Israeli academics to Bundestag: BDS is not antisemitic
In a public letter, Israeli academics call recent German parliament decision ‘incorrect.’
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFBDS News(photo credit: screenshot)
Israeli academics sent an open letter to the German government ahead of a recent vote in which the German Federal Republic equated BDS with antisemitism, urging them not to do so, an Im Tirtzu press release reported on Monday. Citing that BDS is a non-violent movement which is against “all forms of racism, including antisemitism” the signatories argued that it would be wrong to de-legitimate it or deny it German funding, as doing so might alienate German-Palestinians who will not be able to “express their sorrow.”The letter cited the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to argue that BDS actions should be protected by freedom of expression and freedom of association.The German resolution that passed on Friday, titled “Resisting the BDS movement decisively – fighting antisemitism,” stated, “The argumentation patterns and methods used by the BDS movement are antisemitic.”Signatories included ten professors from Hebrew University, seven from Tel-Aviv University, seven from Ben-Gurion University, and five from Haifa University, all heavily subsidized by the Israeli government, Im Tirtzu wrote. Among those signed are Dr. Dmitry Shumsky from the Hebrew University, Dr. Brian Klug of Oxford and Dr. Merav Amir from Queen University Belfast.One element in the BDS program is that Israeli academics and universities should be boycotted.Matan Peleg, CEO of Im Tirtzu, said that "there is no parallel in the world to this phenomenon of hypocrisy and ungratefulness, in which these professors earn their living at the expense of the Israeli taxpayer yet at the same time work to boycott and slander them."