Dozens of events will
take place worldwide this week as part of the 10th annual "Israeli
Apartheid Week." These events include lectures and panel discussions on
academic campuses in the West, with the stated goal being "to raise
awareness about Israel's apartheid policies toward the Palestinians and
to build support for the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
campaign."
In short: to expand the political war against Israel.
This is not a few
individuals getting together. Nongovernmental organizations that claim
to stand for human rights but that actually support the demonization of
Israel are active in it. Some are even funded by European governments.
Groups such as the Coalition of Women for Peace (funded, in part, by the
European Union and the Netherlands), the Electronic Intifada
(Netherlands), and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
(Ireland) have participated in previous apartheid weeks.
Moreover, films,
reports and publications put out by other organizations that do not
officially take part in the week (like Israel's Breaking the Silence)
provide ammunition.
Last year, South Africa
was very active in promoting the week, an interesting fact given that
it all began there, in Durban, in 2001. During the U.N.-sponsored World
Conference on Racism, hundreds of NGOs met and outlined the "Durban
strategy" for Israel's diplomatic annihilation. The Jerusalem-based
research institution NGO Monitor was founded immediately afterward to
investigate the groups involved in this political warfare, and today
there is greater public awareness of the issue.
The week might only
take place once a year, but it is not an isolated event. It is just one
example of the Durban strategy-based BDS campaign against Israel, which
is on 52 weeks a year, every year. We can point out a number of recent
examples, such as the smear campaign against actress Scarlett Johansson
and attempts to prevent musicians like Neil Young from performing in
Israel.
The week is based on
lies, twisted historicism, and deception. According to the declaration
on the movement's website, Zionism is defined as "racism," Israel is
considered Palestine, Arab Israelis are defined as Palestinians and as
having fewer civil rights, and Israel is characterized as an apartheid
state.
The demands of the
apartheid week leaders are based on the Durban strategy and call for
Israel to end its occupation of "Arab land," release what they
characterize as "political prisoners" (that is, Palestinian terrorists
in Israeli jails), and promote the so-called "right of return" for
Palestinian refugees and their millions of descendants.
It is time to
acknowledge that an international PR campaign is being waged against
Israel, one that is based on words, slogans, and mainly on lies. It is
time to start an opposition campaign, called "BDS Movement Lie Week."
If the issue of human
rights really was important to the leaders of apartheid week, they would
focus on countries in which people (Christians and Jews) are persecuted
for their religious beliefs, their sexual orientation, or their gender.
None of these happen in Israel. Israel is not perfect, but it is the
only democracy in the Middle East in which the law protects human
rights.
Lena Abayev Bakman is the deputy director of communications, Knesset liaison, and social media strategy manager at NGO Monitor.
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