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BDS Tag

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 19, 2014 6 Comments
We reported previously on Anti-Israel student group suspended at Northeastern for vandalism, intimidation, disruption. That group was Northeastern Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Ilya Feoktistov has an excellent write-up on the group at FrontPage Mag, including images of its leader, law student Max Geller, wearing a Hezbollah t-shirt and carrying a weapon in the Palestinian Territories. A rally in support of Northeastern SJP was held on March 18. The rally was hyped in advance by anti-Israel websites like Mondoweiss and Electronic Intifada, and among branches at SJP at numerous universities. The co-sponsors included a wide range of left-wing groups: Northeastern SJP Rally Press Release Co Sponsors The expectation was that there would be a mass rally. It didn't turn out that way. There were at most about 200 protesters according to participants. It's pretty obvious from photos and video that many if not most of the protesters were not even students, but a coalition of local (and rather aged) activists and some union members with gripes unrelated to Israel: Calling the President of Northeastern a "Zionist Goon," as reflected in the video, was bad enough, and was typical of the attacks. https://twitter.com/conorkelly94/status/445931489898024960 Chanting "Long Live the Intifada" was much worse.  The Second Intifada alone caused the deaths of approximately 1000 Israelis and 3000 Palestinians. Supporters of Venezuela and the Hugo Chavez socialism agenda were handing out flyers:

Posted by 0387erp on March 17, 2014 7 Comments
The anti-Israel Boycott, Divest and Sanction movement has been trying to intimidate celebrities, including musicians, into not visiting or playing in Israel. Through social media, the BDS crowd tries to create the impression of widespread support and to isolate the celebrities. Those social media strategies can be resisted by showing social media support for the celebrities. About six weeks ago, in the days leading up to the Super Bowl, I launched the "I support Scarlett Johansson against the haters" Facebook page. At that point it was just myself and three friends inviting our friends and encouraging them to do the same, with the half-serious goal of getting 10,000 likes in about three and a half days. We exceeded our goal by 50% and today have steadily climbed toward 32,000. I-support-scarlett-johansson-facebook So when word started circulating that an anti-Israel, BDS hate group was preparing to pressure Neil Young into canceling his upcoming summer show in Tel Aviv with a petition of about 6,000 people...it was a piece of cake to call upon an already established base of people instead of having to start from scratch. It took the BDS crowd almost two months to pull together 6,000 people; we blew past them in a week and are still growing, I support Neil Young against the haters. I Support Neil Young against the haters Facebook Page Banner The key thing is that we did this with no budget, no advertising and no infrastructure of any kind, while the BDS movement (the ubiquitous "haters") have an organization, a staff and allegedly an army of volunteers. This may seem surprising, but it really shouldn't be.

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 12, 2014 5 Comments
We previously reported on the profanity-laced shout-down of Professor Alan Johnson at National University of Ireland at Galway by anti-Israel activist Joseph Loughnane. If you haven't seen the video yet, watch it. It's a microcosm of the culture of anti-Israel intimidation on many campuses, fostered by anti-Israel faculty propagandists pushing their policial agenda at places such as conferences run by NYU and the American Studies Assocation. (Language Warning) ) Professor Johnson, the subject of this abuse, has written a blog post about the incident and what he believes was behind it, BDS bullies at Galway University:
Third, ‘Israel’ and ‘Palestine’ have become tied up with the performance of political identity in the West in a most dangerous way. ‘The Palestinians’ are a stage on which the BDS activists act out their identity. To make that possible, ‘The Palestinians’ must be reduced to pure victims of the evil Nazi-Israelis. For only those kind of Palestinians can enable feelings of moral superiority, purity, quest, meaning, even transcendence of sorts. Palestinians being starved by Assad hold no interest. Palestinians being thrown from rooftops by Hamas members hold no interest. When Salam Fayyad is building up the Palestinian Nation the BDS activists just yawn, or denounce him as a collaborator. Only as agency-less pure victims can the Palestinians play their allotted role as a screen onto which the individual projects his or her identity of the righteous activist. It is the Palestinians misfortune that they have become this.
[caption id="attachment_80976" align="alignnone" width="488"](Professor Alan Johnson being shouted down at NUIG-Galway) (Professor Alan Johnson being shouted down at NUIG-Galway)[/caption] As I previously reported, NUIG-Galway has promised an investigation and condemned the conduct. In my follow-up, however, NUIG-Galway declined to provide details or even to commit to making the result public, although it did clarify its prior statement by adding that the investigation will include violations of the student code, as follows (in part):

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 09, 2014 12 Comments
This video of an anti-Israel Boycottt Divest and Sanction activist at National University of Ireland - Galway, shouting profanities at Professor Alan Johnson of the Fathom journal, is beginning to get attention after our post about it on Friday. Johnson supports a two-state solution and is against BDS. The video, obtained by the Irish for Israel, features NUI Galway student Joseph Loughnane shouting as a row of students behind him banged on the tables in support and themselves shouted (off camera, as video panned towards speaker):
“You’re f-ing Zionist, f-ing pricks, get the f–k off our campus”
Language warning ) We reached out to the President of NUI Galway for comment, and received an email back from NUI Galway press and information officer Tomás Ó Síocháin, with the following statement on behalf of the university:
NUI Galway has over 110 societies and 50 clubs on campus, reflecting the diverse interests of students and staff. The University has a pluralist ethos and all societies have the freedom to both express and communicate those views to students and staff. They must, however, act within the law and in accordance with the University’s code of conduct. The behaviour portrayed is unacceptable and has no place at any forum of discussion or debate. This matter will be investigated immediately. NUI Galway has a long and proud tradition of welcoming visitors and guests to the University’s campus, to both engage in and observe robust debate. The University will take steps to ensure that this remains the case and that all speakers are given the dignity and respect they deserve.
The investigation presumably will not be limited to Loughnane, but also the students behind him banging and shouting in support as he ordered Prof. Johnson to "get the f-k off our campus".

Posted by Laurel Conrad on March 08, 2014 8 Comments
I'd like to re-pose the age-old question: "If Israeli Apartheid Week happens on campus and no one notices, does it make a sound?" Israel Apartheid Week (IAW) officially took place on campuses across the U.S. over the course of February 24-March 2, although the exact boundaries of the "week" varied somewhat. When we set out to monitor events at Legal Insurrection, we expected an avalanche.  But it never showed up.  There were events, but none seemed to have much energy or attendance. We're just starting the "Israeli Apartheid week" in Europe too, but even in Sussex, England, only 8 people showed up to the BDS march.  That may reflect that even in Britain, a hotbed of anti-Israel activities on campus, IAW is losing steam, UK Students Say 'Israel Apartheid Week' Losing Steam. Has Israeli Apartheid Week peaked already in the U.S.? The Jewish Press reported that pro-Israel counter-events outnumbered IAW events. We had trouble finding reports of any large-scale IAW activities, and those that did occur failed to draw coverage or attendance on numerous campuses. For example, at the University of Maryland, only 12 of 426 invited guests rsvp'ed as attending the IAW event, "The Wall Must Fall." Neither did the event receive any coverage from their student newspaper.

University Maryland IAW

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 02, 2014 10 Comments
Friday and Saturday was the super-secret, closed-door BDS organizing conference held by NYU's American Studies Department under the direction of Lisa Duggan, an NYU Prof. and incoming President of the American Studies Association. Duggan, a big supporter of the anti-Israel academic boycott, apparently did not want dissenting voices present: duggan The agenda was stacked with anti-Israel professors. The lunchtime program explicitly was oriented toward organizing anti-Israeli groups on campus, including an appearance by someone from Students for Justice in Palestine. NYU American Studies Conference February 28 2014 part poster The conference was controversial not just because of the topic, but the one-sided stacking of the deck by an academic department and the exclusion of non-approved attendees. The event was not even open to all NYU students. A group of NYU students wrote a letter of protest to NYU's President, which reads in part:
From the beginning, this event has been shrouded in secrecy; Professor Lisa Duggan, the event’s sponsor (in a post that has now been removed) cautioned, “PLEASE DO NOT post or circulate the flyer. We are trying to avoid press, protestors and public attention.”

Posted by William A. Jacobson on March 02, 2014 5 Comments
Laurel will have more later on how Israeli Apartheid Week on U.S. campuses appears to have withered this year. This nasty hate fest, that in past years has generated a lot of energy and publicity, has passed largely unnoticed in the U.S. There have been some events, but mostly the wind seems to be out of the sail. I don't know whether this is a sign of weakness in the BDS movement overall, or if they just are too busy planning other stunts. I could not wait, however, to bring you this video from the Sussex (England) Friends of Israel about the failure of a BDS march. There are many more videos at this link.
Post by Sussex Friends Of Israel.
Meet one of the protesters:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 28, 2014 20 Comments
So last night I saw a term I had not heard before, "The Jew Flu." I'm not sure how I found the column from Haaretz on that topic. Someone may have tweeted the link, but regardless, it talks about what I've noticed regarding the obsession of the Jewish left with demonizing Israel beyond all rational thought. How is it that so many progressive Jews are happy to break bread with Islamists and other assorted Jew haters, but can only find harsh things to say about Israel? The Haaretz column was by Uzi Silber from 2009, but it rings true today when I see the Jews put out ahead of the BDS movement as cover. Here's an excerpt, The Jew Flu: The strange illness of Jewish anti-Semitism:
Diagnosis The 1930s Labor Zionist leader Berl Katznelson asked "Is there another People on Earth so emotionally twisted that they consider everything their nation does despicable and hateful, while every murder, rape, robbery committed by their enemies fill their hearts with admiration and awe?" This is Jew Flu - the virus of Jewish Anti-Semitism, and its Jewish Anti- and Post-Zionist mutations, afflicting a small but inordinately loud minority of Hebrews. Its modern symptoms are a rejection of Israel's identity as a Jewish state and a dismissal of its right to defend itself militarily, while embracing the goals of its nihilistic Arab enemies. Those infected with the virus wildly inflate Israeli sins real or imagined, while excusing or rationalizing Palestinian anti-semitism and outrages against Jews. Those afflicted with Jew Flu often view the notion of Peoplehood as an artifice, which implies a rejection of Jewish national self-determination and acceptance of the 90-year-old Palestinian Arab contention that Jews are not a nation but merely members of a religion, and as such don?t merit a national home of their own.
Silber then goes on to describe some historical,  sociological and psychological research on the subject, which I have no way of evaluating on medical grounds, but was interesting to read. Regardless of cause, here's his conclusion:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 27, 2014 10 Comments
We previously made reference to the anti-Israel conference organized for February 28- March 1, 2014 by Lisa Duggan, a professor in NYU's American Studies Department and incoming President of the American Studies Association. (Full conference poster at bottom of post.) When Elder of Ziyon blog and others caught wind of Duggan trying to keep the Conference from coming to the attention of those who oppose ASA's academic boycott of Israel, the Facebook post for the event was taken down. The Conference is an NYU function, but it's hardly academic. The panels are stacked with anti-Israel academic boycott movement supporters arguing in favor of the boycott, including Wesleyan University Professor J. Kehaulani Kauanui. The lunchtime panel is explicitly an anti-Israeli organizing event:

NYU American Studies Conference February 28 2014 part poster

There isn't even a pretense of academic discussion on that panel. Such is American Studies at NYU. NYU's response?
“This weekend’s American Studies Program Annual Conference is an annual academic conference that is organized by graduate students in NYU’s American Studies Program and designed for faculty and students in this and related disciplines,” said Philip Lentz, the university’s director of public affairs. “Given the purpose of the conference and space considerations, it is not open to the general public or the press.”
Elder of Ziyon points out:

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 26, 2014 9 Comments
After an all-night session, the UCLA student council defeated an ant-Israel divestment resolution by a vote of 7-5.  (Featured image is moment vote announced.) The vote received enormous attention, and was trending in the U.S. on Twitter. This is a huge defeat for BDS on campus. Divestment resolutions recently were overturned at UC-Riverside and defeated at UC-Santa Barbara. I can't say whether this is a national trend, but it does signify that pro-Israel students now are more organized than in the past. (added) Ben Shapiro made a "guest" appearance against the resolution: In this image, one of the student council members a student note taker, who appears to have supported the resolution, is crying and screaming that she's never been so disappointed and that "we just fucking blew it." (UPDATE -- Video HERE) UCLA student we just fucking blew it

Posted by William A. Jacobson on February 24, 2014 23 Comments
We reported yesterday how incoming American Studies Association President Lisa Duggan of NYU organized an anti-Israel conference through NYU, but didn’t want those who disagree to know about it (via Elder of Ziyon).  The Facebook post about the event since has been taken down. It appears that secrecy is the new policy at ASA. Earlier this month I wrote to ASA Regional Chapter Presidents asking for their position on whether the ASA academic boycott of Israel applied to Regional Chapters and their events, such as regional conventions.  This is an important issue because much of ASA's presence -- other than its Annual Meeting -- takes place through the Chapters.  To understand the scope and application of the boycott, we need to know whether the Regional Chapters will follow the boycott. My email is quoted below.  Some responded that they didn't know but would find out and get back to me (but didn't), others didn't respond. Now I know why I have been met with mostly silence. Apparently the ASA Exceutive Committee is not happy about this inquiry, and has told the Regional Chapters not to communicate with me other than to refer me to the ASA boycott resolution itself (which, of course, I already have).  This amounts to a complete non-communication strategy. Here is the email the ASA Executive Committee sent (emphasis added):
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