The State Department announced on November 19 that it is classifying the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as anti-Semitic and will be taking measures to block funding from organizations that support BDS.
In a statement on the department’s website, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “As we have made clear, anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism. The United States is, therefore, committed to countering the Global BDS Campaign as a manifestation of anti-Semitism.”
Pompeo added that the State Department will be looking over funding to ensure that its money as well as foreign aid does not go toward BDS-supporting organizations. He is also tasking Elan Carr, the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism, to conclude which specific organizations are either supporting the BDS movement or taking specific action to boycott Israel.
“The United States urges governments around the world to take appropriate steps to ensure that their funds are not provided directly or indirectly to organizations engaged in anti-Semitic BDS activities,” Pompeo’s statement concluded.
In a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Pompeo called the BDS movement a “cancer” and reiterated the Trump administration’s commitment to fighting the movement. Netanyahu called the administration’s latest announcement “simply wonderful.”
Additionally, Pompeo announced in a separate statement on the State Department’s website that the department is changing its guidelines so goods exported from Area C of the West Bank, which is under Israeli control, enters the United States, will be labeled as “Made in Israel.” Areas of the West Bank under Palestinian control will be labeled as being from the “West Bank.”
Jewish groups praised the State Department’s announcements.
“Thank you, @SecPompeo, for your consistent support of Israel and opposition to BDS,” the American Jewish Committee tweeted. “While we await the specifics of the proposal, one thing couldn’t be clearer: the BDS movement, which seeks the destruction of Israel, is inherently antisemitic.”
Thank you, @SecPompeo, for your consistent support of Israel and opposition to BDS. While we await the specifics of the proposal, one thing couldn't be clearer: the BDS movement, which seeks the destruction of Israel, is inherently antisemitic. https://t.co/2M77cLVzT2
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) November 19, 2020
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also tweeted that Pompeo “dealt [a] blow to BDSers #UN and #EU by declaring US will label products from West Bank as made in #Israel!”
Secretary Pompeo @SecPompeo dealt blow to BDSers #UN and #EU by declaring US will label products from West Bank as made in #Israel! https://t.co/zC82jMh723
— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) November 19, 2020
The Palestinian National BDS Committee decried the State Department’s announcement as “intentionally conflating opposition to Israel’s regime of oppression [with] anti-Jewish racism to suppress the struggle for Palestinian rights. We stand with all those struggling for a more dignified, just and beautiful world.”
The Trump-Netanyahu alliance is intentionally conflating opposition to Israel's regime of oppression w/ anti-Jewish racism to suppress the struggle for Palestinian rights.
We stand with all those struggling for a more dignified, just and beautiful world. https://t.co/wqfCv4E6DK pic.twitter.com/qELtoE93B8
— BDS movement (@BDSmovement) November 19, 2020
Jewish Voice for Peace similarly tweeted, “This is a desperate, last-ditch effort to elevate the worst of the Netanyahu-Trump alliance. No matter how many times they say it, that doesn’t make it true. We know that @BDSmovement is an unstoppable movement of justice and liberation for all.”
This is a desperate, last-ditch effort to elevate the worst of the Netanyahu-Trump alliance.
No matter how many times they say it, that doesn't make it true. We know that @BDSmovement is an unstoppable movement of justice and liberation for allhttps://t.co/S4U68fkFXE
— Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) November 19, 2020
