[Opinion] BDS is Expanding
[EXCERPTS]
The sudden appearance of anti-Israel BDS posters on the London Underground sparked quite a controversy. Though the accusations of “apartheid” and Israeli abuse of Palestinians aren’t new, the fact that they were so prominently displayed in a public place is disconcerting. This provocation demonstrates the anti-Israel activists’ drive to reach new audiences and push their extremist narrative into the mainstream.
[W]hile the anti-Israel trend is gaining strength in these countries, in the U.S. it is the other way around. There, the political elites are making declarations and legislating against BDS. Therefore, anti-Israel organizations in the U.S. are teaming up with minority and student groups, feeding them heaping helpings of anti-Zionist rhetoric.
In one October 2015 video, black activists and BDS supporters presented the struggles of African-Americans in the U.S. and of Palestinians as different aspects of the same struggle…Recently, thanks to the propaganda of a group called Students for Justice in Palestine, Israel and Zionism have also been linked to the battle over tuition at public universities in New York City. The group accused the “Zionist administration” of hiking up tuition, saying, “The Zionist administration invests in Israeli companies, companies that support the Israeli occupation, hosts birthright programs and study abroad programs in occupied Palestine, and reproduces settler-colonial ideology throughout CUNY through Zionist content of education.”
The battle over Israel’s right to exist needs to adapt to these new arenas. While Israel needs to continue taking action to enlist foreign politicians’ support for the idea of the Jewish state, Israel supporters also need to block funding to these anti-Israel groups that are trying to enlist minority and student groups to their battle against Israel.
