Why does the Boycott of Israel movement only target Jews? Isn't that Anti-Semitic?

Question

http://spectator.org/blog/63804/bds-movement-forces-spanish-festival-organizers-kick-matisyahu-bill

Answer 1

The boycott Israel movement does not necessarily engage in antisemitic behaviour, but like with other instances of expression of animosity towards Israel, we can find cases where it is, in fact, antisemitic.

This specific case I would argue IS antisemitic as a Jewish American reggae artist being banned from a concert in Spain has nothing to do with Israel.

Answer 2

Perhaps -- the bottom line is that TARGETING is a matter of what effect is intended, not a matter of what effect is realized. The published goal of the boycott Israel movement is the support of a separate Palestinian state. If that is the only motivation behind the movement, then no, that would not e anti-semitic. It may be anti-semitic action as a tactic used in pursuing one or more objectives intended as part of the path toward a [hopefully] higher goal. (That's IF the only goal is support of Palestinian free reign... Otherwise, this argument falls apart completely.)



It's also pertinent that boycotting Israel does not simply mean boycotting Jews -- about 1/4 of Israel is not Jewish (and of that portion, about 80% are Arab). To help picture the situation, that proportion is roughly similar to the proprotion of "people of color" in the United States -- so acting against that whole country to punish Jews would be a lot like acting against the whole US to punish whites... collateral damage would be one innocent casualty for every three intended ones -- an absolutely abominable cost in human wreckage!



STILL, that leaves us with questions such as whether supporting the Palestinian desire for self-determination is indeed the only motivation. I would wager there is some anti-semitism among the boycott Israel ranks. How much there is would be hard to say. How much you can judge a movement by the motivation of its supporters would be even harder to say. Certainly, though, it's a strong possibility and on that a supporter should consider the ramifications of.

Answer 3

While not all boycotters of Israel are anti-Semitic, it is undoubtedly true that an element of it exists within their movement. Sure, they deny it without reservation; however, I've seen dozens of aligned activists (in real life and online) whose rhetoric and targets betray them as such. Even if many of the leaders don't actually hate Jews, the condemnation that they do diddly squat to combat this rampant anti-Semitism is still present and I've had the misfortune of knowing Jews who were scared away from their events.



The targeting of Jews is done for a few reasons. On the less anti-Semitic side, there is the fact that Israel is the ONLY state affiliated with Judaism is a huge way, so there is the belief that the word of a Jew against Israel carries the most weight, even if that Jew has nothing to do with the Israeli state. It's still disturbing, since there are people who bother Jews who don't involve themselves with Israel and try to bully them into certain roles, but it is not as hateful towards the people as a whole compared to those actual anti-Semites who use groups like BDS to realize their bigotry in a more "socially acceptable" way. They target Jews now because, to an unsuspecting outside, they're only after the Israel-thing, but that's not it. Jews are targeted by this faction because they just hate Jews, and that is absolutely anti-Semitic.



In Matisyahu's case, anti-Semitism can be called since he was Jewish, was singled out because of it, and was forced into a position or else be uninvited for not saying the "right" thing despite having the ability to choose for himself. It's not like other people were questioned, or forced to pick a specific political side that the concert organizers did NOT previously enforce. And it's a shame that people didn't bother to look up his previous positions and be satisfied with that, to be blunt. Really, he wasn't the artist they should've focused on: There was one from Jamaica whose lyrics actively encourage hate on homosexuals, perhaps killing if memory serves, and I'd think he'd be the one more deserving of controversy.

Answer 4

It targets Israel, including the Druze, Christians, and anyone else living within their borders (such as Arab Israelis). It is not antisemitic because it doesn't target Jews it targets a nation-state by attempting to affect it's economy. BDS doesn't target jewish businesses in the exterior unless they do business with or in Israel.

Answer 5

It was a cheap and bigoted decision.

They also reversed it.



My answer? Boycott Islam.

Countries to Boycott



Afghanistan

Algeria

Bahrain

Bangladesh

Bhutan

Brunei

Chad

Comoros

Cuba

Djibouti

Guinea

Indonesia

Iran

Iraq

Kuwait

Lebanon

Libya

Malaysia

Mali

Morocco

Niger

Oman

Pakistan

Qatar

Saudi Arabia

Somalia

Sudan

Syria

Tunisia

United Arab Emirates

Yemen



Seriously, they produce shirts in Pakistan and many other products we buy here in the USA.



There are codes you can look for:



EAN-UCC prefix Country ISO country code

609 Mauritius mu

611 Morocco ma

613 Algeria dz

619 Tunisia tn

621 Syria sy

622 Egypt eg

624 Libya ly

629 Emirates ae

628 Saudi Arabia sa

627 Kuwait kw

626 Iran ir

625 Jordan jo



Owned by Muslims:

Saks Fifth Avenue (now there's irony for you, weren't they Jewish at one time), Tiffany's, Carvel Ice Cream, Gucci (controlling interest) and Color Tile. Also, AT&T, Chrysler, Dow Chemicals, Atlantic Richfield, Santa Fe International.



A Saudi prince owns 10% of the stock of Citibank. Saudis also purchased half-interest in Texaco refineries, gas stations in 33 states. They bought United Press International (and we thought the media in this country was already biased against Israel), AOL, Chase Manhattan (aren't they headquartered in the city where the World Trade Center was bombed) Compaq (I wish I had know this before my nephew bought my laptop) First Chicago Corp. JP Morgan, Transamerica (soon to be re-named Transarabia [I just made that up])



Search:

"Two can play the same ‘BOYCOTT’ game"



There is a button that delivers every Muslim owned business within 20 miles of your zip code.