UK, US and Canada confront the BDS fraud

JEFF KATZ

Going under the name Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), it is modelled on the South African example, where international isolation played a key part in the downfall of the apartheid regime. There is, of course, an active branch of BDS in South Africa.

In recent days, BDS has suffered significant setbacks, firstly by the UK’s decision to outlaw boycott campaigns by town halls and other public bodies and thereafter by the Canadian parliament’s adoption of a motion condemning the BDS movement.

The UK ruling prohibits all public authorities from imposing a boycott against any country, including Israel, signed up to the World Trade Organisation government procurement agreement. As such, it sets an important precedent for other democratic states to follow.

These moves, moreover, have come in the wake of last year’s far-reaching Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, by which the United States, among other things, unambiguously denounced BDS and committed itself to opposing it on multiple levels.

In adopting these steps, the US, UK and Canada recognise that BDS, far from wishing to promote human rights or even the welfare of the Palestinians, has as its core aim the undermining and eventual destruction, of Israel.

In the words of Michael Mostyn, CEO, B’nai Brith Canada, it has “no interest in actively helping Palestinian Arabs. Instead it seeks to demonise and delegitimise Israel and its aim is the annihilation of Israel and the Jewish people”.

BDS singles out the Jewish State alone for special punitive action. Wherever it surfaces, it is accompanied by anti-Jewish abuse and harassment, a reality that we in South Africa can readily testify to. The battle against BDS is far from won, but it is encouraging to see that increasingly, world policy makers are coming to see the movement for what it is. 

Shimon Peres visit

Next week, the legendary Israeli pioneer, statesman and peace activist Shimon Peres will once again be visiting South Africa, this time as a guest of the IUA-UCF.

In addition to addressing our community on Sunday, he will be having a number of official meetings and media interviews (which the Board is helping to set up). Mr Peres, even in the darkest times, has never wavered in his commitment to working for peaceful co-existence between Israel and its neighbours. The message he brings is as important as ever, not just for the Middle East but also for our own country. 

As could have been predicted, local anti-Israel activists have vociferously condemned the visit and are attempting in various ways to undermine it. For them, whatever Mr Peres has to say is irrelevant – the very fact that he will be here as a representative of the hated “Zionist entity” is enough for them to wish to silence him.

For our part, we will strenuously oppose any attempts at censorship or intimidation and do everything we can to make the visit a memorable success.

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