Three Republican House members are calling on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate dubious connections between the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) and terrorism.
Last month Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) led a letter, cosigned by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) and Maria Salazar (R-FL), that was sent to FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. It claims that there are “serious concerns” that Americans who donate to BDS-affiliated organizations might be financing terrorist groups. The letter specifically cites the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) and The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) for having alleged links to “designated terror groups” like Hamas and Palestine Islamic Jihad.
In March Burchett sent a similar letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, asking them to investigate the fundraising app ActBlue for allegedly funneling money to terrorists.
“President Biden has said he opposes the anti-Semitic BDS movement,” he declared on Twitter. “I agree. We must stand with our ally Israel.”
When asked about BDS during a 2018 interview Burchett said, “They totally disgust me. I remain loyal to Israel.”
In March a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit targeting the BNC and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) for alleged connections to terrorism. That lawsuit was filed by the pro-Israel Jewish National Fund (JNF) and 12 American citizens living in Israel. In his ruling the judge said the claims were “to say the least, not persuasive.”
And we in the US, are sending billions of dollars, to the nation that terrorizes occupied people, by killing unarmed kids at checkpoints, those who protest their endless suffering, and let’s not forget their recent assault on Gaza (that killed 68 children) where entire families were wiped out by Israel’s precision bombs, and we so kindly support the “terrorists” by supplying the weapons that are used by them during their violent attacks.
So, are we also supporting terrorists? Many would answer in the affirmative.
American hypocrisy.
“Last month Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) led a letter, cosigned by Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) and Maria Salazar (R-FL), that was sent to FBI’s Counterterrorism Division. It claims that there are ‘serious concerns’ that Americans who donate to BDS-affiliated organizations might be financing terrorist groups.”
We can be certain that Republicans Burchett, Steube and Salazar are bought and paid for puppets serving the Zionist lobby which is acutely aware that “Israel’s” image in America is in accelerating decline.
I thought Burchett is supposed to be loyal to the US and the Americans he represents.
My, how times have changed!
Full disclosure: I support BDS in all its manifestations. In fact, I was supportive of a boycott of Israel/goods back in the 1980’s when the idea was just beginning to emerge in European political movements as this post card demonstrates.
Having said that it I hasten to add that I hope the FBI does follow up on the Republican Congressmen’s request to investigate the BDS movement for alleged ties to “terrorism”. Here’s why: The FBI will find nothing. In essence this politically motivated misuse of Congressional authority, meant to weaken, embarrass or isolate Palestine solidarity will do nothing of the kind. Instead, it will elevate BDS in the MSM, advance the public’s understanding of BDS (and its popularity), embarrass the Congressional sponsors and perhaps the most valuable/ironic outcome will be the issuance of a clean bill of health for BDS from no less than the premier crime-fighting organization in the country. I also hope that the FBI will solicit data and responses from a wide range of sources including representatives of the movement itself as well as credible academics, journalists and legal professionals.
Of course, if the FBI politicizes the investigation to placate the Congresspeople and references or incorporates Israeli misinformation about BDS in its findings it may be able to paint a negative picture of the movement.
Absent that, an honest FBI investigation of can serve to advance BDS’s legitimization and bring the laudable goals of BDS to a vastly wider audience that BDS could not reach on its own.
Thank you very much Representatives Burchett, Steube and Salazar!
Q: Is it antisemitic according to IHRA to bring this subject up or to fail to bring it up?
so lets see a group with actual links to terror groups sued a group for allegedly having links to terror groups. talk about no shame.