German Bundestag passes non-binding resolution equating the BDS movement to anti-Semitic, refers to days of Hitler; BDS claims it does not target individuals or identity, accuses Germany of “complicity in Israel’s crimes of military occupation, ethnic cleansing, siege and apartheid, while desperately trying to shield it from accountability to international law.”
Germany’s Parliament officially labeled the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS) as anti-Semitic ahead of the weekend, making history as the first European Union country to do so. Under the new legislation, boycotting Israeli goods and services will be illegal, as would methods of labeling Israeli goods, a recent trend in Europe.
The German Bundestag (Parliament) voted in the new resolution after it was submitted by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party. It cites the growth of anti-Semitism and recent attempts to boycott the Eurovision song contest which was held in Tel Aviv this past week. The resolution reads, “The pattern of argument and methods of the BDS movement are anti-Semitic” and reminiscent of the early days of Hitler. The non-binding resolution was one of three submitted and debated on Friday, with reports claiming the decision was met with cheers and applause from German MK’s.
The BDS movement claims through boycotting, divesting and sanctioning the State of Israel, they will pressure the Israeli government to end its “siege” of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and Gaza. It accuses Israel of colonialism, genocide, apartheid, occupation and war crimes, among many others. This is supported and promoted by misleading statistics, lies and biased and inaccurate reporting on Israel and the Israel Defense Forces. The organization this year is calling for “ending arms trade, military aid and cooperation with Israel” in order to “undercut financial and military support for its regime…”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the vote, releasing an official statement, “I congratulate the German Bundestag on the important decision branding the boycott movement (BDS) as an anti-Semitic movement and announcing that it is forbidden to fund it. I especially appreciate the announcement by the Bundestag that Germany must cease funding organizations that are working against the existence of the State of Israel. I hope that this decision will bring about concrete steps and I call upon other countries to adopt similar legislation.”
The BDS movement claimed it does not target individuals, but Israel as a whole, a blatant lie as the movement has targeted academics, artists and political figures for years. It claimed “BDS targets complicity not identity. The academic and cultural boycott of Israel is strictly institutional and does not target individual Israelis.” It additionally claimed, “The German parliament’s equation of the nonviolent BDS movement for Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism is based on outright lies. It’s not only anti-Palestinian McCarthyism, it is a betrayal of international law, German democracy and the fight against real anti-Jewish racism.”
It went further to accuse Germany of supporting apartheid and a genocidal Israel, stating “The German establishment is entrenching its complicity in Israel’s crimes of military occupation, ethnic cleansing, siege and apartheid, while desperately trying to shield it from accountability to international law.”
Photo: Irina Borsuchenko/Shutterstock.com
