August 26, 2025
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The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state – and by extension, fuels attacks on Jews everywhere. The anti-Israel movement also has branded Jews in America as outsiders – silenced and excluded from work, school and community life.
Professional organizations for university professors and geographers are now the latest groups to embrace BDS. As universities and schools resume classes, Jewish students may face increased BDS, anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activities in all their ugly forms. Ironically, Jews are being increasingly excluded in the name of ‘inclusion,’ and the target of threats and even violence.
Funding of Anti-Israel Groups: ‘Deceive your enemy’
U.S.-based Hamas leaders met in Philadelphia in 1993 to plot a long-term strategy to delegitimize Israel and subversively undermine American support for the Jewish state. Participants emphasized the importance of “infiltrating” American media, universities and research centers while avoiding scrutiny. A Hamas leader stated: “I swear by Allah that war is deception, we are fighting our enemy with a kind heart. Deceive your enemy.” Groups like American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and Students for Justice (SJP) in Palestine have carried forward the mission of earlier organizations that were shut down in America by multiple federal agencies for financing Hamas – a U.S.-designated terror organization. This playbook evolved into today’s BDS campaign – isolating Israel and the American Jewish community.
A George Washington Univ. report – Hamas’s Influence on U.S. Campuses – explained that AMP helped foster SJP as a national student network. Together, they promoted the Iran-backed Hamas narrative with softer language – talking about ‘resistance’ and ‘liberation’ – while spreading anti-Israel materials across U.S. campuses. After the Oct. 7 massacres, National SJP circulated a “Resistance Toolkit” that framed the attacks as part of a justified struggle, sparking protests that echoed Hamas talking points.
Qatar has been pouring billions of dollars into American universities – creating fertile ground for groups like SJP to thrive. Foreign funding shapes campus politics and narratives, influencing classrooms and student life while hiding its origins. National SJP spreads propaganda that denies Israel’s right to exist, downplays the Holocaust and glorifies violence against Jews. A BDS activist and student leader at SJP’s NYU chapter posted on Facebook – “Let the Jews burn silently” – while forest fires raged in Israel in 2019.
Professional Organizations Target Israel – and American Jews
Jewish groups slammed the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) president after he called for a ban on defensive weapons for Israel. The organizations stated: “The role of AAUP leadership should be to encourage study and debate. This is the latest move to isolate Jewish and Zionist faculty.” Last year, AAUP changed its policy of opposing boycotts. Jewish Insider described the results: “Some professors stopped assigning articles written by Israeli scholars, refused to invite Israeli academics to conferences or declined to write study abroad letters for students to spend a semester in Israel.” This boycott logic extends from universities to local K-12 schools.
Movements within professional associations to support boycotts have intensified over the past 25 years. Geographers for Justice in Palestine is pressuring the American Association of Geographers (AAG) to remove Israel from the map at an upcoming special meeting. AAG member and scientist Liora Sahar was “shocked and disturbed” by sessions at the Geographers annual March conference that focused on “political actions that directly undermine the values of academic freedom and open discourse.” The American Psychological Association’s recent conference featured similar anti-Israel sessions.
BDS on Campus: ‘You should not feel safe’
Anti-Israel activists use BDS to silence, exclude and attack Jews. At a 2024 BDS hearing at the Univ. of Albany, a student stated: “Those who do not support BDS should feel unsafe on campus. I will make sure you do not feel safe.” Student council meetings to vote on BDS resolutions are often scheduled during Jewish holidays when they know many Jewish students will be out of town. Activists have also called on universities and other campus groups to sever ties with Hillel and Chabad – important religious and cultural centers for Jewish students.
In 2018, a Univ. of Michigan professor and another instructor refused to write letters of recommendations for their students Abigail Ingber and Jake Secker to study at Tel Aviv Univ. because they supported a boycott of Israeli universities. The professor, who was disciplined, stated that he had “no regrets.” A Michigan dean responded to the professor’s decision: “You acted on personal beliefs rather than in the best interest of the student.”
An ADL report recommended: “Universities must reaffirm their opposition to the BDS movement and explain to the campus community why that movement is harmful to students and faculty and antithetical to campus values and the principle of academic freedom.”
Forced Into the Closet: Jewish Symbols Make Pride Participants Feel ‘Unsafe’
Jewish participation in LGBTQ+ Pride marches has been repeatedly restricted when Jewish symbols were linked to Israel. Organizers of the Chicago Dyke March in 2017 expelled women carrying rainbow flags decorated with the Star of David. The organizers argued that the well-recognized Jewish symbol would make others feel “unsafe” because the symbol also is on the Israeli flag. The Washington, D.C., Dyke March in 2019 barred Jewish Pride flags – but allowed Palestinian flags – openly defending the policy as a stand against Israel.
Israeli American queer Rabbi and social justice activist Amichai Lau-Lavie: “I joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in NYC in 2024, where about a dozen protesters, clad in rainbow flags, shifted their chants from blaming Israel to “Kill the Jews.” Fearing for my physical safety, I didn’t stick around to see what happened next.”
In recent years, Jews have begun organizing their own marches after being excluded. These incidents show how boycott logic has migrated into queer spaces, where Jews are told they cannot belong unless they mute their Jewish identity and disavow their bond with the Jewish state.
Exclusion: ‘Donations to Israeli charities are an expellable offense’
The same boycott logic has produced litmus tests – where simply being Jewish, active in Jewish groups or donating to Israeli causes is treated as disqualifying.
Jews have been subjected to litmus tests for several years. During her confirmation to the UCLA student Judicial Board in 2015, Rachel Beyda was grilled about whether being Jewish and active in Jewish groups made her biased. She was initially rejected – and later approved in response to backlash. A landmark study last year showed that job applicants with Jewish-sounding and Israeli-sounding names were rejected for interviews at a higher rate than those with European names. BDS has also undermined Christian-Jewish relations for years, notably in the Presbyterian Church USA.
More recently, NYC issued a vacate order to the Sunset Community Garden that required members to sign a “statement of values” that included opposition to Zionism. The NYC Parks Department condemned it as an “ideological litmus test.” The Democratic Socialists of America adopted a resolution stating that “DSA members who consistently and publicly oppose BDS and support Israel’s right to defense, or donated to Israeli charities can be expelled.” This nefarious statement by a rising political group is a dangerous step in expanding anti-Israel hatred towards all Jews.
Confronting BDS: Turning Awareness into Action
Stopping the spread of boycotts and delegitimization requires urgency, clarity and a commitment to defend both Israel and Jewish life. Everyone has a role to play:
Stories From Around the World
Stories Impacting American Jews
Stories Impacting the U.S. and Israel
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This content is developed by The Focus Project in partnership with MERCAZ USA. The Focus Project distributes weekly news and talking points on timely issues concerning Israel and the Jewish people, including antisemitism, anti-Zionism and the delegitimization of Israel. It represents a consensus view across a spectrum of major American Jewish organizations. MERCAZ USA recognizes and respects the diversity of views on these issues among its readers and the community at large.