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1. The anti-Israel movement has created a license to target Jews everywhere
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement claims to be solely anti-Israel, but the effect makes Jews fair game everywhere. On many campuses, students are openly told they “should not feel safe” if they oppose BDS. In unions, schools and even in city parks, Jews are pressured to denounce Israel. What starts as a boycott of a foreign country becomes a permission slip to harass Jews everywhere – once that standard takes hold, no community is safe.
2. Extremist groups exploit BDS to advance Hamas’ goals
From its earliest days, Hamas leaders saw boycotts and propaganda as tools to infiltrate American life. In 1993, Hamas met secretly in Philadelphia and plotted to “deceive your enemy” while seeding influence in universities and media. Groups like American Muslims for Palestine and Students for Justice in Palestine carry that mission forward, cloaking hostility in the language of “resistance.” Foreign funding from Qatar and others has created fertile ground. This is not a student protest or a debate club exercise. It is part of a larger extremist strategy to weaken Israel abroad and make Jews feel unsafe at home.
3. BDS openly seeks the demonization and elimination of Israel
The BDS Movement’s founder openly rejects the existence of a Jewish state anywhere in the Middle East – its stated goal is to eliminate Israel. Advocates sometimes compare BDS to the movements behind Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr. or Gandhi, but those efforts sought to expand freedom and dignity. BDS has the opposite aim: to erase one nation – the world’s only Jewish state. By constantly singling out Israel for boycott, the movement goes well beyond criticizing policy. It demonizes the very idea of Jewish self-determination – casting Jews as permanent outsiders wherever they live.
4. Academic boycotts silence learning and punish Jews
Academic boycotts punish students and scholars for who they are, not what they think. Professors have refused to assign books by Israeli authors, blocked Israeli academics from conferences and denied letters of recommendation to study abroad in Israel. These actions rob students of opportunities and silence open debate. True academic freedom means engaging with all voices, not erasing them. When boycotts dominate classrooms and professional associations, Jewish students and faculty are not just marginalized – they are told they do not belong in the very institutions meant to protect open debate.
5. Misinformation against Israel fuels hate against Jews
BDS thrives on misinformation. Hamas and its Iranian backers have become masters of propaganda that the BDS movement wields as weapons. False reports that minimize or ignore Hamas crimes or redefine its terrorists as “civilians” or “journalists” spread unchecked across social media, in newspapers and on TV. The result is not only a distorted debate, but direct harm: ordinary Jews are blamed for atrocities they had nothing to do with. Propaganda against Israel becomes prejudice against Jews – and too often, violence follows.
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