The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas is obviously a very violent conflict which evokes strong emotions from people on all sides of the debate about how it is being conducted.
These emotions predictably lead to lashing out and vociferous demands for often irrational policies. In my view, they have included calls for governments and private entities to Boycott Israel. This movement, popularly known as the BDS movement (for “boycott, divest and sanction)” urges governments, academic institutions, and private businesses to sever all ties with anything in any way connected to Israel.
To me, this is irrational. To some, it is antisemitic, because it creates a unique standard that Israel alone among all nations must meet. BDS is supposed to punish human rights abuses. Yet most of those pushing BDS have no interest in punishing countries with far worse human rights records.
It is important to remember, Israel is the only actual democracy in the Middle East in which even the Arab minority can and does vote, can and does hold high office, including in the Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) on the Supreme Court and, at least in the last government, in the cabinet. Israeli women are fully equal members of society and the Israeli LBGT community is protected under Israeli law. And let’s not forget that in regard to the current war, that was started by Hamas invading Israel and murdering 1,200 of its citizens and taking 250 hostages, including infants, some of whom it still holds.
Compare this human rights record to that of regimes like Iran, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and the former regime in Syria. It’s not remotely close. And how does Hamas treat its citizens? Well, it refuses to hold elections, murders its political opponents or really anyone who dissents. Plus, for good measure, it throws gay people off of the roofs of high buildings and treats its women like cattle.
Yet none of the prominent BDS activists are calling for boycotts against any of these regimes. These are, in the words of a hit pop song, “things that make you go hmmm?”
Yet as bad as the BDS movement is, it was topped by the National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest teacher’s union. It recently voted to stop cooperating with, not Israel, but with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) because of Israel’s war with Hamas. That means it will no longer use the ADL’s Holocaust educational material or information on preventing antisemitism.
The move is breathtaking and highly disturbing.
The ADL was founded in 1913, long before Israel even existed. It is a Jewish civil-rights organization dedicated to fighting antisemitism and protecting Jews from acts of hatred and bigotry. And while it’s primary mission is addressing discrimination against Jews, it also fights discrimination against non-Jews, explicitly stating that they promote justice and fair treatment for all. They have historically fought for religious freedom, racial justice, LGBT rights, etc.
Whatever your views of the war in Gaza, the ADL is not the Israeli government. It is not part of the Israeli government and has no say, directly or indirectly in the policy of that government. The ADL is not involved in the war in Gaza in any way. It is obviously not a participant in that war, nor does it play an advisory or even an advocacy role in the conduct of that war. It has not even taken a position on the war in Gaza. The closest it has come is speaking out against Gaza-inspired attacks against Jewish students on college campuses, which is consistent with its original mission and, I would like to hope, largely uncontroversial.
What is the ADL’s only connection to the war in Gaza? It is that, like Israel, they are Jewish. By shunning the ADL, the NEA appears to be shunning an organization simply because it is a Jewish organization. The materials they will now be boycotting are not about Gaza, but about the Holocaust and hate speech. Even more than with the BDS movement, it is difficult to see the NEA’s actions as anything other than barely disguised antisemitism.