Michael Perez
Overview
Michael Perez [Michael Vicente Perez] is an advocate for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and supported a resolution calling for the boycott of Israeli academic institutions by the American Anthropological Association (AAA).In July of 2014, Perez wrote an article demonizing Israel, defending Hamas and claiming that Israel seeks to annihilate Palestinians. Perez also uses Facebook to demonize Israel.
In December of 2013, Perez wrote an article arguing that Liberal Zionists are incapable of empathizing with Palestinians. He has also accused Israel of “colonization” and “apartheid.” (17:40)
Perez is a senior lecturer of Sociocultural Anthropology at the University of Washington (UW).
Endorsing BDS
Perez signed a statement in support of a resolution calling on the AAA to boycott Israeli academic institutions.In December of 2014, Perez gave a presentation at the AAA annual conference titled “Violent Developments: Reconstruction, Politics and the Israeli Occupation in the Jenin Refugee Camp.”
In June of 2016, the AAA announced that the resolution to boycott Israeli universities was defeated but that there are “other actions planned.”
The AAA vote on the anti-Israel resolution took place from April 15 to May 31, 2016, with approximately half of the AAA membership voting on the resolution. Of the half that voted concerning the resolution, 50.4% voted against it, meaning that only one quarter of AAA’s membership — at most — voted in favor of the resolution.
Demonizing Israel
In July of 2014, Perez wrote an article titled “Defense as Annihilation in Gaza.” The article was written during the 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge (OPE).In his article, Perez defended the actions of Hamas, accused Israel of implementing a policy of “annihilation” against Palestinians and implied that Israel intentionally engages in wars “to more successfully manage Palestinian resistance while expanding its occupation.”
Israel commenced Operation Protective Edge (OPE) in July 2014, to stop rocket fire targeting Israeli civilians and to destroy Hamas attack tunnels.
In December of 2013, Perez wrote an article arguing that Liberal Zionists are incapable of empathizing with Palestinians, because Liberal Zionists are “ultimately committed to an idea that precludes the possibility of a solution to the conflict that doesn’t rely on the idea that Israeli Jews ought have their own majority-Jewish state.”
In December 1, 2012 Facebook post, Perez accused Israel of “colonization.”
In a July 7, 2017 interview, Perez referred to Israel as an “apartheid state” and revealed that his interest in Israel was based on a libelous report by Chris Hedges titled ““A Gaza Diary: Scenes from the Palestinian Uprising.”
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
- Status:
- Professor
- University:
- University of Washington (UW),
- more...
- Memphis
- Organizations:
- BDS
- Related Profiles:
- Elizabeth Moore,
- Chandan Reddy,
- Amira Mattar,
- Enrico Doan,
- Last Modified:
- 06/23/2025
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