Time to donate more to the BDS movement

New York Times doubles down with anti-BDS hit jobs

Michael F. Brown Media Watch 2 August 2019

Omar Barghouti (intal)

The New York Times ran a hit piece on BDS – the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement last week.
Yes, marginal improvement can be seen in the newspaper.
At least it notes the three principal goals of the movement: end the occupation, equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel and right of return for Palestinian refugees.
That’s frequently not the case.
But the framing seems intended to put BDS on the defensive.
Writing for The Times, David M. Halbfinger, Michael Wines – the focus of a 2002 Electronic Intifada critique – and Steven Erlanger claim: “The movement’s supporters are routinely accused of anti-Semitism. Opponents are accused of trampling on free speech.”
True enough that these claims are frequently leveled.
But, in fact, opponents of BDS are not merely accused of trampling on free speech. The more pressing concern is that BDS opponents are engaged in anti-Palestinian racism and weaponizing the charge of anti-Semitism against people who support equal rights for Jews and Palestinians.
BDS opponents are putting themselves on record as against equal rights for Palestinians.
Yet when The New York Times asks in its headline “Is BDS anti-Semitic?,” it is prioritizing a claim and not asking whether Israel’s occupation and ethnic cleansing constitute anti-Palestinian racism. The framing is the takeaway.

1) “full equality” for Palestinian citizens of Israel in parentheses—like it’s a joke? A dubious claim? Not valid to ask for? 2/

— Rebecca Vilkomerson (@RVilkomerson) July 29, 2019

Palestinian citizens of Israel disappeared

The writers – or their editors – normalize anti-Palestinian discourse not just with the headline, but also with a section titled “How do Israelis view BDS?”
Their answer? “Not kindly, though some are happy to exploit it.”
Palestinian citizens of Israel are simply disappeared from the equation.
This is akin to asking Southerners in the 1950s about the civil rights movement as a response to Jim Crow, but only asking white respondents while excluding the views of African Americans.
Similarly, media often report on polls purportedly representing the views of all Israelis. But when the fine print is read, it turns out the pollsters only queried Jewish citizens of Israel.
The views of the one in five Israeli citizens who are Palestinians are therefore simply ignored.

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