UN report on rise of anti-semitism includes BDS movement

Ahmed Shaheed, UN special rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. UN Photo/Manuel Elias

The report notes, “In some cases, individuals expressing such views have engaged in Holocaust denial; in others, they have conflated Zionism, the self-determination movement of the Jewish people, with racism, claimed that Israel does not have a right to exist and accused those expressing concern about anti-semitism of acting in bad faith."

In the report, Shaheed stressed that, "Expression that draws on anti-semitic tropes or stereotypes, rejects the right of Israel to exist or advocates discrimination against Jewish individuals because of their religion, should be condemned."

Anti-BDS laws passed

Governments around the world have already passed motions against BDS. The German parliament passed a resolution declaring the BDS movement as anti-semitic in May this year. 27 states in the US have passed anti-BDS laws, as did Canada and the Czech Republic. France applies hate-speech laws against BDS activities, upholding the notion that the actions are discriminatory. Spokeswoman for the European Commission Mina Andreeva also reiterated earlier this month that, "The EU does not support any form of boycott or sanctions against Israel and the EU rejects attempts by the campaigns of the so-called Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement to isolate Israel.”

The UN report on anti-semitism follows a dramatic rise in violent anti-semitic incidences, including the recent shooting attacks on synagogues in the US and Germany. Addressing the issue as well, Pope Francis publicly condemned anti-semitism this month.