A picture from November 19, 2017, shows a general view of the Arab League headquarters during a meeting in the Egyptian capital Cairo. (AFP/Khaled Desouki)
CAIRO — The Arab League called Sunday on the German parliament to rescind a resolution that condemned a boycott movement against Israel as “anti-Semitic.”
The call by the pan-Arab bloc comes after the Bundestag passed a motion on Friday against the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, warning that its actions were reminiscent of the Nazis’ campaign against Jews.
BDS, founded in 2005, describes itself as a Palestinian-led movement, which calls for the boycott of Israeli goods, services and culture as a means of pressuring the Jewish state over its policies toward the Palestinians.
The Arab League’s assistant secretary-general for Palestinian affairs Saeed Abu Ali said in a statement the Bundestag’s motion against BDS is “regrettable… unjustified… (and) biased” in favor of Israel.
Illustrative: Palestinian and left-wing Jewish groups stage a rally walking from Times Square to the United Nations Building in New York, September 15, 2011, calling to end all US aid to Israel and support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. (AP Photo/David Karp)
He urged Germany’s parliament to “reverse this erroneous step and support the Palestinian people’s right for liberation.”
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
The non-binding resolution said the BDS movement’s “Don’t Buy” stickers on Israeli products revive memories of the Nazis’ slogan “Don’t buy from Jews,” and other graffiti on shop facades and windows.
The Bundestag also pledged to reject any financial support for the boycott movement, and to prevent BDS and its partners holding events on its premises.
The multi-party motion was backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right CDU-CSU bloc, the Social Democratic Party, the liberal Free Democratic Party and the Greens.
Advertisement
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
