While Germany Passes Anti-BDS Legislation, U.S. Democrats Remain Unwilling to Singularly Condemn Anti-Semitism

Two weeks ago, Germany became the first country in the European Union to declare the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to be anti-Semitic.  The Bundestag also voted that Anti-Semitism can extend to attacks on the State of Israel, “which can be understood as a form of Jewish collective.” The government’s linkage of anti-Semitism to a movement fueled by anti-Zionism is a powerful counter to the recent attempts by politicians on the Left who aim to disconnect the two phenomena.

Advocates of the BDS movement claim to be challenging international support for “Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism” in an attempt to distinguish this objective from blatant Jew-hatred. However, the not so subtle tactics employed by architects of BDS and its followers have triggered memories of German government officials in a darker time in history.

The Bundestag accurately compares the methods of the BDS campaign to those pursued by the Nazi regime in World War II.  The BDS campaign uses “don’t buy” labels to discourage the purchase of all Israeli-made products. The German government has officially disavowed this campaign because of its disturbing similarity to the Nazi “Kauf nicht bei Juden!” (Don’t buy from the Jews!) slogan.

It is no coincidence that the BDS campaign utilizes Nazi-inspired ideology. The origins of the BDS movement stem back to 1945. Twelve years following the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses, the Arab League established a parallel boycott of Jewish products and businesses in the British controlled territory of Palestine. Since Israel did not exist at this point in time, the League was unable to justify their blatant anti-Semitic agenda in terms of political protest.  Today it is much easier for BDS defenders to cloak their anti-Semitism under the guise of ‘political critique’.

Although Germany’s new legislation is significant in today’s fight against anti-Semitism, the BDS movement and the new surge is a global problem. This reinvented form of anti-Semitism has also found a safe home in America on the far left. Recently, Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN) have made shocking prejudicial accusations against Jews, utilized age-old anti-Semitic tropes, and pronounced their support for the BDS campaign. The argument that anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism should be treated as separate ideologies doesn’t augur well for these freshman Congresswomen.

Since BDS has legitimate anti-Semitic roots, why haven’t other nations joined Germany in its condemnation? Well, in the U.S., the denouncement of anti-Semitism itself in an official manner is controversial among the Democratic party.  In the aftermath of Rep. Omar’s despicable comments targeting Jews, House Republicans drafted a bill with the intention of addressing the issue of anti-Semitism. Democrats, however, diluted this proposed legislation by including other forms of bigotry. Until the left is able to singularly condemn anti-Semitism in any resolution, the BDS campaign will continue to inflict pain and suffering on the Jewish population.