Omar Barghouti, the founder of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, said in an April 5 Facebook livestream that it’s perfectly fine for adherents of the movement to use an Israeli coronavirus vaccine.
The Jerusalem Post reported that Barghouti said, “If you use medical equipment from Israel, it’s not a problem. Cooperating with Israel against the virus — to begin with, we didn’t consider it normalization.”
He added: “If Israel finds a cure for cancer, for example, or any other virus, then there is no problem in cooperating with Israel to save millions of lives.”
Some on Twitter accused Barghouti of being a hypocrite.
“Omar Barghouti, Godfather of the #BDS Movement, gives new meaning to term ‘hypocrisy,’ ” pro-Israel activist Arsen Ostrovsky tweeted.
'If #Israel develops #coronavirus vaccine you can take it.' Where Omar Barghouti, Godfather of the #BDS Movement, gives new meaning to term 'hypocrisy.'https://t.co/T96T6lggYK
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) April 6, 2020
The Israel Advocacy Movement tweeted, “This is how [Barghouti] boycotts Israel: he chose to go to Tel Aviv University, he uses technology built in Israel, he won’t boycott Covid-19 vaccines developed in Israel. Total hypocrite.”
Meet Omar Barghouti, he founded the BDS movement…
This is how he boycotts Israel:
🔸 He chose to go to Tel Aviv University
🔸 He uses technology built in Israel
🔸 He wont boycott Covid-19 vaccines developed in IsraelTotal hypocrite 🙄https://t.co/7YM9qhXGAa
— Israel Advocacy Movement (@israel_advocacy) April 6, 2020
American Jewish Committee Los Angeles Assistant Director Siamak Kordestani tweeted that it was “the most epic #BDSFail of all time.”
The most epic #BDSFail of all time:
"BDS founder Omar Barghouti: If Israel develops coronavirus vaccine you can take it"
Thanks! I really needed that reassurance! 😂 #hypocrisy
via @LahavHarkov @Jerusalem_Posthttps://t.co/RwiV5tFJL9
— Sia Kordestani (@SiaKordestani) April 6, 2020
The United States barred Barghouti from entering the country in April 2019. Among Barghouti’s past statements include him saying in 2013: “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sell-out Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”
Barghouti has a master’s degree in ethics from Tel Aviv University.
