A resolution voted unanimously by the City Council of Durham, NC, and the easy primary victory of a Democratic congressional nominee in Philadelphia are raising questions as to how much to much influence the radical BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanctions) is having on local politics in the US.
The Democratic nominee for Congress in a key race in Philadelphia suburbs with a large Jewish population headed a charitable foundation that gave money to groups backing the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement targeting Israel, A7 news reported.
The Forward reported that Scott Wallace, who handily won the primary Tuesday, co-headed a fund that gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to organizations that support BDS in addition to their broader social justice agendas. But the Forward cites at least two instances — $50,000 for Jewish Voice for Peace in 2010-11 and $25,000 for a 2005 U.S. tour by British anti-Israel politician George Galloway — where the focus would appear to mostly be on pushing an anti-Israel line, A7 reported.
The Wallace campaign shifted by blame by saying the grants were “made by a member of the Wallace Global Fund’s leadership from a discretionary fund that other leadership did not exercise authority over”, according to A7 News. The campaign also claims that Wallace is supporter of Israel.
Wallace is a “progressive” philanthropist who, with his wife, headed the Wallace Global Fund until he ran for election this year. Most of its millions of dollars in disbursements go to addressing climate change, African causes and voting rights.
In a unanimous 6-0 vote recently the city council of Durham, NC, voted to “oppose international exchanges with any country in which Durham officers receive military-style training since such exchanges do not support the kind of policing we want here in the City of Durham,” according to the Council’s official statement, JNS reported.
The resolution was adopted after a coalition of groups, dubbed “Demilitarize! Durham2Palestine Coalition,” which includes the anti-Israel Jewish Voice for Peace that supports the BDS movement, in addition to other Muslim, pro-Palestinian and civil-rights groups, urged its passage in order to prevent any partnership the city’s law enforcement might enter with Israel’s military or police.
“The Israeli Defense Forces and the Israel Police have a long history of violence and harm against Palestinian people and Jews of Color. They persist in using tactics of extrajudicial killing, excessive force, racial profiling, and repression of social justice movements,” a petition by the group said. “These tactics further militarize U.S. police forces that train in Israel, and this training helps the police terrorize Black and Brown communities here in the U.S.”
A group of far-left radicals influencing a major city’s policing is quite stunning, as it appears the fringe anti-Israel movement is having influence among law makers. The JVP (Jewish Voice For Peace) is essentially indistinguishable from the BDS movement itself and they have taken some of the most radical positions, that even some of the most Pro-Palestinian US activists are stunned by their ideology. They are receiving support by elected officials and in Philadelphia indirectly receiving money thru candidate’s philanthropic fund, and he is a favorite to win a major congressional seat in a major city. These developments are alarming.
The post In US Cities, BDS is Gaining Influence in Local Politics appeared first on Jewish Voice.