Welcome Anti-BDS Combatants. But…

Just caught this:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
www.camera.org
17 June 2015

Student Activists Battling BDS on Campuses to Arrive in Israel with CAMERA’s Annual Mission

Jewish and non-Jewish students from across North America and beyond who are leading the fight against anti-Israel activity on campuses will be available for comment on recent developments concerning the BDS movement and their efforts to combat it

(Jerusalem, Israel) – Twenty North American and European undergraduate pro-Israel student activists who are leading efforts to counter the BDS movement will be arriving in Israel June 22nd to take part in the annual student leadership mission of CAMERA, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America.

This is admirable.  But …

BDS is driven by the framing of Israel as a colonialist state, which is occupying another people’s territory and transferring its own population into settlements which are “illegal”, etc., etc., etc.  To be blunt, if it weren’t for those God-forsaken “settlements”, there’d be no BDS (okay, that’s not really true, but that’s what the non-hardcore activists think or delude themesleves into believing).

There are some that think that it is possible to assuage the Arabs by supporting only an “anti-settlement boycott”.

Here is BDS speaking:

The campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS)…highlights the three broad sections of the Palestinian people: the refugees, those under military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Palestinians in Israel. The call urges various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law by: Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands occupied in June 1967 and dismantling the Wall; Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

You can easily see the sleight-of-semantics at work there.  In any case, if the participnats don’t meet with Jewish revenant residents, do not visit a Jewish community in Judea and/or Samaria, if they are not acquainted with that side of the story (alright, my side of the story), they’ll be missing information and comprehension.

I hope that aspect is being dealt with adequately.

And enjoy the stay!

^