The so-called BDS campaign aims to isolate Israel politically, economically and culturally. Behind it is sheer anti-Semitism, warns the CDU parliamentary group - and calls for resistance with an action.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - From the point of view of the Baden-Württemberg anti-Semitism commissioner Michael Blume and the CDU parliamentary group, the Israel boycott movement BDS is fueling more and more anti-Semitic propaganda. That is why the parliamentary group wants to set an example with an online resolution against the movement, as the German Press Agency in Stuttgart learned. On Thursday, a page is to be activated on the Internet where every citizen can register.
BDS stands for "Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions". The movement wants to isolate Israel economically, culturally and politically. In 2019, the Bundestag distanced itself from the BDS campaign in a resolution. According to a statement by the CDU parliamentary group, it is an anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic group of people who question Israel's right to exist, ostensibly to protect the Palestinians. In fact, they fueled anti-Semitism and anti-Semitism.
The inviolability of Israel's right to exist and the fight against anti-Semitism is a very important part of the self-image of the CDU parliamentary group, said parliamentary group leader Manuel Hagel. Among other things, one hears from security circles that the BDS movement wants to set up its own strand in Baden-Württemberg. "Anyone who targets people of the Jewish faith in our country can count on our resistance," Hagel told dpa. "The fact that Jews are afraid again is a shame for Baden-Württemberg."
The BDS movement is acting subtly, transporting hostility to Israel under the "cloak" of human rights, warned the group's church policy spokesman, Christian Gehring. "We see it as our duty to take action against it."
Anti-Semitism Commissioner Blume said the BDS movement is already strongly present in the southwest, for example in the area of churches, trade unions and migrants. He spoke of dozens of actors. Blume stressed, however, that it was by no means an anti-Arab resolution. We welcome the progress made in Israel's cooperation with Arab countries under the so-called Abraham Accords.
