Introduction The BDS movement and its allies in February aligned themselves further with Palestinian rejectionism with rallies calling for ‘intifada’ and hailing Palestinian ‘martyrs.’ These terms mesh the BDS movement’s religious-nationalist agenda and left wing ‘anti-imperialist’ protests over ‘victims of…
read moreIntroduction As 2023 begins several BDS related trends have become clear. On the one hand ‘human rights’ industry leaders and their acolytes in academia and the media who obsess over Israel expect institutions to grant sinecures without question in the…
read moreIntroduction The calendar year ended with politicians holding conferences and making statements in opposition to antisemitism and BDS. The impact of these actions, however, was undercut by calls to boycott the new Israeli government from officially linked US and European…
read moreIntroduction With the midterms concluded the outlook for BDS remains mixed. Several BDS supporters were elected to the House of Representatives but the Democratic leadership remains opposed to this form of antisemitism. At the same time, BDS on campus remains…
read moreIntroduction October was characterized by a series of campus BDS and antisemitism incidents that showed how deeply anti-Israel bias is embedded in organized student life. The determination of Berkeley Law School students and the Wellesley student newspaper to push anti-Israel…
read moreIntroduction The fall semester has begun with university administrations displaying mixed responses to BDS inspired antisemitism. At CUNY the administration appointed a former CAIR lawyer to investigate antisemitic incidents while other university presidents condemned vandalism but defended antisemitic expressions as…
read moreIntroduction The brief August flare up between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) produced a predictable but short spate of BDS activity. PIJ’s undeniable responsibility for Palestinian civilian casualties and rapid Israeli messaging campaigns blunted the impact except on hardcore…
read moreIntroduction US President Biden’s whirlwind visit to the Middle East produced few tangible gains in terms of restoring Israeli-Palestinian negotiations or promises to increase Saudi oil production. But in an interview Biden, long regarded as a heartfelt supporter of Israel,…
read moreIntroduction The ‘Mapping Project’ of Boston area Jewish organizations including schools, youth groups, and philanthropic organizations, as well as entities such as corporations, is a new escalation by the BDS movement. With an all-encompassing and conspiratorial concept of entities tainted…
read moreIntroduction The end of the academic year shows BDS on campus having made further gains in colonizing student media and student government. The significance of BDS resolutions and editorials remains not in forcing universities to boycott or divest from Israel…
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