Nov 3, 2010

#BDS: Historic BDS debate in Zeek

Zeek, the artsy hipstery Jewish journal, published two long pieces on BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) for what I assume is the first time. This bold move plants the movement squarely within the more creative portion of the Jewish establishment, at least as a topic of conversation. This suggests that the effort to make any discussion,as opposed to demonization, of BDS taboo has backfired. It is the BDS-demonizers who find themselves increasingly having a conversation with themselves.
Iff you saw my credit at the end of JVP Executive Director (and Forward 50 honoree!) Rebecca Vilkomerson’s piece, or if you have read any of my own work, it should be no surprise where my sympathies lie. The surprises are only that the New Israel Fund managed to make an anti-BDS case without the use of epithets or smears. This is not so surprising when you consider the record of the New Israel Fund, who we have extolled several time on these pages. But it is sadly the exception among Jewish organizations when discussing BDS, so much so that BDS supporters in Olympia felt compelled to issue an open letter to their opponents asking them to refrain from such tactics.

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