Daniel Bax: More than just an "Israel critic"

8.3.17

More than just an "Israel critic": [Daniel Bax for qantara.com] In the US and South America, Britain and Scandinavia, this movement has influence and high-profile advocates such as Naomi Klein, Judith Butler and Laurie Penny. There are supporters of the BDS in left wing circles or on university campuses. In South Africa, the BDS is officially backed by the government and could potentially win majority support. This is because veterans from the apartheid era such as Farid Esack draw parallels between the situation of the Palestinians and their own liberation struggle.

In Germany on the other hand, not only is the movement little known – it is extremely unpopular. The CDU in Hamburg even wants to categorise it as "anti-Semitic". In the coming week it is set to present a resolution to the city senate on the matter, in a bid to encourage other parties to share its view. The "Christlichen Israelfreunde Norddeutschland" (Christian Friends of Israel in Northern Germany) have also issued a petition to the Hamburg Senate to prevent future appearances by Esack in Hamburg. The Israeli embassy requested that the University of Hamburg refrain from inviting Esack again.