BDS protest rally
Photo: AP
New anti-Semitism or boycotts? Jew hatred and the BDS movement
Is the BDS movement a flavor of the new anti-Semitism spreading throughout the world? It appears that the modern discourse on the delegitimization of Israel has given rise to vitriolic rhetoric which unquestionably serves as mask for underlying anti-Semitism.
“Jews go home!,” "Jews have no place in the State of Israel”: These were some of the chants expressed, not in demonstrations in Arab countries, but rather on university campuses across the globe in protests whose main rallying cry was utterly bereft of any link to Israel.
In the recent years during which the BDS movement has reared its head, it seems that anti-Semitic remarks and sentiments have become a common theme and a matter of trivia. Perhaps even more pernicious, they have taken on a pretense of liberalism which appears to thrive on unremitting criticism of Israel.
Exclusive Ynet interview with BDS opponents (צילום : חגי דקל)
However there is a huge chasm between expressing criticism and denying the basic right of a country to exist. Indeed, the talk of boycotts appear to have transformed into overt expressions of anti-Semitism.
Protestors at a BDS support rally (Photo: ciitzenside.com)
Tzahi Gavrieli, the ministry’s deputy director-general and Carol Nuriel, the director-general of the Anti-Defamation League’s office in Israel, told Ynet in an exclusive interview about the steps being undertaken by the BDS movement and how they have morphed into something entirely different, something entirely more threatening.
In collaboration with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs.
