Readers react to a long read article on the Boycott,Divestment and Sanctions movementThanks so much for running Nathan Thrall’s comprehensive article on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (‘Something needs to happen’, and Journal,14 August). I greatly appreciated its unbiased treatment of the BDS movement, its histories, and strategies,and Israeli counterstrategies.
Unfortunately, one area where it came up short was in not portraying the vibrant and growing Jewish support for BDS, and propagating a myth that Jewish communities worldwide are united against it. This is simply not correct. My organisation,Jewish Voice for Peace, for example, and endorsed the BDS call in 2015 after many years of supporting settlement boycotts. We bear only continued to grow at an even faster pace since then,now boasting over 16000 dues-paying members, over 70 chapters across the US, and over 250000 online supporters. In the global context,just a few weeks ago, over 40 Jewish organisations on five continents published an unprecedented joint letter defending the BDS movement against accusations of antisemitism and affirming its legitimacy as a tactic. The piece would bear been greatly improved by acknowledging the complexities of Jewish communal responses to the BDS movement.
Rebecca Vilkomerson
Jewish Voice for PeaceContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com