The BDS movement for Palestinian rights condemns in the strongest terms the rising racist and fascist groups in Germany and across Europe. Our nonviolent movement opposes all forms of racism and racial discrimination, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, as a matter of principle.

The Israeli government’s popularity is sharply decreasing as a result of its overt alliances with the global far-right, including xenophobic and antisemitic groups in the United States and Europe. In a desperate attempt to counter this trend, Israel and its lobby groups are desperately promoting a fraudulent definition of antisemitism that undermines the peaceful struggle for Palestinian rights, including BDS.

Dozens of progressive Jewish groups worldwide have condemned this relentless Israeli government-led effort to redefine anti-Jewish racism because it intentionally equates “legitimate criticisms of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism, as a means to suppress the former.” Their statement says:

This conflation undermines both the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality and the global struggle against antisemitism. It also serves to shield Israel from being held accountable to universal standards of human rights and international law.

The BDS movement rejects alleged “support” from antisemites and racists of all shades. Their bigotry and hate are incompatible with our progressive values, and are the antithesis of our movement’s vision for freedom, justice and equality for all.

Our movement is inspired by the global struggles for justice, particularly the South African anti-apartheid struggle and the US Civil Rights movement. Like activists in those movements, we know that our freedom is incomplete while others are not free.

The BDS movement works hand in hand with anti-racist movements around the world in our struggle for the UN-stipulated rights of the Palestinian people -- an end to the occupation and apartheid, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes of origin.

The BDS movement’s statement of anti-racist principles says:

Adhering to the UN definition of racial discrimination, the BDS movement does not tolerate any act or discourse which adopts or promotes, among others, anti-Black racism, anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism, sexism, xenophobia, or homophobia. We strongly condemn apartheid, genocide, slavery, colonial exploitation and ethnic cleansing, which are crimes against humanity that are founded on racism and racial supremacy, and we call for the right of their victims, including descendants, to full reparation. We equally condemn and stand in solidarity with the victims of other human rights violations including human trafficking, workers’ exploitation, and sexual exploitation.

The struggle for Palestinian rights, including through BDS, is intersectional. We follow in the footsteps of Palestinian feminists who have insisted that the struggle for social and women’s rights and emancipation is integral to the Palestinian liberation struggle.

Palestinians have been subjected to colonization and apartheid for 71 years. We know well that our struggle is inseparable from that of refugees, migrants, Blacks, Muslims, indigenous nations and the LGBTQI communities around the world. The movement for climate justice is integral to all our struggles. We know this first hand as Israel's system of apartheid, occupation and settler-colonialism has devastated Palestinian natural resources and prevented our access to them, especially water resources.

As Angela Davis says, justice is indivisible.

The BDS movement will continue to oppose all forms of racism and discrimination alongside movements for racial, economic and environmental justice around the globe.