VIDEO: Canadian PM Trudeau reiterates BDS is simply “a new frame around anti-Semitism”

VIDEO: Canadian PM Trudeau reiterates BDS is simply “a new frame around anti-Semitism”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a town hall on January 15, 2019, at Brock University in Canada.

During the town hall, someone requested that Trudeau renounce Trudeau’s prior strong condemnation of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement.

Trudeau strongly stood by his condemnation of BDS as anti-Semitic. Here are some excerpts from Trudeau’s response to a long question (Trudeau’s response starts at 1:40):

Q. …. Will you take this opportunity today to retract your condemnation of the BDS movement?

Trudeau: …. Anti-Semitism as it existed back then [during the 1930s and 1940s] was commonplace and simply accepted and we fortunately moved on from there, but anti-Semitism still exists, and indeed, discrimination against Jewish people is still one of the largest source of hate crimes in Canada and around the world.

We need to understand as well, that anti-Semitism has also manifested itself not just as in targeting of individuals, but it is also targeting a new condemnation or an anti-Semitism against the very State of Israel. Which, as my friend Irwin Cotler has characterized, can be characterized by the three Ds: Demonization of Israel, a Double Standard around Israel, and a Delegitimization of the State of Israel.

And I think we have to be very careful as a society, and as a government, and as a country, to not sanction or support this new frame around anti-Semitism and undue criticism of Israel.

Now it doesn’t mean that you can’t criticize decisions by the State of Israel. That of course, is a democratic country that has an opposition party that every day has as its job criticisms of decisions that the government of Israel makes, and that’s perfectly natural and healthy and needed within a democracy.

But when you have movements like BDS that singles out Israel, that seeks to delegitimize and in some cases demonize. When you have students on campus dealing with things like Israel Apartheid Weeks that makes them fearful of actually attending campus events because of their religion in Canada, we have to recognize that there are things that aren’t acceptable, not because of foreign policy concerns, but because of Canadian values. It’s not right to discriminate or to make someone feel unsafe on campus because of their religion, and unfortunately, the BDS movement is often linked to those kinds of frames.

Yes, sir, I will continue to condemn the BDS movement ….

Trudeau’s formulation of the new anti-Semitism mirrors the definition used by the U.S. State Department and adopted by dozens of countries.

I discussed when anti-Israelism crosses into anti-Semitism, including the Three D’s test, in my lecture at U. Chicago Law School, VIDEO: When Does Anti-Israelism Turn Into Anti-Semitism?

I also showed in my lecture on The REAL history of the BDS movement, how BDS is a continuation of the anti-Jewish boycotts from the 1920s and 1930s, repackaged for the social justice crowd.

The REAL History of the BDS… by on Scribd

Needless to say, the very types of Israel haters Trudeau was talking about were not happy with Trudeau’s response to the question and the condemnation of BDS.

Ali Abunimah, who runs the Electronic Intifada, tweeted:

Justin Trumpdeau continues to stand against nonviolent solidarity and civic action to free Palestinians from the brutal Israeli occupation and apartheid that his government supports. He wants Palestinians to die from Israeli sniper bullets without making a fuss.

Jamil Dakwar, Director of the ACLU Human Rights program and an adjunct professor at Hunter College, proved why the ACLU is not what it once was, by tweeting:

Very disappointing that he is reciting hasbara [Israeli propaganda] talking points. What and how does he want Canadians to act in response to the decades long injustice against the Palestinians? Silence is complicity!

While BDS has made inroads on campuses and among the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democrat Party, it is losing its legitimacy as the recognition grows that BDS targets Jews because they are Jews asserting their right to self-determination in the homeland of the Jewish people.

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