Jews supporting BDS: A shanda born of ignorance

When is anti-Semitism not anti-Semitism? When propounded by the BDS (Boycott, Disinvestment, Sanctions) movement against Israel, this perverted hatred, dressed up as social justice, is not necessarily seen as such.

A panel discussion last month at an American Jewish Press Association event in California offered a touching, naive — and dangerous — insight into the mentality of a Jewish BDS proponent.

She is a public health professional in Boston, the daughter of a Conservative rabbi and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace’s Boston chapter steering committee. She was born and raised in Baltimore, attended Jewish day school through high school and a Labor Zionist youth camp from ages 8–22.

She said: “I grew up in a strong Jewish household. It was a kosher home. We went to Shabbat services regularly and for all Jewish holidays.”

Observation: Jewish education and Jewish observance do not automatically transmit fundamental Jewish values.

She said she traveled to Israel many times, spent a semester on a kibbutz in high school and a college semester at the University of Haifa.

Observation: Israel is not an automatic inoculation against anti-Semitism, especially if one’s exposure to Israel is through the rose-colored glasses that shield visitors from Israel’s problems. It is not a perfect society reflective of Jewish values in all ways, at all times.

She said: “At age 27, having never visited the West Bank or met any Palestinians, I went on the Norwegian NGO’s House of Human Rights delegation to Israel. I went into it with an open mind and heart, realizing I would witness some difficult situations and harsh realities. But I had no idea that my life would be fundamentally changed forever. I had no idea that everything I knew to be real and true, safe, comfortable and familiar, would be challenged and that I would leave feeling betrayed and shattered.”