The US and EU classified terrorist organization Hamas is waging a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against the Jewish state, revealing violent structures of a movement that claims to use peaceful tactics.
Dr. Basem Naim described himself as “Head of Boycott Campaign & Hamas Official” in a May 17 statement protesting the German Bundestag’s (parliament) resolution recognizing BDS as an antisemitic campaign.
Naim wrote that “We condemn passing this unfair resolution by the German Bundestag that is against the Palestinian people’s right to resist the Israeli occupation, which is the most terrible occupation in history, with all means possible, given that boycott is a peaceful means of resistance against the Israeli occupation.”
Israel’s government does not occupy the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. In 2005, the Israeli government withdrew from Gaza.
Naim added “On the other hand, we call on Germany to reverse this resolution for it provides support for the Israeli occupation and protects it from being held accountable for crimes committed against the Palestinian people. Moreover, this move does not serve security and stability in the region. We expect Germany to provide support for the Palestinian people until they restore their freedom and establish their independent state.”
The non-binding German Bundestag resolution said the BDS campaign, including its “Don’t Buy” stickers, recalled “the most terrible chapter in German history” and revived memories of the Nazi movement’s slogan “Don’t buy from Jews.”
“The pattern of argument and methods of the BDS movement are antisemitic,” the resolution noted.
The parliament’s resolution said the government should not finance organizations that support BDS or question the existence of the Jewish state. Neo-Nazi parties in Germany such as The Third Way and the National Democratic Party (NPD) advocate BDS against Israel.
The role of the violent jihadi organization Hamas in BDS raises question marks over claims of non-violence from Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian activist and the cofounder of the BDS movement. After Barghouti was denied entry into the United States in April, he told the Russia state-controlled outlet: “The US administration has been mobilized now to do Israel’s bidding in trying to silence Palestinian, Israeli and international human rights defenders, who are active in this extremely effective and very important non-violent BDS movement.” Russia Today, or RT, frequently promotes a sympathetic view of BDS activists and the economic warfare campaign against Israel.
BDS activists disrupted a talk in May in Aurich, Germany held by the Israeli author Arye Sharuz Shalicar. In 2017, BDS activists stormed a panel discussion with the Israeli Holocaust survivor Deborah Weinstein in Berlin.