BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions. It is a non-violent, Palestinian led political campaign that advocates for and promotes various forms of finanical protest against the state of Israel. The objective of BDS is to pressure Israel into abiding by international law, which includes ending the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, granting Arab-Palestinians Israeli citizenship, and allowing displaced Palestinian refugees the right to return to their cultural and ancestral homeland. It’s often compared to and seeks to emulate the South African anti-apartheid movement from the 1980s. However, the movement has been accused of being ant-semitic due to the nature in which it targets the world’s only Jewish state, and how those attacks affect Jewish people in Israel and abroad.
Yes, BDS is anti-semitic
BDS is a fundamentally antisemetic movement whose current primary goal is to delegitimize the Jewish state of Israel. BDS showcases antisemetic sentiment through their public demands to place economic sanctions on Israel, as well as furthering the normalization of antisemitic rhetoric.
BDS seeks to delegitimize and destabilize Israel
BDS opposes Jewish people's right to self-determination, and compounds the physical aggression that has been threatening Israel's existence since it's conception. Denying Jewish people the right to their own state is anti-semitic.
BDS disproportionately targets Israel for human rights violations. Other nations, particularly the ones surrounding Israel in the Middle East, have committed worse atrocities. The intense scrutiny of Israel is the release of deeply harbored anti-semitic beliefs.
Some supporters of BDS are targeting Jewish people, not Israel. Jewish people on college campuses and in other institutions are intimidated, distrusted, and held accountable for Israel's actions, even though they have nothing to do with the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Although BDS is against the state of Israel, it is not an antisemetic movement. BDS rejects zionism and the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land, but is not against Judaism. BDS openly condemns all forms of discrimination and advocates for equality and justice.
BDS is anti-zionist, not anti-semitic
Anti-zionism is not inherently anti-semitic. BDS advocates for the replacement of ethnic nationalism in Israel with civic nationalist. The latter does not give priority to any religious group and instead treats every religion equally under the eyes of the law.
BDS wants to hold Israel accountable for past human rights violations
Religious minorities or states are not exempt from criticism regarding human rights violations. BDS is an organization that advocates for Palestinian rights in Israel. Their efforts are seen as anti-Israel because they want society to be geared towards Palestinians.
