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BDS Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 03, 2016 5 Comments
One of the most controversial aspects of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is the academic boycott. That academic boycott has been condemned and rejected by the Presidents of over 250 American universities and colleges, and major groups such as the American Council on Education (1700+ Higher Ed Institutions), Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (216 Universities and University Systems), Association of American Universities (62 Universities). The American Association of University Professors (approx. 48,000 members) not only rejects the academic boycott, it also calls it a violation of academic freedom. Almost all resolutions introduced at student governments by groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) focus on divestment from companies allegedly aiding Israel's violation of Palestinian human rights. These are symbolic resolutions since student governments have no say on university finances; sometimes they pass, but more often they fail.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 02, 2016 14 Comments
As detailed in a prior post, my Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to the Ithaca City School District (ICSD) regarding Bassem Tamimi’s appearance before third graders at the Beverly J. Martin School (BJM) encountered a completely unexpected problem:
In brief, and incredibly, the teachers union in the Ithaca school district appears to have instructed its members not to produce records responsive to my FOIL Request contained on personal electronic devices and email accounts.... So I went to court and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order preserving records pending a court determination on the merits.
After responsive motion papers from ICSD and the Ithaca Teachers Association [ITA], in which ITA disputed some of ICSD's allegations, and my reply, the case was argued on January 25, 2016, before the N.Y. State Supreme Court (the trial level court in NY) in Ithaca. I was pro se in the case. ICSD was represented by a large Syracuse law firm, and ITA by the legal department of New York State United Teachers, the statewide teachers union. In a decision issued today, the Court granted most of the relief I requested, including injunctive relief requiring ICSD to make specified efforts to obtain records contained on the personal electronic devices of ICSD employees. (Full embed at bottom of post.) But first, some background for those of you not familiar with the third grade incident.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on March 02, 2016 1 Comment
Opponents of the Boycott, Divest and Sanction ("BDS") campaign against Israel won a significant tactical victory in hostile territory last month. In January, the city of Aviles, Spain - just inland of the Bay of Biscay on the northern shore of the Iberian Peninsula -  passed a resolution adopting BDS.  The Association for Action and Communication in the Middle East ("ACOM") a pro-Israel organization based in Madrid, filed a discrimination suit against the municipality. According to the Spanish-language El Commercio, in late February the city voted to rescind the BDS resolution, apparently as part of a settlement in the ACOM suit.  Google's translator function is passable:
Action Association and Communication in the Middle East (ACOM), which aims to improve all kinds of relations between Spain and Israel, hailed yesterday's decision of the City of Aviles to withdraw the boycott of Israeli products after the plenary session on Saturday approved, with the votes of PSOE, PP and Citizens, the annulment of the declaration last January 21 the Consistory incorporated Aviles to BDS Network (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against colonization, apartheid and Israeli occupation Palestine.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 01, 2016 4 Comments
Last week The Tower magazine broke the story of a "social justice writing" professor at Oberlin, Joy Karega, who engaged in some bizarre anti-Semitic and anti-Israel commentary on Facebook. The short version is that Karega, at least based on what she posts on Facbeook, sees Zionist and Jewish conspiracies almost everywhere, including claiming Israel was behind 9/11, and that the Charlie Hebdo attack and downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 were Mossad false flag operations. She also circulated and posted about the Rothschild family controlling the media and seeking global domination, so no mere anti-Zionist loon here. Karega Oberlin Netanyahu ISIS

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 27, 2016 9 Comments
The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement always has used disruption and intimidation on campus as a tactic to initimidate Israeli and pro-Israel speakers and students on campus. Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is a leader in this regard, but hardly alone. There have been two developments in the past year or two. First, using the intellectual pretext of "intersectionality," anti-Israel coalitions are build based upon (i) explicitly racial criteria of opposing "white settler colonialism," and (ii) co-opting unrelated social justice causes, such as Black Lives Matter and even rape crisis groups. Second, as reflected in our reporting and a recent study, disruption has become the preferred tactic, as divestment and other such efforts prove futile even when passed by student governments. Just today, for example, a boycott resolution which had passed the McGill University student assembly was voted down in an all-campus vote, Anti-Israel Boycott Resolution goes down in flames at McGill University.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 27, 2016 3 Comments
McGill University in Montreal was the latest effort by anti-Israel students to pass a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions motion. Initially, at a student assembly packed by BDS supporters, the motion passed:
The Student Society of McGill University has voted to boycott Israel. The idea came up for a vote twice before in the last 18 months at McGill University, and was put forward again Monday night by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. This time, it succeeded. “What we basically did is write a motion and brought it to the general assembly at our student union today. The motion is on boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel,” said Laura Khoury of the McGill BDS Action Network. Close to 900 undergraduate students filled nearly four overflow rooms for the hour-long debate. Students voted 512 to 357 in favour of adopting the motion. While it may have been a small portion of the student population of 30,000, they say vote sends a message.
https://www.facebook.com/mcgillbds/photos/pb.891815224265030.-2207520000.1456618956./891870604259492/?type=3&theater

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 25, 2016 3 Comments
As documented before, Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, has faced a waive of anti-Israel, and in some cases anti-Semitic, activity on campus for the past two years centered around the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The latest spark is a combined effort by Vassar Students for Justice in Palestine and Vassar Jewish Voice for Peace, to pass an anti-Israel divestment resolution targeting companies, including Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, that supposedly contribute to the oppression of Palestinians. The controversy has put a lot of pressure not just on the Vassar administration, but also the Vassar Student Association, which is considering the BDS resolution for a March 6 vote. The Miscellany News, the student newspaper, reports that the students on VSA just voted to take the BDS vote in secret:

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 24, 2016 3 Comments
The annual tour of lies and hate known as Israel Apartheid Week kicked off Monday in England, with stops coming around the world.  The U.S. edition is set for March 27-April 3. Monday morning, Londoners taking the underground were greeted by a series of new advertisements targeting companies with business in Israel.  They accuse Israel of the same tired litany of apartheid, cruelty and crimes that has been debunked so many times already. The first event at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies last Monday night included the usual accusations of prisoner abuse, organ harvesting and, of course, apartheid.

Recent Developments On UK Campuses

Israel Apartheid Week comes to England at an opportune moment, as rampant anti-Semitism comes to light at the vaunted Oxford University.  Last week, the student co-chairman of Oxford University's Labor Club (OULC) - Alex Chalmers - resigned out of protest at the group's anti-Semitism.

Posted by Miriam Elman on February 21, 2016 12 Comments
This spring three U.S. mainline churches, the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA), the United Methodist Church (UMC), and the Unitarian Universalist Church (UU), will feature a number of anti-Israel BDS-related resolutions at their annual meetings. Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) activists are already anticipating that “2016 could be the biggest year yet for church divestment”. The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (USCEIO), an anti-Israel umbrella group for the BDS movement, recently released a call to action encouraging supporters to sign petitions, and follow and ‘like’ the efforts of anti-Israel member groups within these liberal Protestant churches via emails and social media. UCEIO, Huge News on church divestment Below we highlight what’s in store in the months ahead in the anti-Israel movement’s ongoing campaign to hijack America’s liberal Protestant churches.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 21, 2016 8 Comments
Bassem Eid is a well-known Palestinian Human Rights activist who has been critical of human rights abuses and corruption in the Palestinian Authority and Hamas-run Gaza. Eid is an advocate of peaceful co-existence, and has made enemies in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement because Eid believes BDS is harmful to Palestinians. He also criticizes the organizations that promote BDS as looking out for their own financial interests. Here is a short interview which summarizes his views. https://youtu.be/K9YQwtDibGc?t=14s Eid is a frequent speaker in the United States, including on college campuses. Eid presents a Palestinian point of view not often heard on campuses, where radical faculty and student groups place all blame for the conflict on Israel.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 17, 2016 12 Comments
For the past two years we have been reporting on extreme anti-Israelism veering into anti-Semitism at Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie, NY. We have relentlessly documented a series of shocking events. Among other things, in 2014 Jewish students who stood up at a campus-wide forumwere mocked and jeered by a raucous crowd of students and faculty, a class was picketed and a professor forced to cross a picket line of ululating students because the course involved a trip to Israel (and the West Bank), Students for Justice in Palestine posted a Nazi cartoon on social media, and pro-Israel displays were vandalized. Just recently, a Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution campaign kick-off by SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace, followed by a faculty-sponsored event at which Israel was accused of engaging in an experiment to “stunt” Palestinian bodies, led to anti-Semitic messages on campus Yik-Yak. Just recently, SJP sold t-shirts honoring Palestinian airplane hijacker Leila Khalid. https://www.facebook.com/SJPatVC/photos/a.569972329734862.1073741828.569630543102374/1026058340792923/?type=3 The reaction from the Vassar President to alumni complaints and concerns was to blame the messenger, accusing "online publications" and "social media" of mischaracterizing the campus atmosphere.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 17, 2016 5 Comments
French banking giant BNP Paribas is shutting down a major financing source for the Boycott, Divest and Sanction ("BDS") campaign in Germany.  This is the latest in an anti-BDS trend in Germany and, potentially, the first step in cutting of BDS funding in Europe. Benjamin Weinthall, a Fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies wrote in The Jerusalem Post:
The Munich-based DAB Bank is slated to discontinue the account of one of the top BDS campaign websites in Germany, the Jerusalem Post has learned. The BDS-Kampagne [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Campaign] group’s website lists DAB Bank Munich as the financial institution for electronic money transfers. The Post uncovered the DAB bank account for the BDS campaign website targeting Israel.
This is good news in-and-of-itself, but actually understates the implications.  First, it is part of a broader anti-BDS trend in Germany.  According to JPost:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 16, 2016 5 Comments
On Monday night, February 15, 2016, the student government council at the University of Illinois - Chicago unanimously (14-0) passed a divestment resolution proposed by Students for Justice in Palestine and a coalition of other student groups. That passage is being promoted by anti-Israel activists, including Jewish Voice for Peace, as a major victory for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campus movement. But passage of the resolution isn't the real story. The real story is that the resolution that passed did not single out Israel, and applied to any and all alleged human rights abuses anywhere in the world, specifically also mentioning the United States, China, Britain and other countries. As such, the watered-down resolution amounted to a universal statement of principles, not a condemnation of Israel. The UIC Coalition for Peace, which included pro-Israel students, can claim this as a victory for fair treatment of Israel.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on February 16, 2016 0 Comments
British Prime Minister David Cameron’s government has proposed new directives to combat anti-Israel boycott in the United Kingdom. Under the proposed regulations, universities, city councils, state-run health services and other government-funded public organisation will be not be allowed to discriminate against products made in Israel. The announcement comes on the heels of a bill introduced in the US congress to combat anti-Israel boycott campaign. “The Combating BDS Act of 2016" wants to give more power to the states to act against businesses that boycot or divest from Israel. According to the reports in British media, Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock is expected to announce the details during his trip to Israel in coming days, citing concerns that such campaigns directed towards Israel fuel antisemitism. The London-based newspaper The Indepedent reports:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 15, 2016 17 Comments
Vassar College has been rocked by a series of anti-Israel, anti-Semitic events. Apparently the President of Vassar, Catharine Hill, has received numerous alumni complaints and concerns, because she issued a statement to alumni seeking to allay their concerns. But in the process, the President sought to shift the responsibility by blaming "online publications" and "social media" for the controversy. I don't know if the President included Legal Insurrection in her criticism, but please scroll through our Vassar College Tag so you can see how thoroughly we have documented all our reporting. As background, anti-Israel activism has led to anti-Semitic incidents in 2014 and 2016. Among other things, in 2014 Jewish students who stood up at a campus-wide forumwere mocked and jeered by a raucous crowd of students and faculty, a class was picketed and a professor forced to cross a picket line of ululating students because the course involved a trip to Israel (and the West Bank), Students for Justice in Palestine posted a Nazi cartoon on social media, and pro-Israel displays were vandalized.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 14, 2016 23 Comments
"Social justice" activism at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, is becoming self-parody, and not in a good way. We have covered extensively the anti-Israel activism that has led to anti-Semitic incidents in 2014 and 2016. Among other things, in 2014 Jewish students who stood up at a campus-wide forum were mocked and jeered by a raucous crowd of students and faculty, a class was picketed and a professor forced to cross a picket line of ululating students because the course involved a trip to Israel (and the West Bank), Students for Justice in Palestine posted a Nazi cartoon on social media, and pro-Israel displays were vandalized. Just recently, a Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution campaign kick-off by SJP and Jewish Voice for Peace, followed by a faculty-sponsored event at which Israel was accused of engaging in an experiment to "stunt" Palestinian bodies, led to anti-Semitic messages on campus Yik-Yak. As if that were not bad enough, the social justice warriors at Vassar now have turned their sights on a feminist professor who allegedly did not use proper pronouns for transgender students.

Posted by Jonathan Levin on February 12, 2016 2 Comments
There has been quite a bit of BDS-related legislative activity in the several weeks, with two anti-BDS measures moving through Congress, and activity in several state legislatures.  While the legislatures universally oppose BDS, President Obama has weighed in in opposition to Congress's pro-Israel legislation.

Federal Anti-BDS Legislation

First, Wednesday afternoon Senators Mark Kirk (R. - IL) and Joe Manchin (D. - WV) and Representatives Bob Dold (R. - IL) and Juan Vargas (D. - CA) filed a bill to help states divest from BDS-supporting companies.  According to Adam Kredo of the Washington Free Beacon:
The new bill, which was filed Wednesday afternoon, marks an aggressive push by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to combat the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, otherwise known as BDS, which advocates in favor of economic war against the Jewish state. The bill would provide legal shelter to states seeking to divest taxpayer funds from any company that has backed the BDS movement. It also would set a legal precedent granting safe harbor for private investment companies to do the same.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 11, 2016 12 Comments
We previously reported on the anti-Semitic messages sent at Vassar College after the launch of a Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) student campaign by Vassar Students for Justice in Palestine and Vassar Jewish Voice for Peace. The messages also followed fast on the heels of a faculty-sponsored anti-Israel speech by Rutgers Professor Jabir Puar in which, among other things, she accused Israel of conducting an experiment in “stunting” growth of Palestinian bodies, Vassar faculty-sponsored anti-Israel event erupts in controversy. Not much was known about the anti-Semitic messages except that they were sent via the anonymous campus app Yik Yak. Here is an example which was posted on Facebook by the Vassar Jewish Student Union:
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