viewpoints » S end letters to: letters@thejewishnews.com

guest column

letters

Battling the Hydra-Headed BDS Beast

M

y first anti-BDS battle took
place at the 2007 annual meet-
ing of the Modern Language
Association (MLA), the 35,000-member
organization for literature and foreign
language teachers. There already had
been anti-Israel divestment resolutions
at Berkeley, Harvard, MIT and a few
other schools, but this was the first major
drive at a national faculty association.
We debated the resolution for a couple
of hours and — in those more innocent
days — we were able to defeat it.
We were helped, in
part, by the opposition’s
tendency to get their
facts wrong. They did
sloppy research and
relied more than any-
thing else on their pas-
sion to carry the day.
Those of us defending
Professor Cary
Israel had plenty of pas-
Nelson
sion as well, but we also
did careful research.
Even as recently as 2014, the pattern
of poor research was sustained. That
year, the BDS proponents announced at
the annual MLA meeting that Israel sur-
rounded Gaza and, thus, controlled all
the exits that students could use to travel
abroad. Israelis wouldn’t let the students
out.
We rose to tell 350 faculty attending
the MLA’s business meeting that there
was a strange country to the south of
Gaza, and it was called Egypt, not Israel.
The Rafa crossing on Gaza’s southern
border was the main transit point; the
beef was with Egypt, not Israel.
That year the acrimonious debate — at
a chaotic meeting generously described
as a circus — took nearly four hours. By
the time a vote on an anti-Israeli resolu-
tion took place, many of our supporters

had left in disgust. BDS fanatics
stood their ground; we lost the vote,
but the resolution failed when it
was presented to the full member-
ship.
That was then. When a resolu-
tion calling for a boycott of Israeli
universities passed the 2015
annual meeting of the American
Anthropological Association, it was
accompanied by a 135-page report
making a large number of accusa-
tions about Israel. The report was
rife with misrepresentation and
error, but refuting it was a major task.
Just how many anthropologists actually
read the “report” or our detailed rebut-
tals is hard to say. One worries that many
BDS advocates did little more than skim
it to reconfirm their preexisting views.
Unfortunately, those pre-existing views
are hardening across multiple cultural
and political domains, even as the BDS
movement becomes increasingly adept
at amassing “evidence” to prove its case.
Certainly on campus, many BDS sup-
porters know little more than the slogans
that drew them to the cause in the first
place, whether it was simply a call for
“justice” or a chant like “From the River
to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.”
BDS meanwhile has metastasized into
a series of linked movements in aca-
demia, in Protestant religious groups, in
nongovernmental organizations, in labor
unions and in the financial ser-vices
industry. Some BDS leaders specialize
in one of these areas, while others cross
boundaries to work in multiple arenas.
Jewish Voice for Peace is active promot-
ing BDS in every arena, and its leaders
turn up in venue after venue.
BDS sometimes dominates conversa-
tions in public spaces while disingenu-
ously claiming its views are being sup-

Hospice Rabbi
Was An ‘Angel’

pressed. Its tactics range from semi-vio-
lent efforts to shut down dialogue to far
more subtle efforts to delegitimize Israel.
One recent BDS financial tactic is to
assemble progressive investment port-
folios in alternative energy companies
and the like and market them to groups
and individuals; it just so happens that
no Israeli companies and no companies
doing business in Israel are in the portfo-
lio. Thus, they can try to undermine the
Israel economy without even mentioning
Israel.
Make no mistake about its funda-
mental goal, however; every major BDS
spokesperson makes it clear it aims to
eliminate the Jewish state.
When I meet with people in Michigan,
I want to bring you up-to-date on both
BDS itself and the effort to counter the
movement. There is much work to do to
defeat BDS, and there are roles for all of
us to play. I look forward to sharing our
experiences and hearing your views.

*

Professor Cary Nelson is Jubilee Professor of
Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign and the immediate past
president of the American Association of University
Professors. His 30 authored or edited books include
The Case Against Academic Boycotts of Israel.

details

How should we understand the internation-
al debate about the future of Israel and the
Palestinians? What are the origins and impli-
cations of the global Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions (BDS) Movement that seeks
to impose economic, cultural and political
pressure on Israel? How is this movement
affecting life on our college campuses and
shaping the views of the next generation?
For a deeper understanding of the issues
in the battle against BDS, join the com-
munity for an evening with Professor Cary
Nelson, a noted expert and speaker on the
topic of the BDS movement, on Tuesday,
June 14, from 7-9 p.m. at Congregation

8 June 2 • 2016

Shaarey Zedek in Southfield. Nelson‘s pre-
sentation will be followed by a panel dis-
cussion with local leaders and students.
This community-wide event is open to
donors to Federation’s Annual Campaign
of $18 or more and to students at $10 or
more. To register, visit jewishdetroit.org/
bds or call (248) 205-2551.
Student Dinner: College students and
high school students currently in the 11th
and 12th grades are invited to attend a
complimentary pre-event dinner from 6-7
p.m. with Professor Nelson and members of
the panel.

In response to the May 12 cover
article about Jewish Hospice and
Chaplaincy Network, I would like
to share how Rabbi Shere of JHCN
helped our family.
My sister Sharon was diag-
nosed with pancreatic cancer last
November and passed away May 7.
For the last few weeks of her life,
she had many discussions with
Rabbi Shere. Not only was she there
spiritually for my sister, but for all
of us also.
I personally found much comfort
when the rabbi was around. She
took the time to talk to each one of
us, if needed, and spent tiresome
hours with my other sisters and
parents. I truly believe Rabbi Shere
was the first angel my sister met
before she left us and that she earns
her wings everyday she works with
the JHCN.

Mark S. Orechkin
Southfield

Letters to the Editor: We prefer letters that
relate to articles in the Jewish News. We
reserve the right to edit or reject letters. Brevity
is encouraged. Letters published will include
the name and city of residence of the writer.
Letters submitted must contain the name,
address, title of the writer (if applicable) and
a daytime phone number. We prefer emailed
letters. Please email to letters@thejewishnews.
com. (Letters sent by U.S. Postal Service must
be hand-signed and mailed to the Jewish
News, 29200 Northwestern Hwy., Suite 110,
Southfield, MI 48034.)

