support for BDS.

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.”

Demonizing Israel

On November 20, 2017, Wittner tweeted: “Tell your Rep: Support bill to end Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinian children” anda link to a petition, authored by the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), which claimed that “Israel systematically prosecutes as many as 700 children in military courts each year” and that the vast majority of them were “subject to physical violence.”

In 2016, Wittner signed a petition submitted to the American Historical Association (AHA) which claimed that “Israel’s restrictions on the movement of faculty, staff and visitors in the West Bank impede instruction at Palestinian institutions of higher learning” and demanded “That the AHA commits itself to monitoring Israeli actions restricting the right to education in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

On October 18, 2015, Wittner signed a moveon.org petition titled: “Standwith@SenSanders: CeaseSettlements&EndGazaBlockade,” whose purpose was to “support Senator Bernie Sanders' call for Israel to end the blockade of Gaza and cease developing settlements on Palestinian land.” 

On October 17, 2015, Wittner tweeted a link to the petition, calling on others to sign it, as well. 

On September 3, 2014, Wittner tweeted a link to a petition, which stated: “It's time to make it plain to the Israeli government that continued settlement expansion isn't just an obstacle to peace, it's against American interests, American policy, and the Geneva Convention.” 

Along with the link, Wittner’s tweet said: “SIGN THE PETITION! The world knows it, and President Obama needs to say it: #Israel's settlements are illegal.”

In 2014, Wittner had signed a similar anti-Israel petition submitted to the AHA, which alleged that “Israel arbitrarily limits the entry of foreign nationals who seek to lecture, teach and attend conferences at Palestinian universities, denying both faculty and students the rich experience enjoyed by their peers at Israeli universities and other universities around the world.”

The 2014 petition went on to say “that the AHA demands that the U.S. Department of State honor the academic freedom of U.S. citizens by contesting Israel’s denials of entry of U.S. academics who have been invited to teach, confer, or do research at Palestinian universities.”

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/lawrencewittner

Personal Website: https://www.lawrenceswittner.com/

University Website: https://www.albany.edu/news/experts/8655.php