World Jewish News

Uwe Becker, Frankfurt’s Deputy Mayor said the BDS movement uses anti-Zionism as a vehicle for an anti-Semitic agenda.

German city passes bill outlawing BDS

The German city of Frankfurt has passed a bill which outlaws funding for activities of the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement.

The City Council voted that no municipal venues or outdoor areas will be provided for activities of the BDS, and any organization that does provide support for BDS risks losing city funding.

Uwe Becker, Frankfurt’s Deputy Mayor said the BDS movement uses anti-Zionism as a vehicle for an anti-Semitic agenda. He also emphasized the connections between his city and Israel, and his hopes for a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict.

‘’BDS is not about resolving the conflict but essentially about delegitimizing the State of Israel, using the tools of boycotts and defamation,’’ he said

Becker slammed the actions of “self-appointed ‘department store police’’ who attach labels to Israeli products in order to intimidate retailers, who try to intimidate artists who perform in Israel or wish to do so, and who disturb events.”

“The BDS movement does not only strongly resemble the ‘Don’t buy from Jews’ argumentation of former times of the National Socialists (Nazis), but the movement is built on the same toxic ground and it is poisoning the social climate in the same dangerous way,” he declared.

Frankfurt has a strong Jewish community. ‘’Jewish life is part of the identity of our city, part of the history of the development as an economic powerhouse, as a city of culture and education – and we are proud of that. And we have a strong and vivid partnership with Israel, that has grown over the past 37 years with a strong friendship, that we have with our sister-city Tel Aviv,” Becker said.

Another German city, Munich is expected to pass a similar anti-BDS bill in September.

EJP