Hypocrisy and Double Standards: BDS and Free Palestine Unmasked

The BDS and Free Palestine ‘movements’ are hiding behind a facade of perceived social justice and the ‘supposed ’ advocacy of the Palestinian people. Anti-Zionism, which opposes the right for Israel to exist, is included in the working definition of antisemitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). In reality, these movements are antisemitic and incite violence against the Jewish people and the State of Israel. 

Israeli officials recently spoke in front of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, Netherlands after South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel in December. The South African government is known for the practice of apartheid in the late 20th century which clearly shows they don’t have the cleanest record on human rights. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also recently denounced South Africa’s claim that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians. Within the last few days the ICJ concluded that Israel is not committing genocide. 

It seems like only Israel is held accountable for violations that are meritless, and Russia, Syria, and Iran get away with evidenced-backed human rights violations.  Iran was just recently appointed to chair a United Nations human rights meeting while Israel was defending itself and responding to an unjustified attack on October 7th that Iran had backed and funded. The UN even allows Russia to vote as a part of the Security Council and they even put forward a ceasefire resolution between Israel and Hamas. 

The UN and the majority of the international community hold Israel to a higher standard than any other country. Not only do they hold Israel to a higher standard they are also complicit in every barrage of rocket fire, suicide bombing, and rape that Hamas has committed. UN Watch, a watchdog group, has recently just discovered that 3,000 UNRWA workers were found to be praising Hamas in a telegram channel after the October 7th attacks on innocent civilians. Now the UNRWA is being defunded by countries such as the United States and Germany along with many other western nations. 

The majority of Israelis do want peace and are pro-Palestinian. You can be pro-Palestinian without being anti-Israel such as Bassem Eid, a prominent public speaker, who advocates for peace between Israelis and Palestinians while rejecting extremism that a majority of the Free Palestine movement subscribes to. 

The Free Palestine movement has prominent personalities like Nerdeen Kiswani and Mohammed el-Kurd and organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). These prominent figures and organizations such as SJP chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” and “There is only one solution, Intifada Revolution” which both call for a genocide of Jews. Nerdeen Kiswani was actually just arrested a couple of days ago for inciting violence in New York City but was quickly released.

Nerdeen Kiswani, Founder of Within Our Lifetime, an Anti-Israel organization. Source: @MichaelRapaport, on X

SJP at Columbia is becoming a huge influence among smaller SJP chapters. Shai Davidai, a business professor at Columbia business school, is on the frontlines on his campus and is quickly becoming an advocate for professors and students alike. The SJP chapter on my campus isn’t officially recognized yet however they just shared a post from Columbia’s SJP chapter which said that Palestinians have the right to resist “colonialism” by any means necessary. 

Yeah you read that right. By any means necessary. So they’re praising Hamas. Plain and simple. SJP at Columbia and SJP chapters nationwide that share this post are justifying the rape and murder of civilians and countless other atrocities Hamas has committed. They also demand that Jerusalem become the capital of Palestine. They are asking for all of the land. Al-Aqsa Mosque is built on top of the Second Temple. However the Jews are the ones who colonized the land according to their false narrative. 

Post by SJP Columbia about the Right to Resist by Any Means Necessary Source: sjp.columbia on Instagram

Why aren’t there boycotts, divestments, and sanctions against these public figures and organizations who are known to spread hatred and incite violence? This might be because most of the modern world continues to let antisemitism run rampant everywhere from college campuses to the halls of the Polish parliament. 

Congress held a hearing about the rise of antisemitism on college campuses in early December where Claudine Gay and Liz Magill, who have now both resigned, as well as Sally Kornbluth all echoed the same message: it depends on the context. The context is clear. These organizations and prominent public figures support Hamas, a genocidal terrorist organization that only wants to destroy Israel, murder all the Jews, and establish a worldwide Caliphate. Each of these goals is laid out in their charter. They have no desire for peace in the slightest.

The BDS movement is also widely known to not benefit the Palestinian people and hurt the economies of both Israel and the Palestinian territories which only further impoverishes and punishes Palestinians. Before October 7th, there were around 170,000 Palestinians (150,000 from the West Bank and about 17,000 people from Gaza) working in Israel with permits that were provided by the Israeli government. The BDS movement is a failure and is counter-productive to the Palestinian cause. 

This is not just a one campus issue. It is a higher education issue all across the nation and a majority of the world. People are teaching Jew-Hatred and it must be stopped. People will stand by while terrorist sympathizers call for a genocide against the Jews and nothing will be done. Never Again is Right Now.

Both the BDS and Free Palestine movements truly don’t care about the Palestinian people whatsoever. They only want Israel wiped off the map. Anybody who argues otherwise is antisemitic. There is a ton of hypocrisy and double standards present in governments such as South Africa, and organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty International which have a shared mission of both of these movements: delegitimize Israel and deny the rights of its indigenous people, the Jews, to exist.

Caving to Zionists?!? Source: sjp.columbia on Instagram