Relentnessness (Divest This!)

While I could spend weeks listing everything I loath about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) “movement,” if there is one quality they possess that I both despise and admire it is their relentlessness.

This is a term you hear quite often in discussions of the behavior and activities of Israel’s enemies. For week after week, month after month, year after year they are at it – smearing the Jewish state with every conceivable accusation, from stealing land to swiping organs. And whenever they hit a wall, they lick their wounds and show up yet again to repeat their campaigns over and over until they get what they want.

We’ve seen this on college campuses where years of rejection of divestment motions by student governments was finally overcome when the BDSers simply packed those bodies with their own supporters for the sole purpose of getting their squalid little measures passed.

Yes, by the time those votes were taken, no one took them seriously as actually representing the opinion of the student body, and administrators were only too happy to tell these “representatives” that they had no plans to ever act on their demands. But, giving credit where credit is due, our foes kept at it until they got what they wanted.

You saw this also in places like the Presbyterian Church where our opponents simply waited decades for members who stood against boycott and divestment targeting Israel to die or leave the church, providing them an opening to get divestment made the policy of a smaller, more politically homogenous institution. As much as I despise those who have bent that organization to their will, regardless of the cost to the others, you’ve got to admire the stick-to-it-of-ness of those whose only purpose in life is to see an end to the Jewish state.

One of the things contributing the BDSers’ persistence is the fact that they have clear-cut enemies to attack: Israel and its supporters (or even anyone who dares to not think ill of the Jewish nation). With such well-defined targets in their sights, and a lack of any restraint, the Israel haters can continue their campaigns year in and year out, regardless of how many times any particular campaign might fail.

I suspect that it is a lack of a comparable enemy that keeps our side from attacking our opponents as relentlessly as they assault us. After all, the dream of even the most fervent friend of Israel is that the Jewish state eventually lives in peace with those around them. Given that, is it any wonder we cannot muster the will to persistently smear those we want to live in peace with for years and years on end?

That said, there are missions Israel and its supporters have taken on that demonstrate we also have a streak of relentlessness that can and has paid off.

For example, the German government recently declared BDS to be a form of anti-Semitism and ended any funding for organizations associated with that propaganda campaign. Other European governments have also (albeit slowly) opened their eyes to the fact that the money they give to the Palestinians is either being wasted or invested in hate indoctrination (or in buildings named after murderers).

These successes on our side cannot simply be attribute to Europeans waking up to fact that were obvious for all to see during years they sunk money into corruption and incitement on the part of Israel’s “peace partners.” Rather, it was the result of the relentless work of people on our side, notably groups like NGO Monitor and Palestinian Media Watch which have, for years and years, exposed those who would rather not see the truth to facts they cannot ignore, and lobbied to get governments and non-government organizations to live by their principles by rejecting BDS.

In this case, the enemy was not Muslims, Arabs or Palestinians but a specific group: BDS supporters, who in no way can be considered people we can ultimately live in peace. Having such a deserving target allows our own relentless campaigns to take root and pay political dividends.

You can see similar positive relentlessness in the success of groups like AIPAC which has spent decades cultivating strong relationships between Israel and members of the United States congress. These relationships helped Israel weather storms (most recently during the Obama administration) and stand as a bulwark against present attempts to turn the Democratic party against the Jewish state. Time will tell if AIPAC’s work will stem that particular tide, or if we will need to find some additional ways to relentlessly pursue our just cause.

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