Scholars for Peace in the Middle East is an organization of academics who support Israel and are concerned with anti-Semitism on university campuses. I have been involved with this organization off and on for several years in the Orange County area, and I support them wholeheartedly.
In the wake of the continuing efforts to pass boycott, divest and sanctions (BDS) against Israel and entities that do business with Israel, acting director Asaf Romirowsky has written this piece, with which I concur.
http://spme.net/articles/9032/2//A-Statement-Condemning-Current-Calls-for-Boycott-Divestment-and-Sanctions-(BDS)-Against-Israel.html
The BDS movement is nothing more than a Palestinian-inspired effort to work with the far-left of the international community to delegitimize, and eventually destroy the Jewish state of Israel. It ignores the atrocities, human rights violations and religious intolerance that dominate the Arab world while singling out the Jewish state of Israel-the only democracy in the region for attempting to defend itself against destruction. It ignores the fact that Arabs and Muslims in Israel enjoy more rights than they would in the surrounding nations.
Not surprisingly, this drive finds its greatest chance of success on university campuses, where organizations like the Muslim Student Associations and Students for Justice in Palestine have linked arms with leftist professors to make the Israel-Palestine conflict THE issue on campus. I have witnessed it personally at UC Irvine, where I teach,. To their credit, almost all universities have rejected the few student governments that have passed resolutions in favor of BDS.
It is time for universities, however, to go the next step. They should announce to their student bodies that BDS is nothing more than an anti-Semitic drive to destroy the one Jewish state in the region-the one civilized and civil society in that blood-drenched region.
Because it is Jewish.
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I do not have anything against boycotts. The tactic is fine.
The stated goals (or lack of a stated goal) of BDS movement I do have a problem with.
I have issues with all three stated goals on the BDS movement website. The third goal, in particular, cannot be fully implemented if one seeks a political solution to the Israel-Palestine Conflict.
I see the students at UCR and UCSD just passed resolutions (recommendations) to boycott and divest. I don't know what the actual resolutions said in either case. If they do not explicitly call for the two states for two people solution, they are on the wrong path.
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