List of opponents of the BDS movement

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List of people who oppose the BDS movement include those who have either voiced opposition to the BDS movement, accused it of antisemitism, or spoken out against comprehensive boycotts against Israel. It does not include people who have been unwilling to commit to a boycott of Israel, only those actively opposing it.

NameOccupationCountryYearSource
Brian A. Cunningham PoliticianUnited States2022 [1]
Nas Daily YouTuberIsrael?
Robert Kraft Owner of New England Patriots United States?
Joe Biden PresidentUnited States2020 [2]
Helen Mirren ActorEngland2016 [3]
Arthur Orr PoliticianUnited States2016 [4]
Boris Johnson Prime MinisterUnited Kingdom2019 [5]
Barack Obama PresidentUnited States2012 [6]
Theresa May Prime MinisterUnited Kingdom2018 [7]
Aziz Maraka SingerJordan2020 [8]
Sari Nusseibeh Professor of PhilosophyPalestine2014 [9]
Reuven Rivlin PresidentIsrael2016 [10]
José María Aznar Prime MinisterSpain2015 [11]
Jan Bartošek PoliticianCzech Republic2019 [12]
David Cameron Prime MinisterUnited Kingdom2014 [13]
Gilad Erdan Strategic Affairs MinisterIsrael [14]
Steve McCabe Member of ParliamentUnited Kingdom2021 [15]
Israel Katz Intelligence MinisterIsrael [16]
Rachel Riley Television presenter and mathematicianUnited Kingdom [17]
Sharon Osbourne Television personalityUnited Kingdom [17]
Thom Yorke SingerUnited Kingdom2017 [18]
Abraham Foxman LawyerUnited States2013 [19]
Ritchie Torres PoliticianUnited States2020 [20]
Adam Milstein Real-estate investor, lobbyist and philanthropistUnited States2016 [21]
Yishai Fleisher Settler and spokespersonIsrael? [22]
Hillary Clinton PoliticianUnited States2015 [23]
Justin Trudeau Prime MinisterCanada2019 [24]
Alan Dershowitz LawyerUnited States2013 [25]
Cary Nelson English professorUnited States2018 [26]
Deborah Lipstadt Holocaust historianUnited States2019 [27]
Judea Pearl AcademicUnited States2018 [28]
Mordechai Kedar PoliticianIsrael? [29]
Ed Asner ActorUnited States2017 [30]
Stephen Fry ActorUnited Kingdom2019 [17]
Yossi Beilin Politician and scholarIsrael? [31]
J. K. Rowling WriterUnited Kingdom? [32]
Charles Krauthammer PunditUnited States2014 [33]
Lisa Nandy PoliticianUnited Kingdom2021 [34]
Nick Cave Singer and authorAustralia2017 [35]
John Lydon SingerUnited Kingdom2010 [36]
Gene Simmons MusicianUnited States2011 [37]
Paul McCartney Singer and musicianUnited Kingdom2008 [38]
Jamaal Bowman PoliticianUnited States2021
John Fetterman PoliticianUnited States2023
Eric Adams PoliticianUnited States2022

See also

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Jewish Voice for Peace is an anti-Zionist left-wing Jewish activist organization in the United States that supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel Football Association</span> Association football governing body of Israel

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Engage is a British website, and briefly an online journal, that aims to help people counter the boycott Israel campaign. Engage describes its mission as to "challenge left and liberal antisemitism in the labour movement, in our universities and in public life."

StandWithUs (SWU) is a nonprofit pro-Israel education and advocacy organization founded in Los Angeles in 2001 by Roz Rothstein, Jerry Rothstein, and Esther Renzer.

Mondoweiss is a news website that began as a general-interest blog written by Philip Weiss on The New York Observer website. It subsequently developed into a broader collaborative venture after fellow journalist Adam Horowitz joined it as co-editor. In 2010, Weiss described the website's purpose as one of covering American foreign policy in the Middle East from a 'progressive Jewish perspective'. In 2011, it defined its aims as fostering greater fairness for Palestinians in American foreign policy, and as providing American Jews with an alternative identity to that expressed by Zionist ideology, which he regards as antithetical to American liberalism. Originally supported by The Nation Institute, it became a project of part of the Center for Economic Research and Social Change in June 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions</span> Palestinian-led movement demanding international sanctions against Israel

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations under international law, defined as withdrawal from the occupied territories, removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and "respecting, protecting, and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties". The movement is organized and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omar Barghouti</span> Qatari-Palestinian activist (born 1964)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">AMCHA Initiative</span> Pro-Israeli foreign lobbying organization

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boycotts of Israel</span> Aspect of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Students for Justice in Palestine</span> Pro-Palestinian BDS activism organization

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The American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is an American nonprofit organization founded in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reactions to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions</span>

Reactions to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) refer to the views of international actors on the BDS movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canary Mission</span> Website established in 2014

Canary Mission is a website established in 2014 that compiles dossiers on student activists, professors, and organizations, focusing primarily on those at North American universities, which it considers be anti-Israel or antisemitic, and has said that it will send the names of listed students to prospective employers. Canary Mission listings have been used by the Israeli government and border security officials to interrogate and deny entry to pro-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) American citizens, and by potential employers.

With regard to the Arab–Israeli conflict, many supporters of the State of Israel have often advocated or implemented anti-BDS laws, which effectively seek to retaliate against people and organizations engaged in boycotts of Israel-affiliated entities. Most organized boycotts of Israel have been led by Palestinians and other Arabs with support from much of the Muslim world. Since the Second Intifada in particular, these efforts have primarily been coordinated at an international level by the Palestinian-led BDS movement, which seeks to mount as much economic pressure on Israel as possible until the Israeli government allows an independent Palestinian state to be established. Anti-BDS laws are designed to make it difficult for anti-Israel people and organizations to participate in boycotts; anti-BDS legal resolutions are symbolic and non-binding parliamentary condemnations, either of boycotts of Israel or of the BDS movement itself. Generally, such condemnations accuse BDS of closeted antisemitism, charging it with pushing a double standard and lobbying for the de-legitimization of Israeli sovereignty, and are often followed by laws targeting boycotts of Israel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism</span> Guide on antisemitism

The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism (JDA) is a document meant to outline the bounds of antisemitic speech and conduct, particularly with regard to Zionism, Israel and Palestine. Its creation was motivated by a desire to confront antisemitism and by objections to the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, which critics have said stifles legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and curbs free speech. The drafting of the declaration was initiated in June 2020 under the auspices of the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem by eight coordinators, most of whom were university professors. Upon its completion the declaration was signed by about 200 scholars in various fields and released in March 2021.

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References

  1. ↑ "NY lawmaker withdraws endorsement from congressional candidate who announced support for BDS". 12 July 2022.
  2. ↑ Arria, Michael (May 21, 2020). "Joe Biden thinks BDS is Malarkey – Mondoweiss". Mondoweiss. Retrieved November 8, 2020. The Biden campaign published something on their website called "Joe Biden and the Jewish Community: A Record and a Plan of Friendship, Support and Action." It highlights some policy objectives and the presumptive nominee's "unstinting support for Israel." It also declares that a Biden administration would "firmly reject the BDS movement, which singles out Israel — home to millions of Jews — and too often veers into anti-Semitism, while letting Palestinians off the hook for their choices."
  3. ↑ "Helen Mirren criticises Israel boycotters". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2016-06-24. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  4. ↑ Cason, Mike (May 14, 2016). "Group praises new Alabama law opposing boycotts of Israel". al. Retrieved November 1, 2020. That same year, Orr also sponsored a senate resolution condemning the BDS movement.
  5. ↑ "U.K.'s Conservative Party vows to ban councils from boycotting Israeli products". Haaretz. 24 November 2019.
  6. ↑ Ali Abunimah (3 March 2014). The Battle for Justice in Palestine. Haymarket Books. pp. 125–. ISBN   978-1-60846-347-3.
  7. ↑ Mairs, Nicholas (2018-09-18). "Theresa May mounts fresh pledge to tackle anti-Semitism while blasting 'unacceptable' Israeli boycott calls". Politics Home. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  8. ↑ Hovav, Ofir. "This Jordanian singer doesn't ...." Haaretz. 19 January 2020. 13 August 2021.
  9. ↑ Kalman, Matthew (2014-01-19). "Palestinians Divided Over Boycott of Israeli Universities". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  10. ↑ Rivlin, Reuven. "Taking Down BDS". Ynetnews. 28 March 2016.
  11. ↑ "BDS movement seeks to empty Israel of Jews, former Spanish PM says", Haim Isserovitz, 20 June 2015, The Jerusalem Post.
  12. ↑ Ahren, Raphael. "Czech lawmakers pass resolution condemning BDS movement". The Times of Israel .
  13. ↑ Wintour, Patrick (2014-03-12). "David Cameron says he would oppose boycott of Israel in speech to Knesset". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  14. ↑ Benzaquen, Itamar (14 January 2020). "Israeli ministry paying for anti-BDS propaganda in major news outlets". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2021. The Strategic Affairs Ministry, headed by Likud minister Gilad Erdan, has for years been spearheading an international campaign to counter what it sees as "de-legitimization" of the State of Israel. This project has, in large part, involved providing funds and handing down directives to non-governmental organizations and journalists in order to enlist them in the fight against BDS.
  15. ↑ Chappell, Elliot (27 September 2021). "Labour conference passes Young Labour Israel and Palestine motion". LabourList.
  16. ↑ Mairav Zonszein, 'In Israel, BDS is winning,' +972 magazine 28 March 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 Sherwin, Adam (30 April 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Stephen Fry & Sharon Osbourne lead celebrities rejecting boycott of Israel Song Contest". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  18. ↑ Radiohead perform in Israel despite opposition from activists The Guardian. 19 July 2017.
  19. ↑ Foxman, Abraham. "An Open Letter on Academic Freedom and University Responsibility". ADL. 2 June 2013.
  20. ↑ "'Pro-Israel progressive' Ritchie Torres won't join AOC's squad due to BDS stance". Haaretz.
  21. ↑ "IAC head Milstein urges: Boycott the boycotters". The Jerusalem Post. May 22, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Yishai Fleisher - Where Do We Stand?". 15 June 2017. If you see it from their perspective, you can understand that they are saying we have got to somehow shutdown this thing called "the settlements," but at the end of the day the symbol of it is very clear. It is the same thing the Nazis did by boycotting Jewish stores. It's really economic warfare. It's really a civilian form of warfare. Don't forget that besiegement and starvation are forms of warfare, and this is kind of a civilian form of the same type of effort to starve somebody out, close them down, and delegitimize them.
  23. ↑ Clinton, Hillary. "ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW" (PDF). Brookings Institution . Retrieved 14 January 2016. We need to repudiate efforts to malign and undermine Israel and the Jewish people. The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement known as BDS is the latest front in this battle. Demonizing Israeli scientists and intellectuals, evenyoung students, comparing Israel to South African apartheid, now no nation is above criticism. But this is wrong and it should stop immediately.
  24. ↑ "Asked to reverse anti-BDS stance, Justin Trudeau doubles down". January 17, 2019. We have to recognise that there are things that aren't acceptable, not because of foreign policy concerns, but because of Canadian values," Trudeau said. "It's not right to discriminate or make someone feel unsafe on campus because of their religion and unfortunately the BDS movement is often linked to those kinds of things," he said, after being asked by a member of the audience whether he would reverse his anti-BDS stance. "So yes, sir, I will continue to condemn the BDS movement.
  25. ↑ Dershowitz, Alan. "Boycotting Israeli universities: A victory for bigotry". Haaretz. 17 December 2013.
  26. ↑ Nelson, Cary. "Conspiracy Pedagogy on Campus: BDS Advocacy, Antisemitism, and Academic Freedom." Anti-Zionism on Campus, Pessin and Ben-Atar, Indiana UP, 2018, pp. 190-211 (see especially p. 191).
  27. ↑ Chotiner, Isaac (24 January 2019). "Looking at Anti-Semitism on the Left and the Right: An Interview with Deborah E. Lipstadt". The New Yorker .
  28. ↑ Pessin, Andrew; Ben-Atar, Doron S.; Pearl, Judea (2018). "BDS and Zionophobic Racism.". Anti-Zionism on Campus: The University, Free Speech, and BDS. Indiana University Press. pp. 224–235. ISBN   978-0-253-03408-3.
  29. ↑ "Mordechai Kedar - Where Do We Stand?". July 2017. BDS is a movement that is trying to eradicate Israel altogether. They are following exactly what the Arabs did from 1948 until the mid 60's, when Arabs boycotted companies which dealt with Israel. They also boycotted companies which worked with companies that worked with Israel—a secondary boycott. Companies like Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Coca Cola did not work in Israel until the '70s and even into '80s because of the Arab boycott. The anti-Jewish boycotters of Israel combined with the Arab/Islamic immigrants in America and Europe are trying to do it again. We already experienced this boycott—it is nothing new and it doesn't work.
  30. ↑ "Ed Asner: 'I do not support BDS.'". Jewish Journal. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  31. ↑ "Yossi Beilin: Where Do We Stand?". July 2017. I am against a boycott against myself. I don't think Israel as a state should be boycotted. The BDS movement fails to make the difference between Israel and the Occupied Territories, which in my view is a big mistake. I don't support a boycott against settlements either, but I can understand people who don't want to buy settlement products because they don't want to encourage this enterprise.
  32. ↑ Daly, Sarah-Elizabeth (31 October 2015). "Palestinian Harry Potter fan has called out JK Rowling for the SECOND time". The Scotsman . Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  33. ↑ Krauthammer, Charles (9 January 2014). "Krauthammer: Poison of anti-Semitism continues to proliferate". Chron.
  34. ↑ Chappell, Elliot (2 September 2021). "Lisa Nandy sets out views on Israel-Palestine during Manchester event". LabourList. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  35. ↑ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (11 December 2018). "Nick Cave: cultural boycott of Israel is 'cowardly and shameful'". The Guardian . Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  36. ↑ "Johnny Rotten: 'Don't call me a national treasure'". The Independent . 23 October 2011.
  37. ↑ "Kiss Lead Singer Gene Simmons Slams Israel Boycotters". Haaretz . Associated Press. 22 March 2011.
  38. ↑ Paul McCartney promises Israel gig will go ahead despite death threats The Guardian , 16 September 2008
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