German parliament declares Israel boycott campaign antisemitic

Israeli academics criticise motion, saying it is wrong to conflate BDS and antisemitism

Philip Oltermann in Berlin
Fri 17 May 2019 15.37 BST Last modified on Fri 17 May 2019 16.40 BST

Germany’s Bundestag has become the first parliament in Europe to pass a motion labelling the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel as antisemitic.

The non-binding motion, passed on Friday afternoon, said the campaign to boycott Israeli artists and goods was “reminiscent of the most terrible chapter in Germany history” and triggered memories of the Nazis’ slogan “Don’t buy from Jews”.

Brought to parliament by Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), its junior coalition partner, the Social Democrats, the liberal FDP and the Greens, the motion also noted a “growing unease” among Germany’s Jewish community in the face of rising antisemitism.

According to figures published by the German interior ministryon Tuesday, antisemitic crime and hate crime rose by about 20% in 2018, to 1,800 incidents.

An open letter signed by 60 Israeli academics criticised the Bundestag motion, saying it formed part of an alarming trend of “labelling supporters of Palestinian human rights as antisemitic”.

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