New York – New York City and State elected officials have banded together to protest the scheduled “BDS Movement Against Israel” event scheduled for February 7 at Brooklyn College. BDS is an acronym for the boycotting, divestment, and sanctioning of Israel. The event is being co-sponsored by the Brooklyn College Political Science Department.
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Councilmen David Greenfield and Lew Fidler, as well as several Council colleagues, sent a letter to Brooklyn College President Karen Gould to make their objections to the BDS event known. The letter states that the college is condoning viewpoints best described as “either anti-Semitic or simply ignorant” while “promoting the worst kind of hate.”
The event speakers allegedly have a history of espousing hateful rhetoric, including referring to Hamas and Hezbollah as “socially progressive movements” and equating Israelis with Nazis.
“A line is crossed…when the school itself is painting a veneer of legitimacy over something that is so clearly offensive to me and so many of the people in our community,” Fidler said.
“Institutions like Brooklyn College that rely on public funding and support must ensure they do not serve as an outlet for groups spreading divisive, odious, anti-Israel messages,” Greenfield added.
A separate letter also denouncing the event was sent to Gould by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz who wrote that the BDS event threatened to “shatter the already shaky bridges of peace and unity that so many of us have labored to build.”
A press conference to protest the event has been organized by Assemblyman Dov Hikind. The conference will take place tomorrow at 11 A.M. outside of Brooklyn College. Hikind has even gone as far as calling for the resignation of President Gould, saying she is “a disaster for Brooklyn College students.”
“Being the head of a college…requires having a backbone, showing leadership,” Hikind said. “It demands having the guts to do the right thing.” Supporting “a racist, anti-Semitic lecture series is not the right thing.”
The seeds of the next holocaust is being sewed.
anti-zionism is thinly veiled anti-Semitism.
If we can’t stand up to these BDS thugs here in Brooklyn, then where…………..
They key is to educate them that not all Israelis are zionists, and most Jews are not (most Jews just don’t care). BDS hurts peaceful residents of the Holy Land, both Jews and gentiles. They should not be punished for the sins of the zionists. Even most of the zionists today are only so because they were raised that way or brainwashed by extremist “rabbis”. For a long time, rabbis used zionism for kiruv, and now too many of their young students are confused and think that zionism is Judaism when it is actually the opposite of Judaism. But putting that aside we need to reach out to these people and educate them that their approach is wrong and counter productive. If anyone really wants to do away with zionism, the key is to educate well-meaning and good Born Again Christians as to how Zionism is not consistent with Biblical doctrines, because there are far more pro-Israel Christians in most states in the US individually than there are even Jews in the entire world. If these Christians wish to bless the seed of Abraham, they can support Torah institutions and yeshivos rather than the secular Israel which has a high abortion rate, open gays, and legalized prostitution.
please go away from our beautiful land, heritage, people, medications, technology, advancements. go back to your Neanderthal caves.
Brooklyn College has a very long history of supporting often violent and controversial groups. Going back to the 1960’s, the Students for a Democratic Society held demonstrations there all the time. They even closed down the college with their sit ins. In the 1950’s, the college was known as the “little red schoolhouse.” Looks like not much has changed.
Maybe we will be lucky and a snowstorm will hit — airports will be closed!!