IMAGINE A FORUM on the spread of Islamophobia. The first thing that comes to mind is yes, we should measure the magnitude of this phenomena, understand the origins of its ideology, examine what drives its advocates, unearth who funds them, assess the dangers they pose to society, and so on.

Similar expectations came to mind when I was invited to participate in the Los Angeles Review of Books’s forum on BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions).

Now imagine my surprise upon discovering that this forum does not intend to investigate the inner workings of the BDS movement, but to be a “balanced debate” on the merits of its objective: an academic boycott of Israel. Moreover, some of the contributors to the forum are active leaders in the BDS phenomenon and longtime de-legitimizers of Israel.

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