List of opponents of the BDS movement

List of people who oppose the BDS movement include those who have either voiced opposition to the BDS movement, accused it of antisemitism, or spoken out against comprehensive boycotts against Israel. It does not include people who have been unwilling to commit to a boycott of Israel, only those actively opposing it.

Name Occupation Country Year Source
Brian A. Cunningham Politician United States 2022 [1]
Nas Daily YouTuber Israel ?
Robert Kraft Owner of New England Patriots United States ?
Joe Biden President United States 2020 [2]
Helen Mirren Actor England 2016 [3]
Arthur Orr Politician United States 2016 [4]
Boris Johnson Prime Minister United Kingdom 2019 [5]
Barack Obama President United States 2012 [6]
Theresa May Prime Minister United Kingdom 2018 [7]
Aziz Maraka Singer Jordan 2020 [8]
Sari Nusseibeh Professor of Philosophy Palestine 2014 [9]
Reuven Rivlin President Israel 2016 [10]
José María Aznar Prime Minister Spain 2015 [11]
Jan Bartošek Politician Czech Republic 2019 [12]
David Cameron Prime Minister United Kingdom 2014 [13]
Gilad Erdan Strategic Affairs Minister Israel [14]
Steve McCabe Member of Parliament United Kingdom 2021 [15]
Israel Katz Intelligence Minister Israel [16]
Rachel Riley Television presenter and mathematician United Kingdom [17]
Sharon Osbourne Television personality United Kingdom [17]
Thom Yorke Singer United Kingdom 2017 [18]
Abraham Foxman Lawyer United States 2013 [19]
Ritchie Torres Politician United States 2020 [20]
Adam Milstein Real-estate investor, lobbyist and philanthropist United States 2016 [21]
Yishai Fleisher Settler and spokesperson Israel ? [22]
Hillary Clinton Politician United States 2015 [23]
Justin Trudeau Prime Minister Canada 2019 [24]
Alan Dershowitz Lawyer United States 2013 [25]
Cary Nelson English professor United States 2018 [26]
Deborah Lipstadt Holocaust historian United States 2019 [27]
Judea Pearl Academic United States 2018 [28]
Mordechai Kedar Politician Israel ? [29]
Ed Asner Actor United States 2017 [30]
Stephen Fry Actor United Kingdom 2019 [17]
Yossi Beilin Politician and scholar Israel ? [31]
J. K. Rowling Writer United Kingdom ? [32]
Charles Krauthammer Pundit United States 2014 [33]
Lisa Nandy Politician United Kingdom 2021 [34]
Nick Cave Singer and author Australia 2017 [35]
John Lydon Singer United Kingdom 2010 [36]
Gene Simmons Musician United States 2011 [37]
Paul McCartney Singer and musician United Kingdom 2008 [38]
John Lewis Politician and civil rights leader United States 2019
Jamaal Bowman Politician United States 2021
John Fetterman Politician United States 2023
Eric Adams Politician United States 2022

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NY lawmaker withdraws endorsement from congressional candidate who announced support for BDS". 12 July 2022.
  2. ^ Arria, Michael (May 21, 2020). "Joe Biden thinks BDS is Malarkey – Mondoweiss". Mondoweiss. Retrieved November 8, 2020. The Biden campaign published something on their website called "Joe Biden and the Jewish Community: A Record and a Plan of Friendship, Support and Action." It highlights some policy objectives and the presumptive nominee's "unstinting support for Israel." It also declares that a Biden administration would "firmly reject the BDS movement, which singles out Israel — home to millions of Jews — and too often veers into anti-Semitism, while letting Palestinians off the hook for their choices."
  3. ^ "Helen Mirren criticises Israel boycotters". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2016-06-24. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  4. ^ Cason, Mike (May 14, 2016). "Group praises new Alabama law opposing boycotts of Israel". al. Retrieved November 1, 2020. That same year, Orr also sponsored a senate resolution condemning the BDS movement.
  5. ^ "U.K.'s Conservative Party vows to ban councils from boycotting Israeli products". Haaretz. 24 November 2019.
  6. ^ Ali Abunimah (3 March 2014). The Battle for Justice in Palestine. Haymarket Books. pp. 125–. ISBN 978-1-60846-347-3.
  7. ^ Mairs, Nicholas (2018-09-18). "Theresa May mounts fresh pledge to tackle anti-Semitism while blasting 'unacceptable' Israeli boycott calls". Politics Home. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  8. ^ Hovav, Ofir. "This Jordanian singer doesn't ...." Haaretz. 19 January 2020. 13 August 2021.
  9. ^ Kalman, Matthew (2014-01-19). "Palestinians Divided Over Boycott of Israeli Universities". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  10. ^ Rivlin, Reuven. "Taking Down BDS". Ynetnews. 28 March 2016.
  11. ^ "BDS movement seeks to empty Israel of Jews, former Spanish PM says", Haim Isserovitz, 20 June 2015, The Jerusalem Post.
  12. ^ Ahren, Raphael. "Czech lawmakers pass resolution condemning BDS movement". The Times of Israel.
  13. ^ Wintour, Patrick (2014-03-12). "David Cameron says he would oppose boycott of Israel in speech to Knesset". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  14. ^ Benzaquen, Itamar (14 January 2020). "Israeli ministry paying for anti-BDS propaganda in major news outlets". +972 Magazine. Retrieved 20 April 2021. The Strategic Affairs Ministry, headed by Likud minister Gilad Erdan, has for years been spearheading an international campaign to counter what it sees as "de-legitimization" of the State of Israel. This project has, in large part, involved providing funds and handing down directives to non-governmental organizations and journalists in order to enlist them in the fight against BDS.
  15. ^ Chappell, Elliot (27 September 2021). "Labour conference passes Young Labour Israel and Palestine motion". LabourList.
  16. ^ Mairav Zonszein, 'In Israel, BDS is winning,'+972 magazine 28 March 2016.
  17. ^ a b c Sherwin, Adam (30 April 2019). "Eurovision 2019: Stephen Fry & Sharon Osbourne lead celebrities rejecting boycott of Israel Song Contest". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  18. ^ Radiohead perform in Israel despite opposition from activists The Guardian. 19 July 2017.
  19. ^ Foxman, Abraham. "An Open Letter on Academic Freedom and University Responsibility". ADL. 2 June 2013.
  20. ^ "'Pro-Israel progressive' Ritchie Torres won't join AOC's squad due to BDS stance". Haaretz.
  21. ^ "IAC head Milstein urges: Boycott the boycotters". The Jerusalem Post. May 22, 2016.
  22. ^ "Yishai Fleisher - Where Do We Stand?". 15 June 2017. If you see it from their perspective, you can understand that they are saying we have got to somehow shutdown this thing called "the settlements," but at the end of the day the symbol of it is very clear. It is the same thing the Nazis did by boycotting Jewish stores. It's really economic warfare. It's really a civilian form of warfare. Don't forget that besiegement and starvation are forms of warfare, and this is kind of a civilian form of the same type of effort to starve somebody out, close them down, and delegitimize them.
  23. ^ Clinton, Hillary. "ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW" (PDF). Brookings Institution. Retrieved 14 January 2016. We need to repudiate efforts to malign and undermine Israel and the Jewish people. The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement known as BDS is the latest front in this battle. Demonizing Israeli scientists and intellectuals, evenyoung students, comparing Israel to South African apartheid, now no nation is above criticism. But this is wrong and it should stop immediately.
  24. ^ "Asked to reverse anti-BDS stance, Justin Trudeau doubles down". January 17, 2019. We have to recognise that there are things that aren't acceptable, not because of foreign policy concerns, but because of Canadian values," Trudeau said. "It's not right to discriminate or make someone feel unsafe on campus because of their religion and unfortunately the BDS movement is often linked to those kinds of things," he said, after being asked by a member of the audience whether he would reverse his anti-BDS stance. "So yes, sir, I will continue to condemn the BDS movement.
  25. ^ Dershowitz, Alan. "Boycotting Israeli universities: A victory for bigotry". Haaretz. 17 December 2013.
  26. ^ Nelson, Cary. "Conspiracy Pedagogy on Campus: BDS Advocacy, Antisemitism, and Academic Freedom." Anti-Zionism on Campus, Pessin and Ben-Atar, Indiana UP, 2018, pp. 190-211 (see especially p. 191).
  27. ^ Chotiner, Isaac (24 January 2019). "Looking at Anti-Semitism on the Left and the Right: An Interview with Deborah E. Lipstadt". The New Yorker.
  28. ^ Pessin, Andrew; Ben-Atar, Doron S.; Pearl, Judea (2018). "BDS and Zionophobic Racism.". Anti-Zionism on Campus: The University, Free Speech, and BDS. Indiana University Press. pp. 224–235. ISBN 978-0-253-03408-3.
  29. ^ "Mordechai Kedar - Where Do We Stand?". July 2017. BDS is a movement that is trying to eradicate Israel altogether. They are following exactly what the Arabs did from 1948 until the mid 60's, when Arabs boycotted companies which dealt with Israel. They also boycotted companies which worked with companies that worked with Israel—a secondary boycott. Companies like Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Coca Cola did not work in Israel until the '70s and even into '80s because of the Arab boycott. The anti-Jewish boycotters of Israel combined with the Arab/Islamic immigrants in America and Europe are trying to do it again. We already experienced this boycott—it is nothing new and it doesn't work.
  30. ^ "Ed Asner: 'I do not support BDS.'". Jewish Journal. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  31. ^ "Yossi Beilin: Where Do We Stand?". July 2017. I am against a boycott against myself. I don't think Israel as a state should be boycotted. The BDS movement fails to make the difference between Israel and the Occupied Territories, which in my view is a big mistake. I don't support a boycott against settlements either, but I can understand people who don't want to buy settlement products because they don't want to encourage this enterprise.
  32. ^ Daly, Sarah-Elizabeth (31 October 2015). "Palestinian Harry Potter fan has called out JK Rowling for the SECOND time". The Scotsman. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  33. ^ Krauthammer, Charles (9 January 2014). "Krauthammer: Poison of anti-Semitism continues to proliferate". Chron.
  34. ^ Chappell, Elliot (2 September 2021). "Lisa Nandy sets out views on Israel-Palestine during Manchester event". LabourList. Retrieved 5 September 2021.
  35. ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (11 December 2018). "Nick Cave: cultural boycott of Israel is 'cowardly and shameful'". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  36. ^ "Johnny Rotten: 'Don't call me a national treasure'". The Independent. 23 October 2011.
  37. ^ "Kiss Lead Singer Gene Simmons Slams Israel Boycotters". Haaretz. Associated Press. 22 March 2011.
  38. ^ Paul McCartney promises Israel gig will go ahead despite death threats The Guardian, 16 September 2008