In this month’s anti-BDS article with the holiday season upon so many, there will likely be an increased push for boycotting or divestment of Israel for those considering buying presents.
Since 2005 there have been over 50 major boycotts or divestments from Israel by governments, banks, stores and performing artists. Most recently Spain placed an arms embargo on Israel during the July/August 2014 Gaza war.
In light of this, we were fortunate to secure perspective on the holidays and the importance of supporting Israel in a Q&A for this month’s anti-BDS spotlight with the Roz Rothstein, CEO of Pro-Israel organization StandWithUs (http://www.standwithus.com/). StandWithUs is dedicated to informing the public about Israel and to combating the extremism and anti-Semitism that often distorts the issues.
Q. What is your perspective on the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) movement?
I view BDS as a propaganda movement whose purpose is to instill hostility against the Jewish state and to erode American support for Israel.
Their ultimate goal is to get Americans to accept a radical agenda which would lead to the elimination of the Jewish state.
BDS activists do this by blaming Israel alone for the lack of peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and by eliminating all context for Israel’s actions.
After spreading lies and misinformation about Israel, they call for punishing it with boycotts, divestment or sanctions. BDS is the newest form of anti-Semitism.
It demonizes Israeli soldiers and the Israeli people, and uses a double standard expecting Israel to live up to standards not expected of any other nation to punish only one country, the only Jewish state the world.
They ignore context, never mentioning Palestinian groups like Hamas, the thousands of rockets Hamas and affiliated terrorist groups have fired at Israeli civilians, the cross-border attack tunnels whose only purpose is to kidnap and murder Israelis, or the incitement to hate and murder Israelis and Jews that pervades official and popular Palestinian media.
They infantilize the Palestinian people, denying they have any responsibility for the ongoing problems.
ANTI-BDS: Boycotting Israeli Goods
DAVIDS STAR MAGAZINE
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