“The Israeli regime is not apartheid. It is a unique case of democracy.”

— South African Interior Minister Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi

“We do not want to create a situation like that which exists in South Africa, where the whites are the owners and rulers, and the blacks are the workers. If we do not do all kinds of work, easy and hard, skilled and unskilled, if we become merely landlords, then this will not be our homeland.”

— David Ben Gurion (Shabtai Teveth, Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs:
From Peace to War, London: Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 140)

Since the United Nations Conference on Racism in August of 2001, anti-Semites and racists have tried to delegitimize Israel by calling it an apartheid state. Their hope is that this false equation will tar Israel and encourage measures similar to those used against South Africa, such as sanctions and divestment, to be applied to Israel.

The comparison is malicious and insults the South Africans who suffered under apartheid.

The term “apartheid” refers to the official government policy of racial segregation formerly practiced in South Africa. The whites sought to dominate the nonwhite population, especially the indigenous black population, and discriminated against people of color in the political, legal, and economic sectors.

• Whites and nonwhites lived in separate regions of the country.
• Nonwhites were prohibited from running businesses or professional practices in the white areas without permits.
• Nonwhites had separate amenities (i.e. beaches, buses, schools, benches, drinking fountains, restrooms).
• Nonwhites received inferior education, medical care, and other public services.
• Though they were the overwhelming majority of the population, nonwhites could not vote or become citizens.

By contrast, Israel’s Declaration of Independence called upon the Arab inhabitants of Israel to “participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.”

The 156,000 Arabs within Israel’s borders in 1948 were given citizenship in the new State of Israel. Today, this Arab minority comprises 20% of the population.

It is illegal for employers to discriminate on the basis of race and Arab citizens of Israel are represented in all walks of Israeli life. Arabs have served in senior diplomatic and government positions and an Arab currently serves on the Supreme Court.

Israeli Arabs have formed their own political parties and won representation in the Knesset. Arabs are also members of the major Israeli parties. Twelve non-Jews (10 Arabs, two Druze) are members of the Seventeenth Knesset.

Laws dictated where nonwhites could live, work, and travel in South Africa, and the government imprisoned and sometimes killed those who protested against its policies. By contrast, Israel allows freedom of movement, assembly and speech. Some of the government’s harshest critics are Israeli Arabs in the Knesset.

Arab students and professors study, research, and teach at Israeli universities. At Haifa University, the target of British advocates of an academic boycott against Israel, 20 percent of the students are Arabs.

Israeli society is not perfect — discrimination and unfairness exist there as it does in every other country. These differences, however, are nothing like the horrors of the apartheid system. Moreover, when inequalities are identified, minorities in Israel have the right to seek redress through the government and the courts, and progress toward equality has been made over the years.

The situation of Palestinians in the territories is different. While many Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip dispute Israel’s right to exist, nonwhites did not seek the destruction of South Africa, only of the apartheid regime.

Unlike South Africa, where restrictions were racially motivated, Israel is forced by incessant Palestinian terrorism to take actions, such as building checkpoints and the security fence, to protect its citizens. Israel has consistently demonstrated a willingness, however, to ease restrictions when violence subsides.

Beyond limits placed on their ability to attack Israel, roughly 98% of the Palestinians in the territories are governed by the rules of the Palestinian Authority, which do not permit freedom of speech, religion, assembly or other rights taken for granted by Westerners — and guaranteed in Israel.

If Israel were to give Palestinians full citizenship, it would mean the territories had been annexed and the possibility of the creation of a Palestinian state foreclosed. No Israeli government has been prepared to take that step. Instead, Israel seeks a two-state solution predicated on a Palestinian willingness to live in peace.

The clearest refutation of the calumny against Israel comes from the Palestinians themselves. When asked what governments they admire most, more than 80 percent of Palestinians consistently choose Israel because they can see up close the thriving democracy in Israel, and the rights the Arab citizens enjoy there (James Bennet, “Letter from the Middle East; Arab Showplace? Could It Be the West Bank?” New York Times, April 2, 2003).

Additional Basic Points

• Instead of fighting the South Africa analogy, make the America analogy: America occupies Iraq, Afghanistan. Should BDS apply to U.S. too?
• There is no comparison between Israel and Apartheid South Africa.
• There is no Israeli ideology, plan, or policy to segregate or persecute Arabs.
• 11 Arabs serve in the Knesset, Muslims can live anywhere in Israel.
• False analogies just blur history for a political agenda.
• Their goal is more to sell the analogy, slander Israel.
• Divestment is just a tool to spread the Israel=Apartheid message.
• Even if BDS here is mild/symbolic, their message will spread.
• The movement will not stop at just targeting settlements.

What if Desmond Tutu is coming to campus?

• Handle the situation with caution.
• We need to be careful when criticizing a Nobel winner.
• On the other hand, we must voice our disapproval of BDS.
• Ask tenured Jewish professors to see if they are willing to voice their disapproval of the Academic Boycott.
• Look at the SPME letter from Nobel Prize Winners.
• See the faculty letter in response to Tutu’s visit to Michigan State.

Resources:

NGO Monitor’s detailed analysis of the term apartheid

Anti-Defamation League: Apartheid

StandWithUS: The Apartheid Analogy

Zionism On The Web: The Apartheid State

Camera Apartheid Quotes

Bedouin Diplomat Ishmael Khaldi on the Apartheid

A South African-Israeli Opinion: Why Depict Israel as a Chamber of Horrors?

Khaled Abu Toumeh on the Apartheid Analogy

Boycotting Israel at NYU?

Apartheid? Israel is a democracy in which Arabs vote

An Open Letter to Tutu - The Jerusalem Post

Modern Israel is a far cry from old South Africa

Videos:

“Peace between Israel and Palestine presupposes that Israel is there. Peace between the Israeli people and the Palestinian people presupposes that both peoples have a right to self-determination and agree to the peace. Does anyone really believe that racist monsters like us would agree to give up our state because of a boycott?”

- Uri Avneri Leftist Israeli Politician

BDS does not advance the cause of Middle East peace, but does create unwanted and unnecessary turmoil on campus. At a time when real campus dialogue is needed more than ever, BDS is more of a barrier than a catalyst to such discussions.

The Jewish connection to Israel is hard for many people to understand. For many, the connection isn’t primarily based on religion, but rather on identity. Jews enjoyed independence in their homeland for more than 400 years before being driven out by foreign conquerors.

For 2000 years, the Jewish people faced persecution and were stateless. The cycle of powerlessness and persecution is a major theme of Jewish history, Jewish holidays, and Jewish thought. Finally, in November 1947, the international community, acting through the United Nations, voted to recognize the Jewish claim to the land of Israel and called for the establishment of a Jewish state.

On May 14, 1948, Israel issued its Declaration of Independence, which declared that the new state would be “based on freedom, justice and peace,” would “ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex,” and would “guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture.” It also called for “peace and cooperation with the Arabs of Israel, the neighboring countries and their peoples.”

Zionist Jews can handle criticism of Israeli policy, just as they are open to hearing criticism of American policy. Demonization, double standards, and delegitimization are a different story. Those who label Israel as a Nazi state, an apartheid state, or a colonial state are clearly trying to use these hurtful analogies to demonize Israel. These are not criticisms that are aimed at improving the lives of Israelis or Palestinians, but are rather attempts to convince people to ostracize, punish, and impugn the Jewish state in its entirety. Likewise, questioning the Jewish connection to Israel or the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their homeland are attacks on the identities of all Jews.

Dividing the Campus

Honest discussion about Israeli and Palestinian narratives is needed on college campuses. Divestment advocates seek to circumvent a real debate by promoting the Palestinian narrative and delegitimizing Israel’s story. BDS proponents preempt dialogue by adopting an inherently anti-Israel position as their starting point. Instead of asking questions such as: “How did things get this way?” or “What should we do?” BDS supporters adopt the premise that Israel is guilty of misbehavior and therefore must be punished without taking into account historical context, alternative views, or Israel’s side of the story.

If a BDS initiative is adopted, there is no incentive to hold any real discussion. The campus has already declared Israel guilty and alienated many Jewish and all pro-Israel students who are now falsely tarred as supporters of apartheid, colonialism, and racism.

“A Culture of Intimidation”

For a movement supposedly dedicated to human rights and freedom, it has become a recurring pattern for BDS proponents to bring “a culture of intimidation” onto campus with them. It has often been reported at colleges and universities in which divestment resolutions have been discussed that there is a feeling of tension among the students. After many of the past campus divestment debates, Jewish students have left the room crying. They feel incredibly hurt when their peers become part of a movement that seeks to delegitimize their own identity. The ideas may be abstract, but the emotional alienation that many Jewish students feel from BDS is real. As time has passed, and the movement becomes more and more radical, BDS proponents have been known to outright threaten, harass, intimidate and attack students or professors who disagree with them, as well as anyone else who gets in their way, as this page catalogs.

The University of Windsor made headlines in the Spring of 2014 for being the first Canadian university to vote for divestment from Israel. In the days after the vote, however, it appeared that pro-divestment intimidation had played a role. A student executive’s office was broken into and his property was vandalized with an anti-Israel message.

“A lot of students have expressed their concern. They don’t want to be caught in a situation where they feel that they are, somehow as a result of UWSA, no longer welcome on campus…It’s not only Jewish students. Many students have expressed concerns about what is happening on campus… The deceitful BDS movement has no place on Canadian campuses. In fact, it is against everything our universities stand for and creates an environment of intimidation for Jewish students and Jewish staff.” –University of Windsor President Alan Wildeman

Many University of Windsor students told the Windsor Star the BDS campaign had “created a great deal of hostility on our campus,” “you can cut the tension around here with a knife,” and that “it’s a tremendously toxic climate, and it’s a climate where I [a Jewish student] feel I’m targeted.”

Following in the University of Windsor’s footsteps, The National University of Ireland at Galway also voted to boycott Israel in a student referendum. And just like at the University of Windsor, it quickly became clear that intimidation played a role in the BDS victory. Anti-boycott posters were torn down in the days leading up to the vote, and a video surfaced showing pro-boycott students disrupting an anti-boycott meeting and shouting that “Zionists” should “get the **** off our campus.” Reportedly the pro-boycott students celebrated their victory by shouting “Where’s Mark Zuckerberg now? Where’s Albert Einstein?”

When Carleton University’s Students Association voted against a one-side resolution singling out Israel, the pro-boycott students “exploded” and immediately began using intimidation tactics such as chanting and yelling, and some students reported feeling “trapped and threatened.” Read more here.

Jewish students at the University of California system have shared many stories of being intimidated and attacked, often in an explicitly anti-Semitic manner, including in a BDS context. Professors have also been harassed and intimidated.

Recently, at UC Davis, pro-divestment students heckled Jewish students during a divestment hearing and after the resolution was passed chanted “Allahu Akbar” at them. The next day a Jewish fraternity was vandalized with swastikas and a member of the UC Davis Student Senate, Azka Fayyaz, posted on her Facebook page a photo of the session and the caption “Hamas & Sharia law have taken over UC Davis…Israel will fall Inshallah.”

Pro-divestment students at Northeastern University have become infamous for radical behavior, even by BDS standards. On Valentine’s Day 2013, one hundred students lay siege to an Israeli restaurant, harassing the couples trying to eat there. In 2012 two students defaced and menorah and the SJP led a pro-Hamas rally in which there were many calls for Israel’s destruction. They also mocked students who felt threatened by their behavior. Due to this and other intimidating behavior, they have recently been suspended by the University. Not willing to back down, they led a march of hundreds of students that included calls such as “Long Live the Intifada” and accusations that the President of Northeastern was a “Zionist goon.”

Since it’s founding in 2009 the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at the University of Maryland at College Park have been flagrantly hostile toward pro-Israel students. They brought in speakers that denied Israel’s right to exist, declared the “only good Zionist is a dead Zionist,” and that Judaism is a “ruthless and supremacist faith.” According to Professor Tammi Benjamin:

A number of MSA and SJP members have been responsible for physically harassing and assaulting Jewish students, vandalizing Jewish communal property, disrupting pro-Israel speakers, and aggressively confronting Jewish students at pro-Israel events… Some MSA and SJP chapters consistently sponsor speakers, films, and exhibits that engage in discourse or use language considered anti-Semitic by the U.S. State Department. Some MSA and SJP chapters have associated with individuals and organizations that are linked to terrorist activity and call for violence against Jews. As a result of the hostile environment created by these chapters and their members, Jewish students have reported feeling physically unsafe, harassed, and intimidated while on campus, and some have even reported leaving the university, avoiding certain parts of campus, and hiding symbols of their Jewishness.”

At the UMD-Baltimore campus a pro-Israel student was forcibly ejected from a SJP planning meeting, resulting in that group not being formed on that campus.

Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) called for a BDS resolution at the University of Michigan in the Spring of 2014, and used threats and intimidation to enforce it. Click here for more details.

When Wesleyan University passed a resolution calling for divestment from Israel, pro-divestment students engaged in an intimidating manner during the debate. Rebecca Markell ’14 reported:

“Every time I spoke, I was laughed at, shushed, and mocked (by other attendees, not WSA members)…When WSA members attempted to keep order and respect, their request was ignored and the negative attitude continued to pervade the room. After the vote passed, supporters of the resolution screamed out in victory and continued to audibly do so after leaving the room, disrupting the meeting to the point where WSA members had to reprimand them for their disrespect.”

In the Spring of 2014 a divestment resolution at UCLA brought an ugly campus environment that persisted even after it had been rejected by the student council. The resolution was voted on in secret because some of the student senators “feared for their safety.” Others had been threatened on social media. Upon learning that they had lost, pro-divestment students brought out a new weapon: singling out two student leaders who they believed had voted against the resolution. They started by defaming them on social media, then dragged them before UCLA’s J Board under the pretense that because they had traveled to Israel their alleged voting against BDS was a “conflict of interest.” Anti-divestment students started circulating a petition calling for an improvement in UCLA’s community, citing the mistreatment of pro-Israel students:

“There have been several instances in which members of the pro-Israel community have been attacked and slandered as “Islamophobic, genocide deniers, and human-rights violators.” These offensive and dehumanizing attacks represent a vile and unwarranted verbal assault on not only the organized Jewish community at UCLA, but all pro-Israel students.”

One year later, after a BDS resolution was passed, a Jewish student was accused of having a “conflict of interest” when she applied for a position on UCLA’s J-Board. This made national headlines.

During a debate over divestment at McMaster University in Canada, faculty member Dr. David Shore said that “the image of Jewish students marching out of their student union’s general assembly to derision and mocking deeply saddens me.” Dr. Shore went on to say that he viewed BDS and the submitted motion as an example of new anti-Semitism and that “students felt harassed and intimidated” at the assembly in which divestment was discussed. President Patrick Deane said that the University had received complaints of “harassment, as well as complaints of intimidating and disrespectful behaviour,” on both sides of the issue.

After a BDS resolution was defeated at the University of Washington, pro-divestment students engaged in intimidating behavior both on and off line. Read more about it here.

When DePaul University saw a BDS referendum resolution, intimidation and harassment came along with it. Jewish students there reported feeling targeted and marginalized, and students were verbally assaulted by pro-divestment students and on social media. Even students who had no connection to the issue described the pro-BDS students as “crazy” and “extreme.” There were also reports of pro-divestment students marching through a student dormitory at an early hour, screaming slogans through microphones and generally being disruptive. Other students were not told about the referendum at all. Nicholas G. Hahn III wrote an article in the Chicago Tribune with more details about not only this case, but what he calls “a disturbing thread of anti-Semitism running through several of its campus controversies in recent years.”

San Diego State University has had tensions between pro-Israel and anti-Israel students for quite some time, and the fall of 2014 reported harassment of anti-divestment students. Pro-divestment students have engaged in tactics that were “visibly dividing students into opposing sides.” Even their own allies called them out on their “aggressive behavior” and their attitude of “if you’re not with us, you’re against us,” as well as their “demonizing [of] Israel and her citizens.”

“SJP make me feel uncomfortable. As a student on the SDSU campus, the hostile way SJP promotes its position targets who I am as a person,” sophomore Sydney Abel said. “SJP looks to point out the Jewish community on campus and targets Jewish students, saying that their homeland is illegitimate. As a person who has recently found their spirituality, Israel is more than a country. It is a place that I can call home even if I am thousands of miles away.”

Further Examples of Intimidation

BDS intimidation isn’t limited to debate surrounding divestment resolutions, however. There have been many cases in which pro-BDS students felt that a cultural boycott of Israel must be achieved by any means necessary and took steps to implement it by force.

In the spring of 2013, Yossi Reshef, a pianist whose only connection to Israel is that he was born there, was stopped from playing at the University of the Witwatersrand by screaming, vuvuzela-blowing protesters. Members of his audience were traumatized and manhandled. Ten student protesters were found guilty of misconduct for disruption or incitement, and were expelled from the University for one year.

Unfortunately this did not stick, because BDS struck again that fall with a protest against Daniel Zamir, an Israeli saxophonist. This time the protesters made international headlines when they chanted “Shoot the Jew” outside of the concert hall. Muhammad Desai, the BDS coordinator, tried to play down the incident and claimed the chants had been misinterpreted. Unfortunately for him, his fellow BDS advocates immediately distanced themselves from the protesters’ behavior and even criticized him personally.

When a professor at Vasser College named Jill Schneiderman dared to host a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories to study water issues, pro-divestment students pulled out all the stops to try and prevent it, raising tensions on campus as a result. They picketed Schneiderman’s classroom, giving out leaflets and encouraging students to drop the class because “the indigenous people of Palestine” wanted them to. Students in Schneiderman’s class were intimidated and the protesters said they were being “unfairly targeted.” This led to a meeting in which even according to a pro-divestment report the atmosphere immediately became charged and ugly. The report said that the meeting “was truly unsettling,” that “torrents of anger ripped through the gathering” and that “rage against Israel was the theme.” It also said that “the spirit of that young progressive space was that Israel is a blot on civilization, and boycott is right and necessary. If a student had gotten up and said, I love Israel, he or she would have been mocked and scorned into silence.” Associate Professor Zachary Braiterman compared it to the Cultural Revolution in China, called it “cardboard civility,” and said that “this kind of hostility is going to rip out the guts of a university to no good effect.” Professor Schneiderman wrote in her blog that she had been “knocked off-center by a belligerent academic community dedicated to vilifying anyone who dares set foot in Israel.” The an op-ed in the New York Daily News called the pro-divestment students “a handful of hoodlums” and questioned whether academic freedom and respectful debate had a place at Vasser. The trip proceeded anyway.

Pro-Israel students at New York University have been dealing with intimidation and harassment for some time, prompting the New York Daily News to ask if the school “had a Jewish problem.”

A Students for Justice in Palestine group at Loyola University was suspended in the Fall of 2014 after they formed a mob around a group of Jewish students tabling for a Birthright Israel program and began verbally assaulting them. Then then proceeded to brag about their behavior on social media. The organization was suspended temporarily until they could prove to the administration that they would comply with Loyola’s expected standards of behavior.

There aren’t many Jewish students at John Jay University in New York City, and those who present have been targeted by “pro-Palestinian” students in hateful and intimidating ways. During a protest, SJP speakers began shouting insults at the members of John Jay’s Hillel Club:

“They kept on just shouting, shouting, they were really aggressive. … They literally pointed at us,” [a student] said. “I felt pretty singled out.”

Kornfeld described the incident similarly. “We were all in one corner, and they started moving in,” he said. “Yael was holding an ‘Israelis Want Peace Sign’ and they came within a foot with us. They kept closing in.”

Another SJP member went on a rant about “Zionists” and “Jews.” The university’s administration has refused to take action.

During a panel discussion about BDS at UC Berkeley, in response to many borderline anti-Semitic remarks by BDS activst Lara Kiswani, a Jewish student said that the event was making her uncomfortable because she wanted to dialogue with those who disagreed with her, and that she “really just feel[s] a strong sense of hatred coming from the voices and the language.” To this, Kiswani responded, “I think Palestinians have hatred for those that are dropping bombs on them. Palestinians have hatred for those who are, you know, controlling what they can or cannot do here in the United States, right? That’s who I hate. And I think as long as you choose to be on [the side opposing BDS], I’m going to continue to hate you.” The Jewish student left the room in tears.

In the winter of 2015 pro-divestment students from Stanford University, seeking to hijack a “Black Lives Matter” protest in the name of “call[ing] on Stanford to divest from human rights violations in the occupation and related state violence in the US.” This protest involved blocking the San Mateo Hayward Bridge, which caused traffic to stop for hours, caused multiple traffic accidents, and prevented a three year old girl from taking a need trip to a hospital. Stanford was threatened with a lawsuit.

In December, 2014, at the University of Pittsburgh, masked protesters wielding signs that said “Fight Back” and electronic noisemakers attempted to shut down a presentation by a former medic in the IDF.:

“It was really jarring,” Haley Chizever, a JNF Campus Fellow at Pitt and a student organizer of the event, said of the protesters’ intrusion. “It was sudden. This large group of masked people came in with noisemakers and a large white sheet [used as a protest sign]. It was kind of scary; it was very out of nowhere.”

One of the protesters was given a citation for trespassing and was removed. The local SJP claimed not to know who the disrupting students were, but said their actions were justified because they were “bringing the Palestinian narrative to a shamelessly one sided event.”

In the winter of 2015 at the University of Sydney Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of UK forces in Afghanistan, was giving a lecture. He also speaks about Israel’s efforts to minimize civilian casualties, and so protesters attempted to stop him from speaking through the use of intimidation and the “heckler’s veto.” They had to be removed by force from the security guards on site. The incident made national headlines when Professor Jake Lynch, a well known critic of Israel, waved a bill in the face of a 75 year old woman.

Police had to be called to York University in 2009 when a mob of 100 anti-Israel students lay siege to a group of Jewish students who had been barricaded inside Hillel offices. The students had been “isolated and threatened” by the physically and verbally aggressive demonstrators. The students had been subjected to such slurs as “Die Jew―get the hell off campus.” A year earlier a talk by Natan Sharansky had been disrupted by anti-Israel students who told the people present that “you are bringing a second Holocaust upon yourselves.”

Also in Canada, the University of Toronto’s Israel Hate Week was so racist and full of hatred that reporters and cameras were banned. A Jewish alumnus named Isaac Apter was slapped in the head, yanked from his seat, and yelled at with the warning, “You shut the f-k up!” A second Jewish attendee was similarly assaulted that night by one of the hired security team and told: “Shut the f-k up or I’ll saw your head off.” University administrators said only that they are committed to freedom of speech on campus.

When the Palestinian human rights activist Bassem Eid came to speak at the University of Chicago, he expected there to be some people who disagreed with him. During his lecture pro-BDS protesters appeared and soon escalated into shouting death threats at Eid, prompting the arrival of police. At one point a protester called on the crowd to “kill this [expletive].” Due to these threats, the lecture was cut short. Eid was also prevented from speaking because of threats at Northwestern University.

It goes without saying that a movement sincerely devoted to peace, justice and human rights would neither need nor desire to force their agenda onto others.

The UK’s University of Sussex has become infamous for a highly anti-Israel and far-left atmosphere. Despite this, Jewish and pro-Israel students were able to convince the Student Union there to stop a BDS resolution by a vote of 904 to 667. How did they accomplish this?

Campus leader Miriam Steiner told Ha’aretz: “We focused on highlighting those people [in Israel itself] working toward an end to [the] occupation. Academics are often the most progressive element of society, and it would not be of any use to the Palestinian cause to stifle that voice.”

Rather than explaining why BDS was offensive to Jews and destructive to the campus environment, the students at Sussex engaged in an honest, sincere, and genuine campaign. They explained that students in the UK needed to do what they could to help the situation, and a toothless endorsement of boycott that would never even be implemented wouldn’t make any difference on the ground in the Middle East. In contrast, they said that working together with pro-peace Israelis could make a very large difference and that is what the University of Sussex should do. In this way they were able to defeat the “international solidarity” argument posed by the boycotters, but focusing what positive impacts their fellow students could accomplish.

Because BDS is a fundamentally radical and anti-peace movement at heart, its supporters are often prone to displays of violence and intimidation designed to bully others into compliance or silence. This page tracks examples of BDS proponents using intimidation and threats, both on the Internet and in the real world, to pursue their goals. BDS intimidation can often include committing crimes as well.

BDS Intimidation on Campus

BDS Intimidation in Support of Cultural Boycott

BDS Intimidation of Musicians

BDS Intimidation in Support of Economic Boycott

BDS Intimidation in Support of Cultural Boycott

In Auckland, New Zealand, in the fall of 2011, a group calling themselves Global Peace and Justice Auckland gathered together to protest the young Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer, who was about to play her opening match at the ASB tennis classic. Though they claimed to be merely against Israel’s governmental policies, one carried the placard “the Zionists are the Nazis of the Middle East.” Eight protesters were arrested for making excessive noise that annoyed tennis players and spectators, and six were convicted of disorderly behavior, though New Zealand’s High Court overturned the conviction.

BDS supporters have crossed the line between legitimate protest and criminal behavior on many occasions. In Edinburgh, Scotland in October of 2012 BDS supporters brought their protest against the Batsheva Dance Company into the theater itself. The protesters disrupted the shows repeated, standing up and harassing the dancers as well as the audience. Audience members present felt “alarmed and vulnerable” according to Jackie Kemp of the Guardian. Despite this, no arrests were made.

When Israel’s Habima Theater Company was invited to perform The Merchant of Venice for the Globe Theatre in London, UK in the summer of 2013, BDS supporters pulled out all the stops to try and prevent them. Three dozen British celebrities, including actress Emma Thompson, wrote a letter to the Globe to try to convince them to cancel, allegedly because Habima had performed in Israeli settlements. When the Globe refused, the BDS proponents took matters into their own hands, disrupting the performance through shouting, waving banners and disturbing other audience members. Many were removed by security officials, six who had to be physically picked up when they refused to stop screaming or to leave. A protester was arrested on suspicion of assault after a security guard was injured. Despite this intimidating behavior, the Habima performance continued.

Also in London, in the fall of 2011 the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was invited to play in the BBC Proms. Again, supporters of the cultural boycotting arm of BDS demanded that the BBC cancel the concert. And again the BDS supporters refused to take “no” for an answer and 12 activists disrupted the concert both inside and out, thereby forcing the Proms to go off the air temporarily for the first time in its history. BDS activists bragged about their “victory.” Later in 2015 a performance by the Jerusalem Quartet was disrupted by protestors.

In the spring of 2013, Yossi Reshef, a pianist whose only connection to Israel is that he was born there, was stopped from playing at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa by screaming, vuvuzela-blowing protesters. Members of his audience were traumatized and manhandled. Ten student protesters were found guilty of misconduct for disruption or incitement, and were expelled from the University for one year.

Unfortunately this did not stick, because BDS struck again that fall with a protest against Daniel Zamir, an Israeli saxophonist. This time the protesters made international headlines when they chanted “Shoot the Jew” outside of the concert hall. Muhammad Desai, the BDS coordinator, tried to play down the incident and claimed the chants had been misinterpreted. Unfortunately for him, his fellow BDS advocates immediately distanced themselves from the protesters’ behavior and even criticized him personally.

In the Spring of 2014, a local art exhibit featuring the work of Israeli and Palestinian artists in Pittsburgh was forced was forced to shut down due to threats made by BDS advocates against the Palestinian artists for the crime of “normalizing relations with Israel.”

An Israeli theatre company called Incubator Theatre was scheduled to perform in Edinburgh in late July of 2014 but was forced to cancel after threats and protests from BDS supporters. According to reports on the ground, the protesters spat on a 14 year old girl and screamed at children (who weren’t even going to see the Israelis) that “you’ve got blood on your ticket.” Fortunately Incubator performed to sell out crowds in Glasgow, London, and Leeds. The ugliness of the BDS supporters was even noticed by the local media.

In New York City the Israeli basketball team Maccabi Tel Aviv came to play a friendly game against the Brooklyn Nets. But when BDS is in town, no friendliness is allowed. Arguments and protests took place during the game, and after it was over a BDS supporter assaulted Leonard Petlakh, breaking his nose and requiring him to receive eight stitches. Police billed the incident as a hate crime.

An award-winning Israeli filmmaker screened a film in Carpentras, France, or rather tried to before BDS got involved. While she was introducing the film, 20 BDS supporters stood up and began yelling insults while throwing stink bombs. They had to be removed by the police by force. A Palestinian from Gaza who was present at the screening told them to stop, that “this was not the way,” but they carried on protesting outside the theater, free from police interference, even though they did not have a permit. The Israeli filmmaker had to be escorted to her home by the police.

BDS intimidation has even made it to Ramallah where a group of activists disrupted a performance by an Indian dance group who had also performed in Israel. The Palestinian Authority arrested four of them and charged with “provoking riots and breach of public tranquility.” Khaled Abu Toameh explains:

A PA official in Ramallah explained that BDS and its followers make the Palestinians appear as if they are all radicals who are only interested in boycotting and delegitimizing Israel. “This goes against the PLO’s official policy, which is to seek a peace agreement with Israel based on the two-state solution,” he said.

A similar event took place when a group of Israelis and Palestinians met in Jerusalem to discuss peace and a two state solution. BDS activists stormed the event and broke it up under the guise of “anti-normalization.” They chanted slogans denouncing the Arab participants as traitors and their opposition to peace. One protester explained their goals: “This is not the first time that such meetings take place in Jerusalem and the West Bank. This phenomenon has to stop.” Hamas also praised the action.

Liberation Day is an annual event in Italy marking the defeat of the Germans and the end of the Second World War. During the 2014 march before a group of pro-Palestinian supporters verbally attacked marchers from the Jewish Brigade a group of Jews who fought against the Axis, and tried to assault them physically. In the spring of 2015 the Jewish Brigade was banned from participating at the request of pro-Palestinian activists who were involved in the planning of the parade. In protest, an Italian Holocaust survivor group refused to participate.

In Cape Town, South Africa a group of BDS protesters tried to stop a hockey game between the South African and Israeli teams. They delayed the match for 45 minutes when they threw marbles onto the rink, endangering the players, attacked security, and then proceeded to falsely claim that security had assaulted them when they were ejected from the arena. They also accused venue security of racial profiling. One protester was permanently banned from the venue.

When the Carey Academy, a dancing school from Ireland, decided to participate in the first Irish dancing festival in Israel, they were repeatedly harassed and attacked by the “Irish-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC).” This caused a columnist in the Independent to denounce their bigotry. Eventually the protests escalated to include threats directed at teachers, parents, and students, until finally the Academy canceled to protect the safety of their members. The IPSC called the cancellation “a victory for Palestinian rights.”

In Johannesburg, South Africa, 16 youth leaders went on an independently funded trip to Israel and the West Bank, in despite of heavy attempts by local BDS activists to “convince” them otherwise. “They kept sending intimidating e-mails saying that disciplinary action would be taken against us if we went. They tried to make us feel guilty,” said one. Another said that “”They called me a traitor and a sellout. The moment it got out that I was ‎going on this trip, the hatred from the BDS [movement] flooded us, the entire group, ‎and we were told we were selling out our people. In that moment, I knew ‎something was wrong. How could I be a traitor for simply finding out the ‎facts and seeing for myself? What is it they did not want me to see?” A BDS organization even offered to cover the cost of their deposit if they canceled, to no avail.

In Ireland, a novelist named Gerard Donovan was written an open letter by the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, an organization with a long and sordid history, in which they demanded that he comply with the “cultural boycott of Israel,” or else. Donovan fearlessly fired back, calling the letter “outright intimidation” written by “idiots” and said that he would not be “bullied or cajoled” into complying or responding to it. Donovan had planned on a trip to Jerusalem, but had to cancel due to health issues. He said that if he had been well enough, he would have because “Nobody tells me where I can or cannot read my work. I’m not going to allow myself to be drawn into any political controversy for any people’s ends, I don’t care how many other writers they line up, it is completely irrelevant to me. They can brand me anything they want. I’m apolitical. Good people live everywhere. I’ll stick to my writing.”

Even LGBT events aren’t free of BDS intimidation. When an Israeli gay group, including people who were left-leaning and often criticized Israel’s policies, tried to have an event in Chicago, USA, BDS supporters first pressured the venue to cancel the event. When that failed, they surrounded the gathering, chanting slogans and screaming insults at the participants, eventually succeeding in stopping the event by force. A member of the gay group described the protest as “pure anti-Semitism.” The actions of the protesters were condemned by more than 90 LGBT actvists.

BDS Intimidation of Musicians

Musicians coming to play in Israel are often threatened with boycotts, marginalization, or even death by BDS supporters. Scooter Braun, the manager of teen singer Justin Bieber, said that he had received “plenty of death threats from different groups over him coming to Israel [in 2011]. But most of the death threats were that ‘the Jew manager will die.’” Eric Burdon, the vocalist of the 1960s band The Animals, almost canceled his August 1^st show in Israel because of threats. “We’ve been receiving mounting pressure, including numerous emails, daily,” his management said.

The management of Salif Keita, a superstar of Afropop, canceled his performance in Israel due to BDS intimidation. He wrote on his Facebook page:

“[We were] bombarded with hundreds of threats, blackmail attempts, intimidation, social media harassment, and slander…These threats were made by a group named BDS, who also threatened to keep increasing an anti-Salif Keita campaign, which they had already started on social media, and to work diligently at ruining the reputation and career that Mr. Keita has worked 40 years to achieve not only professionally, but for human rights and albinism.

Of course, we do not agree with any of these tactics or false propaganda, but management’s concern is to protect the artist from being harmed personally and professionally. Although, we love Israel and all his fans here, and the fantastic spirit of unity of the Sacred Music Festival, as well as the important work your hospital is doing for albinism, we did not agree with the scare tactics and bullying used by BDS; therefore management decided to act cautiously when faced with an extremist group, as we believe BDS to be.

It is unfortunate that artists like him are threatened by this group who falsely claim to defend human rights, when they should take their concerns to governments or ask for support of their cause in a lawful way, and not by endangering the freedom of expression of artists, or using harassment and intimidation of artists who play for peace and for all people, in order to bring some kind of justice to the Palestinians they claim to represent.”

Just about every prominent artist that performs in Israel will be targeted in this manner. There have also been rumors that Paul McCartney was threatened in 2008 and that Macy Gray’s family was threatened when she performed in Israel in 2011. Protests against the Pet Shop Boys immediately took on a personal tone, prompting a response from the band itself.

When asked to condemn this threatening and highly illegal behavior committed in its name, the leadership of BDS traditionally begins by accusing the victims of lying or exaggerating the claims before attempting to distance their movement from the threats:

“Recent claims of threats from ex-Animals singer Eric Burdon in an article published by Ha’aretz are vague and unsubstantiated. We do not know if they are made up by media hostile to the BDS strategy, or by artists and/or their agents, or if they are inflated reports of remarks made by individuals who do not represent the movement. USACBI advances the BDS movement not through threats, but rather by exposing Israel’s wrongs, and promoting non-violent ways to redress them, and achieve the rights of the Palestinian people.”-US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

“[He is] resort[ing] to unsupported claims of “threats” and potentially defamatory statements may be a tactic that some artists resort to when they do not wish to violate the Palestinian call to boycott Israel, but do not have the courage to take a political stance….Burdon did in fact travel to Israel despite the supposed “threats.”-Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

Although it may be true that death threats against musicians performing in Israel were not officially made by BDS campaigns, it is also true that BDS supporters encourage their fellows to harass chosen targets with virtual lynch mobs, and they don’t hesitate to make it personal. The rapport between those making the threats and BDS as a whole might be compared to that between a Mafia hitman and godfather; they are very clearly working toward the same goal even if they have no formal relationship.

The manager of French musician Jacky Terrasson wrote a scathing attack on BDS in January of 2013 after an unsuccessful campaign to “convince” him to cancel a performance in Israel:

“We noticed that Erik and Jacky’s Facebook pages were overrun with intimidating comments, not from our fans, but from activists. Some of these comments are really obnoxious, rising to the level of sheer harassment and blatant denigration. Facebook has become a battleground for BDS campaigners, our fans, Israelis and those supporting Israel. How sad!”

He even wrote a letter to the BDS campaign in France:

“We refuse to be made into instruments, and we won’t give in to your pressure, whether by email, by mail, by telephone or on Facebook…Your activism and your intolerance are abominable. Phony Facebook “fans” have posted messages expressly asking our musicians not play in Israel. This is sheer harassment. Moreover, it’s really quite surprising because these fans purporting to sway the artists are not fans at all, but simply your army of little soldiers polluting the calm and positive spaces of our artists’ Facebook pages.

“What bothers me the most about your effort…is your hatred of Israel, a pathological hatred, blind and most assuredly hidden behind a veil of “political correctness.” Your actions don’t demonstrate a love or defense of Palestinians but rather a hatred for Israelis.”

When Sir Elton John announced in 2010 that he was planning a concert in Tel Aviv, he received a long communication from the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine that could be interpreted as nothing else but an attack on him: “When you stand up on that stage in Tel Aviv, you line yourself up with a racist state.” Despite this, Sir Elton went ahead with the concert explaining that nothing was “gonna stop me from playing here” and that musicians aren’t supposed to “cherry pick our conscience.”

The Irish band Dervish canceled a planned concert in Israel after being targeted by the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, a local pro-BDS group. They did so, according to Justice Minister Alan Shatter, not because they wanted to but because they were subjected to a “cyberbullying” campaign from the BDSers which included an “avalanche of negativity” and “venom” directed toward them on social media. The singer of Devish said in a Facebook post that she was saddened by all the anger that their decision to play in Israel had unleashed. The attacks were denied by the IPSC.

Alicia Keys was defiant in the face of BDS when she performed in Israel in July of 2013, despite claims by Roger Waters that doing so would mean she would “lend your name to give legitimacy to the Israeli government policies of illegal, apartheid occupation.” Alice Walker also wrote to Keys saying that she must boycott Israel to “save your soul.”

Pharrell Williams is a South African musician who didn’t even go to Israel, he merely signed a deal with a South African company that does business with Israeli farmers. Even so, the BDSers there went all out to force him to change his mind. Braam Hanekom, a BDS board member, said that Williams was going to face a “a very angry, unhappy environment” and that protesters could block roads on concert nights, potentially delaying proceedings, or even rally inside venues.

BDS campaigners in Spain made a major misstep when they pressured Rototom Sunsplash, a European Reggae festival, to cancel the performance of Matisyahu. This pressure included “attacks” which the festival labeled as strong in “hostility.” Even though Matisyahu is an American Jew and not an Israeli, the organizers demanded that he sign a statement criticizing Israel’s war against Hamas and endorsing Palestinian statehood. When he refused to do so, Rototom canceled his performance. The festival was immediately criticized as anti-Semitic by the World Jewish Congress and the Spanish government, as this was not a boycott against an Israeli but against a Jew. No artist other than Matisyahu was asked to sign or say anything before being allowed to perform. A tea company severed ties with Rototom over the issue. Quickly the festival reversed their decision and invited Matisyahu to perform. They also publicly stated that threats and intimidation from BDS activists were what caused the cancellation in the first place:

“Rototom Sunplash admits that it made a mistake, due to the boycott and the campaign of pressure, coercion and threats employed by the BDS País Valencià because it was perceived that the normal functioning of the festival could be threatened. All of which prevented the organization from reasoning clearly as to how to deal with the situation properly.”

Even when Matisyahu was on stage, the intimidation didn’t end: pro-boycott activists waved large Palestinian flags from the crowd while he sang a song about Jerusalem. The man himself said that it was one of the few times in his career that he had felt threatened before and during a performance and that “It was intense. It was not peaceful. I’ve never had the experience of anything like that, as a Jew or anything in my life.”According to the Israeli foreign ministry, BDS was compared in the Spanish media to the Basque separatists, opposition to BDS’ actions came from both sides of the political spectrum, and that the Spanish press now see it as a “violent organization.”

Patrick Losinski, the producer of the Titans of Metal Festival in Tel AViv, revealed that BDS activists have already threatened a number of the festival’s musicians, and that four participants said the disturbing messages left them “truly fearing for their lives.”

BDS Intimidation in Support of Economic Boycott

Generally BDS intimidation in support of economic boycotts takes the form of standing outside a shop known to be selling Israeli products and scaring people away from it. However it often escalates into attacking the store, its products, or its customers.

In Melbourne, Australia, in the summer of 2011, protests against the chocolate store Max Brenner became more and more radical. Paul Howes, the Australian Workers Union secretary, said he thought the protesters were “mimicking the behaviour of the Nazis thugs.” It is also worth noting that Australians for Palestine did not join forces with the Brenner protesters. 11 protesters were arrested and charged with “besetting premises” and “willful trespass in a public place,” though this was later overturned in court.

A group called “the Nesheron Gathering” in Amman, Jordan is intimidating stores into not selling Israeli products through depictions of a bloody Israeli flag over the products in question.

The most famous example of BDS intimidation in support of economic boycott was the furor over Scarlett Johansson appearing in a Sodastream ad that would air during the 2014 Super Bowl. Due to Johansson’s celebrity status, BDS proponents were unable to use the usual intimidation tactics that had served them in the past. Having failed to force FOX to pull the ad they helplessly attacked Johansson from the safety of the Internet: creating insulting depictions of her in memes, videos, and cartoons, which they then spread through social media. BDS supporters also tried to convince Oxfam, a charity for which Johansson is a global ambassador, to fire her over the ad. However, Johansson took the initiative and resigned, leaving BDS with nothing but anger.

In London, UK, there was an Israeli cosmetic store in Covent Garden. It sold Ahava products, which have long been a target for BDS, and so weekly protests took place there for four years. Four demonstrators were arrested and forced to pay a fine in 2011 after they chained themselves to a concrete block inside the store. However, the store was ultimately forced to close when the landlord did not renew its lease due to complaints from nearby store owners who claimed that the riots had affected their sales. “On some Saturdays it was a real nightmare being here,” one said. “We couldn’t walk on the street because of the protests and the area looked like a scene of a terrorist attack.”

In Birmingham, UK, 100 demonstrators gathered to protest at Tesco store in Hodge Hill, claiming to be inspired by the current conflict in Gaza. They entered the shop and immediately began destroying property there, taking pictures of the damaged products and spreading them through social media. According to witnesses, they were “getting aggressive” toward innocent shoppers and staff.

“If they say it was peaceful. It was anything but a peaceful protest inside the store.”

One person was arrested for assaulting a police officer and two more were escorted off the premises. Local MP (and BDS ally) Shabana Mahmood condemned the boycotters:

“Shoving people, intimidating people and throwing things as I am told happened by a small group of people at the Hodge Hill Tesco on Saturday are not the actions of people committed to taking part in a peaceful protest movement. It’s criminal behaviour that damages the cause that we fight for.”

A similar event happened at Manchester, UK. Pro-boycott activists laid siege to a store that sold Israeli cosmetics. According to a witness the boycotters made comments such as “Jews killed Jesus” and distributed anti-Semitic literature. One boycotter was photographed making a Nazi salute, and others intimidated and threatened Jewish passersby.

In Cape Town, South Africa a group of boycott supporters proved their anti-Semitic and radical nature by bringing a severed pigs head into a store that carried Israeli products, ostensibly to prevent “people who will not eat pork to pretend that they are eating clean meat, when it is sold by hands dripping with the blood of Palestinian children.” It’s hard to see how this could be interpreted as anything other than an attempt to keep Jewish people out of the store. Although this group was not a part of the South African BDS campaign, the BDSers wasted no time in justifying their behavior. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies treated the incident as a hate crime.

Also in South Africa, in the winter of 2014 twenty-one teenage boycott supporters were arrested after a riot at a store that sold Israeli products in Pretoria. The incident started with a protest involving signs that said “Israel is the devil,” but quickly escalated into throwing rocks, breaking equipment, and looting food products. Employees of the store were assaulted and damage was estimated in the thousands of dollars. Police confirmed that the criminals were part of a pro-boycott group.

In Copenhagen, Denmark, a pro-boycott group wanted to put advertisements called for BDS onto city buses but were refused. One week later four buses were set on fire and one was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti.

In January 2009, the Ontario branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees brought forward a proposal to ban Israeli academics from teaching at Ontario Universities. Their leader Sid Ryan said, “We are ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general.” Ryan followed up: “Academic freedom goes both ways. What we are saying is if they want to remain silent and be complicit in these kinds of actions, why should they enjoy the freedom to come and teach in other countries like Canada?”

CUPE’s national president, Paul Moist, was opposed to the resolution: “I will be using my influence in any debates on such a resolution to oppose its adoption.”

Shortly after its original statement, CUPE renounced its demand to boycott individual academics and replaced it with a statement for a boycott “aimed at academic institutions and the institutional connections that exist between universities here and those in Israel.” Tyler Shipley, spokesperson for CUPE local 3903 at York University, told the Toronto Star that his group will begin to advocate for York to sever financial ties to Israel.

Some have questioned what practical effect CUPE resolutions would have since the 20,000 university workers represented by CUPE Ontario include campus staff but almost no full-time faculty.

In May 2006 the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) passed a motion to boycott Israeli academics who did not vocally speak out against their government:

“The conference invites members to consider their own responsibility for ensuring equity and non-discrimination in contacts with Israeli educational institutions or individuals, and to consider the appropriateness of a boycott of those that do not publicly dissociate themselves from such policies. The conference notes continuing Israeli apartheid policies, including construction of the exclusion wall, and discriminatory educational practices. It recalls its motion of solidarity last year for the AUT resolution to exercise moral and professional responsibility.[Brian Klug]”

The motion was dismissed by the AUT, the union into which the NATFHE was currently joining.

Overall four attempts were made to pass pro-boycott motions at the annual conferences of the NATFHE, but threatened by legal action on the one hand, and opposed by all University heads on the other, they failed to gain ground.

Eight Nobel laureates slammed the policy before it was passed, calling it an attack on academic freedom. Others joined in as well.

“The primary value of the scientific community is pursuit of understanding through free and open discourse. The clarity of that beacon to humanity should not be compromised for transient political concerns.[Frank Wilczek]”

“In short, the intention of the Natfhe motion – what it seeks and why – is obscure. But even if the policy and rationale were clear and unambiguous, there is a deeper problem with motions of this sort that prevents them from attracting a broad base of support: they rely on the false (or limited) analogy implied by the word ‘apartheid’. This is not to say that there are no points of comparison, for there are – just as there are in a host of other countries where minority ethnic and national groups are oppressed. Nor is it even to say that the suffering experienced by Palestinians is less than that endured by ‘non-whites’ in South Africa: it may or may not be (although I am not sure how to do the sums). But as I have argued elsewhere: ‘The validity of the analogy does not depend on a catalogue of atrocities, however appalling’.”[Brian Klug]

The Association of Jewish Sixthformers (AJ6) issued a press release expressing worry “about the affects of any boycott on Jewish and Israeli Sixthformers.” Specifically, AJ6 pointed to “partnerships and exchange visits with Israeli schools and colleges may be under threat”, that “Jewish students who study in Israel during their Gap Years are worried that teachers may refuse to provide them with references for these programmes.”

The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement which condemned the motion explaining:

“It is profoundly unjust for academics in the only democratic country in the Middle East – the only country where scholarship and debate are permitted to freely flourish – to be held to an ideological test and the threat of being blacklisted because of their views. No one would expect a British or American professor to have to withstand such scrutiny of their political views. Yet, when it comes to Israel a different standard applies.”

The British government, through Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister Lord Triesman, issued a statement that the motion was “counterproductive and retrograde” although the British Government recognized “the independence of the NATFHE.”

Paul Mackney, the general secretary of NATFHE, was sent over 15,000 messages from boycott opponents.

• Israel National News: UK Pro-Israel Group Claims a Victory in Fightback against BDS (December 21, 2014)
• National Post: Boycott of Israeli Goods, Which Peaked During Gaza Conflict, is Faltering (December 16, 2014)
• The Jerusalem Post
  • Over 60 Jewish groups condemn boycott movement (March 22, 2011)
  • Student Government and Israel (March 1, 2011)
  • BDS 2010: Fighting back (December 12, 2010)

• JNF’s Caravan for Democracy: STOPBDS.COM and BDS Cookbook Developed to Fight boycotts on Campuses
• Divest this!: New Player (October 15, 2010)
• JTA: Diligence in the fight against Israel apartheid week (March 9, 2011)
• Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Legal Policy and Advocacy Update (October 20, 2010)
• SPME: SPME partners with AICE and ICC to develop BDS response (January 11, 2010)
• Hillel at FSU: Take a Stand for Israel - Here’s How (January 17, 2011)
• ICC: Countering Delegitimization Resources (November 8, 2010)
• Academics for Israel: New resources for fighting BDS (December 16th, 2010)
• The Jewish Herald Voice: Bard to brief on BDS (March 25, 2011)
• National Jewish Democratic Council: NJDC joins Jewish group in condemning boycott campaigns (March 22, 2011)

Statement of Jewish Organizations on Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Campaigns Against Israel

February 2011

Believing that academic, cultural and commercial boycotts, divestments and sanctions of Israel are:

• Counterproductive to the goal of peace,
• Antithetical to freedom of speech,
• Part of a greater effort to undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their homeland, Israel.

We, the undersigned members of the Jewish community, stand united in our condemnation of calls and campaigns for boycotting, divestment and sanctions of Israeli academic institutions, professors, products and companies that do business with Israel.

We recognize and accept that individuals and groups may have legitimate criticism of Israeli policies. Criticism becomes anti-Semitism, however, when it demonizes Israel or its leaders, denies Israel the right to defend its citizens or seeks to denigrate Israel’s right to exist.

The BDS movement is antithetical to principles of academic freedom and discourages freedom of speech. The movement silences voices from across the Israeli political spectrum. By pursuing delegitimization campaigns on campus, proponents have provoked deep divisions among students and have created an atmosphere of intolerance and hatred.

We oppose the extremist rhetoric of the delegitimization movement and reject calls for boycotting, divestment or sanctions against Israel. We call upon students, faculty, administrators and other campus stakeholders to uphold the academic and democratic values of a free and civil discourse that promotes peace and tolerance.

Natalie Menaged
Aish HaTorah

Andy Borans
Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity

Dr. Mitchell Bard
American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE)

Gerald Platt
American Friend of Likud

Howard Kohr
The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)

David Harris
American Jewish Committee (AJC)

Karen J. Rubinstein
American Zionist Movement (AZM)

Abraham H. Foxman
Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

Rabbi Robert Orkand
Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA)

Dr. Colin Rubenstein, Jeremy Jones
Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council

Daniel S. Mariaschin
B’nai B’rith International

George W. Schaeffer
Bnai Zion

Mr. Vivian Wineman
The Board of Deputies of British Jews

Fred Taub
Boycott Watch

Mauricio Lulka
Central Committee of the Jewish Community of Mexico

Dr. J. Klener
Central Jewish Consistory of Belgium

Malcolm Hoenlein
Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations

David Bernstein
The David Project

Mindy Stein
Emunah of America

Danny Lamm
Executive Council of Australia

Brain Kerner
The Fair Play Campaign Group (UK)

Akiva Tendler
The Fellowship for Campus Safety and Integrity

Nancy Falchuk
Hadassah

Oded Feuer
Hagshama – The Department for Diaspora Activities of the World Zionist Organization

Natalie Menaged
Hasbara Fellowships

Wayne Firestone
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life

Adv. Irit Kohn
The International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists

Steve Kuperberg
Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC)

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
The Israel Project (TIP)

Dr. Misha Galperin
Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI)

Conrad Giles, Rabbi Steve Gutow
Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)

William Daroff
The Jewish Federations of North America

Thomas Neumann
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA)

Martin M. Schwartz
Jewish Labor Committee

Jeremy Newmark
Jewish Leadership Council

Rabbi Eric M. Lankin
Jewish National Fund (JNF)

Dov H. Maimon
Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI)

Claudio Epelman
Latin American Jewish Congress

Ron Carner
Maccabi USA/Sports For Israel

Avi Rubel
Masa Israel Journey

Janet Tobin, Rabbi Robert R. Golub
MERCAZ USA

Elizabeth Raider
NA’AMAT USA

Mark Levin
National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ)

David A. Harris
National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC)

Rabbi Steven Weil
Orthodox Union (OU)

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld
Rabbinical Assembly

Rabbi Yosef Blau
Religious Zionists of America

Matt Brooks
Republican Jewish Committee (RJC)

Leland Manders
Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity

Amy Krouse
Sigma Delta Tau Sorority

Rabbi Aron Heir
Simon Weisenthal Center

Roz Rothstein
StandWithUs

Rabbi Yoffie, David Saperstein
Union for Reform Judaism (URJ)

Richard Skolnik, Rabbi Steven C. Wernick
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism

Rabbi Elyse Winick
United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and campus division KOACH

Sarrae G Crane
Women’s League for Conservative Judaism

Shelley Lindauer
Women of Reform Judaism

Betty Ehrenberg
World Jewish Congress, North America

Oliver Worth
World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS)

Laurence A. Bolotin
Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity

Morton A. Klein
Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)

Statement by C. L. Max Nikias, President, University of Southern California, on proposed academic and cultural boycotts and sanctions against Israel and Israeli universities and divestment of investments of certain firms involved in Israel

Over the past several years, the University of Southern California has been asked to join academic and cultural boycotts or other sanctions against Israel and/or Israeli universities and to consider divestment of investments in firms that have certain business operations in Israel.

I believe such actions would be a betrayal of our values as a pluralistic university whose students, faculty, and alumni come from more than 110 countries, and who represent a diversity of political, cultural and religious beliefs.

USC is deeply committed to providing the intellectual environment for cooperative and tolerant discourse, respecting the diversity of moral, political and religious views held by its members and working together to better understand the most challenging issues of our time.

December 15, 2010

STATEMENT OF NOBEL LAUREATES ON ACADEMIC BDS ACTIONS AGAINST ISRAELI ACADEMICS, ISRAELI ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS AND ACADEMIC CENTERS AND INSTITUTES OF RESEARCH AND TRAINING WITH AFFILIATIONS IN ISRAEL

By Roger Kornberg, Stanford University and Steven Weinberg, University of Texas at Austin

Statement of Nobel Laureates on Academic BDS Actions against Israeli Academics, Israeli Academic Institutions and Academic Centers and Institutes of Research and Training With Affiliations in Israel
Believing that academic and cultural boycotts, divestments and sanctions in the academy are:

* antithetical to principles of academic and scientific freedom,
* antithetical to principles of freedom of expression and inquiry, and
* may well constitute discrimination by virtue of national origin,

We, the undersigned Nobel Laureates, appeal to students, faculty colleagues and university officials to defeat and denounce calls and campaigns for boycotting, divestment and sanctions against Israeli academics, academic institutions and university-based centers and institutes for training and research, affiliated with Israel.

Furthermore, we encourage students, faculty colleagues and university officials to promote and provide opportunities for civil academic discourse where parties can engage in the search for resolution to conflicts and problems rather than serve as incubators for polemics, propaganda, incitement and further misunderstanding and mistrust.

We, and many like us, have dedicated ourselves to improving the human condition by doing the often difficult and elusive work to understand complex and seemingly unsolvable phenomena. We believe that the university should serve as an open, tolerant and respectful, cooperative and collaborative community engaged in practices of resolving complex problems.