Tag Archives: BDS

Ironically, BDS activists play a salutary role: They unite the rest of society, from Left to Right, in contempt for them. Two recent initiatives by mostly Israeli Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement activists and BDS sympathizers shine an intense light on how warped and detached they have become, and how …

Proponents of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel typically react with indignation when their views are denounced as antisemitic. They tell us it’s not racist to criticise the policies of any government, or to speak up for human rights; that some Jews (albeit a tiny minority) support BDS, so …

FACT: One of the many ironies of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement is that its proponents routinely use Israeli products, innovations and medical treatments. Now they face another challenge: should they risk dying from the coronavirus rather than accept help from Israel? Just as most Palestinians in the …

FACT: Acceding to pressure from BDS-supporting organizations, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) published a database of 112 companies operating in Judaea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem on February 12, 2020.  The intention was to create a blacklist that would identify companies that Israel’s detractors could target for boycotting because their …

FACT. Acceding to pressure from BDS-supporting organizations, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) published a database of 112 companies operating in Judaea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem on February 12, 2020.  The intention was to create a blacklist that would identify companies that Israel’s detractors could target for boycotting because their …

There was a Palestinian Princess who had such trouble sleeping.  No matter which way she turned in her bed there was something hurting her back. One night she had a dream. “One hot day, I was very tired after a hard day… and suddenly I saw four white doors in …

The background to this post is the “Deal of the Century” peace deal from President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner and several other Administration officials.  Their hearts were in the right place, and the initial reaction of most Israelis was that this is practically Mashiachzeit – the days of the Messiah. …

Following publication by the United Nations Human Rights Council of a “blacklist” of businesses operating in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) is calling on the Australian Government to maintain its principled stance towards fairness at the UN and condemn the list. The …

The subject of antisemitism in America is something I never thought would become “a thing” and I certainly never imagined it would become a series to write about. On Saturday night a domestic terrorist, for want of a better term, invaded a Chanukah party taking place at the home of …

Well the unthinkable has happened. Israel is going to her third election in 12 months, still trying to resolve an electoral impasse that has now been going in effect, for the whole of 2019 – leading Israel to have a year of caretaker and therefore hamstrung government as a direct …

FACT: On November 12, 2019, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that products coming from Jewish localities in the West Bank could not carry the label “Made in Israel” and must be labelled as a product originating from an “Israeli Settlement.”  This decision reflects an all-too-familiar double-standard applied to …

I have been astounded as to how much has been written, how many words have been spoken, passionately arguing the issue of whether or not it was a good move for Israel to block entry to those Israel-hating, BDS- supporting members of Congress, Ilhan Omar (MN-5th) and Rashida Tlaib (MI-13th). …

It is difficult not to savour the irony of two United States congresswomen who advocate boycotts of Israel crying foul at being denied entry into the very country they seek to erase.  Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, two members of the Democratic Party’s “Squad” of neophyte congresswomen from the Party’s …

Seems Canada has de facto endorsed BDS unless Prime Minster Justin Trudeau pushes back against the court.   Justice Anne Mactavish wrote:  Identifying settlement wines incorrectly as “Products of Israel” inhibits the ability of such individuals to express their political views through their purchasing choices, thereby limiting their Charter-protected right to …

Both here in Israel and in the US, there is so much dissension, so much hostility.  My thought again and again is that this is not how it is supposed to be. With a couple of exceptions, I will try to move past this, or around it, as I have …

Press Release Arab MK Urges Boycott of Israel at Pro-BDS Conference in London Member of Knesset Yousef Jabareen (Hadash-Ta’al) publicly called to boycott Israel in a speech he gave over the weekend at a pro-BDS conference in London, Kan news reported. “The international community has all the tools to deal …

Press release – Two hundred and forty Israeli and Jewish Academics Urge German Government To Reject “BDS is antisemitism” Law   Two hundred and forty Israeli and Jewish academics sent a letter to the German government urging them to reject its recently passed “BDS is antisemitism” law. In an open …

The German government voted in May 2019 to officially label the boycott, divestment and sanctions (B.D.S.) of Israel movement as antisemitic. The resolution entitled “Resisting the BDS movement decisively –fighting antisemitism,” calls on the German government to “cease providing premises and facilities under the administration of the Bundestag to organizations …

Apartheid. Just the mention of the word is emotive, evocative and provocative. For millions of South Africans who suffered under the apartheid regime, the word is synonymous with suffering, discrimination and racism. Today the word apartheid has been hijacked by Israel’s detractors as a way to launch a well-orchestrated assault …

Antisemitism spread through the left like a tsunami through city streets. It may have entered via radical minority groups on the fringes, but as it hit the shore, there were no defences in place. Nothing to stop anti-Jewish sentiment moving from constituency to constituency. For decades, the mainstream has flirted …