BDS, or Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, is defined by wikipedia as a global campaign which uses economic and political pressure on Israel to comply with the stated goals of the movement: The end of Israeli occupation and colonization of Arab land, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and respect for the right of return of Palestinian refugees. These goals are very ambitious, and attaining all three would be a big win for the Arab-Palestinian population. This particular movement has a method of working towards them which targets the Israeli economy. By boycotting Israeli companies, divestment, essentially keeping universities from funding corporations that violate Palestinians' rights, and implementing sanctions against Israel, supporters of the BDS movement hope to damage the Israeli economy to the point that the Israelis will give in, and give the Palestinians everything they want.
This article in particular, found on The Jewish Chronicle, asks the question of whether the BDS movement is as much of a threat as some are making it out to be. The Israeli Intelligence and Strategic Affairs Minister is calling for a budget of 100 million NIS in order to combat the effects of BDS, but the Foreign Ministry, members of which are known to be more anti-Israel, are questioning whether this is really necessary. They argue that the damage done by the movement, which has been active since 2005, is minimal at this point. Tensions are rising as various developments in talks between Israel and others emerge, and some say Israel should not focus on something as minor as BDS. In my opinion, Israel should not devote too many resources to fighting this movement unless it is really doing considerable harm. However, Israeli exports are currently up, and the economy is doing well overall. I think Israel should keep an eye on those in support of BDS, but in the mean time focus on more important things.
I agree that the BDS movement will unlikely be very successful and that Israel should focus on bigger things. They should not be promoting such negative ideas if they want positive change.
ReplyDeleteI would respectively disagree with you both; the BDS movement is a potentially serious threat to the Jewish state. The Arab/Muslim world have sought Israel's destruction since it declared its indepedence in 1948. Fortunately, their military efforts have failed, in multiple wars. When conventional warfare was unsuccessful, the Arabs turned to terrorism, with suicide bombings, kidnappings, rocket launching and rock-throwing during the two (2) so-called Intifada(s). Both led to loss of life, and were psychologically damaging to the Israeli people, but were ultimately a failure, as well. Having failed by warfare/violence, both unconventional and conventional, the Arab/Muslim world has adopted a new tactic, namely waging a propaganda war against Israel. The Jewish state is accused of perpetrating genocide, ethnic cleansing, racism and adopting a policy of apartheid. Worst of all, and most outrageous, is comparing the Israeli government to that of Nazi Germany. We know these are riduculous, libelous and patently false; however, the longer and more frequently Israel's enemies repeat these lies, the more they will become part of the consiousness of her enemies and the rest of the uneducated public. The BDS campaign, taking hold on American college campuses, in some churchs and in various European institutions, is fundamentally a campaign to delegitamize the State of Israel. Make no mistake, delegitamization is part of an effort call into question Israel's fundamental right to exist and is nothing less than an thinly veiled effort to destroy Israel. BDS must be taken very seriously and it must be battled tenaciously and with the same determination as was fought in defending Israel against military threats and terrorist threats.
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