Shortly after Ynet reported that Jennifer Lopez would be coming to Israel to perform in Tel Aviv in the summer, the inevitable BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) backlash began. Using the hashtag telling Lopez to #CancelTelAviv, Twitter-users have been flooding the site with anti-Israel messages, infographics replete with lies and omissions and graphic photos of dead and injured from other conflicts – or even of Israeli casualties falsely passed off as Palestinians. Emotive language and imagery with no context is employed in the BDS campaign’s quest to demonize Israel. The message, from these activists, is that Israel is a ruthless, genocidal country that kills Palestinian children for no reason, and Lopez would be complicit in this if she performs there.
How much of an impact will there be if she caves to the pressure and decides to cancel? Despite the BDS movement’s efforts and limited successes, it has not achieved any truly significant impact in its boycott of Israel. Sure, Lauryn Hill, Elvis Costello and others canceled their concerts in Israel. But Bon Jovi, One Republic, Lady Gaga and the Rolling Stones, to name but a few, all showed up and loved it, as did their fans. Meanwhile Jason Derulo is the next artist confirmed to perform in Israel, yet another hugely popular star in the music industry whom Israelis are already buying tickets to see in concert.
Of course, if Lopez cancels, BDS would consider that a huge achievement and would rightly represent another success for it. But what kind of success?
Join the Fighting BDS Facebook page and follow @FightingBDS on Twitter and stand up against the delegitimization of Israel.
BDS’s strategy is to make any and all kind of furor through whatever means it can. Jennifer Lopez is just another excuse to bombard Twitter and the media with demonization of Israel. BDS thrives on the media coverage and attention, and so does everything in its power to create the stories – and excuses – that will gain it that attention.
The fight against BDS is complicated – especially with social media sites like Twitter, where photos can go viral and have so much impact, but context can only be explained in 140 characters. The fight against BDS needs to come from several angles, and crucially, the messages need to be concise and direct:
- That Israel is a vibrant democracy – using anything that demonstrates coexistence, equality and tolerance;
- To answer the question why does Israel fight? Why do the Jews need Israel, and who and what is Israel defending itself from? People need to be made aware of the institutionalized Palestinian incitement that results in terrorism and the wars instigated by Hamas – for example the videos encouraging stabbing attacks, or this music video Hamas recently posted;
- That Palestinians are actually the worst abusers of Palestinian rights, in particular of children, who are often brainwashed to embrace hate and violence from the moment they’re born;
- To show how BDS is discrimination, anti-peace, supports the destruction of the Jewish state, and feeds anti-Semitism.
And so as BDS succeeds in gaining and creating its own media presence, it is vital to counter it with the context and information that BDS ignores or distorts. Every Tweet, every post, every picture shared matters.
