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BDS Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 04, 2015 11 Comments
This is becoming all too common. An anti-Israel protest, often under the banner of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, turns outright anti-Semitic. The gross demonization and dehumanization of Israel and Israeli Jews by the BDS movement is the mother's milk of modern anti-Semitism. We saw it throughout Europe in the summer of 2014, as well as in multiple U.S. cities. And we have seen anti-Zionism easily morph into blatant anti-Semitism on many campuses. It's why in Europe Walking While Jewish is so dangerous. And it just happened again in Vienna, Austria. The Times of Israel reports:
Bosnian soccer fans joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Vienna on Friday and shouted anti-Semitic epithets in one of the city’s central plazas, Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported A video posted to YouTube shows several dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators waving Palestinian flags in Stephansplatz and calling “free, free Palestine!” The Bosnian fans dressed in blue, yellow and white are seen standing among the protesters and joining them in their cries, before setting out on a chant of their own: “Ubij, ubij Židove!” or “Kill, kill the Jews!” .... A wave of anti-Israeli and often anti-Semitic rallies hit European capitals in the summer of 2014 during the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The frequent protests, ostensibly calling for an end to Israel’s actions against Palestinians, often devolved into racist demonstrations in which the mob called out anti-Semitic slogans.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 02, 2015 12 Comments
On March 27, 2015, the Virginia State Bar, the state licensing agency, precipitously cancelled a planned mid-year seminar in Israel just a few hours after 36 VSB members emailed the VSB Council complaining of discriminatory Israeli border policies. With little time for investigation or opportunity for opposing viewpoints to be heard, the Israel tip was cancelled without the Council being consulted or permitted to vote.  We expect that when VSB complies with the FOIA request served by Judicial Watch on our behalf, we will learn more details. The Israel trip was undersubscribed and probably would have been cancelled on April 1 anyway, but VSB acting through President Kevin Martingayle and President-Elect Edward Weiner, chose to focus on alleged Israeli border policies when the membership was informed by mass email in late afternoon/evening. The push back was swift, leading to a March 29 VSB explanation which again focused on alleged discriminatory policies, while disavowing that the cancellation was political. That March 29 doubling down was just as ill-advised as the original March 27 cancellation. As Prof. David Bernstein of Volokh Conspiracy (The Washington Post) points out, VSB should have issued a correction and apology rather than compounding the error. Bernstein thinks the apology should have looked like this:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on April 01, 2015 12 Comments
We continue to investigate the strange cancellation of a mid-year legal seminar in Israel by the Virginia State Bar (VSB).  With the help of Judicial Watch, we have served a FOIA request on VSB, and will pursue the facts no matter how long it takes, including FOIA litigation if there is no alternative. The cancellation of the Israel trip came after an email was sent by 36 VSB members to the VSB Council on Friday morning, March 27, alleging that the members would be prohibited from attending or face discriminatory interrogation by Israeli border officials on the basis of religion and ethnicity. None of the 36 said that they actually wanted to go on the Israel trip; instead they argued that VSB should boycott Israel because of its border security policies. http://myemail.constantcontact.com/42nd-Midyear-Legal-Seminar---JERUSALEM--ISRAEL---REGISTER-BY-APRIL-1-.html?soid=1111187925215&aid=0Z9htbr8awM As we have documented, there never was any evidence that any VSB member would be barred or subjected to unwarranted interrogation. To the contrary, initial claims by VSB suggesting that the Israeli Embassy confirmed that some VSB members might be barred turned out not to be accurate. An Israeli Official with whom I communicated denied such a conversation took place, and that denial was admitted by the only VSB representative to have substantive conversations with the Embassy.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 31, 2015 7 Comments
The Virginia State Bar's cancellation of its mid-year legal seminar in Israel gets stranger and stranger. For background, see my posts: I have learned new information today. Key among the new information is that I obtained from a VSB Council Member a copy of the email which appears to have started the controversy. The email was sent to all council members at approximately 9:14 a.m., on March 27, 2015, repeating the allegations contained in a Change.org Petition, and signed by 36 VSB members. Here is a partial image: Virginia State Bar Email from 36 Members March 27 2015

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 30, 2015 16 Comments
The Virginia State Bar, the official licensing agency governing attorneys in the Commonwealth, caused a firestorm of controversy with a mass email from President Kevin E. Martingayle to the membership on Friday night, March 27, 2015, cancelling a scheduled mid-year seminar in Jerusalem. Just two days earlier, however, Martingayle had emailed the membership encouraging sign up for the Israel trip. That March 25 email reads, in part (emphasis and links in original):
In the spirit of March Madness, I am calling “time out.” This time out is for you to consider some education, fun, and adventure. Please take a few minutes and take a look at the VSB website for information on: · The Midyear Legal Seminar in Jerusalem November 8-15; and · The Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach June 18-21. These VSB events provide terrific opportunities for lawyers and judges to learn, socialize, and network in beautiful, relaxing surroundings. To ensure that the Midyear Legal Seminar will be a “go,” please confirm your reservation and deposit by April 1. The Midyear Legal Seminars are paid for by the participants and not by bar dues.
Here is an image of the full March 25 email provided to me by a VSB member who received it:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 29, 2015 16 Comments
It was a classic Friday night document dump -- information released after the daily news cycle had ended on a Friday, and a long two-plus days until the Monday news cycle started. It's a tactic we are used to seeing from politicians disclosing bad news. It's not a tactic people expected to see from the Virginia State Bar, a government agency operating under the authority of the Virginia Supreme Court, tasked with regulating admission to and administration of attorneys in the Commonwealth. The Virginia State Bar should not be confused with the non-governmental, voluntary Virginia Bar Association. The Friday night document dump was an email from Virginia State Bar President Kevin Martingayle that a mid-year legal seminar in Jerusalem was being cancelled because of discriminatory Israeli policies. The move came as a complete surprise, because the Jerusalem Seminar already was accepting registrations, and was completely planned out in all detail including transportation and hotel. Virginia State Bar Mid Year Legal Seminar Update 2-27-2015 cropped There does not appear to have been any public forum or discussion of the potential cancellation at which supporters or Israel or those interested in maintaining the political neutrality of the Virginia State Bar could respond or provide alternative information. Such a public airing is important because the anti-Israel boycott movement frequently issues false or misleading accusations of Israeli travel restrictions.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 27, 2015 3 Comments
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, conceived at the anti-Semitic 2001 Durban NGO Conference and rolled out with a 2005 boycott call from "Palestinian Civil Society," is a weapon to isolate, demonize and dehumanize Israel and Israeli Jews. As documented here hundreds of times, the goal of BDS is the destruction of Israel, though it is packaged in vague social justice language that leads many naive and ill-informed progressives to think it is only about the "occupation" of the West Bank. In fact, the leadership and founders of the BDS movement consider all of Israel "occupied" territory which must be liberated. That's why a leading chant at rallies is "From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free." The BDS movement has gained a lot of public attention in the past couple of years and is a hot topic of discussion, particularly at academic organizations like the American Studies Association, which have been taken over by anti-Israel faculty activists. The BDS movement's relentless false and defamatory propaganda against Israel is a key factor in the rise of anti-Semitic violence in Europe and even on some U.S. campuses. When a Synagogue in Paris was attacked in the summer of 2014, it started with a BDS rally. BDS is, in my terminology, the mother's milk of modern anti-Semitism.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 18, 2015 14 Comments
In August 2013, we noted that Jews in Europe past their expiration date, based on the superb article You Only Live Twice by Michel Gurfinkiel in Mosaic Magazine:
There is no future left for Jewish communities in Europe. That’s the inescapable conclusion of You Only Live Twice by Michel Gurfinkiel in Mosaic Magazine. The lengthy article is a long trip down the death during World War II and then rebirth of Jewish communities in Europe, and how that rebirth is being snuffed out by renewed anti-Semitism from multiple directions, particularly leftist demonization of Israel and Islamist anti-Semitism. This Leftist-Islamist coalition, centered around hatred of Israel, is a topic we’ve explored here many times in connection with anti-Semitism in Malmö, Sweden, on British campuses, in the BDS movement, in the academic boycott movement, among other places. The fact is that while intellectually one can distinguish anti-Israeli fervor from anti-Semitism, in reality, on the streets of Malmö and Paris, and elsewhere in Europe, they are one and the same.
That was a year before the 2014 Gaza conflict, which so many blame for the rise of anti-Semitic violence in Europe. Anti-Semitism and violence directed at Jews in Europe are not about Gaza.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 15, 2015 4 Comments
We have been tracking the descent of the American Studies Association into an anti-Israel political operation ever since the ASA's boycott of Israel was proposed in late November 2013. Scroll though our American Studies Association Tag for the full history. The ASA move was part of the larger Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement academic, cultural and economic boycott of Israel. Most recently, we covered the ASA's discriminatory admission policy at its Annual Meeting in November 2014, which by ASA written policy was to exclude representatives of Israeli academic insitutions and was to apply a discriminatory litmus test to Israeli faculty members. After a threat of legal action against the hosting hotel under California's anti-discrimination laws, the ASA changed its policy and announced that even Bibi Netanyahu was welcome at the annual meeting. There was some small hope that the ASA would reconsider or at least moderate its academic boycott ways, but that seems highly unlikely in light of recent elections of a new president-elect and governing national council. The ASA's 2015 Election Results solidified the grip of the BDS movement on the supposedly educational tax-exempt organization.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 14, 2015 5 Comments
This is an all too familiar occurence, including at far away places like U. Galway and close to home places like Cornell. Israel haters of various flavors take over stages, attempt to shout down speakers, and in some cases physically attack. It just happened a few days ago at the University of Sydney, in which anti-Israel students attempted to prevent retired Colonel Richard Kemp from speaking. The Australian Jewish News reports, Anti-Israel protesters run riot at Sydney uni:
A LECTURE by retired army colonel Richard Kemp at the University of Sydney was disrupted by at least a dozen screaming students who fought with security on Wednesday afternoon. The students had burst into the room shouting “Richard Kemp, you can’t hide, you support genocide” and wrestled with security guards before being removed from the hall. Kemp was giving a lecture about ethical dilemmas of military tactics and dealing with non-state armed groups. According to the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council’s Glen Falkenstein, protesters stood on chairs, began to push students and shout loudly at those who objected to their behaviour.
As is often the case, anti-Israel faculty often instigate or support the attackers. In this case, according to the Australian Jewish News report, it was infamous anti-Israel faculty member Jake Lynch:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 10, 2015 3 Comments
On a few occasions we've touched upon the toxic anti-Israel rhetoric from Max Blumenthal, son of Clinton confidant Sidney Blumenthal: In his earlier days, Blumenthal turned his wrath on James O'Keefe, Andrew Breitbart and others he deemed part of the vast right-wing conspiracy: (language warning) Then he turned on Israel with a viciousness of propaganda rarely seen.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 09, 2015 3 Comments
On Sunday, March 1, 2015, we provided on-scene coverage of Code Pink's "Shut Down AIPAC" protest. The most notable feature of the protest was the waving of Hezbollah flags. Code Pink managed to get some press coverage even though it didn't shut down AIPAC, or even an itsy, bitsy part of AIPAC, because five protesters were arrested, including two from Ithaca, my current place of residence. One of the arrestees, Ariel Gold, may be familiar to readers from prior coverage of Gold's efforts to have GreenStar Food Coop in Ithaca boycott Israeli products and products co-owned by Israelis, such as Sabra and Tribe Hummus. Gold is employed as a professional organizer for Friends of Sabeel - North America, a group which works to weaken American Christian support for Israel, and is a leader of Ithaca Jewish Voice for Peace. You may recall that when I spoke on local progressive radio against the boycott movement, Gold called into the control room to complain about me in the middle of the interview! Publicity, of course, was the real goal of the Code Pink protest. If all you knew about the arrests was the press coverage, you'd think that the arrests were not the goal, but the byproduct of protesting. Much as the Pallywood fake or staged photo ops are used to gin up press coverage against Israel, however, so too were the arrests at AIPAC. It was pure Pallywood, arrests contrived for the cameras. They weren't arrested for protesting. They were protesting to get arrested for publicity. Don't take my word for it. A Legal Insurrection reader who saw our coverage of the protest sent along a video of Gold speaking at a post-arrest event, in which she admitted it was all a set up:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 07, 2015 11 Comments
One thing I've learned over the years is to screen shot, save on Wayback Macnine, or download any key evidence found on the internet.  Too many times I've gone back to a link and it's gone, and Google Cache can't be counted on to have preserved the evidence. So when I learned in early February that a UCLA student applying for a student judicial board slot was questioned by the Student Council as to whether she could be fair because she was Jewish and involved in Jewish groups, I wrote it up, UCLA student gov’t candidate challenged for being Jewish (February 12, 2015). I also downloaded the over 4 hour live feed, and excerpted the approximately 40 minute segment, which I uploaded to YouTube. As mentioned yesterday, discriminatory questioning of the Jewish student by the UCLA Student Council has gone national, Mainstream media wakes up to BDS-Anti-Semitism connection. It's a good thing I saved the evidence, because the Student Council took down the original live stream video, as HuffPo explains, UCLA's Student Council Tries To Hide Video Of Its Members Questioning A Jewish Student (emphasis added):
The university's [Undergraduate Students Association Council] typically posts recordings of its meetings on YouTube. But the student government took down the footage of a Feb. 10 meeting where several students questioned whether Rachel Beyda, a Jewish candidate for the school's judicial board, could be "unbiased" given her religion. Various news reports on the controversy this week prompted the hosts of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" to call on the university to put the video back online Friday. But the university told The Huffington Post that the decision to pull the video was made by the USAC's internal vice president's office.... The group StandWithUs, a pro-Israel education and advocacy organization, is circulating a clipped video of the controversial meeting. Legal Insurrection, a conservative blog, has uploaded the full video of the meeting as it pertains to Beyda's nomination.
The networks are using our video as their source:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 06, 2015 10 Comments
Long time Legal Insurrection readers know that for years we have been sounding the alarm over the connection between the gross anti-Israel propaganda which demonizes and dehumanizes both Israeli Jews and supporters of Israel, and anti-Semitism. Scroll through our Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) tag for several dozen over 200 stories over the years. We reported on February 12, 2015, that UCLA student gov’t candidate challenged for being Jewish. Now the story has gone mainstream, with an article in The NY Times, In U.C.L.A. Debate Over Jewish Student, Echoes on Campus of Old Biases:
It seemed like routine business for the student council at the University of California, Los Angeles: confirming the nomination of Rachel Beyda, a second-year economics major who wants to be a lawyer someday, to the council’s Judicial Board. Until it came time for questions. “Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community,” Fabienne Roth, a member of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, began, looking at Ms. Beyda at the other end of the room, “how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?” For the next 40 minutes, after Ms. Beyda was dispatched from the room, the council tangled in a debate about whether her faith and affiliation with Jewish organizations, including her sorority and Hillel, a popular student group, meant she would be biased in dealing with sensitive governance questions that come before the board, which is the campus equivalent of the Supreme Court.
As I have pointed out, this is part of a larger movement to ban pro-Israel and almost always Jewish students from involvement in campus politics. Morning Joe addressed the situation (note - the video they mention was taken down, but Legal Insurrection has posted a complete version of that portion of the event):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 05, 2015 8 Comments
We are in the midst of "Israel Apartheid Week."  In the U.S. it lasts from February 26-March 12 -- which is more than one week, but anti-Israel groups always take liberties with terminology and numbers. On campuses we will see mock "Apartheid Walls" (referring to the Israeli security barrier); but we will not see any mock suicide bombers, whose relentless self-detonation killed 452 Israeli civilians in 2002 leading to construction of the barrier (a wall in some places, but mostly fencing). Student groups like Students for Justice in Palestine, will chant and scream slogans like "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free."  I believe them when they say that. The BDS movement is about the destruction of Israel, even if some naive supporters think otherwise. Guess who is a big, big fan of Israel Apartheid Week? None other than the Supreme Leader of Iran, that beacon of freedom and justice for all, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, who tweeted this greeting: https://twitter.com/khamenei_ir/status/572834761250639873 He has good reason to gloat.

Posted by Julius Kairey on March 04, 2015 6 Comments
If Israel were an Arab country, it would receive near-universal praise as a paragon of justice. Its robust protections of freedom of speech, along with frequent and open elections, would make it the only Arab state in which people have a real say in the operation of their government. Israel would be celebrated as the only gay-friendly state in a region of rampant anti-gay persecution. Its strict prohibition of the traditional practice of honor killings — where women accused of disgracing the family name are murdered by their male relatives — would be lauded as proof of its progressive and egalitarian values. And its modern capitalist economy, driven by a dynamic high-tech sector, would be the model for other Arab nations seeking to lift their people from the depths of poverty. Of course, Israel isn’t an Arab nation, and it is treated according to this double-standard. It is the world’s only majority-Jewish state, and it is surrounded by Arab theocracies, dictatorships and monarchies, each of which have gone to war in a failed bid to end its existence. And yet, Israel’s remarkable history of repeated triumph in the face of seemingly insurmountable adversity receives little sympathy among some “left-wing” segments of communities across the nation. It is not immediately obvious why this is so. Israel’s history reads like a liberal success story.
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