BDS Q&A: Is BDS Racist?

Yes, it is.

And since racism against the Jewish people is also known as anti-Semitism, the BDS movement is also anti-Semitic. Let’s be clear. It is not anti-Semitic to criticize Israel. Most Israelis do it daily.

But it is anti-Semitic to criticize only Israel and never any other country or entity. The BDS movement criticizes one nation and one nation only – Israel.

BDS blames Israel and only Israel for the Arab-Israeli conflict. The BDS movement simply refuses to acknowledge any Arab aggression, misdeed or blame. BDS also blames Israel and only Israel for Arab suffering. BDS ignores the fact that Israeli Arabs enjoy a much higher standard of living than most other Arabs in the region. BDS also ignores the fact that Israeli Arabs enjoy far greater human and civil rights than almost all other Arabs in the region. Yet you will search in vain for the last time BDS recommended sanctions against – or even criticized — an Arab regime.

Simply put, the BDS movement has no interest in Arab suffering – or human suffering – that can’t be blamed on Israel.

A political movement that blamed Hispanics and only Hispanics for America’s ills would rightly be called racist. A human rights movement that blamed black African countries and only black African countries for the world’s troubles would rightly be called racist as well.

Blaming Jews is no different. When you blame only the Jewish state for a complex conflict and region-wide Arab suffering, you’re not just wrong. You’re racist.

Media Resources
BDS and anti-Jewish hostility on campus