"Not everyone is against us. We simply must explain our side. In this war, we are all emissaries," said the opposition MK.
By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMANUpdated: DECEMBER 16, 2015 00:37Yair Lapid(photo credit: SIVAN FARAG)
A new campaign against efforts to boycott, divest and sanction Israel took off Tuesday when Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid went to Ben-Gurion Airport to distribute flyers explaining the justice of Israel’s cause to travelers going abroad.“We can no longer abandon this battle to the haters of Israel,” Lapid told reporters who had gathered at the airport. “We need to defend Israel’s good name in the world. They are besmirching us, and the time has come to answer them.”The flyers say BDS is an anti-Semitic movement founded by global jihadi organizations; that its the movement’s activities have been recognized as an anti-Semitic hate crime in the United States and France; and that its leaders are connected to Hamas.Common attacks on Israel are debunked, such as that Israel’s control over Judea and Samaria is the root cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; that the Jewish people have no right to a state in the land of Israel; that Israel is not interested in resolving the conflict; and that Israel is a racist, Apartheid state, which is the cause of terror around the world.Lapid said it was important to draft ordinary Israelis to the struggle for Israel’s image around the world.Speaking to travelers at the airport, he said they should act as ambassadors of Israel abroad.“Not everyone is anti-Semitic.Not everyone is against us. We simply must explain our side. In this war, we are all emissaries,” he said.Lapid has met with college students around the world to help them fight the BDS movement on their campuses.The information in the flyers also will be posted on social media so Israelis and students will have to them access online.