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BDS Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 26, 2015 1 Comment
We have carried many stories over the years about anti-Israel activists in Europe and the U.S. using the heckler's veto to shut down speeches and events. A recent example was at the University of Texas at Austin, when members of the Palestine Solidarity Committee disrupted an Israel Studies event, then claimed their own speech was suppressed because their protest was not allowed to continue. The UT-Austin students disrupting the event were campus leaders of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Now another example from the University of Haifa, Israel, in which radical Arab students disrupted a speech by a visiting Egyptian scholar who is affiliated with Yale University.

Posted by Miriam Elman on December 25, 2015 3 Comments
Drawing on the stories of the annunciation of the birth of Jesus, Christmas is viewed as a time of peace and goodwill to all. But for anti-Israel activists and organizations, the holiday season is a perfect occasion to conduct political warfare against the Jewish state.

NGOs, The PA, and The Hijacking

For years vehemently anti-Israel NGOs (non-governmental organizations), charities, and even church groups have been exploiting Christmas symbols, themes, and traditions in order to promote one-sided narratives of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Exploiting Christmas for anti-Israel These recast religiously-themed narratives situate Israel and Jews as the villains and omit any mention of terrorism, or Israel’s need to protect its citizens from harm. Palestinian Christians in these narratives are depicted as undeservedly maltreated by Israel. Special attention is given to how Palestinians are allegedly hurt by the security barrier surrounding Bethlehem and its adjacent communities.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 23, 2015 6 Comments
On Tuesday night, February 25, 2014, I stayed up late watching the live stream of the UCLA student council debate over an anti-Israel divestment resolution. It was one of many such resolutions on campuses at a time when groups like Students for Justice in Palestine were in an aggressive posture, particularly at UCLA. A guest author familiar with the UCLA campus scene wrote about the tactics being used against pro-Israel students, UCLA testing ground for next generation of anti-Israel campus tactics. At some point early in the morning the next day, I called it quits. Given the 3-hour time difference, it appeared the event would go on well into the early morning hours. I went to bed figuring I'd find out the result in the morning. Sometime around 9 a.m. on February 26, 2014, I logged onto the computer, went to the live stream, and it was still going on, and the vote was about to take place. I watched the divestment resolution go down to defeat:

Posted by Jonathan Levin on December 22, 2015 10 Comments
The Boycott, Divest & Sanction ("BDS") movement and the broader campaign to delegitimize Israel has had a tough few weeks.  In academia and industry, the boycott campaign has been exposed as potentially discriminatory and unlawful, and yet another panel of experts has affirmed that Israel's use of force against Hamas is not only legitimate, but exemplary. Law Professors Eugene Kontorovich and Steven Davidoff Solomon of the Northwestern University and University of California - Berkeley, respectively, make the case that boycotts by academic associations are unlawful.  As one might expect, academic associations each have a stated purpose, typically to collect, share, expand and advance knowledge in the relevant field.  Profs. Kontorovich and Davidoff explain that such associations cannot legally do anything other than pursue those stated purposes, and:
Boycott resolutions that are beyond the powers of an organization are void, and individual members can sue to have a court declare them invalid. The individuals serving on the boards of these organizations may be liable for damages. Consider the American Historical Association. Its constitution—a corporate charter—states that its purpose “shall be the promotion of historical studies” and the “broadening of historical knowledge among the general public.” There’s nothing in this charter that would authorize a boycott. And an anti-Israel boycott will do nothing to promote “historical studies” or broaden “historical knowledge.” A boycott by definition restricts study and research: The explanatory material attached to the [American Anthropological Association ("AAA")] resolution, for example, says it would restrict the organization from sharing scholarly journals with Israeli universities.

Posted by Alex Ryvchin on December 22, 2015 12 Comments
Galway, Ireland. They stood huddled in the corner of the lecture theatre whispering ominously. A final pep talk perhaps, or a hasty revision of tactics. Then the leader surged forward, arms flailing, voice bellowing, clad in the colours of Palestine. ‘Get the f–k off our campus, now, you f–king Zionist, f–king prick,’ his body literally convulsing with rage. His acolytes obediently pounded the desks in wild approval. ‘We don’t want your Israeli money around here.’ Professor Alan Johnson, a respected political theorist and one of British Labour’s most astute thinkers, stoically continued his address, speaking in his characteristic soft, measured, thoughtful tones. He presented his analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, unsparing in his criticism of both sides, and stated the progressive case for peace: two states for two peoples. But the protestors weren’t there to engage with ideas, or to advance a negotiated, peaceful outcome to the conflict. They were there to ‘resist’. (language warning)

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 15, 2015 35 Comments
Many college campuses are seeing sets of “Demands” issued by students to administrations, often seeking to suppress speech the students deem offensive and to increase faculty and student affirmative action policies and programs. Hamilton College students using the name "The Movement" recently set what was believed to be a record 83 Demands. At least one of the Demands, for a "President of Color," was promptly ignored by the college when it named its new President recently. Oberlin College students, however, may be about to set a new record for length if not number of Demands. Oberlin, a self-proclaimed progressive institution, has seen racial strife on campus in recent years, including The Great Oberlin College Racism Hoax of 2013 perpetrated primarily by a progressive white student trying to get the campus talking about race. Even after the hoax was exposed, the resulting campus conflict was exploited to advance “even more extreme policies.” (You can listen to my explanation of the hoax and result here.) More recent strife on campus involved protests by the Black Student Union over the quality of food in the Afrikan Heritage House. Oberlin also is known for non-racial activism, such at the "trigger warning" protests against the appearance of Christina Hoff Sommers. A student tipped us off that starting last night students began circulating and signing a 14-page list of 50 separate demands, in the name of the Black Students Union (BSU).

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 10, 2015 12 Comments
The phrase "All evil in the world must be traced to Israel" is how researcher Nurit Baytch perceptively characterized the propaganda tactics of anti-Israel activist Max Blumenthal. It's a phrase that increasingly characterizes the anti-Israel campus movement. Every real or perceived problem is either blamed on or connected to Israel. The concerted effort to turn the Black Lives Matter movement into an anti-Israel movement has at its core the claim that Israel is the root of problems of non-whites in the United States. Thus, if a police chief somewhere attended a one-week anti-terrorism seminar in Israel years ago, every act of brutality by a cop on the beat is blamed on Israel. So too, Students for Justice in Palestine protesters in New York City even blamed high tuition on Zionists, leading to rebukes by administrators against such thinly-veiled anti-Semitism. The Jew once again is made the source of all evil, the conspiratorial puppet-master controlling all and responsible for all. And Israel alone receives such treatment and is used as the link to connect all injustices in the world. That some of the worst perpetrators are Jewish progressives doesn't change the nature of the attack. Jay Michaelson in The Forward looks to the concept of "intersectionality" to understand why the students behind these seemingly attenuated connections view Israel as tied to everything:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 09, 2015 23 Comments
If you've wondered why I've been relatively absent from the website the past few days, it's because I had to deal with a completely unexpected problem regarding 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). 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. [See Update, as to whether there has been a change of position on this.] So I went to court and obtained a Temporary Restraining Order preserving records pending a court determination on the merits. Details and full copy of Court Order below.

Posted by Miriam Elman on December 08, 2015 8 Comments
A controversy brewing in St. Louis progressive activist circles sheds light on how the anti-Israel movement’s effort to demonize Israel by hijacking the Black Lives Matter agenda is intensifying. At issue is an offensive poster and cartoon featuring the image of a prominent St. Louis Rabbi Susan Talve. Both were circulated last week on social media by HandsUp United, a “social justice organization” based in Ferguson, Missouri. The anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace is supporting the effort to demonize Rabbi Talve, and the vile anti-Israel cartoonist Carlos Latuff has created a cartoon meme that is spreading. This is all part of an effort to turn Black Lives Matters into an anti-Israel movement, an increasing focus of anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activists.

Targeting St. Louis Rabbi Susan Talve

Rabbi Susan Talve, who leads St. Louis’ Central Reform Congregation, is a well-known and nationally respected figure in St. Louis’ interfaith community and in the Ferguson protest movement. Last year, she was named one of America’s most inspiring rabbis by the Forward. For years she’s taken a leading progressive position on racial issues in the United States. Since the Michael Brown fatal shooting in Ferguson, just outside St. Louis, in August 2014, she’s also voiced opposition to racial profiling and policing policies at numerous public events.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 05, 2015 3 Comments
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has been targeting American Reggae musician Matisyahu because he is Jewish and refuses to denounce Israel. In the summer of 2015 an international firestorm of controversy erupted after BDS succeeded in getting Matisyahu banned at the Spanish Rototom Reggae festival. The ban was reversed only after an international outcry, including denunciations by the Spanish government and a leading Spanish newspaper that the action amounted to religious discrimination. So when Matisyahu booked an appearance in Ithaca, NY, as part of his world tour, it was not long before the local BDS crowd, including our own BDS "star," sought a boycott of the event and planned a protest. But it didn't work. There was a substantial backlash in favor of artistic freedom. Ithaca resident Linda Glaser wrote a powerful op-ed in The Ithaca Journal, Let Jewish artist perform in Ithaca:
Artistic freedom is the right of every American, as it is based on the First Amendment right of freedom of speech. The Ithaca Coalition for Unity and Cooperation in the Middle East (ICU-CME) supports the right of American musician Matisyahu to perform and to be heard free from intimidation at the State Theatre of Ithaca.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 04, 2015 3 Comments
Matisyahu is the American Jewish reggae musician who has been targeted by the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Last summer, BDS managed to get Matisyahu banned from the Spanish Rototom Reggae Festival after he refused to sign a statement renouncing and denouncing Israel. Matisyahu, believed to be the only Jewish musician scheduled to perform, was the only musician asked to sign a political statement in order to appear. After denunciations of the ban as religious discrimination by the Spanish government and a leading Spanish newspaper, and an international outcry, the Festival organizers apologized. Matisyahu was reinstated and performed on the main stage. Matisyahu also is the target of a BDS group in Ithaca, NY, where he is appearing tonight at the historic State Theatre, as part of a world tour.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 01, 2015 5 Comments
I reported on November 22, 2015, that local Ithaca, NY, anti-Israel activists were objecting to the appearance of American Jewish reggae musician Matisyahu, Anti-Israel boycott movement targets Matisyahu again. The appearance is scheduled for this Friday night, December 4, 2015. That post had the history of how Matisyahu has been singled out for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement scorn because he is an American Jew who refuses to renounce and denounce Israel. In fact, Matisyahu has expressed support for Israel's right to exist and has come out against media demonization of Israel. That makes Matisyahu a marked man by BDS, and led to cancellation of his appearance last August at the Spanish Rototom Reggae Festival. The ban was reversed after a public outcry and Spanish government and media denunciations of religious discrimination. I also detailed how the local protest was organized by the same core group of people who organize just about every anti-Israel event in the Ithaca area, particularly Ariel Gold. Matisyahu - Ithaca State Street Theater At the end of my prior post, I noted:

Posted by Miriam Elman on December 01, 2015 13 Comments
Last week on November 22, Al-Awda—the Palestine Right to Return Coalition—proudly announced on Twitter the co-hosting, with Jewish Voice for Peace and others, of Alison Weir at an event in Cleveland: https://twitter.com/AlAwdaPRRC/status/668583974948741120 It isn’t surprising that Al-Awda would take the lead in promoting Weir and her group and website If Americans Knew (IAK). The two organizations are basically cut from the same cloth. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Al-Awda is a notorious anti-Israel campaigner that views Zionism as “inherently racist” and is unwilling to accept Israel’s existence.

Posted by Vijeta Uniyal on December 01, 2015 1 Comment
A leading British bank has closed the accounts of Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and several other pro-Palestinian groups amid charges that they might be funnelling funds to terrorist organisations. Manchester-based Co-operative Bank issued a statement saying Palestine Solidarity Campaign's (PSC) accounts failed due diligence checks to ensure that funds were not 'inadvertently funding illegal or other proscribed activities.' The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) claims to be surprised by the allegations and threatened legal action against the bank, crying foul about “discrimination.” PSC is one of the most influential backer of the anti-Israel boycott campaign (BDS) in UK. Jeremy Corbyn, the newly-elected leader of the Labour Party, has long been a vocal supporter of PSC and other anti-Israel groups championing the "Palestinian cause." The Labour leader enjoys long and close ties to the activist group. PSC's website describes him as “regularly speaks at [its] rallies” and being "tireless in his support for Palestine." The British newspaper The Telegraph reports the latest revelations:
An activist organisation which has Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as patron has had its accounts closed down over fears that it may be inadvertently funding terrorism.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on December 01, 2015 37 Comments
I have warned you for years about the malicious nature of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. There is nothing funny about these people, even if they sometimes act like clowns. And the worst of the worst, we've also documented, are leftist Jews. Whether it's Jewish Voice for Peace, offshoot groups which make sure to use "Jewish" in their names, the "as a Jew" activists or even our own local Ithaca activists, being anti-Israel has become a religion and an obsession. The academic boycott making its way through some faculty organizations has brought that obsession into the realm of education, unilaterally deciding who gets to learn what, and who gets shut out of the flow of information and exchange of ideas. A case broke overnight which epitomizes the evil of the academic boycott movement as much as any case I've seen. Shachar Rabinovitch is a 13-year old girl in Israel who is a big fan of horses. Here she is riding a horse while on vacation in Cyprus during horse jumps competition for juniors in the farm where she rode for a few years, according to her father:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 29, 2015 4 Comments
On November 13, 2015, the UT-Austin Palestine Solidarity Committee disrupted an Israel Studies Dept. event hosted by Prof. Ami Pedahzur, and featuring a visiting scholar from Stanford University. They refused to either participate or leave, and instead hurled insults and chants of "Long Live the Intifada." The PSC protesters were led by law student Mohammed Nabulsi, former graduate student Patrick Higgins, and sociology graduate student Katie Jensen. Whether they violated the UT-Austin campus code remains to be seen. From this video obtained by Legal Insurrection taken by someone outside the room, you can hear how loud the chants were and how Prof. Pedahzur urged the students to participate, only to be met with more chants.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 25, 2015 3 Comments
The disruption of an event hosted by UT-Austin Israel Studies Professor Ami Pedahzur by anti-Israel students from the UT-Austin Palestine Solidarity Committee continues to reverberate. The disruption was followed up by a slick media campaign targeting Prof. Pedahzur, including a video edited to make the perpetrators (the anti-Israel protesters) look like the victims.  Part of that smear campaign was a "civil rights" complaint filed by the students with the University. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46W4S3lr9HU For those of you new to this story, here are links to our prior posts:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on November 24, 2015 3 Comments
Mohammed Nabulsi is the UT-Austin law student who led the disruption of an Israel Studies event hosted by Prof. Ami Pedahzur. Both Pedahzur and the invited speaker from Stanford University are Israeli. Nabulsi was part of a group of almost a dozen members of UT-Austin Palestine Solidarity Committee who participated in the disruption. Nabulsi is on video yelling over people, shouting that he has no intention of listening to them and that they have no right to speak as former Israeli soldiers, and demanding the right to perform an "intervention" at the event. Despite repeated requests to leave or to participate, Nabulsi and the others then chanted "Free Free Palestine" and "Long Live the Intifada" to drown out others. The chant for an Intifada, directed at Israelis at a time when the Knife Intifada has claimed dozens of Israeli lives, was particularly troubling. Nabulsi appears to have used the name of a known terrorist ("Georges Abdallah) as an online alias and also has written of the need for the anti-Israel boycott movement to support Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other “resistance” groups. In the following video, taken from down the hallway, you can hear how loud the chanting was in the room where the event was being held. It is loud even from dozens of yards down the hallway.
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