WASHINGTON (JTA) — When John Lewis, the civil rights icon and congressman from Georgia, died at 80 over the weekend, Jews in America and abroad lost an ally of nearly six decades. Lewis never tired of telling folks to “get into good trouble,” to defy the authorities and the… Read more »
Tagged BDS
Stop using Israel as an excuse not to support Black Lives Matter
This story originally appeared on Alma. Take a moment and remember where you were when you first heard about the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. I was in Tel Aviv getting ready to go to the movies after Havdalah. I didn’t end up going —… Read more »
Israeli minister: Promoters of the Israel boycott movement are anti-Semitic
Israel’s public security minister presented a report at a conference in Brussels on Wednesday that includes 80 examples of what he called anti-Semitism by key European promoters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. In one example from April, Jenny Tonge, a lawmaker in the upper chamber… Read more »
Ro Khanna, a rising star among progressive Democrats, navigates a careful pro-Israel line
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Ro Khanna, a rising star among progressive Democrats, wants to make a point about how to be progressive and pro-Israel, so he quotes Alan Dershowitz. Yes, that Alan Dershowitz, the Fox News habitue who has accused the Democratic Party of “tolerating anti-Semitism.” “I don’t agree with… Read more »
Nadler criticizes Tlaib and Omar for sharing controversial cartoon
NEW YORK (JTA) — Rep. Jerry Nadler criticized fellow Democrats Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib for sharing a cartoon that shows President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu covering their mouths. Omar, D-Minn., and Tlaib, D-Mich., were criticized for sharing it last week because the cartoonist Carlos… Read more »
21 Israeli lawmakers say 2-state solution is ‘far more dangerous to Israel’ than boycott movement
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Twenty-one right-wing Israeli lawmakers rebuffed a House bill that endorsed a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while rejecting efforts to boycott the Jewish state. In a letter addressed to U.S. Reps. Brad Schneider, Lee Zeldin, Jerry Nadler and Ann Wagner, the co-sponsors of the bill… Read more »
AIPAC and other Jewish groups join prominent lawmakers in criticizing Israel’s decision to ban Tlaib and Omar
This is a developing story. (JTA) — Israel’s decision on Thursday to ban Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering the country has quickly prompted a wave of impassioned responses from across the Jewish community. Pro-Israel groups, including AIPAC, and prominent Democratic lawmakers are already objecting to the… Read more »
What The New York Times got right and wrong about BDS: An exchange
NEW YORK (JTA) – The Jewish Telegraphic Agency’s editor in chief, Andrew Silow-Carroll, and its opinion editor, Laura E. Adkins, shared their thoughts on a recent New York Times article answering “some of the most difficult questions” about BDS, or the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. Andrew… Read more »
Max Berger, an activist against Israel’s occupation, is an aide to Elizabeth Warren
(JTA) — Days after Israeli ground troops invaded Gaza in 2014, a group of leftist millennial Jews gathered to plan a public protest of the military operation. The new group, which called itself IfNotNow, discussed a public demonstration in front of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish… Read more »
John Lewis backs the right to boycott — even though he opposes BDS
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., explained why he backed a resolution upholding the right to boycott “at home and abroad” — even though he also voted to condemn the boycott, divestment and sanction movement aimed at Israel Lewis was a cosponsor of a House… Read more »
Pitzer College president says he’ll ignore faculty’s vote to end Haifa study program
(JTA) – Faculty at California’s Pitzer College voted in favor of suspending its study abroad program in Israel, but the institution’s president said he would ignore their motion. Thursday’s non-binding recommendation by faculty at the college governing body was spearheaded by proponents of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement… Read more »
Ilhan Omar endorses the Israel boycott and is on the influential Foreign Affairs Committee. Here’s what she and her colleagues say.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The top two Jewish members of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee revile BDS, the boycott Israel movement. Its newest member, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., has embraced the movement. It’s not a big deal, the Jewish Democrats say. Reps. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the committee… Read more »
Anti-BDS laws are a constitutional and PR mess. Here’s how to make them better.
BERKELEY, Calif. (JTA) — Ronald Reagan infamously described the “nine most terrifying words in the English language” as “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Right now, pro-Israel activists are recoiling from the unanticipated consequences of state laws which only sought to “help” them fight BDS, the… Read more »
The Pittsburgh shooting caught the US Jewish community off guard. Can they catch up?
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Eliot Engel, a Democrat who reviles President Donald Trump, and Lee Zeldin, a Republican who eagerly embraces the president, happen to have plenty in common. They are Jewish congressman from New York known for their pro-Israel leadership, and they share a distant relative. They were also… Read more »
Airbnb executive tours West Bank but sticks by company’s decision to exclude settlement listings
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Airbnb executive visited the West Bank and met with Jewish settlement leaders amid criticism of its decision to remove Jewish-owned properties in the disputed territories from its short-term rental listings. Chris Lehane, head of global policy and public affairs for the company, met Tuesday with senior… Read more »
Israeli lawmakers debate American anti-Semitism without American Jewish input
JERUSALEM (JTA) — In the wake of the deadly shooting Oct. 27 at a Pittsburgh synagogue, Israeli lawmakers gathered for a special meeting for a discussion of anti-Semitism in America. It was dialogue that at times grew heated: Politicians yelled at each other and argued about the definition of… Read more »
Left-wing activists claim that Israel is trying to intimidate them at the country’s border
(JTA) — For years, Simone Zimmerman has protested Israel’s actions from the left. She’s led activist groups, organized protests and gone on camera. But she never worried that her activism would get her barred from entering the country — until this week. Zimmerman, who is Jewish and lives in… Read more »
Why it’s a big deal that Argentina cancelled its soccer game in Israel
(JTA) — Israelis want nothing more than for their country to be considered normal. That may have to wait. A much-anticipated soccer game between the Argentine and Israeli national teams was cancelled Wednesday because, Israeli and Argentine officials say, of physical threats made to the Argentine players — including… Read more »
51 NYU student groups pledge to boycott Israel and its pro-Israel backers
NEW YORK (JTA) — A pledge by 51 student groups at New York University to boycott Israel and two pro-Israel campus organizations is a sign of “animosity” at the private campus, a Jewish student leader said. In the resolution, which was released Monday, the student organizations express their support… Read more »
Lorde cancelled her concert in Israel. Here’s what 5 other artists did this year.
(JTA) — Pop star Lorde’s decision to cancel her scheduled concert in Israel has sparked some fierce reactions, even if most of them were expected. The 21-year-old New Zealand native’s move earned praise from proponents of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, who said she was taking a stand for the… Read more »