Part I -- Boycotts Are Historically Common
If you search the topic boycotts on Google you immediately realize how historically common they are. There are a lot to choose from, and one of the first listed is the 1769 boycott instituted by the First Continental Congress against Great Britain over the issue of "taxation without representation." That makes a boycott against a perceived oppressive power an integral part of American heritage.
As you move into the modern era, a reaction against racism also becomes a noticeable motivating factor for many boycotts. The Chinese instituted a boycott against the United States over the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1892 and 1904. Then, in 1933, the American Jewish Congress declared a boycott of Nazi Germany in protest to its racially motivated oppression of the German Jewish community. In the 1940s, Ghandi would encourage Indians to boycott imperial Britain. In the 1950s and 1960s, African Americans would boycott segregated institutions in the U.S. South. In the 1960s through the 1990s, much of the world would boycott South Africa over issue of apartheid. And this is but a short list.
In 2005, 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, including unions, refugee networks, women's organizations, and political parties, put out a call for a boycott of Israel. This was to be a non-violent effort to pressure the Zionist state to conform to international law and cease its oppression of the Palestinians. The call was also for divestment from Israel and all entities that assisted and profited from its behavior, as well as for eventual sanctions. This is known as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, or BDS for short.
Part II -- Redefining Anti-Semitism
Even though Jews had suffered from Nazi persecution and ethnic cleansing during World War II and had used boycott as a weapon against their oppressors, the Israelis and their Zionist supporters have taken great umbrage at the call for boycott by the Palestinians. They see it as "anti-Semitic."
For instance, in the U.S. the Zionist Anti-Defamation League has t his to say about the BDS campaign on its website:
"Many of the founding goals of the BDS movement, including denying the Jewish people the universal right of self-determination ... are anti-Semitic. Many individuals involved in BDS campaigns are driven by opposition to Israel's very existence as a Jewish state. ... And, all too often, BDS advocates employ anti-Semitic rhetoric and narratives to isolate and demonize Israel."
This statement expresses the "official" Israeli/Zionist position, and at its core is a purposeful conflation of the Jewish people and the Israeli state. By insisting on this identification of Israel and all Jews, the Zionists are able to redefine anti-Semitism. Indeed, they take a very old and well-understood phenomenon and give it a radically new, and quite suspect, definition.
The traditional definition of anti-Semitism is a dislike of or bias against Jews by virtue of their imagined inherent "Jewishness." Note that this is very different from objecting to, say, the criminal behavior of someone or some group that just happens to be Jewish. In the first case, it is "Jewishness" that you object to. That is anti-Semitism. In the second case, it is criminal behavior that you object to, regardless of whether the criminal is Jewish. That is not anti-Semitism
However, by arbitrarily conflating all Jews with the Israeli state, the Zionists tell us that criticism or opposition to Israeli state behavior -- even if that behavior is criminal -- is anti-Semitic. This is because Israel stands in for all Jews. Thus, they redefine anti-Semitism in a way that allows Israel to sidestep all moral responsibility by turning the argument around and pointing fingers at their critics. For instance, do you object to Israel's ethnic cleansing of Palestinians? Well, for the Zionists the issue is no longer the criminal nature of ethnic cleansing, but the alleged anti-Semitism of those criticizing that behavior.
Part III -- Background Information
Let's consider this Zionist maneuver against the following background. Consider the following:
-- In June, 2018, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), representing 1.5 million Americans, "voted unanimously" to support the BDS campaign.-- In July, 2018, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church USA voted to support BDS by screening suspect companies that might be aiding Israel in the violation of Palestinian human rights and divest from them if this proves to be the case. The Episcopal Church USA represents 3 million Americans.
-- There are, in fact, dozens of Jewish organizations worldwide supporting the BDS campaign. These have thousands of members.
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