The BNC represents the current wave of Palestinian terrorism as "popular resistance" against "fierce Israeli repression." In an appeal to BDS activists around the globe for solidarity with the Palestinian "popular resistance," it ignores the current wave of anti-Israeli terrorism (Bdsmovement.net, October 21, 2015).
Overview
1. As the current wave of anti-Israeli terrorism continues, the BDS National Committee (BNC) issued a document calling on BDS campaigner to show solidarity with the Palestinian "popular resistance."[1] The document, called "Q & A on the Palestinian popular resistance," first asks, "How would you describe the current situation on the ground?" The answer provided totally ignores the current wave of Palestinian terrorism and its stabbing, shooting and vehicular attacks (implying but not explicitly stating support for the so-called "right" of the Palestinians to employ terrorism and violence against Israel). The "situation on the ground" is represented as the "popular uprising" against Israeli oppression by a new generation of Palestinians.
2. Israel, claims the BNC's document, responded to the "popular uprising" with "fierce repression" of the Palestinian demonstrators. Israel's response, claims the BNC, includes "the execution" of Palestinian children and young people "in the streets" with the full support of the Israeli judicial system, which serves as a rubber stamp for Israeli policy. "Israeli repression" takes the form of isolating neighborhoods and villages in east Jerusalem and restricting the movement of local residents (no mention is made of the fact that terrorists came from east Jerusalem neighborhoods to carry out terrorist attacks in Jerusalem and other locations in Israel).
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3. BNC propaganda, rife with incitement to kill Israelis, has not influenced the internal Palestinian arena. However, its propaganda reaches BDS activists around the globe and BNC false messages are used by BDS supporters in anti-Israeli events. The BNC claims that so far more than 70 protest activities have been held in more than 20 countries. The demonstrations do not mention the current wave of Palestinian terrorism in Israel, which is represented, as usual, as a "terrorist state." Therefore, the BDS campaigners argue the world should boycott and subject to international pressure until the "liberation of Palestine" is achieved (that is, until the destruction of Israel).
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Anti-Israeli BDS demonstration in Sacramento, California (Bdsmovement.net, October 19, 2015).
Anti-Israeli BDS demonstration in Kristianstad, southern Sweden (Bdsmovement.net, October 19, 2015).
4. The BNC's false descriptions of the current wave of Palestinian terrorism were also quoted an Al-Jazeera TV interview in English on October 20, 2015, with Omar Barghouti (the key figure among the Palestinians participating in the BDS campaign). Barghouti claimed that the current "popular uprising" was led by young Palestinians as a reaction to Israel's "apartheid," "occupation," "racism" and "colonialism." He also did not mention the current wave of terrorist attacks against Israel (the interviewer was careful not to ask a relevant question). As usual, Barghouti predicted the collapse of the Israeli "apartheid regime," that is, the destruction of the State of Israel.
Omar Barghouti interviewed in Ramallah by Al-Jazeera TV in English (October 20, 2015).
BNC's False Messages: Reiteration of the Palestinian Authority's Responses to the Wave of Palestinian Terrorism
5. The BNC's false messages spread by BDS supporters around the globe are not original. Rather, they reiterate the Palestinian Authority's (PA) political and Palestinian media propaganda themes accompanying the current wave of anti-Israeli violence and terrorism. The themes have often been repeated by senior PA figures and the PA-affiliated media, and include the following: representing Palestinians carrying out terrorist attacks as innocent victims of Israeli "executions;" ignoring the fact that Israel is currently plagued by a wave of terrorist attacks; and representing Palestinian violence and terrorism as "popular, non-violent resistance."
6. One of the most recent false messages was the statement issued by the PA government on October 20, 2015, saying that "At its weekly meeting in Ramallah, chaired by Rami Hamdallah, the PA government condemned the policy of field executions of unarmed civilians, carried out by the IDF and gangs of settlers who claimed [the Palestinians] had tried to carry out stabbing attacks. The PA government notes that the recent executions of five civilians, two young men and a young woman from the Hebron district, and two young men in Jerusalem, all of whom were shot at close range[2]… were war crimes against humanity, and Israel has to be tried for them" (Facebook page of Rami Hamdallah, PA prime minister, October 20, 2015). The PA government's statement implies that there were no stabbing attacks (only an Israeli "claim" of stabbing attacks), calls the knife-wielding terrorists "unarmed civilians," and represents Israel's acting in self-defense as the "execution" of civilians.
[1]For further information on the BNC and its place in the anti-Israeli BDS campaign, see the July 29, 2015 bulletin, "The Role of the Palestinians in the BDS Campaign."
[2]The "executions" referred to in the PA government's announcement were the deaths of Palestinians in stabbing attacks carried out on October 17, 2015. Three were in Hebron, one in Armon Hanatziv in Jerusalem and one at the Qalandia roadblock north of Jerusalem. The Palestinians, who according to the PA claim were "executed," were terrorists who were killed while being prevented from carrying out stabbing attacks against Israeli soldier and civilians.
