SPME BDS Monitor | Articles | - SPME Scholars for Peace in the Middle East

Academic year ends with students and faculty policing Israel-related events. Antisemitism is normalized as BDS-connected academics and politicians make absurd claims regarding Jews and Israel.

May 29, 2019

The academic year ended with BDS-led policing of student and faculty connections to Israel, including overseas study, events, and clubs. At the same time the normalization of antisemitism by BDS connected politicians and academics expanded. Ludicrous claims regarding Jews, Israel…

Campus BDS resolution yield mixed results as political split over BDS expands. ‘Apartheid week’ events spread as BDS leader is barred from the US

By: Alex Joffe

April 25, 2019

As the spring semester closes BDS resolutions were debated on a number of campuses, often in the context of ‘apartheid week’ agitation. While results were mixed the propaganda value of inflammatory allegations against Jews and supporters of Israel has been…

BDS on campus scores victories but university presidents refuse to boycott Israel. BDS-linked antisemitism crisis fractures Congress and Democratic Party as AIPAC becomes focal point.

By: Alex Joffe

March 28, 2019

As the spring semester progresses BDS campus BDS activities have ramped up sharply, albeit with mixed results, with faculty now taking leading roles against university administrations. The continuing antisemitism crisis in Congress, however, shows how the BDS movement has contributed…

Israeli report shows BDS-terror connections as progressive Democratic support for BDS expands. Campus BDS results mixed as Amnesty International takes leading role against Israel.

By: Alex Joffe

February 27, 2019

In February an Israeli government report demonstrated that current and former members of terrorist groups including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine direct several Palestinian BDS organizations. The muted reception of the report suggests the BDS movement is…

Federal court upholds anti-BDS law as Irish boycott of ‘territories’ nears. Women’s March features BDS as defections over antisemitism increase.

By: Alex Joffe

January 29, 2019

January saw the BDS induced antisemitism crisis within the Women’s March reach its peak and a newly elected BDS supporter appointed to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. In both cases, Jewish concerns were pushed aside, fringe Jewish support was manufactured,…

Faculty-administration splits over BDS and ‘free speech’ intensify as campuses are split over BDS resolution. Legal challenges to state anti-BDS laws increase as more US police forces drop Israeli training.

By: Alex Joffe

January 2, 2019

The calendar year closed with the BDS movement intensifying splits on campus, between faculty and administration and within student bodies. With support for BDS becoming equated with ‘free speech’ the contradictions within higher education have become apparent. In 2018 these…

BDS supporters elected to Congress as AirBnB boycotts ‘disputed territories.’ BDS renews assault on Birthright as Pitzer College faculty demands end to study abroad in Israel.

By: Alex Joffe

November 28, 2018

The mid-term election saw several BDS supporters elected to the House of Representatives. While there have been other anti-Israel and antisemitic Members of Congress in the past, the progressive BDS caucus presents a serious challenge to the aging Democratic Party…

BDS crisis over student recommendations expands along with Israel entry provocations by activists. US politicians edge closer to BDS as university divestment moves begin.

By: Alex Joffe

October 30, 2018

Introduction The ‘free speech’ crisis created by the BDS movement expanded in October, with additional university instructors refusing to write student recommendations for study in Israel. This, along with the controversial refusal of Israel to admit a student BDS activist,…

Education Department adopts new antisemitism definition as BDS accusations rile New York elections. BDS leads purge of Labour pro-Israel MPs. Michigan professor reveals hidden BDS attacks on students

By: Alex Joffe

September 26, 2018

The fall semester began with the IHRA definition of antisemitism becoming the focal point of American and British controversies, and conspiratorial accusations of antisemitism crises to attack progressive allegedly engineered by Israel. BDS supporters have begun to eject pro-Israel supporters…

Democrats nominate antisemites as Labour Party antisemitism crisis deepens. New study shows BDS leads to campus antisemitism and ostracism of Jews.

By: Alex Joffe

August 29, 2018

The academic year begins with BDS-linked Labour Party antisemitism crisis deepens as Democrats nominate anti-Israel candidates. The controversy over Labour’s refusal to adopt the full International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism portends similar battles in US academia and politics.…