The Tufts University BDS Pledge reveals a great deal

Tufts University's Students for Justice in Palestine wrote a "BDS Pledge."

It includes these solemn promises:

- I pledge to stand in solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle against displacement, colonization, military occupation, and apartheid by following the call for BDS. 

- I pledge to boycott Sabra Hummus and Pillsbury.

- I pledge to refuse to be involved with Friends of Israel, J Street U Tufts, Tisch Summer Fellowship with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Tufts Birthright Israel, TAMID, Study abroad programs in Israel.

- Boycott targets of BDS globally including HP, Israeli fruits and vegetables, Puma, AXA, SodaStream, and Ahava.

- Commit to BDS until Palestine is free.

We've seen these sorts of things before - after all, the BDS movement itself is based on "pledging" to boycott Israeli products and institutions and more - but did you ever think about the concept of a pledge?

Does Birthright or Hillel demand that people must "pledge" to a certain way of thinking or acting in order to join? 

The very concept of a "BDS pledge" is really an attempt to ensure that people are not exposed to opinions that BDS leaders find objectionable.

When they try to stop pro-Israel speakers on campus, or even Israeli speakers on topics that have nothing to do with politics, they are saying that they don't want anyone to even hear anything that they don't approve of or that normalizes the existence of Israel.

When they try to stop trips to Israel, they are saying that they do not want anyone exposed to anything they disagree with.

Their description of J Street U where they pledge not to be involved with the group is most revealing:

In the past, SJP and Tufts J Street have collaborated on educational events based on the shared knowledge that anti-Zionism is not antisemitic, and to honor the rich history of Jewish and non-Jewish anti-Zionism. Many members of SJP began their journeys with Palestinian solidarity at J Street, and we acknowledge the space it has given Jewish-American members in particular to begin to question the Zionist narrative they may have been immersed in at various Jewish institutions. 

J Street officially advocates for “peace” through a “two-state solution.” While it may seem innocuous to frame the occupation as a conflict between two equal nation states, and the solution as a simple division of land right down the middle, this perspective fails to recognize Israel as a settler colonial state and Zionism as a white supremacist ideology. 

J Street U is a great gateway drug to becoming an unthinking anti-Israel drone, but it doesn't agree with today's antisemites that Zionism is a white supremacist ideology, so it is verboten to associate with them.

The most glaring distinction between liberal Zionist and "progressive" anti-Zionist groups is the willingness to discuss things with the other side.  This refusal by BDSers to even talk with anyone who disagrees with their extremist positions isn't a sign of strength, but of weakness. It shows that they have no confidence that their propaganda can survive when confronted with other ideas. 

This pledge proves that BDS isn't a movement or a philosophy. BDS is a cult. 

The best part of this pledge is that it lists lots of student groups on campus who support Israel as a Jewish state. They clearly dwarf the BDSers on campus. And the very existence of this pledge, and similar ones on other campuses, is all the proof you need that BDS makes a lot of noise but it knows that it must use brainwashing methods to keep its core members. 

(h/t Andrew P.)

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