1 00:00:00,650 --> 00:00:05,660 Those who hate the free and democratic state of Israel have dreamed up yet another way 2 00:00:05,660 --> 00:00:10,620 to try to destroy it. It has an innocuous name, but not an innocuous purpose. 3 00:00:10,620 --> 00:00:15,300 It's called theBDS Movement. The initials stand for Boycott, Divest, and Sanction. 4 00:00:15,300 --> 00:00:20,160 Created by Palestinian academics, it calls on individuals, on companies, on colleges, 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:26,860 churches, cities, and even countries to starve Israel economically and isolate it socially. 6 00:00:26,860 --> 00:00:31,360 The ostensible reason for this is Israel's alleged mistreatment of Palestinians living 7 00:00:31,369 --> 00:00:34,680 in the areas of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. 8 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:40,160 Now, I support the idea of the creation of a Palestinian State. Actually, so do most Israelis. 9 00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:43,960 And I am not a particularly supportive of the West Bank settlement policy of the 10 00:00:43,960 --> 00:00:50,000 Israeli government. But I condemn the BDS Movement in the strongest possible terms. 11 00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:55,740 Anyone who as any interest in creating a climate for peace in the Middle East should also condemn 12 00:00:55,740 --> 00:01:01,390 the BDS Movement as should anyone who simply understands the immorality of singling out Israel, 13 00:01:01,390 --> 00:01:06,140 of all the world's countries, for economic strangulation. Here's why. 14 00:01:06,140 --> 00:01:11,060 First, the BDS Movement ignores historical reality. You don't have to delve too deeply 15 00:01:11,060 --> 00:01:16,060 into late twentieth century history to learn that Israel gained control over the West Bank 16 00:01:16,060 --> 00:01:22,040 only after it had been attacked by Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War. 17 00:01:22,050 --> 00:01:26,340 No attack by Jordan -- no Israel in the West Bank. It's as simple as that. Furthermore, 18 00:01:26,340 --> 00:01:31,700 Israel, on at least two separate occasions, mostly recently in both 2000 and 2008, 19 00:01:31,700 --> 00:01:37,640 has tried to give almost all of the land it acquired in 1967 in the West Bank back to the Palestinians. 20 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,320 It is the Palestinians who have rejected each of these offers. In other words, 21 00:01:41,320 --> 00:01:47,420 there is no need for the BDS Movement, since Israel wants to give the Palestinians their own country. 22 00:01:47,420 --> 00:01:50,940 Israel only asks that it be able to live in peace in return. 23 00:01:50,940 --> 00:01:56,240 Second, the BDS Movement ignores current reality. Israel is one of the freest countries in the world 24 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,820 and by far the freest in the Middle East, an area where there is precious little freedom. 25 00:02:00,820 --> 00:02:05,740 In a world full of human rights violators of the most blatant kind why would you want 26 00:02:05,740 --> 00:02:11,680 to boycott a country that has a boisterous free press, is a model of women's and gay rights, 27 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:16,160 and whose Arab citizens, one fifth of the country, are the freest in the Arab World? 28 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:22,040 Let me repeat: the Arab citizens of Israel, who make up one fifth of Israel's population, 29 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,840 are freer than all Arabs living in Arab countries around the world. 30 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,980 Now, the common sense principle of human rights is deal with "the worst first." By this principle 31 00:02:31,989 --> 00:02:38,090 there should be a BDS Movement against North Korea, against Syria, against Sudan or a dozen 32 00:02:38,090 --> 00:02:43,750 other countries. Israel wouldn't even make the list. Of course Israel has flaws. 33 00:02:43,750 --> 00:02:49,510 But, like all vibrant democracies with regular elections and functioning courts of law, 34 00:02:49,510 --> 00:02:54,960 it makes a constant effort to correct them. Let's not forget that Israel did not build a security 35 00:02:54,969 --> 00:02:59,789 fence on the border of the West Bank or establish check points because it wanted to keep 36 00:02:59,789 --> 00:03:05,439 hard working Palestinians out of Israel. It did these things because it wanted to keep terrorists 37 00:03:05,439 --> 00:03:10,319 out of Israel after enduring years of horrific suicide bombings 38 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:13,960 following the peace talks that the Palestinians rejected in 2000. 39 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:20,480 Third, the BDS Movement makes peace much less likely. Why? Because the Palestinians, 40 00:03:20,489 --> 00:03:27,220 if they believe that the BDS Movement can strangle Israel economically and make it an international pariah, 41 00:03:27,220 --> 00:03:33,040 why should they ever negotiate? Why not just wait until Israel has no choice but to capitulate. 42 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:37,840 But the BDS Movement doesn't just hurt Israel. It hurts everyone. Israeli scientists and 43 00:03:37,849 --> 00:03:44,569 engineers are leading innovators in the fields of medical technology, in the fields of renewable 44 00:03:44,569 --> 00:03:49,379 energy, water conservation. The BDS Movement wants to keep these scientists as well as 45 00:03:49,379 --> 00:03:54,499 Israeli historians, and other academics from sharing their innovations and their knowledge 46 00:03:54,499 --> 00:04:00,619 and their insights with the world. With you. But the BDS activists don't care about helping the world. 47 00:04:00,620 --> 00:04:02,840 They care about hurting Israel. 48 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:08,940 This leads to one final issue that has to be confronted: the motives of the people behind the BDS Movement. 49 00:04:08,940 --> 00:04:12,760 Here those tempted to support this movement must be very careful. 50 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:18,739 The leaders of the BDS Movement have no interest in a two-state solution. They reject the concept 51 00:04:18,739 --> 00:04:24,079 of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. The BDS Movement deliberately fools people. 52 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,360 It claims to be opposed only to Israel's settlement policy when, in fact, 53 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,200 it's opposed to Israel's very existence. 54 00:04:31,210 --> 00:04:35,210 You may have sympathy for the Palestinians and wish to help them. I share that sympathy. 55 00:04:35,210 --> 00:04:40,690 But by aligning yourself with the BDS Movement, you are aligning yourself with people who 56 00:04:40,690 --> 00:04:45,940 don't want to see both sides thrive. They want to want to see one side, Israel, destroyed. 57 00:04:45,940 --> 00:04:47,860 They don't merely want to see a change in policy, 58 00:04:47,860 --> 00:04:51,200 they want to see an end to the nation state of the Jewish people. 59 00:04:51,210 --> 00:04:56,390 Do you want to spend your time and moral energy supporting such a cause? 60 00:04:56,390 --> 00:04:59,639 For decent people, the answer is no. 61 00:04:59,639 --> 00:05:05,399 I'm Alan Dershowitz, Professor of Law at Harvard University for Prager University.