The fall academic semester began with the American evacuation of Afghanistan and the takeover by the Taliban. No condemnations of the Taliban, including for murder and the abuse of women and children, were made by the BDS movement, or various student and faculty groups and politicians that vociferously attacked Israel during the May campaign against Hamas. This predictable silence went largely uncommented upon. In contrast, campus 9/11 commemorations were frequently countered by claims of “Islamophobia” from BDS-related Palestinian and Muslim groups both on and off campus.

BDS supporters also undertook direct action against 9/11 commemorations. At Washington University in St. Louis, a BDS-supporting member of the student government, Fadel Alkilani, removed 2,977 American flags that had been placed on campus as part of a 9/11 commemoration.

The university chancellor condemned Alkilani’s action, saying, “I want to make it very clear that, as an institution, we find the actions of this student to be reprehensible,” but Alkilani’s actions were defended by commentators who accused the university of not responding to the unspecified “Islamophobia” directed at the student.

A number of other 9/11 displays were vandalized, including at Michigan State University, where a campus landmark reading “Never Forget” was crossed out and “Never Israel” was written in its place. This distortion of 9/11 was also seen in instructions from the Virginia Department of Education to downplay Muslim extremism and “plan our 9/11 lessons in a way that does not seek to reproduce anti-Muslim racism.”

September also saw a number of fawning profiles of pro-Palestinian groups in campus newspapers, such as Students for Justice in Palestine. One result of making “Palestine” the central campus cause is growing fear on the part of Jewish students who are targeted by BDS-related antisemitism. A recent poll of “openly Jewish” students indicated that more than 65% felt unsafe on campus, 50% felt the need to hide their Jewish identity, and 10% feared physical attack. Almost 70% were aware of or had personally experienced a verbal or physical attack. These results must be seen in the context of recent FBI data showing Jews were the subject of 58% of religiously oriented hate crimes in 2020.

The centering of “Palestine” in K-12 education has also been propelled by countless teachers promoting intersectionality and “critical race theory,” such as those teachers who have been caught bragging about their classroom behavior on social media. In one case, a Los Angeles teacher shared photos of a classroom that was decorated with Palestinian, “Black Lives Matter,” and Gay Pride flags, as well as posters saying “f*** the police” and “f*** America.”

Reports also indicate the explicit promotion of anti-Israel books by Philadelphia children’s librarians. One librarian was quoted in a video, saying: “I’m sharing it because the struggle for liberation and total freedom is interconnected across cultures and communities. So when children, young people, see and hear about what’s happening to Palestinian people today, and for many decades, they will probably see and notice that Zionism looks a lot like racism.”

More systemically, BDS, anti-Zionism, and antisemitism remain central issues in teachers’ unions. The San Diego chapter of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) passed a resolution condemning Israel, referring to “historic Palestine” and the “73 year occupation.” The San Diego Community College District Chancellor responded by saying, “We recognize that the opinions expressed by some groups, including the Local 1931, are not embraced by many employees and students. … Further, we offer our sincere thoughts to those who were offended by the resolution.” The resolution passed despite expressions of concern from AFT president Randi Weingarten. More positively, the board of the United Teachers Los Angeles Union voted to postpone indefinitely consideration of a BDS resolution.

These issues are also central in the revised “ethnic studies curriculum” that has been passed by the California legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature. Even mainstream platform such as the Los Angeles Times have condemned the bill’s promotion of the BDS movement and treatment of Israel, while a number of school districts passed resolutions in support of the original, more radical curriculum.

The impact of making “Palestine” an essential intersectional cause was also seen in a series of “Globalize the Intifada” protests held in New York City by a coalition of anti-Israel and far-left groups. Targets for “decolonization” included the Museum of Modern Art, which was targeted for its wealthy patrons, “blood soaked modernity,” and “MoMA’s entanglement with the mutually reinforcing projects of settler-colonialism, imperialism, and racial capitalism in Palestine.”

At the local level, two notable BDS measures were rejected. After protests from the Jewish community and others, a sweeping resolution (that included endorsement of the Palestinian “right of return”) proposed in the Burlington, Vermont, city council was withdrawn at the last moment. And in the Seattle City Council, a measure aimed at canceling police exchanges with Israel was rejected.

The impact of state-level anti-BDS laws has also now been felt with respect to the Ben & Jerry’s effort to boycott areas such as Judea and Samaria. New Jersey, Texas, and Arizona have announced that they will divest from Ben & Jerry’s parent company, Unilever. Florida has also announced its intention to divest, and pressure is being put on New York State to do so. Several hundred million dollars worth of Unilever stock is involved, but it is unclear whether this has impacted the company’s stock price and reputation.

In the international sphere, more than three-dozen Western nations boycotted the 20th anniversary celebration of the 2001 Durban “World Conference Against Racism.” The 2001 event, which was marked by overt antisemitism and hostility towards Israel and Jews, effectively marked the beginning of the modern BDS movement. The United Nations General Assembly, however, reaffirmed the original 2001 Durban Declaration.

More negatively, the British Liberal Democrat Party passed a motion calling for a ban on British trade with Israeli “settlements.” The British Labour Party also continued to be riled by its longstanding antisemitism crisis, which began with the BDS movement’s takeover of campus clubs. A motion passed at the Labour conference accused Israel of committing an “on-going Nakba” against the Palestinians. The motion, one of only 10 put forward at the conference, called for sanctions against Israel and endorsed the Palestinian “right of return.” Labour leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Foreign Minister Lisa Nandy opposed the motion, which represented a setback to their efforts to expunge antisemitism from the party and rebuild ties with British Jews.

A version of this article was originally published at SPME, where the author is a contributor.

The opinions presented by Algemeiner bloggers are solely theirs and do not represent those of The Algemeiner, its publishers or editors. If you would like to share your views with a blog post on The Algemeiner, please be in touch through our Contact page.