The Hidden Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Campaign
The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement—which grew out of the U.N.’s 2001 conference against racism in Durban, South Africa—campaigns openly on college campuses and in progressive spaces. There are even members of Congress who voice the movement’s interests within the Capitol. But what if a significant contribution to its cause has actually been buried in social … Continue reading
Columbia University To Vote On Divesting From Israel
In the heart of the nation’s most Jewish city, Jewish students who believe in Israel’s right to exist are being made mighty uncomfortable. And it’s not just at New York University, which is currently under federal investigation for antisemitism. Now, farther uptown at Columbia, the Columbia College Student Council (CCSC) has voted 25-12 to allow a campus-wide … Continue reading
European Union Slaps ‘New Kind Of Yellow Star On Jewish-Made Products’
Europe’s highest court isn’t exactly telling everybody to boycott Israeli food and wine. But they’re doing their darnedest to ensure Europeans don’t buy them. For anyone who missed the news, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled last week that food and wine produced by Jewish Israelis beyond the Green Line must be explicitly marked: “‘Israeli settlement’ or … Continue reading
No, The Israel Boycott Movement Isn’t All About Free Speech
Americans are used to being spun. Heck, we’re also familiar with being straight-up lied to. But at a certain point, we need to start calling out the falsehoods our elected officials use in describing the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. For starters, let’s consider Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday. … Continue reading
With New House Resolutions, Democrats Finally Allow Their Israel Divide Into The Open
Some moments in politics are clarifying. The House’s vote on Resolution 246, which opposes the movement to boycott Israel, is one such moment. The resolution, which boasted 351 co-sponsors, overwhelmingly passed the House on Tuesday, 398-17. For most of this year, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has worked overtime to protect her caucus from too much scrutiny where … Continue reading
House Discharge Petition Will Test Whether Support For Israel Is Still Bipartisan
In late March, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told attendees at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual conference that “support for Israel in Congress remains ironclad and bipartisan.” After the troubling events of the last several months, reasonable observers might question that statement. Now, House Republicans are ready to test just how deep bipartisan support … Continue reading
Airbnb’s Anti-West Bank Policy Shows Why Laws Against BDS Matter
Want to fight The Man? If you’re too young to have fought for civil rights, you’ve got the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS). BDSers wrap themselves in the cloak of justice, but their high-minded rhetoric quickly devolves into hate, because at bottom, stigmatizing democratic Israel isn’t hopeful. BDS is a high-stakes game of pressure … Continue reading
Harvard Students Vote To Send Student Money To Anti-Semitic Group
If everyone admitted to a college is invited to campus, but Jewish students are made to feel less welcome, is the campus still everyone’s home? I never wondered about this as an undergraduate. But I absolutely did this week, after reading that Harvard’s Undergraduate Council (UC) funded Israeli Apartheid Week on campus. When I arrived … Continue reading
Democrats Tacitly Support Anti-Israel Movement While Pretending Not To
Congressional Democrats don’t want to talk about the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. And many of them really don’t want to be asked to vote on it. In spite of such reluctance, Sens. Marco Rubio, Joe Manchin, and their allies passed S. 1, the Strengthening America’s Security in the Middle East Act of 2019, … Continue reading
melissa langsam braunstein 
Like Pepsi, Democrats Need To Reverse Course On Boycotting Israel
Posted by melissa braunstein on December 12, 2019 · Leave a Comment
In the fall of 1983, shortly before my fifth birthday, I visited Israel for the first time. I vividly recall stopping at a roadside stand just shy of the Lebanese border. It was sunny, scorching even, and my little sister and I were parched. So our parents treated us to cold soda. We were enchanted … Continue reading →
Filed under Clips, Cultural Commentary, Judaism, Politics · Tagged with Antisemitism, Arab Boycott, BDS, Democrats, Israel, Jews