City Council progressives rightly denounce BDS

The New York City Council should be praised for recognizing the true nature of the movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel, better known as BDS. By passing a resolution on September 14^th condemning BDS via supermajority, the Council went on record revealing the movement for its disdain for peace and coexistence, its denial of the rights of Jewish people to self-determination, and its opposition to American foreign policy supporting a two-state solution.

Passing this resolution was no mistake. Attempts in the media to tar and feather progressive members of the Council for supporting this resolution have demonstrated a complete misunderstanding of the true aims of the BDS movement. We applaud the New York City Council for not being duped by BDS propaganda.

There are misleading claims that the sole aim of the BDS movement is to boycott Israel due to its poor treatment of Palestinians. Boycotts are tools used to achieve a certain end goal. The goal of the BDS movement is to end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. Plenty of groups denounce Israeli policies and yet still oppose the deceitful BDS movement. Yes, one can be both critical of Israel and opposed to BDS.

Careful analysis of the movement’s three main pillars shows that while masquerading as a human rights campaign in support of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, the BDS movement seeks to deny that same right to the Jewish people. This stands counter to American policy supporting a two-state solution – where the Jewish state would exist alongside a Palestinian state – and reeks of anti-Semitism. Many City Council members noted this during the public hearing on the resolution and the Council’s stated meeting. Even some progressive Council members, who are very critical of Israeli policies, recognized this and publicly denounced BDS.

Like any other country, Israel is open to criticism. One visit to Israel will show that critique of the Israeli government and its policies is practically the nation’s most enduring pastime. The BDS movement goes beyond mere criticism and crosses the line by portraying Israel as an illegitimate pariah state with no right to exist. During the City Council’s public hearing on the resolution, it was telling that not one BDS activist opposing the resolution was willing to support Israel’s fundamental right to exist as a Jewish state, even within the framework of a two-state solution. They also failed to recognize that successive American administrations, the United Nations, the European Union, and even the Palestinian Authority support the two-state solution.

It is unlikely that Americans will support the BDS movement’s goal of dissolving the world’s only Jewish state, especially just 70 years after the Holocaust. The BDS movement therefore tailors its messaging to brand Israel as a gross violator of human rights. They hope that if enough Americans associate Israel with such atrocities, American support for Israel will erode. In truth, Israel is a bastion of human rights in the Middle East for people of all faiths and ethnicities with a healthy public discourse on achieving even greater equality. The BDS movement fails to acknowledge that Israelis, like Americans, generally embrace progressive ideology and policies, especially when compared to other countries in the Middle East.

BDS is the wrong solution to one of the world’s longest and most tense conflicts. It dishonestly places the entire blame for the conflict on Israel. One cannot ignore corrosive Palestinian actions against peace, such as rejections of peace agreements, terrorism, suicide bombings, stabbing campaigns and indiscriminate rocket fire from Hamas in Gaza against Israeli civilians. While BDS claims to be non-violent, its support for the aforementioned examples of so-called “Palestinian Popular Resistance,” is deeply disturbing.

Failure to recognize the nuance and complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict does a disservice to both peoples by creating a caricature of good versus evil and pushes them further from achieving peace. Sadly, the BDS movement’s leadership rejects any talk of constructive dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.

We thank the New York City Council for the clarity of their vision and their commitment to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Noam Gilboord is director of Israel and International Affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.