INTRODUCTION

The BDS movement, aka "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions", was founded in 2005 by Omar Barghouti. The founder of the movement has stated explicitly [00:05:53] that the goal of the BDS movement is to end the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from the terror organization Hamas.

BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It is documented that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitism on campus. BDS movement activists are proponents of the radical "one-state solution" that has been denounced as a scheme to dissolve Israel as the Jewish state.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the BDS movement receives directives from Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and the movement is considered extreme even by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas -- who stated his opposition to a BDS boycott of Israel in 2013.

BDS is also linked to the following hate groups:

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters on college campuses regularly host speakers who engage in language considered antisemitic by the U.S. State Department. Chapter events routinely include individuals and organizations who are linked to terrorist activity and call for violence against Jews. SJP members frequently intimidate and harass pro-Israel supporters. Members have been responsible for physically assaulting Jewish students, vandalizing communal property and violently disrupting pro-Israel speakers and events. Protests organized by SJP chapters regularly include hate-speech and chants such as "From the River to the Sea Palestine will be Free" -- calling for the destruction of the Jewish state. SJP demonizes and defames critics, branding attacks against them as 'Islamophobic' -- a term popularized by their co-founder Hatem Bazian.

Jewish Voices for Peace (JVP), like other prominent Jewish anti-Zionist individuals and groups, uses its Jewish identity to deflect allegations of anti-Semitism leveled against the anti-Israel movement in order to provide it with a greater degree of legitimacy and credibility. In this guise JVP views itself as the "Jewish wing of the Palestinian Solidarity Movement (PSM)" and is an integral part of this anti-Israel coalition, serving as its 'Jewish shield', espousing the belief that if there are Jews demonizing Israel, it can't possibly be anti-Semitic. Also, like other aggressively anti-Israel organizations, JVP members regularly attempt to shut down dissent by disrupting pro-Israel events such as a 2010 talk by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the events at a 2011 Taglit Birthright reunion in New York and the 2012 AIPAC conference. Unlike other Left-leaning Jewish organizations, JVP is open about promoting the worldwide Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement that calls for economic, academic and cultural boycott of Israel. JVP has a collection of staff, volunteers and supporters that could all be classified as severely anti-Israel and, in many cases, blatantly anti-Semitic. At JVP's website, they provide resources on how to turn traditional Jewish holidays and rituals into anti-Israel celebrations. Their board of "JVP Rabbis" have created a blog called "The Palestinian Talmud", which is filled with anti-Israel ideology loosely linked with Jewish liturgy. Due to rising campus anti-Semitism, UCLA passed a 2015 anti-Semitism bill to express solidarity with the campus Jewish community. Not surprisingly, JVP came out strongly against the bill, stating that it threatened to "silence legitimate criticism of the State of Israel."

IfNotNow (INN) is an anti-Israel organization founded in 2014 in response to Operation Protective Edge (OPE). The group claims to be "young Jews angered by the overwhelmingly hawkish response of American Jewish institutions" to the operation. One of the group's founders is Simone Zimmerman. Zimmerman was fired from her position as the "Jewish outreach coordinator" for the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign, for posting on Facebook that "Bibi Netanyahu is an arrogant, deceptive, cynical, manipulative a**hole." Many INN activists participate in JVP actions and vice versa. INN describe itself as an organization "steeped both in left-wing protest and Jewish tradition" that seeks to "end American Jewish support for the occupation." INN has a particular focus on disruptive protests of pro-Israel events and institutions. To this end, INN have held multiple sit-in protests in the lobbies of buildings housing mainstream Jewish organizations.

CodePink is an anti-Israel "pro-peace" group that has close ties to the terrorist group Hamas. The organization aggressively promotes the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In September 2008, a number of CodePink leaders personally met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York City. CodePink subsequently launched an aggressive anti-Israel campaign that included open support for Hamas. On June 14, 2014, CodePink founder Medea Benjamin posted a photo on Facebook, with the caption: "Foto from last night here in Yemen with Nasser Al-Awlaki, whose son Anwar and grandson Abdulrahman were killed by drones." Anwar al-Awlaki was linked to the Fort Hood Shooting and, identified by the U.S. government as involved in senior recruitment and planning for Al Qaeda terrorist operations. CodePink divestment campaigns have specifically targeted RE/MAX, Ahava, SodaStream, Hewlett Packard, and Airbnb.

Mondoweiss is a blog created and edited by two former editors of the New York Observer named Philip Weiss and Adam Horowitz. The essence of the blog is its emphasis on inflammatory anti-Zionist rhetoric. Comments at Mondoweiss are generally monitored and arguing with the editors viewpoints are generally blocked if they are not useful to their party line. Mondoweiss has been received positively by the anti-Israel lobby and has been universally censured by others for its clear, anti-Semitic bent. Mondoweiss is part of the Center for Economic Research and Social Change (CERSC), a socialist organization based in Chicago. Other supporters of MondoWeiss include the International Socialist Review, We Are Many and a radical publishing firm Haymarket Books.

The U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) -- formerly the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (ETO) -- is a coalition of American-based anti-Israel organizations that lobbies the U.S. Congress to adopt anti-Israel policies and end government support for Israel. Included in the coalition are groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), National Lawyers Guild, Palestine Legal, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), CodePink, U.S. Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), Christian Peacemakers Teams (CPT), Israel Palestine Mission Network, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) and Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA), as well as various chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). USCPR is a major promoter of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The coalition was founded in 2001 by anti-Israel activists including Josh Ruebner, who is still employed by the organization.

The Islamic Resistance Movement, more popularly known as Hamas, is a group focused on the "liberation of Palestine" from the "occupation of Israel" by any means necessary. The organization is considered one of the wings of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement - a global organization and the largest Islamic movement in the modern era. Hamas, or its military wing, is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada, the European Union, Australia, Israel, Egypt and Japan. The organization is also banned in Jordan. It is not considered a terrorist organization by Iran, Russia, Turkey, China and Qatar. Hamas is openly and officially anti-Semitic. Their Charter is filled with classical and modern anti-Semitic ideas and conspiracy theories traditionally designed to instill fear and hatred of the Jewish people in citizenry. The military wing of Hamas has launched countless attacks against the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) as well as thousands of attacks directly targeting civilians. Tactics include suicide bombings, rocket attacks that were often based in civilian areas, using civilians as human-shields and most recently the use of "terror tunnels" that were constructed to infiltrate militants into Israeli society. Notable Hamas leaders include Khaled Meshaal, Sheikh Ahmed Ismail Hassan Yassin, Abdel Azz al-Rantisi and Ismail Haniyeh.

ARTICLES on this page:

BDS in Academia:

- List of 'Jewish' Pro-BDS Professors and Academics
- To Curb anti-Semitism, confront the anti-Semites!
- Pro-Israel DEI — Diversity, Equity and Inclusion


BDS in Minority Communities:

- Can an African American Be Antisemitic?
- Refuting the claim: "Black refugees are mistreated in Israel"
- Profile in Courage: Two Brothers from Tunisia Stand up for Israel Against All Odds


BDS Support Among Christian Denominations:

- Christian Denominations Supporting the Boycott Israel Movement
- Presbyterian Church Relentlessly Continues its Attacks on Jews and Israel


BDS and U.S. Legislators:

- Which Members of Congress Are Anti-Israel?
- Which State Legislators Support Boycotting Israel?


BDS and the Holocaust:

- The Anti-Zionist Network’s False Claim to Represent Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants
- Don't Blame Anne Frank for Organizations Using Her Name
- How Zionism Saved Lives in the Holocaust
- Holocaust Awareness and Denial Levels Around the World

DEI in Academia & K-12 Education:

- Pro-Israel DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs
- Resources for non-union and conservative teachers
- Pro-Israel/Right of Center Jewish Organizations in the U.S.

Take Action to Oppose BDS:

- Applying Pressure to Achieve Results for Israel
- Report Anti-Semitism and Anti-Jewish Incidents
- Organize Locally to Fight Antisemitism!
- Pro-Israel/Right of Center Jewish Organizations in the U.S.
- To Curb anti-Semitism, confront the anti-Semites!


Arguments in Support of Israel:

- Archaeology: Why Israel Belongs to the Jewish People
- Common Misconceptions About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- Israel is the Middle East's Only Free Nation
- Refuting the claim: "The government of Israel is separate from the Jews"


Additional Articles and Links on this Site:

- Jewish Voice for Peace-Affiliated Anti-Semitic Groups Worldwide
- Partial Listing of Attacks on Jews in NYC in the last year (2018-2019)
- Professors Sign Political Statement in Support of Calling Detention Centers in U.S. "Concentration Camps"
- Refuting the Claim: Orthodox Jews are Anti-Zionist
- So you want to boycott Israel?
- Non-Jewish Victims of Palestinian Terrorism
- Child Victims of Palestinian Terrorism
- American Victims of Palestinian Terrorism
- Other Victims of Palestinian Terrorism

Return to Combating the BDS Movement