BDS and anti-Semitism linked in unprecedented U.N. report
Israeli, Jewish and pro-Israel groups all applauded the publication of an unprecedented United Nations report on anti-Semitism that links anti-Semitism to criticism of Israel and the BDS movement.
“This report marks one of the first times the U.N. has addressed the issue of anti-Semitism in any detail,” said Anne Herzberg, Legal Adviser and U.N. Liaison at NGO Monitor. “The Special Rapporteur condemned the use of anti-Semitic tropes and denial of Israel’s right to exist by BDS activists. Importantly, the Rapporteur also recommends the IHRA definition as a useful tool in combating anti-Semitism.”
The report, “Combatting Antisemitism to Eliminate Discrimination and Intolerance Based on Religion or Belief,” that was released by the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Ahmed Shaheed. It recognizes that the sources of anti-Semitism are varied, coming from the far right, from members of radical Islamist groups and from the political left.
The report identifies violence, discrimination and expressions of hostility motivated by Jew-hatred as a serious obstacle to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of religion or belief. It expresses “serious concern that the frequency of anti-Semitic incidents appears to be increasing in magnitude and that the prevalence of anti-Semitic attitudes and the risk of violence against Jewish individuals and sites appears to be significant, including in countries with little or no Jewish population.”
The report notes that “the objectives, activities and effects of the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement are fundamentally anti-Semitic.”
The report recommends that all U.N. member states adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of anti-Semitism. So far, 18 of them have done so.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, commented that “we welcome the release of this unprecedented report on the subject of anti-Semitism. The report reflects the organizational change towards Israel. The assertion that the BDS movement encourages anti-Semitism is an important U.N. statement. As I have said many times, anti-Semitism has no place in our society, and must be denounced everywhere and from every platform.”
The report is “an unprecedented condemnation of Jew-hatred from an official office of the world body,” said Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, Agudath Israel of America’s executive vice president, “and the fact that the report focuses wholly on anti-Semitism reflects a most welcome recognition on the part of the Rapporteur of both the pervasiveness of and the evil inherent in the world’s oldest prejudice.”
“We are, unfortunately, living at a time when the most outlandish blood libels against Jews have been resurrected, and when more subtle but no less pernicious animus against Israel and Jews permeates even civilized societies,” Rabbi Zwiebel said. “The report will not likely put brakes on such entrenched hatred. But as a sign that the United Nations has come to recognize the bane that is anti-Semitism and its pervasiveness in the world today, it is most welcome.”
