By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
Hannah Rosenthal, the U.S. Special Envoy to Combat Anti-Semitism, says the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel’s policies in Gaza and the West Bank is a complete failure.
“The problem with calling a boycott is, it had better work,” Rosenthal says. “Do you hear it discussed in the halls of power here?… Are you hearing governments wanting to divest their savings? No. It’s not working.”
BDS has gained traction on college campuses, and in the larger community in Washington State it has led to attempts to boycott Israel products from the shelves of grocery co-ops — with one success in Olympia. Advertisements critical of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians that were set to appear on the sides of Seattle Metro buses were canceled by King County prior to their start date, with lawsuits still pending and a new policy on advertisements that bans political speech issued on April 8.
Rosenthal said that while she can appreciate non-violent protest, the people doing so don’t always see the bigger picture. Sometimes, she said, it’s best to simply not disagree.
“Israel is not perfect and in fact there are human rights violations against the Palestinians. But to single them out and not talk about Congo — you’re not going to buy an engagement ring for your girlfriend? Not talk about Sudan, not talk about Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Burma? What’s going on in these countries is bone chilling and dwarfs what’s going on in the Middle East,” she said. “For the sake of argument, you want to protest a human rights violation by Israel? Fine, but I can’t respect what you’re doing if the only country you’re picking on is Israel.”
In fighting these campaigns, Wendy Rosen, executive director of the Seattle chapter of the American Jewish Committee, said that using the word anti-Semitism has been an unsuccessful tactic.
“It does not resonate,” Rosen said. “Those arguments will shut down conversation.”
Though the bus ad issue gained international attention, Rosenthal noted that the BDS movement, while it should be answered, should be kept in perspective relative to other ways people are isolating and demonizing Israel.
“We have to realize we are giving it a whole lot of our resources and attention, and it is an unsuccessful strategy,” Rosenthal said. “We are identifying it as a priority and it’s getting our attention and our resources, and other things aren’t.”