{"id":71749,"date":"2016-04-11T12:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T11:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=71749"},"modified":"2016-04-10T16:45:53","modified_gmt":"2016-04-10T15:45:53","slug":"in-israel-bds-is-winning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/04\/in-israel-bds-is-winning\/","title":{"rendered":"In Israel, BDS Is Winning"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first ever anti-BDS conference in Israel brought together politicians of all stripes to show their commitment to the fight against boycotts. In doing so, however, they showed just how effective the boycott movement really is.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"President<\/a>

President Reuven Rivlin is interviewed during Yedioth Ahronoth\u2019s Stop BDS conference, Jerusalem, March 28, 2016. (photo: Oren Ziv\/Activestills.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

Israel\u2019s best selling newspaper,\u00a0Yedioth Ahronoth,<\/em> and its online platform Ynet, hosted a conference Monday in Jerusalem\u2019s Convention Center\u00a0dedicated entirely to combatting the BDS movement.\u00a0The very existence of the spectacle \u2014 the first national conference of its kind co-sponsored by StandWithUs and attended by over a thousand people \u2014 gave BDS (short for boycott, divestment, and sanctions) more attention in Israel than it could have ever hoped for.<\/p>\n

It was a tell-tale sign that\u00a0the global movement to boycott Israel has become significant enough to warrant such an event, whose speakers included President Reuven Rivlin, senior Knesset ministers, members of the opposition, World Jewish Congress head Ron Lauder and comedian Roseanne Barr. (There were, of course, no speakers at the conference who represent or support BDS).<\/p>\n

The cognitive dissonance became clear the moment the conference began. Yedioth Ahronoth<\/em>\u00a0Editor-in-Chief Ron Yaron told the crowd that the power of BDS cannot be underestimated, and that Israel does not want to find itself in the position Apartheid South Africa was in 5 t0 10 years\u2019 time. Yaron\u00a0immediately caveated that there is no connection between Israel and South Africa.\u00a0Public Security and Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan, who oversees government efforts at combating BDS, opened by saying that people should not \u201coveremphasize\u201d BDS.<\/p>\n

\"Education<\/a>

Education Minister Naftali Bennett speaks at Yedioth Ahronoth\u2019s Stop BDS conference, Jerusalem, March 28, 2016. (photo: Oren Ziv\/Activestills.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

Speaker after speaker stepped up to the podium and said, in the same breath, that although BDS is succeeding, it is not a success; that it is not a threat but must be taken as a serious threat; that it has not negatively impacted Israel\u2019s economy but that Israel must allocate more of its budget to fighting it.\u00a0Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz said (Heb<\/a>) that Israel should engage in \u201ctargeted civil eliminations\u201d of BDS leaders with the help of Israeli intelligence, intentionally using language that plays on the Hebrew term for \u201ctargeted assassinations.\u201d Tzipi Livni, meanwhile, said that it is really trendy these days to \u201cbe vegan and hate on Israel.\u201d At one point, World Jewish Congress head Ron Lauder compared efforts at implementing economic boycotts of Israel to the Nuremberg Laws, while Roseanne Barr, the keynote speaker of the conference, called the BDS movement \u201cfake-left\u201d and \u201cfascist.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the BDS movement and its most dominant spokesperson, Omar Barghouti,<\/a>\u00a0were the main target of the conference (Barghouti came up several times when speakers described the Israeli government\u2019s recent efforts to revoke his permanent residency status), speakers also went after Israeli human rights groups for allegedly aiding BDS efforts.<\/p>\n

\"Anti-BDS<\/a>

Anti-BDS posters adorn the walls of the Jerusalem Convention Center during the first ever conference to combat BDS in Israel, March 28, 2016. (photo: Oren Ziv\/Activestills.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

Within the first hour of the conference, President Reuven Rivlin was asked whether Breaking the Silence is a legitimate organization, since it takes \u201canonymous testimonies\u201d given by Israeli soldiers and presents them abroad. Rivlin replied that it is important to distinguish between \u201clegitimate criticism\u201d and \u201cincitement,\u201d adding that criticism must remain internal. Yedioth<\/em> columnist Ben Dror Yemini boasted about how proud he is to live in a democratic country where free speech is so sanctified that it even makes room for those who support BDS (he failed to mention that there is now a law on the book that penalizes Israelis who call for boycotts).<\/p>\n

The word occupation wasn\u2019t mentioned once at the conference \u2014 although many speakers stridently defended Israeli democracy against claims that Israel is an undemocratic or apartheid state. The fact that the question of Israel\u2019s democratic character is brought up at all is a sign of the inculcation of the language of BDS into Israeli discourse.<\/p>\n

\"Zionist<\/a>

Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni is interviewed during Yedioth Ahronoth\u2019s Stop BDS conference, Jerusalem, March 28, 2016. (photo: Oren Ziv\/Activestills.org)<\/p><\/div>\n

BDS, as a multi-pronged movement with many activists and groups claiming to speak on its behalf, is of course not above criticism. As recently pointed out here<\/a>, the movement could do far better when it comes to distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate acts of boycott, and specifically distancing itself from anti-Semitism, as distinct from anti- or non-Zionism.<\/p>\n

No matter how much the speakers tried to downplay its importance, the fact is that Monday\u2019s conference was a clear admission that Israeli politicians, journalists, security experts, businesspeople, and lay leaders feel compelled to do something about the damage \u2014 to Israel\u2019s economy and image \u2014 that the BDS movement is creating.<\/p>\n

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