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The United States will take “immediate” action against organizations affiliated with the BDS movement to boycott Israel, calling it “anti-Semitic,” it said today. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of Jerusalem.
BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions / Boycott, Withdrawal, Sanctions) is a global economic, cultural and scientific boycott campaign on Israel, which aims to end Israeli occupation and settlement activity in the Palestinian territories.
“Today I want to announce that we will consider the worldwide BDS campaign against Israel anti-Semitic,” Pompeo said at a news conference. Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu.
“We will take immediate action to identify the organizations involved in the BDS hate campaign and withdraw US support for these groups,” he added.
In a statement, he clarified that organizations whose activities are aimed at “punishing or restricting trade relations with Israel in particular, or with people doing business in Israel or in any area controlled by Israel, will be identified.”
“The State Department will examine the use of its own resources to make sure they are not being used to support the global BDS campaign.” he continued.
Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem continued in all Israeli governments since 1967, but accelerated under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu and with the blessing of his ally in Washington, Donald Trump.
Pompeo also announced today that the United States would henceforth label exports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank as coming directly from the IsraelAfter his visit to an Israeli settlement, he was the first US Secretary of State.
Supporters of BDS build on the example of South Africa, arguing that the boycott of the country enabled the end of the apartheid regime.
Israel accuses this anti-Semitic campaign of denying the very existence of the Jewish state, which the movement denies.
On Thursday, the BDS office in the occupied West Bank announced that it “rejects all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism”, accusing the Trump administration of “attempting to discredit the movement.”
Under a law that has been in effect since 2017, Israel prohibits foreigners accused of supporting the campaign from entering its territory.
In November 2019, your local representative Human Rights Watch (HRW) Omar Shakir, who denies any connection to BDS, became the first person deported from Israel under this law.
HRW denounced the deportation, which, according to the Observatory, was similar to the treatment of human rights groups in countries such as Egypt, Syria and North Korea.
Today, the organization said that “the Trump administration should not attempt to publicly harm groups because they support various boycotts.”
Amnesty International, for its part, said the US decision “violates freedom of expression and is a gift to those who seek to silence, harass, intimidate and oppress human rights defenders around the world.”
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