“BDS succeeds because people don’t understand that the organization doesn’t exist to help the Palestinians, nor does it protest against specific Israeli policy, rather it is in complete opposition to the existence of the State of Israel.”

By i24news

Britain’s Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove on Tuesday slammed the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, calling the group ‘prejudiced’ against Israel and accusing it of encouraging apartheid through its methods.

BDS supporters, London 2009 – Claudia Gabriela Marques Vieira/ Wikipedia

“Israel is dealing with a prejudiced, systematic attack against its existence. The BDS movement, which claims that it is working against apartheid, in retrospect is using methods of apartheid in that it calls for the shunning of Jewish academics, the boycott of Jewish goods, the de-legitimization of Jewish commerce. It is up to us to show solidarity with the Jews and with their right to national sovereignty,” Gove said.

Gove expressed his opposition to the BDS movement at an international conference on anti-Semitism in Berlin.

He told former Israeli justice minister and Zionist Union lawmaker Tzipi Livni that Britain’s Foreign Office, Ministry of Justice, and Home Office were seeking to enact legislation limiting the ability to submit claims of “war crimes” or “crimes against humanity” against Israeli officials visiting the UK, Israel’s Ynet news agency reports.

Livni, also attending the anti-Semitism conference in Berlin, said that today, “anti-Semitism wears the costume of criticism of Israeli policy.”

Left-wing activists and BDS supporters gathered outside Germany’s Justice Ministry

“BDS succeeds because people don’t understand that the organization doesn’t exist to help the Palestinians, nor does it protest against specific Israeli policy, rather it is in complete opposition to the existence of the State of Israel. Instead of giving BDS the opportunity to isolate Israel, we should isolate BDS,” she said.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier opened the conference, condemning the rise in anti-Semitism in Germany during Israel’s 2014 conflict with the Gaza Strip,Ynet says.

“Not even dramatic military violence in Gaza justifies the explosion of anti-Semitism like what was seen then. Those who live with us short or long term must understand that anti-Semitism is against our constitution, against our civilization — against everything we believe in and everything we have learned. Coming to live in Germany means recognizing the need to fight against anti-Semitism. It’s unacceptable to give anti-Semitism a voice,” he said.

“There is and can be no place for anti-Semitism in our understanding of a free, democratic and tolerant Germany,” he added.

View original i24news publication at:
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/106308-160315-uk-lawmaker-slams-anti-israel-bds-movement-s-methods-of-apartheid