BDS: A Neo-Nazi Certified Project

A useful reminder of the new face of European Anti-Semitism.

The idea of targeting Jewish businesses resonates strongly with the German far-right

The anti-Israel movement’s anti-Semitic credentials were significantly boosted on Monday by the German neo-Nazi ‘NPD’ party’s enthusiastic endorsement of the ‘BDS’ (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign, as reported in today’s Jerusalem Post . Of course, the fact that the anti-Israel network appeals so greatly to radical anti-Semitic fascists should come as no surprise to those of us familiar with extremist groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, whose links to hard-core anti-Semitic and homophobic extremists have been well documented.

Indeed, Europe – and the United Kingdom in particular – is a funny sort of place; where self-styled ‘peace activists’ and ‘liberals’ cavort with radical, genocidal Islamists, pose with fascist memorabilia and embrace anti-Semites, homophobes and misogynists. Let’s make no mistake about it; the anti-Israel network has made significant headway in whitewashing its bigotry and extremism by hijacking the human rights narrative, and it is the duty of all decent-minded individuals to oppose such cynical moves (see this interesting piece for an intriguing, in-depth study of this phenomenon) . Nevertheless, it is still worth noting that examples of the common ground shared by the anti-Israel network and neo-Nazis such as the NPD will often surface entirely naturally.

This phenomenon can be explained via the age-old adage that ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’ In this case, the BDS Movement’s neo-Nazi cheerleaders are, in fact, the spiritual ancestors of the anti-Zionist movement itself. The visceral hatred of and rabid resistance towards the concept of Jewish dignity and self-determination in our historic homeland, has at least some of its roots in the same Nazi heritage as the NPD. In a sense, this recent story simply demonstrates how the anti-Zionism of the European far-left and their Islamist bedfellows has simply come full circle.

It is the duty of all decent-minded, moral individuals – not only within the Jewish community but from across all religious, political and ethnic communities – to oppose the attempts by anti-Semites to implement their designs through the back-door, via cynical manipulation of the human rights narrative. The singling out of the Jewish State (and Jewish businesses, students, etc.) – out of all the countries in the world – for boycotts, vicious, libellous propaganda and demonisation, is merely an extension of the same age-old anti-Semitic habit that some Europeans just can’t seem to kick.