While Israeli and Jewish-themed news outlets covered the controversial announcement that Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) will be co-sponsoring an event on antisemitism featuring panelists who oppose the existence of Israel, most major news organizations have turned a blind eye to the story.
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Pro-BDS Supporters Fighting Antisemitism?
The JVP webinar, Dismantling Antisemitism, Winning Justice, is described on the group’s website as follows:
While anyone can fuel it, antisemitism always benefits the politicians who rely on division and fear for their power. We will explore how to fight back against antisemitism and against those that seek to wield charges of antisemitism to undermine progressive movements for justice.”
Whereas buzzwords such as ‘justice’ and ‘liberation’ are invoked, nowhere is there any mention of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel. What makes this omission noteworthy is that the scheduled panelists are among the leading proponents of the initiative in the United States.
Rashida Tlaib: Supporting BDS, Tweeting Antisemitic Dog Whistles
Appearing on the panel will be US Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), who supports a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which, in practice, would ultimately replace the Jewish state with an Arab one. Moreover, Tlaib is one of only a few members of Congress that has publicly voiced support for BDS. She has also repeatedly been accused of antisemitism.
In 2019, Tlaib was condemned after hosting a private dinner that featured anti-Israel activists who praised Hezbollah and Palestinian terrorists, said Israel has no right to exist, and called for Israeli “Zionist terrorist” Jews to return to Europe. She also came under fire for posting what many people viewed as an antisemitic dog whistle on Twitter that seemed to question lawmakers’ loyalty to Israel over the US.
Marc Lamont Hill: Palestine From the River to the Sea
Dismantling Antisemitism, Winning Justice will also feature Marc Lamont Hill, a former CNN commentator who was fired after delivering an address at the United Nations on the global body’s annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
During his speech, Hill stated:
We have an opportunity to not just offer solidarity in words but to commit to political action, grassroots action, local action, and international action that will give us what justice requires and that is a free Palestine from the (Jordan) river to the (Mediterranean) sea.”
In effect, he called for the dismantling of Israel, his words echoing those included in the founding charter of the Gaza-based Hamas terrorist organization, which is committed to the Jewish state’s destruction:
Palestine is ours, from the river to the sea and from the south to the north. There will be no concession on an inch of the land… We fight the Zionists because they are conquerors and we will continue to fight anyone who takes our land and our holy places.”
Barbara Ransby: Israel is Ethnically Cleansing Palestinians
Scheduled panelist Barbara Ransby is a historian who likewise is a proponent of the BDS movement:
We call upon all of our academic and activist colleagues in the US and elsewhere to join us by endorsing the BDS campaign and by working to end US financial support, at $8.2 million daily, for the Israeli state and its occupation.”
Ransby described her 2011 visit to the Palestinian territories this way:
We wanted to see for ourselves the conditions under which Palestinian people live and struggle against what we can now confidently name as the Israeli project of apartheid and ethnic cleansing.”
Peter Beinart: Justifying the End of a Jewish State
New York Times contributing opinion writer Peter Beinart, who has called for the “end of Israel,” has also been invited to speak. He similarly promotes the creation of a bi-national state in what is presently Israel, which would effectively erase the country’s Jewish character.
This is what Beinart wrote: “It’s time to abandon the traditional two-state solution and embrace the goal of equal rights for Jews and Palestinians. It’s time to imagine a Jewish home that is not a Jewish state.”
Related Reading: As Annexation Debate Rages, Is BDS Gaining Ground?
BDS Movement: Bent on Israel’s Destruction
A casual newsreader could be persuaded to believe that the BDS movement is non-violent and simply aims to advance Palestinian interests. But this could not be farther from the truth. A few quotes from BDS leaders reveal their real motive:
- “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine.”
– Omar Barghouti, founder, BDS
(Barghouti subsequently clarified that “Palestine” encompasses all of present-day Israel) - “The real aim of BDS is to bring down the State of Israel… this should be stated as an unambiguous goal.”
– As’ad Abu Khalil, Professor of Political Science at California State University, Stanislaus and BDS leader - “I think the BDS movement will gain strength from forthrightly explaining why Israel has no right to exist.”
– John Spritzler, author and BDS leader.
Despite its adherents’ attempt to cloak the movement in “progressive” terms, BDS has one goal: to demonize Israel incessantly in hopes that the masses will eventually agree that the lone Jewish state is illegitimate and should thus be eradicated.
Official US Policy: BDS is Antisemitic
There is no longer any excuse for major media outlets to ignore a story about BDS-supporting, anti-Israel activists discussing antisemitism.
This is because the US government’s official position is that the BDS movement is inherently anti-Jewish.
During his visit last week to Israel, top US diplomat Mike Pompeo announced that the Department of State would begin taking action against the BDS movement as well as those associated with it:
We will regard the global anti-Israel BDS campaign as antisemitic,” he said, adding that “we will immediately take steps to identify the organizations that engage in hateful BDS conduct and withdraw US government support from such groups.”
In addition, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan resolution last year condemning the boycott-Israel movement as one that “promotes principles of collective guilt, mass punishment and group isolation, which are destructive of prospects for progress towards peace.”
With regards to BDS, you have now heard the rest of the story.
Featured image: Palestinian flag via Shutterstock ; Rashida Tlaib via Wikipedia.
