Erdan: September report will put BDS on defense in universities
The Strategic Affairs Minister said that the report would “expose the antisemitic rhetoric and actions of BDS lead.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBMinister of Public Security and Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan(photo credit: SIVAN FARAG)
The Strategic Affairs Ministry will issue a report in September that will put the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign in universities on the defensive, Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan said on Tuesday.Speaking from the international BDS conference in Jerusalem, he said the report would “expose the antisemitic rhetoric and actions of BDS leaders,” and hoped it would help pro-Israel networks convince universities that BDS “is not an issue of free speech. It’s an issue of preventing antisemitism and racism disguised as BDS.”Erdan lauded his ministry’s work with the over 300 attendees from 35 countries – including a powerful lawyers’ network and the International Legal Forum– for making progress in a variety of areas.He said that together they had “exposed 100 links between BDS and terror groups,” which led to the closing of numerous BDS-related bank accounts.“There was a growing awareness that was making BDS” operatives “unwanted in civilized countries,” the minister said, citing Germany’s recent deportation of convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmieh Odeh, who took part in BDS activities in Germany as part of her attempt to alter her image into being a political activist.In a similar vein, Erdan recognized Germany’s Bundestag for recognizing the antisemitic nature of BDS.He also noted the US rejection of BDS leader Omar Barghouti’s application for entry to the country in April.Noting that 27 states in the US have passed anti-BDS laws, Erdan also said that there had even been notable legal victories against BDS in a variety of EU countries normally thought of as friendly to the Palestinian cause.He said that the anti-BDS network would need to be on guard for new tactics by BDS supporters to try to wrap their movement in the banner of merely being anti-settlements, when in reality their goal is to end the existence of Israel as a Jewish state.
