It’s bad enough for right-wing Israeli politicians to groundlessly accuse Secretary of State John Kerry of encouraging the burgeoning movement, primarily in Europe, to boycott, divest from, and sanction (BDS) Israel.
But for The Jewish Week (“Kerry Adds Fuel To BDS Fire,” Editorial, Feb. 7) to echo this absurd accusation is positively deplorable. Talk about shooting the messenger! Only in your fevered imagination would Kerry’s mischaracterized “warn[ing] that Israel may by subject to a larger, more organized international boycott movement should Jerusalem not make desired concessions in the until-now unsuccessful peace negotiations with the Palestinians” be seen as an “implied threat: give in to U.S. — and Palestinian — demands or Washington will turn its back when the rest of the world joins the BDS … movement.”
Kerry was simply stating an indisputable fact, which he himself has consistently spoken out against, going so far as to appeal to the EU to rescind restrictions on assistance to Israeli institutions that also operate in the West Bank. The Jewish Week owes John Kerry an apology.
