“The thought that BDS will be training teachers to combat ‘bigotry’ while instilling the virus of hate, is an exercise in the absurd.”
Paris, 17 May 2020
Starting 8 June, (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) directed against Israel, ‘BDS Pais Valencia” will begin a three-week training online for teachers on how to fight bigotry.
The Wiesenthal Centre commends and supports the ACOM legal campaign to combat antisemitism, with a special focus on rescinding BDS across Spain.
The Provincial Council of Valencia, Spain’s third largest city and one of the most active, has declared itself an “Israeli Apartheid-Free Space.” This violates judicial rulings in other cities. While some 50 Spanish town councils across Spain have passed BDS endorsement resolutions, in other courts it has been declared discriminatory and unconstitutional.
ACOM has succeeded in voiding some 25 municipal boycott motions, but the most virulent are those led by the far-left “Podemos” (“We Can”) party, reportedly close to Iran.
“The Wiesenthal Centre is seeking to raise the issue in the European Parliament, based on the IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of BDS as antisemitism,” stated the Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels.
“The thought that BDS will be training teachers to combat ‘bigotry’ while instilling the virus of hate, is an exercise in the absurd,” concluded Samuels.
For further information, contact Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com
or find more on www.wiesenthal-europe.com