Many have analyzed the anti-Israel protests on American college campuses and they're hardly the last analysis pieces written on the subject. Even now, after law enforcement personnel dismantled encampments or other support demonstrations, it is worth putting these dramatic events in another context. The campus protests serve as a victory for the BDS movement, meant to boycott, divest and sanction Israel.
The movement was founded about 18 years ago, at the peak of the Second Intifada. After failing to achieve anything by force, the Palestinians decided to expand their struggle against Israel into new realms, including international law, culture, economics, sports and more. They attack Israel in all these categories to echo their campaign against Israel, aiming to isolate it from the world. The movement drew inspiration from the successful global campaign against the South African apartheid regime, which was toppled.
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The anti-Israel encampment on Columbia University campus
(Photo: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)
Israel was split on how to deal with the BDS movement. The Foreign Ministry made every effort to ignore it, assuming that the less they talked about it, the faster it would disappear. This was, of course, a big mistake, and Israel began to act after it suffered blows in several aspects. Consequently, the responsibility for the Israeli campaign was assigned to the Strategic Affairs Ministry.
Some countries supported Israel in its struggle against international isolation. Germany, for example, decided that BDS is antisemitic and Britain managed to block arrest warrants against Israeli leaders due to activities against Palestinians. As Israel's most important ally, the U.S. went above and beyond when it fought BDS with bipartisanship.
With broad bipartisan support, popular support and the leadership of the Jewish community, states began to legislate against the movement and impose penalties on American companies if they cooperated with it. In most states, the legislation passed, and it seemed as if the movement had failed. However, that was a mistake and the movement only went underground. While we were dozing off (familiar, right?), the BDS movement established its infrastructure which recruited activists, trained them and sought the right moment to act.
The Gaza war and the humanitarian disaster in Gaza that followed provided the fuel to ignite American campuses. One cannot ignore the many years of Arab investment in the American education system, from elementary schools to universities. The Palestinians exploited the new circumstances to revive BDS and make it relevant again. The demand from universities across the country was one and the same: to divest from companies linked to Israel.
Israel has underestimated its adversaries, who have proved to be cunning and strategic. The universities invest cautiously and own assets worth billions of dollars which are vital to their budgets. At first, they refused to comply, but after realizing that the protest was persistent, they offered to "consider" their investment policy to appease the protesters. The movement is currently taking over graduation ceremonies and festive events, attended by tens of thousands, drawing attention which is precisely what BDS aims to do.
American universities are in trouble, simultaneously trying to preserve freedom of speech and academic freedom, and are subjected to blunt extortion. They are trying to wait it out, perhaps until the protest pipes down, and the encampments retreat. This is futile. The BDS movement has won its biggest victory since its establishment, which is magnified by taking place in a country that's Israel's closest ally.
Nachman ShaiPhoto: George GinsburgIsrael is losing because it once again underestimates its adversaries and threats. It did not understand that military achievements are not enough, and the arena of public diplomacy requires diverse thinking, taking the initiative, versatility and acting in all forms, on all fronts. We have forgotten all this as we normally do. We now find ourselves on the defensive, while international support is dwindling, and even the Biden administration is already raising questions about Israel's moves.
We can already see that the BDS movement is gaining legitimacy in several categories such as culture, sports and academics. Seeing as the boycott movement is not going anywhere, it will always find new fronts and new ways to hurt Israel. What about us? We will probably continue to be surprised.
Dr. Nachman Shai is the dean of the Hebrew Union College, the Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.