{"id":44065,"date":"2014-06-30T18:56:53","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T17:56:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=44065"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:33:43","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:33:43","slug":"growing-jewish-support-for-boycott-and-the-changing-landscape-of-the-bds-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/06\/growing-jewish-support-for-boycott-and-the-changing-landscape-of-the-bds-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing Jewish Support for Boycott and the Changing Landscape of the BDS Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Union<\/a>

Union Square, New York City. March 8, 2014. (Photo: All-Nite Images\/cc\/flickr)<\/p><\/div>\n

June 17, 2014 – <\/em>A couple of weeks ago Jerusalem-based think-tank, the Jewish People Policy Institute, released the findings from its\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0\u201cJewish & Democratic: Perspectives from World Jewry\u201d. The key findings demonstrate a growing trend towards a concern for the current Zionist policies of the Jewish state from the core of its international supporters\u2014Jews themselves. This reveals a more critical portrayal of Israel\u2019s \u201cimplementation of Jewishness\u201d than ever before, including a growing tension associated with the idea of a state that is both a \u201cJewish\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>\u201cdemocratic\u201d. Participants of the study said that Israel\u2019s occupation of the West Bank and \u201cthe continued building of Jewish settlements\u201d, as well as its treatment of minorities falls seriously short of behavior expected from a democracy.\u00a0The Jewish-only settlements are of course not only frowned upon by a growing number in the Jewish community, but also considered illegal by\u00a0a large majority\u00a0of states (as\u00a0most recently demonstrated in UN General Assembly\u00a0Resolution 68\/82<\/a>). Although Israel and its chief ally the United States continue to contest this, even U.S. officials\u00a0blame<\/a>\u00a0Israeli settlements for the collapse of the latest round of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.\u00a0There also appears to be an\u00a0emerging consensus<\/a>\u00a0among government officials in Israel, Palestine, and the U.S., as well as among legal experts, that Israel and especially the Palestinian territories are in\u2014or are rapidly heading towards\u2014a situation of apartheid.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the extent of this new reality of Jewish criticism of Israel\u2019s policies towards Palestinians that is taking hold appears largely unreported by mainstream media. One place where opposition to Israel\u2019s policies finds concrete expression amongst Jews both within Israel and internationally is in a wide range of boycotts and divestments activities aimed at promoting legal equality and human rights in Israel-Palestine. Though not necessarily always explicitly linked to the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement, these activities do fall within the scope of the movement and help to advance its goals. The call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions came in 2005 from an unprecedented coalition of over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations including NGOs, unions, professional associations, religious groups, human rights organizations, refugee networks, youth, and cultural organizations. The BDS campaign has three goals: an end to the occupation of Arab lands occupied by Israel since 1967, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the right of Palestinian refugees displaced or expelled during conflict in the region to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194. The BDS movement was launched on the one year anniversary of the landmark 2004 International Court of Justice\u00a0case<\/a>\u00a0that found that Israel\u2019s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal under international law. In addition to the large majority of the world\u2019s countries, a\u00a0wide range<\/a>\u00a0of legal experts and Israeli and international NGOs concur on the illegality of the occupation.<\/p>\n

In this article we explore the growing Jewish support for both the BDS movement and other civil society boycott activities which advance the human rights goals of the movement. While not all of the individuals and organizations we mention actively support every aspect of the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign, they\u00a0<\/em>represent a multi-faceted approach to applying international pressure on Israel to abide by international law and human rights treaties.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the United States where debate over the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is heavy and heated,\u00a0Jewish Voice for Peace<\/a>, a coalition of Zionists, anti-Zionists, and non-Zionists, states clearly that it aligns itself with the methods as well as \u201cthe aims of the Palestinian Boycott National Committee\u2013\u00a0<\/em>ending the occupation, achieving equality for Palestinians now living in Israel, and recognizing Palestinian refugees\u2019 right of return.\u201d Others in the U.S. who support the full goals and strategy of the BDS campaign include,\u00a0<\/em>both\u00a0Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Rabbi Brian Walt<\/a>,\u00a0from the Jewish Voice for Peace\u2019s\u00a0Rabbinical Council<\/a>.\u00a0New York-based group,\u00a0<\/em>Jews Say No!<\/a>, <\/em>founded by Jewish boycott, divestment and sanctions advocate\u00a0<\/em>Donna Nevel<\/a>, <\/em>also takes a stance in full support of the BDS call.\u00a0Other organizations include\u00a0American Jews for a Just Peace<\/a>,\u00a0Breaking the Law of Return<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism, which \u201cunequivocally<\/a>\u201d supports the movement.Jewish-American scholar and LGBT activist,\u00a0Sarah Schulman<\/a>\u00a0has publicly declared her support for\u00a0the BDS cause by advocating for the implementation of the boycott in its entirety.\u00a0Udi Aloni<\/a>, Israeli-American filmmaker also promotes BDS and the full goals of campaign. Similarly\u00a0Jeremiah Haber<\/a>\u00a0(the nom de plume<\/em> of Charles H. Manekin), an orthodox Jewish studies and philosophy professor dividing his time between Israel and the United States,\u00a0backs<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>BDS.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in North America, Canadian group\u00a0Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0has resolved to support the BDS call and urges the Canadian government to disengage from \u201cits one-sided and uncritical support for Israel\u201d.\u00a0Naomi Klein<\/a>, Jewish-Canadian journalist and author has likewise added her full backing to the BDS movement.<\/p>\n

The UK group,\u00a0<\/em>Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>claims solidarity with\u00a0\u201c<\/em>any individuals or organizations who share our anti-racist agenda in pursuing the non-violent goals of BDS\u201d.\u00a0European Jews for a Just Peace<\/a>\u00a0also shares this support for the methods and goals of the campaign.<\/p>\n

Australia-based\u00a0Jews Against the Occupation<\/a>\u00a0also actively promote the BDS movement. Sydney-based Jewish academic\u00a0Peter Slezak<\/a>\u00a0supports the BDS call, as does Jewish-Australian journalist and author\u00a0Antony Loewenstein<\/a>, who is\u00a0highly critical<\/a>\u00a0of attempts to label the nonviolent movement anti-Semitic.\u00a0The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>echoes these sentiments, declaring that\u00a0BDS is neither anti-Semitic nor anti-democratic and that the international body\u00a0\u201cstands firm\u201d in support of the full BDS call.<\/p>\n

Even within Israel, prominent individuals and organizations have pledged their support to the BDS movement and its vision of\u00a0equality for Arab citizens of Israel, recognition of the Palestinian right of return, and ending the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory. The prominent group of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel,\u00a0BOYCOTT!<\/a>, offers support for the Palestinian BDS call from within the Jewish state.\u00a0The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions<\/a>\u00a0 and the\u00a0Alternative Information Center<\/a>\u00a0likewise fully support the movement. Israeli Journalist, writer, and founder of the Alternative Information Center, Michel Warschawski, actively\u00a0promotes<\/a>\u00a0BDS and has reiterated the call to Israelis to \u201cboycott from within\u201d. Rachel Giora, Israeli feminist and professor of linguistics at Tel Aviv University has also responded to the BDS call in\u00a0a letter<\/a>\u00a0addressed to her colleagues at the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine, expressing full support for the movement. Other Jewish-Israeli academics in support of the campaign include historian and activist\u00a0Ilan Papp\u00e9<\/a>, anthropologist\u00a0Uri Davis<\/a>, political scientist\u00a0Marcelo Svirsky<\/a>, and anthropologist\u00a0Jeff Halper<\/a>.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

The most widely adopted mode of targeted support for BDS from within Israel and by Jewish individuals and organizations worldwide is a boycott of the Jewish-only settlements in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem).\u00a0This can include a boycott of products manufactured or grown within the settlements, or businesses and academic institutions located in settlements or actively supporting their perpetuation.<\/p>\n

Reasons for why a narrow settlement boycott is preferred over a broader BDS include that international law is less ambiguous regarding the illegality of settlements (as compared to the BDS goals of the right of return, or legal equality in Israel) and that it is easier to consistently boycott settlements (rather than boycott broader Israeli or international organizations involved in abuses of Palestinian human rights). However even among Zionists who still support\u00a0legally mandated disadvantage\u00a0for Israel\u2019s non-Jewish ethno-religious groups (required for Israel to be fixed as a \u201cJewish state\u201d),\u00a0the settlement boycott is gaining ground. As noted above, a recent survey by the\u00a0Jewish People Policy Institute\u00a0appears to show a growing tension within the international Jewish community regarding the idea that Israel can be both fundamentally Jewish\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0a democracy.\u00a0 Zionist boycott supporters typically differ from other boycott supporters in that they\u00a0contend that even with the legally entrenched dominance of one\u00a0etho-religious group (ie Jews) the state of Israel is still able to function as a \u201cdemocracy\u201d. These\u00a0groups typically argue that the \u00a0realization of the\u00a0third goal of the BDS movement, the\u00a0Palestinian right of return, would spell an end to the demographic and political dominance of Jews in Israel. For similar reasons they are also less supportive of the BDS movement\u2019s goal of equality for Israel\u2019s Arab citizens. These Zionist groups call for a more narrow boycott,\u00a0of Israel\u2019s Illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem), in line with the first goal of the BDS movement. The rationale generally advanced by\u00a0Zionists is that it is only with the end of the occupation of Palestinian territory that Israel can\u00a0preserve both its Jewish and ostensibly \u201cdemocratic\u201d character.<\/p>\n

Notably, in 2006 the Israeli peace activism group headed by Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom,\u00a0published<\/a>\u00a0\u201ca list of several hundred products made in areas beyond the Green Line. The list, comprised of many food products, also included businesses operating in the Golan Heights.\u201d In the face of the 2011\u00a0Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott<\/a>\u00a0passed by the Knesset, the group\u00a0stated<\/a>\u00a0that it could no longer afford to continue publishing the list, for fear of the threat of lawsuits. The law would allow for lawsuits to be filed -without any proof of damages- against those who promote boycott tactics against people associated with the state of Israel or any \u201carea under its control\u201d. Gush Shalom appealed to Israel\u2019s Supreme Court to rule the law as unconstitutional, and was\u00a0joined by<\/a>\u00a0several other notable minority rights groups, including The Civil Rights Association, Yesh Din, Adalah, the Women\u2019s Coalition for Peace, The Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, Knesset member Ahmed Tibi and The Arab Monitoring Committee. Israeli peace group Peace Now has published a\u00a0similar list<\/a>\u00a0of settlement products and likewise\u00a0calls for<\/a>\u00a0a boycott of the settlements. Israeli politician, Zahava Gal-On, head of the Meretz opposition party, has also publically declared that she boycotts the settlements in her own purchases and\u00a0hopes<\/a>\u00a0that a boycott campaign on settlement goods would encourage Israelis to think critically about the \u201ceconomic cost of the Occupation.\u201d\u00a0 There are signs that the boycott of settlements among Israelis, has begun to cause manufacturers and producers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem to \u201cencounter obstacles\u201d marketing goods\u00a0\u201cnot just overseas, also in Tel Aviv\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Support for a settlement boycott is also building among U.S. Jews. Distinguished Jewish-American jurist Richard Falk, as UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, has recently formally recommended that\u00a0UN member states<\/a>\u00a0 and\u00a0businesses and civil society<\/a>\u00a0impose sanctions and boycotts against Israeli settlements and international corporations supporting the occupation of Palestinian territory. Back in 2011, the American Liberal Zionist\u00a0 organization Partners for Progressive Israel (then Meretz U.S.A)\u00a0issued a call<\/a>\u00a0to American Jews to boycott West Bank settlement goods through their campaign: \u201cBuy Israel \u2013 Don\u2019t buy Settlements\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Americans for Peace Now, describing themselves as a pro-Israel, pro-peace, American Jewish organization,echo<\/a>\u00a0this support.\u00a0 Similarly, even other Zionists, who ostensibly oppose the broader BDS campaign, do support a boycott of the settlements. Well-known American Liberal Zionist Peter Beinart for instance has repeatedly written in support of a settlements boycott in order to \u201csave Israel\u201d. Beinart\u00a0advocates<\/a>\u00a0a targeted approach to boycotting West Bank settlements. Addressing American Jews, Beinart declared: \u201cWe should lobby to exclude settler-produced goods from America\u2019s free-trade deal with Israel. We should push to end Internal Revenue Service policies that allow Americans to make tax-deductible gifts to settler charities. Every time an American newspaper calls Israel a democracy, we should urge it to include the caveat: only within the green line\u201d.\u00a0Jeremy Ben-Ami<\/a>, President of the influential liberal pro-Israel lobby group, J-Street also recently announced that if the BDS campaign were restricted to a boycott of the settlements J-Street would support it. Similarly, National President of\u00a0Ameinu\u00a0Kenneth Bob has\u00a0declared<\/a>\u00a0that while he does not support the BDS movement he is \u201cextremely sympathetic to the settlement boycott approach\u201d. The New Israel Fund, through a statement their Vice President of Public Affairs from Naomi Paiss, has also shown support for the same type of targeted approach,\u00a0stressing that<\/a>\u00a0\u201cboycotting settlements is not anti-Israel\u201d. After a visit to the West Bank, Rabbi Ellen Lippmann issued a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0reversing her initial opposition to the settlement boycott and claiming solidarity with Israeli rabbis who also support a boycott of settlement goods. Jewish-American political scientist and activist\u00a0Norman Finkelstein<\/a>\u00a0supports an economic boycott of Israel in order to compel Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestinian territory (also see the start of an interview with Finkelstein posted\u00a0here<\/a>). Prominent\u00a0linguist, philosopher and activist\u00a0Noam Chomsky<\/a>\u00a0has also publicly spoken out in support of BDS as a tactic, saying: \u201cThere is an interesting mythology that I have opposed the BDS movement. In reality, as explained over and over, I not only support it but was actively involved long before the \u2018movement\u2019 took shape\u2026\u201d Chomsky specifically supports boycott and divestment from companies that operate in the occupied Palestinian territories and also promotes forms of academic and military boycott.<\/p>\n

Among the Jewish Diaspora in Australia, Ben Saul, Professor of International Law at Sydney University has\u00a0written<\/a>\u00a0in favor of a targeted boycott approach focused on the Jewish-only settlements. What\u2019s more,\u00a0The Australian Jewish Democratic Society<\/a>\u00a0\u201chas become the first Australian community-affiliated Jewish organization to adopt the view that some boycotts of Israel may indeed be justified.\u201d The group supports \u201cselected BDS actions designed to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation, blockade and settlement on Palestinian lands lying outside of the June 1967 Israeli borders.\u201d The organization resolves to boycott settlement products as well as \u201cspecific academics openly supportive of the Occupation\u201d.<\/p>\n

Support for BDS methods also takes the form of refusal to perform in the Jewish-only settlements on occupied Palestinian territory. In 2010, over 50 Israeli actors, directors, and playwrights released a statement\u00a0declaring<\/a>\u00a0that they would not perform at the new theatre in Ariel, Israel\u2019s fourth largest settlement, or in any other settlement. In a show of support for that petition over 150 Israeli academics and university faculty from across Israel released their own open\u00a0letter<\/a>, vowing to likewise engage in a cultural and academic boycott of the settlements. The Israeli academics declared: \u201cWe will not take part in any kind of cultural activity beyond the Green Line, take part in discussions and seminars, or lecture in any kind of academic setting in these settlements.\u201d Signatories include Zeev Sternhell, Anat Biletzki, Shlomo Sand, Neve Gordon, Oren Yiftachel, among others. The declaration was also supported by several prominent Israeli authors,\u00a0A. B. Yehoshua, Amos Oz, David Grossman, and Sami Michael. A\u00a0letter<\/a>\u00a0drafted by the authors, as well as by well-known Israeli memorial sculptor and Israel Prize laureate, Dani Karavan, expresses further solidarity with the actor\u2019s boycott.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Theodore Bikel, a Jewish American actor, has also been\u00a0vocal<\/a>\u00a0in the settlement boycott also joined a separate petition for the boycott of the settlements, signed by over 150 Israeli entertainment professionals.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another aspect of the BDS movement is the boycott of Israeli academic institutions: specifically, the withdrawal of support from Israeli academic institutions complicit in the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and the violation of Palestinian human rights. This movement draws on a growing\u00a0body of evidence<\/a>\u00a0detailing academic institutions\u00a0support for the occupation of Palestinian territory and violation of human rights (including education rights) through a variety of military and public relations oriented research and training activities. One such\u00a0in-depth\u00a0report<\/a>\u00a0was released by the\u00a0Israeli Alternative Information Center in 2009. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI<\/a>) was launched in 2004 to challenge the unethical policies of these institutions. However boycotts of Israeli academic institutions to promote Palestinian human rights also predate the PACBI call. In April 2002 a call \u201cfor a European Boycott of Research and Cultural Links with Israel\u201d was\u00a0signed<\/a>\u00a0by around 700 Europe-based academics, ten of which are Israeli academics from various universities. More recently, in 2013 in response to the PACBI call a group of Israeli, Palestinian and other oral historians and academics from Europe, South Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas\u00a0issued<\/a>\u00a0an international call for the boycott of the \u201cInternational Oral History Conference\u201d organized by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In February this year, an international Jewish group, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return,\u00a0published\u00a0a list of signatories endorsing and supporting the American Studies Association academic boycott. Israeli and international Jews have likewise\u00a0joined<\/a>\u00a0the boycott of the 2014 Cinema and TV Studies Conference held at Tel Aviv University.\u00a0Jewish-American academic, Colin Dayan has also\u00a0written<\/a>\u00a0in support of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions as has\u00a0Malcolm Levitt<\/a>, professor at Southampton University and a fellow of the Royal Society in the UK.\u00a0Levitt as well as Noam Chomsky joined a group of academics who successfully lobbied physicist Stephen Hawking to boycott the IsraeliPresidential Conference held in Jerusalem last year.<\/p>\n

A number of Jewish and Israeli academics and organizations support BDS activities in forms other than the academic boycott (such as through a settlement boycott, support on the grounds of free speech, or in support of the full BDS Call), signifying that there \u00a0other forms of boycott activity at play within the academic world. Two instances of this \u00a0last year were\u00a0Kings College<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0University of Southampton<\/a>\u00a0 in the UK dropping their contracts with security firm G4S, in response to the British security firm\u2019s role in supporting the Israeli occupation and abuse of human rights.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier this year human rights group Amnesty International published a report that\u00a0recommended<\/a>\u00a0an international military boycott of Israel, citing the country\u2019s \u201cuse of excessive force in the West Bank\u201d. The conclusions of this report (and similar research efforts) lay out the rationale for the military boycott of Israel. One example of this is the\u00a0 movement within Israel in opposition to the military draft. In March of 2014, The Israeli youth group, Conscientious Objectors of the Occupation, released an open letter addressed to Israeli PM\u00a0Benjamin\u00a0Netanyahu \u201cdeclaring<\/a>\u00a0their refusal of compulsory service in the Israeli military\u201d because of their opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory. Another boycott movement within the military sphere is the call for the disinvestment of international companies and organizations that are part of the Israeli military-industrial-complex (such as the efforts by\u00a0Kings College<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0University of Southampton<\/a>\u00a0noted above).\u00a0This military boycott is often included within broader BDS policies. The Australian Jewish Democratic Society statement of support for targeted boycotts for example also\u00a0advocates<\/a>\u00a0for \u201cdivestment from military Research and Development (R&D) and boycott of industrial\/military activities unrelated to Israel\u2019s defense and security.\u201d Noam Chomsky has also\u00a0called for<\/a>\u00a0an end to U.S. and other international military aid to Israel.<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

The status of the anti-boycott law opposed by Gush Shalom and other human rights groups in Israel is, as alluded to above, currently in legal in limbo through a\u00a0challenge<\/a>\u00a0in the Israeli Supreme Court. Israeli human rights groups argue that the Law for Prevention of Damage to the State of Israel through Boycott aims to limit Israeli and Palestinian freedom of expression by threatening monetary sanctions on anyone who expressed support for the boycott of any Israeli organization or individual. Similar attempts to combat boycotts through legislation are also being made in the U.S.. In 2014 in a wave of right-wing reaction against the BDS movement several bills were proposed within state legislatures aimed at prohibiting academic institutions and individuals from engaging in boycotts of Israel. Following this a new flood of support has emerged both from within Israel as well as from Jewish supporters outside of Israel, advocating for the right of free speech in the face of these anti-BDS bills. The New Israel Fund, a U.S.-based group calling for social justice and equality for all Israelis,\u00a0shows<\/a>\u00a0explicit support for the freedom of speech regarding BDS: \u201cThe New Israel Fund is committed to strengthening democracy in Israel, supports freedom of speech and promotes non-violent means of expression of belief and conscience. We oppose any attempt to criminalize the legitimate expression of support for any non-violent strategy or tactic, including those we do not ourselves support.\u201d As noted above the New Israel Fund supports of boycott of the settlements, and they\u00a0oppose\u00a0the settlements outright, and as a matter of policy. Naomi Paiss, Vice President of Public Affairs for the New Israel Fund has also\u00a0stated<\/a>\u00a0that her organization \u201cwill not disqualify organizations for funding if they support the boycott of settlement goods because we see it as entirely consistent with our opposition to the occupation, our defense of Israeli democracy and our support for a two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, in a letter opposing political censorship, over 150 U.S.-based academics, spearheaded by Jewish academic Judith Butler, and Rashid Khalidi, signed a statement\u00a0condemning<\/a>\u00a0the \u201caccelerating efforts to curtail speech, to exercise censorship, and to carry out retaliatory action against individuals on the basis of their political views or associations, notably support for BDS.\u201d Calling on support from cultural and educational institutions to uphold and support \u201cthe principles of free expression\u201d, the authors point out that \u201cas non-violent instruments to effect political change, boycotts cannot be outlawed without trampling on a constitutionally protected right to political speech.\u201d Even Israeli\u00a0Foreign Ministry<\/a>\u00a0officials, \u201cpro-Israel\u201d lobby organizations such as Israel-based\u00a0NGO Monitor<\/a>, and most of the mainstream\u00a0press<\/a>\u00a0in Israel have stated they\u00a0oppose efforts to stamp out BDS through the courts. The\u00a0Executive Council of Australian Jewry<\/a>, and other senior Jewish leaders in Australia have made clear they oppose attempts to suppress BDS through litigation, which they view as counter-productive. Elsewhere in Australia other pro-Israel organizations the Zionist Federation of Australia and the Australia\/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council have also\u00a0refused<\/a>\u00a0to support anti-BDS efforts through the courts..<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/p>\n

The growing support from Jews internationally for the BDS call and the boycott of Israel shows that the landscape of the debate around BDS and broader peace process in Israel-Palestine is shifting. Increasingly the question is no longer\u00a0whether or not to boycott<\/em>, but rather\u00a0to what extent do we boycott<\/em>? The emerging local and international constituency of Israeli Jews and the Jewish Diaspora, and their adoption and promotion of a range of methods that fall within the scope of the BDS campaign is significant. On the surface, this wide-ranging support of course reminds us of how non-sensical and futile it is to deploy classic anti-Semitic imagery in an attempt to delegitimize what is a growing international movement for human rights and legal equality. At a deeper level, however, this growing Jewish support is an indication that the spirit of the boycott call reflects a truly democratic vision that is shared by Jews internationally, a call that wants to see the preservation, not the demise, of a democratic Israel, an Israel that fairly represents all of its citizens, regardless of race or religion. Ignoring these efforts by Jewish organizations and individuals to promote democracy, human rights and a just peace in the Middle East is a dangerous mistake. Clearly in conflicts such as Israel-Palestine, governments don\u2019t always have all the answers: free speech and open criticism of government policy is critical. Given the lack of success of official diplomacy in the region we should be encouraging, not dismissing, these growing local and international efforts.<\/p>\n

__________________________________<\/p>\n

Paul Duffill is a part-time lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney. He is also project manager for an inter-university human rights curriculum project lead by the University of Sydney. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Gabriella Skoff is a graduate of NYU where she majored in religion, politics and war. She is currently an intern at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney. <\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 mondoweiss.net<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Join the BDS-BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONS <\/em>campaign<\/em><\/strong><\/span> to protest the Israeli barbaric siege of Gaza, illegal occupation of the Palestine nation\u2019s territory, the apartheid wall, its inhuman and degrading treatment of the Palestinian people, and the more than 7,000 Palestinian men, women, elderly and children arbitrarily locked up in Israeli prisons.<\/p>\n

DON’T BUY<\/strong> PRODUCTS WHOSE<\/strong> BARCODE<\/strong> STARTS WITH<\/strong> 729<\/strong>, which indicates that it is produced in Israel.\u00a0\u00a0 DO YOUR PART! MAKE A DIFFERENCE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

7 2 9: BOYCOTT FOR JUSTICE!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unfortunately the extent of this new reality of Jewish criticism of Israel\u2019s policies towards Palestinians that is taking hold appears largely unreported by mainstream media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-palestine-israel-gaza-genocide"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44065\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}