David Seidenberg: Reader ignores what I wrote about BDS in his criticism

Thomas Weiner, in a response to my column on the BDS movement against Israel (“Rabbi makes false assumptions about BDS event speakers,” Dec. 26) claims I make false assumptions, but he ignores what I wrote.

Mr. Weiner further implies I want BDS to give a platform to defenders of the imprisonment of Palestinian children. What a stereotypical way to avoid what I actually wrote about! I called for BDS to include speakers who are anti-occupation activists, but who are also Israeli and Jewish.

Mr. Weiner also claims I criticized Cornel West for condemning the racism of Jewish settlers, even though I agree with West about that. I criticized Professor West for both condemning and condoning hatred of Israelis, and I criticized his slipping back and forth between Israelis and Jews — not just in the statement I quoted in my column, but multiple times in his speech.

Here’s the bottom line: I don’t think Cornel West is anti-Semitic. I have no doubt many BDS supporters have righteous motivations, and I believe showing deep compassion for the Palestinian people is not only not anti-Semitic, it’s what Jewish ethics calls for. But the BDS movement is a space where people like Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters spread lies about Israelis — the lie I mentioned about Israeli concertgoers spurning peace is just one of many — and a space where such lies quickly get applied to any Jew who does not support BDS.

These lies metastasize and have anti-Semitic consequences. For example, the student government of a Canadian university recently opposed a kosher kitchen for observant Jewish students because “Hillel supports Zionism.” That may seem small compared to the enormity of the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza, but anti-Semitism is growing around the world and in the U.S.

Despite this, Waters continues to be lauded by Sut Jhally and others within BDS, because his lies promote their cause. BDS refuses to hold leaders like Waters accountable, while Jews involved with BDS refuse to take on the burden of criticizing such leaders’ distortions. As long as that is true, BDS will be a place where anti-Semitism can grow, despite the best intentions.

David Seidenberg

Northampton