zionism about which a straightforward definition is offered by doctor don wagner, a presbyterian, former zionist himself when he states it is a movement within protestant, now catholic fundamentalism that understand the modern state of israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy and thus deserving of political, financial and religious support. christian zionism preceded by 50 years and even influence the emergence of jewish zionism. surprised? the british littlest biblical references to apply the physical state for the diaspora jews. most of them believe they help to bring about what their adherence loaded and believe, that the state brought through an act of god in 1948. this nationalistic perspective can be seen as a key to understanding the troubling geopolitical failed fire standby jerusalem announcements by the us

president in the falling fumbling visit by the vice president. >> explains the division of the house and israel which will result in damaging placements of rabbinic social justice judaism with secular jewish zionism. history shows the resulting marriage of convenience for joint protection by the jewish christian lobby. but how did we arrive here? >> especially at this crucial juncture it's important to understand.the 200 year progression of this history is at once instructive and frightening. we can see the consequences of rationalizing colonialization and partisan politics. influenced by religion. >> to include the rights of one group over another. a law of love marred by violence. south african former director of the truth and reconciliation commission, georgetown professor charles

atencio explained, it's a fault line running through western civilization. the first century of the common era, the church was born and the synagogue was transformed. amidst this issue, religions separating groups with the right of one group to dominate the other or whether they bring humankind to the realization of our unity and connectedness. as children, of the father abraham and recipients of his promise to establish many nations. >> this is the central issue. the lobby rep large is questionable, combining a focus between israel government and american christian zionists. our church people are complicit in this spirit of enterprise. sometimes unwittingly. they pack is successful as an agent of minority gentile sentiments, not just jewish

support. and sadly, the majority as you heard from me earlier has been silenced. >> they muster them up. i propose that is bad for israel as well as americans in the free world. >> it's important to see the progression of christian zionism development. it has roots at least as far back as the 16th century reformation, the early literal readership of the local language translations like the king james bible, later in reference to additions. it has footnotes and commentary that promoted dispensational zionism. it led to several centuries of anti-jewish persecution, ultimately the holocaust . and all the way to the mid-20th century best-selling fictional work of the late great planet earth. the modern movement can be traced to early 19th century with a group of eccentric

british restoration is, lacking formal theological training. they began to lobby for a jewish return to palestine as a precondition to the second coming of christ, the first coming of the messiah. don darby was their leader and the darius contraction from the 19th century when palestine became strategic to britain , france and germany and their colonial interestin the middle east . these christian zionists who preceded jewish zionism were some of theodore herschel's strongest advocates and ironically were both clergy and laypeople who embraced the anti-semitic theology and genocidal images around racial nationalism. herschel's appeal to the british leadership was in part an understanding of anger for what had happened to jews in the previous century, but also undergirded

by misinterpreted scripture. in the earlier 20th century, deal moody and others promulgated the scofield bible system. a point of view to convert people by employing an end of the world fear. as early as 1917, the british bartered away palestine and in 1919, american creek king crane report about zionists intention of this position but the report intention to the local population was either ignored or buried by president wilson for several years. this was contrary with the arab false appreciation that they would gain palestinian liberation by their alliance with the ottoman. late george were predisposed toward zionism and their support for a jewish national home. but with mixed racist motives about white british superiority. their primary goal was to advance imperial interests

with utilitarian politics. zionism continued to reflect some of that strain into the middle of the century. after world war ii, more urbain ellie graham girded the label scientist with his approach, toward millions. he did not however construct about the dangers of zionism in the churches or which he sent converts. even with his anti-semitic misstep reported with richard nixon, fortunately he founded christianity in a globally minded monitored evangelical publication that reflected his social justice abolitionist roots and has had the theories of progressive editors partnering with zionist john sod. the ngos sponsored trips to the holy land sadly, his son franklin having taken the same path.

the impact of the holocaust was a legitimate concern then coupled with jewish asylum and turning away refugees. the resolution of november 1947 was supported by harry truman . he was influenced certainly by dispensational belief but likely even more by the looming reelection campaign considerations. and the financial infusion from pro-israeli donors. the fact was ignored, the palestinians six percent majority owned 90 percent of the land.christian zionism was encouraged when israel was assumed to be zion of god and his personal intervention with the anticipation of the end time battles of armageddon and was as well influenced by apex predecessor, american zionism.

it began the return of jews what they call the undivided capital in 67. which encouraged the populist teaching of dispensational theology by seminaries and similarseminaries through the south . the bible belt. more secular israeli labor parties to relationships with christian zionists prior to the election of acuity, men often bacon in 1987. begin saw the necessity of a failed political match made in heaven. likud court and the relationshipwith the leaders such as robinson and other preachers , captured tv time for most christians. and from the booming fundamental zionists report in the south. 1979with great fanfare , paul was presented a private jet by bacon, reportedly to confirm israeli policies such as their 1981 bombing of the

iraq site but also to spread the zionist action plan. the election of ronald reagan was converted to christian zionist beliefs helped solidify christian zionism at the center of the republican party in the white house. also among several speakers of the house. opposition became to be public by liberal ministers and scholars, even john mccain saw falwell and robinson as agents of intolerance. jewish zionists had few encounters with christian zionists before 2000, even with the assumption by christians that by 67, america was final proof and for the return of jesus. the politics of necessity to drive the strange bedfellows together. helped of course by jewish lack of faith of the end time greed. 9/11 sealed the marriage. the glue was they both feared and hated muslims. this is didn't the growth of

the so-called evangelical zionism. in thispresent era and with the election of trump , and the republican congress encouraging movement in opposition to christian zionism has grown among mainstream political and religious entities. this has helped us to battle complicity, those who lay the tracks will have their own feetcaught . and it is the zionist profile became more public, consider the pro-israel lobby of christians and jews through john hagel's united for israel, three factors were apparent. first, the lobby served to undermine peace and increase and even encourage violence. second, they are utterly biased and one side has fasting massive funding opposed by jews as well as christians. finally third, the united states has been increasingly to be a party of injustice

rather than an honest broker for a just settlement. the lobby's goal is to stand shoulder and shoulder for a significant influence in washington by portraying israel in a positive light and public discourse is proving more difficult and counterproductive. the israeli lobby is seen as an agent of the foreign power in part the cause of mister netanyahu's demands and mister trump's ignorance and intrusion. more open debate is happening on university campuses as we just heard, especially as bds has caused panic efforts and congress and message efforts to limit first amendment freedoms and print and broadcast media, pro-israel editorial and news bias shows signs of change. greater understanding is occurring about all the theology and excesses in american christian complicity and illegal neocolonial activities. there is an increasing

awareness of severe demonization of palestinians, muslims and christians. treatment of other minorities within israel is starring opposition, especially because of the horrors of gaza, the expulsion of african refugees and church tax bank issues. many more people including the owner traveling with alternative social justice agencies to the traditional holy land holy site but they're spending a lot more time than those traditionally of the way in the west bank, the living stone demanding liberation. the justices being met by four people. justice indicates evangelicals, especially millennial's are more pro-immigrant, and increasingly concerned about the negative impact of occupation and annexation. appreciation is growing for and solidarity with influential progressive and modern zionists . for instance, upside 72, laura friedman, rabbi stephen

wright and mainstream israeli combatants for human rights. as they seek help on their ptsd. pilgrims, even now amazingly some enlightened progressive dispensationalism are embracing more of the true prophet declarations about responsibility or the marginalized for and oppressed , strangers in a strange land. genesis 12 has been the basis of much of zionists propaganda. that god would bless those who bless you get abraham and above all, the people you first, he will curse. the fact is, that promise was made to israel: was made to abraham, the father of all of us. they forget. there's a changing entity, increasingly people are understood to be chosen as in the old children's song all the children of the world,

red and yellow black and white area i my evangelical colleagues now say jews, christians and muslims are precious in his sight. more liberal and progressive social justice denominations as believers including many jews align themselves with the 2006statement on christian zionism by the jerusalem patriarchs . they declare quotes, we categorically reject christian zionist doctrines as false teaching that corrupts the bible's message of love, justice and reconciliation. and the american national council of churches, the theological stance of christian zionism adversely affects justice and peace in the middle east. unusually, on february 22, which is just passed in response to us recognition of jerusalem as israel's

capital, 25 well-known senior evangelical leaders expressed concern albeit too timidly in my view about unprecedented actions that may jeopardize lives and futures made. jeopardize lives and future security of the people of the holy land. i think they can be more concerned about current palestinian suffering but it opens the door for more white house dialogue. therefore it is questionable how much contemporary american theology theology andlegislation are being driven . tentatively by heretical dispensational understanding of israel. further evidence of it being challenged was because of actions by evangelical organizations such as voters, evangelicals for social action, agencies who have sold their staff people at present. these and other faith scripts are occurring with joyce, israel fund, operational agencies as well as think tanks jasmine is institute and the foundationfor peace . also brick films, not on our side, occupation of the american mind.

nora still, gaza gaping wound. all in context. butsocial justice evangelicals are working to rehabilitate their brand , more frankly , deserted the justice emissary in order to differentiate further from the fences and wars of the world which has potential for impacting the fall elections.members of congress who expressed quiet opposition for israeli policies are being more vocal, regarding treatment of children, and emcees price and wells's and 100 members action on tundra which is a question to pursue and in conclusion, many prominent progressive leaders are helping to sharpen our thinking regarding christian zionists were or the god they portray looks to be militaristic, zeno public, genocidal and would not sufficiently be moral enough to report to the fourth of any of the conventions. so as god turned from love

and grace to be a great cleanser, martin cooper the great justice has said in his declaration of opposition to zionism, is bound to ruin us. wax guilt and complicity are twins hard to separate. those will pull the trigger and pay for the guns are inextricably bound. the anglican illusion says we must oppose christian zionism by asserting one clear principal. any religion that does not promote justice, truth,peace, love, forgiveness and reconciliation has lost its runner and is undeserving of respect . their religion and teachings are destructive rather than liberating force in the world. i would place christian zionists in this group. having seen their impact personally while living in jerusalem and in other places around the world. wax very much. >>. [applause] thank you very

much. we have three minutes for questions so we still have maybe two of them to you to respond as quickly as we can and i appreciate it. one person asks can you say something about israel's treatment of palestinian christians and western christian ngos such as worldvision where you previously worked. another person asked what is it say about christians for israel that the largest lobby or executive director is not actually a christian. >>. >> that says a lot. >> it shows, can i dare use the word evil of the kind of collaboration that happens around a political issue rather than a moral issue. the first question, i believe

the ngos are being stifled. there being shut off, arrested and the cooling effort to share our people. i think the ngos generally are in the target big time. and some of our staff people are arrested for total charges that are just so counterintuitive as to be ridiculous. and talking to the lawyers about what happens to these people, he's an israeli, and israeli jew. we altogether must speak out more about this atrocity. these folks are innocent as the day is long but the israeli government finds them an easy target and it can be used to stifle advocacy. and in a marketing plays such an important role for

operational agency or for churches, for that matter shows a huge impact. enough said. thanks. [applause] >> may i just add if you want to see some of these pills that i've mentioned, the folders are in the room and these are really worth going out of your way to see or you can order them from netflix. >> thank you very much. [applause] >> i'll be coming to the stage to introduce our keynote speaker of the day, gideon levy. [applause] i'm very pleased

to welcome back rs columnist gideon levy. his column, he has called for greater israeli empathy toward the suffering of palestinians. he's an extremely well-known commentator because of his willingness to take on tough issues. consequently, he's no stranger to very intense opposition. his columns about politics, money, how israel's military occupation is changingisraeli society and about us israel relationships are widely read, reposted and discussed around the world . who doesn't get in their inbox levy column once in a while. his vocal operation opposition to israel's last major invasion took place against an enormous backdrop

of widespread support for the military operation within the israeli public. and so he gave voice to those who were secretly against the war but cautious about voicing such opinions openly. >> was a recipient of the palestinian pastor mithra. for their flight against occupation and violence. he's also received a piece through media award at the 2012 international media awards. the euro man journalist prize, 2008. the leipzig freedom prize in 2001, the israeli journalist union prize in 1997 and the association of human rights in israel award for 1996. i would like to encourage everybody to send in your

comment cards. we have a number of students and interns circulating and picking those up so that we can have a very wide ranging set of questions for gideon when he finishes. his book, the punishment of gaza was published in 2012 by versa publishing house in new york and he will be available to sign some copies of that book during the reception. but now, please welcome gideon levy. >> thank you. >> thank you, i was wondering about who were you talking about? >> can i stay here, then not go back home? [laughter] it's so tiny here

for those wonderful people and since i'm on one hand i feel so much at home, so many faces. you all get younger, i get older. you all get more energized and i get more and more desperate but it puts me also on a challenge because already in my second time here, i started my speech as far as i can recall the concern that i'm going to repeat myself and bore you to death . because at the end of the day, i'm a singer of one song and you heard already. but the organizer was sophisticated enough this time and they gave a very strange title to my speech which doesn't enable me to sing my song. i have to fix a new song. so i'll do my best but i'm

really so grateful for all the wonderful people who brought me here and my partner, it's so interesting for us, so enriching. we have this expression, we came out strengthened and this is what i feel outside a conference like this. this may be you are holding the key for any kind of change forany kind of hope . because as i'll try to claim later, the whole hope for change within in society is so limited. and when the state is so crucial, people like you really can make the difference. people like you can really be a game changer and i mean it. it was never before that

israel and the united states share the same values but in those days. >> the only place on earth that donald trump is beloved and appreciated is israel. the only place that benjamin yahoo is admired at all, beloved is the united states. if this is not shared venues, what is shared values? some of my ex best friends are on their way now to the real thing. the aipac conference which will start this weekend. journalists, for or what i call as the annual drug dealers conference. >> they will discuss how many

more drugs will they sell to the israel occupation. how much more friendship will they express, how much more money and weapons. will they supply. and i can tell you in the united states as an israeli, we don't have a bigger enemy than the jewish lobby. we don't have a bigger enemy for justice, for peace , for equality then those who think that if you supply the drugs, you are his friend. that if you support him blindly and automatically, you are his friend. they are not friends, those are enemies and i can't tell

you how happy and proud i am to be here today and not there tomorrow.[applause] thank you. the title of my next book speaks on zionism and scientism is one of the two religions of israel. and as religion, as any religion, you can't question it. the second religion is obviously the religion of security so between zionism and security, anyone in israel who dares to raise any kind of question is immediately perceived as a traitor. it's impossible to describe what this means to say you have some questions about zionism.

that if you say this question today, the other religion, you claim the israeli idea of the israeli defense forces are not the most moral army in the world, they say they are the second moral army in theworld . we are getting at the eight of our mother even though my mother was not such a zealot, i think but it's hard to understand from the outside how an ideology became part of the dna. how an ideology became something which must be taken for granted and there's no room for any questions. i know it's about sense, i know how i grew up. i know what i thought about those very few who claimed there are not values so god forbid . so even though there were jews and israel ease. i don't recall one example of

which an ideology is so totalitarian, is so pained, is so holy that you have no right to put any kind of doubt, nothing about the past, nothing about the future, nothing about the present. nothing. it's unbelievable when you live in a state in which if you declare that you don't accept the ideology, you are not part of society. you have no place there, go to gaza, go to damascus. don't stay here. and this leads me to this idea because when it comes to zionism and friends, we have to face reality. when it comes to zionism, there's no difference in israel between left and right . when it comes to the occupation which is part and

parcel of zionism, there is no meaningful difference between left and right. >> .. those of you, and i know some of my is really friends, who are ready to open the bottles moan moment benjamin the time you will be impeached or go to jail and they will celebrate how israel is coming from darkness to light and how freedom and peace is around the corner because we've got rid of the tyrant and the right wing in the fastest and after this it is around the corner. as usual, i have been news for

you. because by the end of the day when you judge the real policy, not the rhetoric labor and left are having much most prophetic rhetoric between other sins that i committed and one of them was working for [inaudible] for years. he didn't stop talking about putting an end to the occupation and he didn't stop talking about not democratic, not justice, when people govern another people, beautiful, beautiful ideas that benjamin netanyahu in those right wing would never have said but by the end of the day nobel prize winner is the founding father of the settlements project. what do we get out of this nice

rhetoric except showing a nice piece for israel and doing the very, very same crimes. i am here, not to spread optimism, as you might know me by now but when it comes to the basic israel it is united. i still remember those days in which the joke was that free israeli, i'm sorry, that two israelis shared reviews. today three israelis share hardly one view and it will be not only [inaudible] but occupation and as you might know occupation is off the table and no one talks about it and no one discusses it and no one is concerned about the occupation and it is, you know, like one of those things like the rain and the sun is some like it and some like it less but no one

thanks that anything can be done about it. it doesn't other is so much that it's only half hour away from our homes but cares about it and the crimes are on a daily basis in the media hardly covers them and at least they cover them it will be always according to the mystic narrative, a terrorist of 12 and a girl of 15 with scissors in her hands as an accidental threat to the state of israel and a girl who is slapping the shoulder is someone who deserves a life and countless in this and a girl that one hour before her cousin was shot in his head the meters from his home so now the israeli

army claims that this was fabricated. even the israeli propaganda lost its shame. israel dares to claim that [inaudible] who i met a few days after he was injured he lost half of his brain and that he fabricated his injury and then you see that the israelis really are desperate. israel needs this kind of propaganda and if they are going solo and denying shooting in the heads of a child team and claiming that he fell from a bicycle then you know that things are getting worse and maybe it's a hope for a new beginning but right now look at how low does it get there.

and all those passing israeli society are acting as if nothing is happening and no questions but very little world out at all in the cover-up living in denial like never before. i cannot think about one society that lived in such denial like the israeli society. again it includes left and right except the very devoted extreme left x. let's remember this. they are small figures and totally with the legitimate eyes so what i speak about left i mean labor, the new promise of israeli politics and maybe the next prime minister and all the rest. in many ways they are worse than the right because they feel so good about themselves because

they are so sure that they are so human and universal and moral. while the whit right wingers sat they don't cover-up. what is wrong? we are jews and we have the right to be and no one will tell us what to do because we are the chosen people. when it comes to the central left as it is called, i can hardly pronounce it, central left what do those people have to do with left? but when it comes to the centerleft it's a rare combination in which you feel so good about yourself you're not one of those precious and not one of those nations that is racist, you are a liberal. but it must go on. in the [inaudible] must stay in jail forever and the child must continue because we have no

other choice. this brings me to set of values which i see as the core of israeli society nowadays. three or four sets of values which explain everything in my view. the first very deep-rooted value and let's face it is the value that we are the chosen people. religious and secular's will claim so and even if they don't admit it, they think so. the imitation is simple. if we are the chosen people, who are you to tell us what to do. who are you? who is the international community that should tell us the international laws wonderful things but it's a [inaudible] on any other place in her because we are the chosen people. we are asylum-seekers, 80% of

[inaudible] are recognized as refugees in europe and you know how many of them in israel? less than 1%. less than 1%. why so? because we are a special case. you don't expect us to absorb 40000 asylum-seekers -- but how can you expect us -- we can't. we are the chosen people. we don't need to prove it. the second very deep-rooted value is obviously the very we, the victims, not only the biggest victims but the only victims around. i know many occupations which were longer than is really occupations, some were even more brutal even though it's getting harder and harder to be more brutal than these israeli

occupation but i don't recall one occupation in which the occupier presented himself as the victim, not only the victim but the only victim. crazier, and to cohere the late golda near but she was so unforgettable i have to use it again she once said that we will never forgive the arabs for forcing us to kill their children. we are the victims and we are forced to kill their children. as the victim and the only victim in history again it enables us to do whatever we want and no one is going to tell us what to do because we are the only victims. to this there is a period deep-rooted value and this is very the police again everyone

denies but if you stretch under the skin of almost every israeli will find it there. the palestinians are not equal human beings like us. they're not like us. they don't love their children like us. they don't love life like us. they were born to kill. they are cool. they are sadists. they had no values and no manners. look how they kill us. this is very, very deep-rooted in israeli society and maybe that is the key. as long as this continues nothing will move. as long as most of the israelis don't perceive the palestinians is equal human beings we are so much better than them and we are so much developed in them and we are so much human than them and as long as this is the case all

our dreams and we have some dreams and will get to them but all are dreams will never become true as long as this core issue will not change. you have a society with a deep conviction in its justice and it's right way with very, very few? 's and anyone who dares to raise a question immediately in a systematic way is immediately erased, demolished, it's unbelievable how this machinery works in israel. we are talking here about how efficient the jewish lobby here and look at the jewish lobby in israel. they're breaking the silence. for years we were dreaming about the day that soldiers would stand up and say and not give the levees the trader, all the stories about the israeli crimes

but no, soldiers committed those crimes will just come and testify about what they have been doing. here it came. over 1000 testimonies of soldiers who in a very brave way give their testimonies about what they have been doing in occupied territories the years. this should have been in any healthy society and what happened? nothing. breaking the silence will immediately delegitimize by an establishment with the typical corporation with the media and i'm afraid to say that society is questioning. this is just one example. israeli society especially the last years has a very clear intention to crush any kind of criticism from within and

outside. this will has gone through legislation campaigns through the media and it is just in its beginning. in this way i must say there might be a slight difference between the so-called left and right in israel because the is really left has some kind of commitment at least four the democracy for the juice. as you might know israelis may be the only place on earth with three regimes. we are having three regimes one is the so-called liberal democracy for which jerusalem which has many critics now but it is stable, questioning, i have total freedom in israel and this bus train must be mentioned here. i write whatever i want and appear on tv and i can't claim

that someone is shutting my mouth except the people in the streets would like to see me spit at me or threatening me but by the end of the day this freedom which i don't take for granted it might not last for long isn't there. that's the first regime and then comes the second regime, a discriminating regime called the israeli palestinians. the is really citizens who are palestinians and 20% of the population and they are discriminated in any possible aspect of life but they gain formal equal civil rights. the vote. the elect. they can be voted and elected. that's the second regime. obviously, the third regime which is the military occupation, the military regime of the occupied territories.

here i allow myself to say no doubt that this is today one of the most brutal rule, taiwanese honor, not less than this. i repeat the military occupation of the occupied territories is one of the brutalist, cool tyrannies on earth. how dare can someone call israel the only democracy in the middle east when in its backyard there is one of the most cool, brutal tyrannies in the world. how can you do it? can you be half democratic? can you be a democracy and fought entirely in your backyard? and here comes the next lie that we should fight. the claim that it is all temporary. no, my friends, it was never

meant to be temporary. it is not temporary and it will not be temporary if it depends on israel. there was never an israeli statesman important position or a prime minister who really meant to prevent to the occupation, none of them and some of them wanted to gain time in order to strengthen the occupation and some others wanted to gain time by getting all kinds of interim agreements, just for gaining time. some others wanted to be perceived by the world to be hugged by the world as people of peace but none of them had the intention to put an end to the occupation. how do i know that? i don't know what is in their hearts and i know only one thing. israel had never stopped

building settlements. anyone who builds one house in occupied territory has no intention of whatsoever to put an end to the occupation. [applause] and those plus should be called. and here i come to you all. as i'm very, very skeptical about change from within the israeli society because life in israel is far too good and the system is far too efficient and to have a dialogue today with most of the israelis even for me almost an impossible job really in many times i find myself together capturing where we meet ordinary israelis, good people they would volunteer anywhere

but when you start to talk to them about occupation after two minutes you want to tear your hair. you don't know what to do and you don't know where to start. brainwash is so deep in the denial is so deep in the ignorance they do nothing and anyone in this hall knows so much more about the occupation then and he is really putting those who and they know nothing and what they know is wrong. so expect a change from within the society when restaurants and when life is beautiful and when there is hardly terror in israel and hardly, even with a call terror those exploding buses and all those things, the only [inaudible] is not in tel aviv. tel aviv is living a very

peaceful secure vice so expect the society to stand up and say no more what incentive? as long as this balance is that is really are either gaining out of occupation or not paying anything for it and as long as any kind of israeli doesn't see that the occupation is something we should think about why should he be bothered? he is not punished and even if he is paid he does not meet the language because even if they were those years of which were really buddy with exploding buses and suicide bombers no one made the linkage to the occupation. if you dare to make this you would be immediately seen as a traitor because out there you just buy terror.

they explode buses because they were has something to do with the occupation. they want to know progress or change even after [inaudible]. if life was so good there is no reason to go for a change and therefore they hope to change from within is very minimal and again with all respect to those groups were fighting and not giving up who are struggling going to demonstrate every friday in another village against the occupation and against all those things wonderful people including many, many young people but finally it is a small group being delegitimized and therefore people like me and my only hope is for people like you and right now that is the only hope. your hearing here today all day including from very

knowledgeable lecture figures that are depressing even me. the jewish lobby is so strong. but by the end of the day let's see it in a more realistic way. they're moving now. big victory for israel. big victory for the occupation and by the end of the day what does it mean? it means that the united states has declared officially the death of the two state solution and it means that the united states has declared officially what we knew for many years that the united states is not and cannot be a fair mediator and it declared united states is officially a friend of the

occupation and only of the occupation. it declared officially that the funeral of the two state solution and the funeral of america as a mediator in the middle east went its way already. for the longer i see it as an achievement and of a masquerade and of the masquerade and the lip services and i'm very grateful would be surprised it's donald trump that brought us there. now i just feel sorry for one person but this is not so much. i really feel so much empathy and sorrow for ambassador david freeman. [laughter] he will have to move from his [inaudible] from the sea to this lovely villa brought to jerusalem and believe me, he deserves it. [laughter]

the ambassador of the settlement with the costume of the american even though the is the ambassador of the settlement project and not all sediments just the extreme ones is the if there is a difference will have to move to jerusalem. what is a bigger gift for all of us than to see him among the [inaudible], among the tension and among the border police every quarter with all the violence and tension in occupation and every step you step in jerusalem what will be more of a gift than to see him there rather than to see him in front of the see of the city? so, we should not give up. and if i may -- with all my modesty, my ideas for what you should do, who am i to tell you

and i hardly know what to tell myself to do but still i sought in three main issues right now. one must be to fight this unbelievable process of location and of criticizing israel. this must stop and we shouldn't give up. we heard today that it's not only about [inaudible] anymore but about any critic of israel. the fact that someone who raises his voice for justice is criminalized is first of all, a domestic problem. what kind of society is this and what kind of society is this if it criminalizes those who support justice and praises those who support the violations of international law and of

crime so this should be one of our goals not to give up. and when they call you anti-semites these are in europe they get paralyzed. if you call someone an anti- semite in europe he's paralyzed. and they take advantage of it and of the very many public way. don't let them. you should be proud in raising your voice and be [inaudible] it's the right game in town. [applause] bds is a legitimate tool israeli is using to call boycott hamas and iran and you have the full ride not to buy products from sweatshops in south asia and you have the full right not to buy

products from a shop which sells meat and you have the full right not to buy products from a country or from an area that you feel that something is wrong there. what does it mean that you should apologize for boycotting something that deserves boycott? and bds, one can claim, they have not yet reported about real success, economical successes maybe, but we have one proof white bds is the right thing to do. look at how israel gets nervous at bds. if they get so nervous about it you can know that is the right way.

[applause] if you will invite me next year or in two years i'm not sure i will be able to say those sentences because those sentences very soon will become a violation of israeli law. you're not allowed to call people to boycott israel but challenge them. the second challenge that i see for you is to try to adhere specialness country this lie that israel is the only democracy in the middle east. we needed desperately and it's all about the truth and all about telling the people the truth and as i say before a state which possesses one of the most brutal tyrannies on earth cannot be called a democracy. in the last guy that you have to

fight or i allow myself to suggest is the lie that all this is temporary. after 50 years of occupation why would we say up to 50 years. after one of the occupation and after 70 years of occupation but 48 never stopped and let's remember it's the same policy and those are the same methods in the same lies in the same brainwash and the same explanations and excuses and as long as this continues no one can claim this is temporary. it is there to stay and we should call the bluff and say

this: a nihilistic project is no intention to come to its end even though here and there there are politicians so. no. you never had them intention to put an end and you don't have it. as it says zero, zero, zero in my timer is it an appreciation for my [inaudible] and in any case my last sentence would be what should be the solution and it was mentioned here and therefore i'm not getting into elaborating on it but i just feel committed to say so and for many years was a great supporter of the two state solution and i thought the two state session was the reason the world had an achievable solution, total

justice will never be achieved in this part of the world but i thought this would be a relatively fair, just solution, even though a lot of injustice is about dealing with 22% of the palestinians and 70% to the juice while we are facing today i don't know how many of you are familiar with the dramatic effect that today already today between the jordan river and the mediterranean there are exactly 5050 and 6 million jews and 6 million palestinians. if you count two half-million in the west bank, two in gaza into israel you get over 6 million palestinians and there are 6 million jews roughly speaking and maybe i'm wrong but in some figures it is roughly half and half. two people's equal right now.

if someone thanks that one people can dominate another people and let's get back to the title of this talk, the basic of zionism is that there is one people which is privileged over the other and that's the core. this cannot go on. if it goes on it is only one name and it will be called apartheid. i totally joined your analysis today which i learned a lot of and others even if it sounds like utopia and even if it sounds like something unthinkable it is time for us to change the discourse in time for us to talk about equal rights

and about one person one vote and let's challenge israel, israel will say no and then we can officially declare israel as a apartheid state because there is no other way. if you deny equal rights you are not a democracy officially. there is no question of point of view or opinion. israeli will say no but we shouldn't give up because by the end of the day i truly believe that palestinians and israelis and jews can live together. we tried it in the past and it is being tried today and all kinds of small frameworks. we can live together and i'd rather have probably me, a palestinian prime minister then a [inaudible] or benjamin netanyahu.

[applause] by the end of the day we should be clear about the vision and we should understand that there is very a long way to go. we're just in the beginning but at least for me unlikely there will be other years which i continue to say almost out of my sleep two state solution, two state solution knowing that it will never happen. knowing that no one will effectuate 700,000 citizens, knowing that no one means to do it and that's the basic problem. so we have a vision and we have meanwhile some goals and there is so much work to do for you and for us and let's not waste more time on talking. thank you very much. [applause]

>> we've got time for a couple of questions. as he managed to outpace a lot of these questions is rather easy. i will let him take a sip of water first but one of the questions is could be occupation continue to exist without the united states support, please elaborate back on. [laughter] >> can the occupation continue? yes but can continue without the united states, even for a few months? this must be clear.

it would have been an american president who would really like to move to the end of the occupation the occupation would've ended a long time ago. there was never any american president who wanted it. can i stand here so i can see everyone? thank you. then you don't know who is talking. >> the other question is extremely interesting and an esteemed scholar made this argument to me last night. i will not say who it was but his first name starts with an end and his second name starts with an asset. anyway this is his argument. it says what do you say to those who say that bds furthers israeli narratives about the victims and needing security? >> that is a very good question. we know from that part that many times pressure from the outside

united israel but only for the first time for the first while. the first period of time. by the end of the day we have to confront the israelis with their reality because that is connected. i want to see the television who will realize that he wants to go to europe he needs a visa. that he wants to export some of his goods he is going to work very hard to do so, if at all, and then he will ask himself is it worth it and is it really worth it and i can assure you that after the first rhetoric that we are all united against the whole world which is always against us and they all hate us then rationality will come into the picture. i once thought that austrian airlines could bring peace. how can this be? because in the last of israel in

gaza in 2014 some airlines stop find israel and it happens to be austria was the first one. i think it lasted 20 hours but in those 20 hours israel went mad. israeli lost their temper and it was crazy and i said imagine yourself but the airlines declares that as long as the occupation continues the alliance is not flying to israel. the occupation comes with and without dates. when israelis will be rented to get to macy's for their shopping or to get to [inaudible] in paris for their shopping this will be the day that the

occupation will be over. [applause] >> this question says that it seems many israelis have become fully disillusioned simply leave israel and is there any hope of israel changing from within when you have so many people >> we can't count on this. yes, there are good israelis can't take it anymore and some of them are leaving. i hear more and more is really parents which i never heard before he wished that their children would not stay there. i never heard of this before because it was a catastrop catae some of the children would leave. you view it more and more in certain circles but by the end

of the day when we look at the figures those are not meaningful figures. yes, there are some good ones leave and yes many more are talking about it but at the end of the day this will not be a game changer not for the timing. >> last question in. it says you have many readers in israel and abroad and you can save it and say so many things to the journalist in the united states can't seem to find a way to do. why is it that you get to be getting it and no one else does? [laughter] >> as if it is such a great fun to be gideon levy. [laughter] i wish i wasn't. i wish i was a restaurant

critic. [laughter] going from one restaurant to the other and speak my truth about the food i had and no one would raise this question. it is not for me to answer. as i said here last time and i always say i was really a good boy in tel aviv and i was really raised up to be something else and something went wrong. but now it is too late to correct it. i'm trying but i really don't have any other choice but to continue. many times people say keep up your good work and so on and so forth and i don't have any other choice. it's not a question of choice. i'm drawn to it. [applause] seriously speaking, the fact that i can still raise my voice

as i said before should not be taken for granted. if this regime and this government we will continue with the same way it will continue with us as well. [inaudible] is an island in israel. it is not israel. haaretz is a island in a stormy, stormy ocean. they do everything possible to close haaretz down. the fact that i have such a wonderful home with such really, i don't think there's one publisher in the world when gets a protest of the subscriber was very angry and you know what he tells them? he says haaretz is not amusement for you. don't read it. a publisher who was really struggling on the existence of

any we are really struggling on each reader and each subscriber and he said, it is not for you. it is not for you. there is very little hope but maybe it's good to include this after all with some hope and optimism and as long as haaretz is there, i will be there hopefully as long as this voice is still being raised maybe there is a hole. i don't know. inc. you so much for coming today. [applause] >> the next panel, will you please approach.

[inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations]

>> we expect this daylong conference to continue in about two minutes or so. they will be looking at the palestinian bds campaign. will have live coverage when he was in. he also would let you know that we will be covering on the c-span networks beginning monday the american israel public affairs conference, the aipac conference and speakers on monday include senator amy hope shar of minnesota, tom con of arkansas and a whole host of others as well. we will have coverage on the c-span networks and keep you covered on her plate. we can also let you know this evening the funeral was held the reverend billy graham in charlotte north carolina and here is a library there and we will re- air that night and that is on the c-span. ahead of that on c-span tonight supreme court justice dealing with public sector employees and union fees that is janice first the american federation of state

county fissionable employees argue this week and the oral argument will care for you tonight o'clock eastern on c-span. until the conference resumes with the next panel part of the earlier portion of the national press club. >> ladies and gentlemen, once again, good morning. thank you for our patience as we try to stay on time and on schedule today. our next panel addresses an issue at the very heart of our country's identity, the right to free speech. in an effort to control the debate on israel on college campuses and elsewhere pro-israel groups have increasingly looked at legal measures to limit and my speech of those human rights. the first panelists or are two bayless will offer insight into these efforts and how to push back against first amendment questions. the first speaker is doctor barry trachtenberg, deborah k

rubin at wake forest university. a scholar of jewish history and the nazi holocaust he earned his phd in history at ucla and a postgraduate diploma in jewish studies at oxford university. prior to joining wake forest in the 16 was an associate professor and director of programs in judaic studies and studies at the state university of new york university at albany. an interim director from 2010-2012 at the university center studies rick is the other two books including the new with the least 2018 the united states and the nazi holocaust race, refuge and remembrance which you will be signing later today. on november 7 the last year he testified before a house judiciary committee hearing on anti-semitism on college campuses which sought expert opinions on legislation that passed with legally defined anti-semitism in a way that many fear is designed to curtail activity critical of israel.

today he will address challenging the anti-semitism awareness act, pushing back against jewish exceptionalism and politics. [applause] >> it's an honor to be invited to speak into the. it's nice because congress gives you a buzzer with five minutes so it's nice to have 18 for the red light appears. it's an honor to be on this panel with bob who has been a model of scholarly activism on the issue of justice for palestinians and a target and an unrelenting heaving to discredit her and her work. how to beat your warm-up act today. as we know for several years there's been a global campaign towards nonviolence bds movement involves governments around the world including israel and the uk in france and many state and local governments here in the united states have likewise declared the citizens risk being

punished not to do business with israel. we know the statutes are clear violation of free speech guarantees and while they tend to not stand up to a constitutional challenge they are enacted by politicians who are pandering to what they we see as american jewish voters monolithic piece of israel. although it's a nonviolent form of protest the precut is frequently equated with terrorism and supporters are cast as extremists and anti-semites. a quick side to highlight the absurdity of this legislation new york state where i used to live is boycotting north carolina where i now live over the bathroom bill that discriminates against transgender's persons and that same year they passed anti- bds education said that boycotts are inherently discriminatory. there you go. however, regardless of whether or not the sort of legislation constitutional the effective it is to suppress criticism of israel thereby sustaining the occupation of palestinian. as a consequence they engage in

self-censorship criticizes real for fear of being slandered and in some cases even having their livelihoods threatened and destroyed as we know it. campaign against bds has also been effective at attracting our attention away from focusing on the fidelity of the occupation itself. as a scholar and activist [inaudible] has argue that we argue about the merits of bds, the occupation intensifies and too often we don't recognize our own capacity minutes. as american taxpayers whose government and civilians and us military hardware and scholars whose universities set up strategic partnerships in israeli universities and businesses and speaking for myself as pressure of jewish history of professional organizations are implicated in support of the occupation. another front in this campaign to restrict freedom of political expression of the attempt by members of congress in the last year to introduce legislation called the anti-semitism

awareness act which would amend title vi of the civil rights act of 1964 by declaring their anti-semitism is a violation under it. on the basis that the legislation what looks encouraging one might reportedly be supportive particularly since the rise of the trump presidency which emboldened white supremacist once again target jewish communities. this reason it's a measure failed to the senate in the last legislative session. yet the truth is the legislation is also an attempt to suppress student activism and academic speech in support of palestinian right. the effect of this bill is to define opposition to israel and i semitism and to equate judaism with zionism into sanctions schools to met activism from occurring on their campuses. as a legislation against bds the fact would likely not withstand constitutional challenges but it, too, is stripping how college campuses talk about anti-semitism and and consent with political activism against

the occupation. it responded by going activism on college campuses that challenge israeli occupation by palestinian groups and voice for peace. they were often working to pass bds resolutions on their campuses. backers of this legislation such as anti-defamation league, a pack, christian zionist groups have distant generally portrayed campuses ever more hostile and dangerous to do students and that american universities are hotbeds of anti-semitism because of that's from pro- palestinian activists. this produces a set of academic studies and i put that in quotes that purport to documents arise anti-semitism on campus. a close reading of most of the studies demonstrates at each of them the research definition anti-semitism includes activities that are critical of israel and american complicity in the occupation. given the student activism against occupations on the rise of the studies are more accurately read as a testament to nasty to hossein spencer rising anti- jewish hatred.

to be clear tax and your students were being jewish is unquestionably repellent and must not be tolerated but the truth is the old racist and religiously based anti-semitism such as we shone charlottesville the summer where torch being martyrs. not the confederate flags and chanted you jews will not replace us and murdered a protester is still present in the united states and requires vigilance and persistence resistance. however as backers of this bill care little about white battling white supremacy. if not it's what this legislation addresses. it's curbing speech that threatens the occupation of palestine. it i semitism awareness act relies upon the state department classification of anti-semitism which is itself appropriated from the working definition of anti-semitism of the european monetary center on race and schism and the phobia a definition created for research not governmental policy. as well intentioned as deterrence concern for

anti-semitism maybe it find in the semitism so broadly as to include criticism of israel's state, declined israel to be a race estate or by refusing to accept that israel is an expression of jewish self-determination. even if the author of the original working definition free speech can stern who is close to the academic boycott has despite that the definition was not drafted and was never intended as a tool or to target speech on a college campus. in fact this determines definition of the legislation based upon so poorly constructed and entirely unusable. for example, it insist that an instance of anti-semitism is quote, accusing jewish citizens of the more loyal to israel than to the interest of their own nation". this is one of the funny promises of zionism. can determinism started in 1920

or pan africanism and the first half of the 20th century particular showed us that as other marginalized groups do citizenship in any particular country cannot be so taken for granted. the founders of zionism concluded that regardless of where they live jewish people have more in common with each other than non- jews. this can be traced back to the founder of zionism himself, theodore herself who argued for the jewish state but anti-semitism is back to modern existence and jews are one people and that it is useful for us to be loyal patriots. elsewhere the definition states that denying the jewish people the right to self determination and nine israel right to exist is anti-semitism. this ignores the plurality of use inside israel. as much is the adl, aipac and other groups testified to congress they would like to assert they are unequivocally not the spokesperson for all of

american jewish people who mainly feel that israel should not support israel's occupation of the west bank. some for strains of zionism groups of jewish people and american rejected nationalism some it was out of loyalty and others a commitment to universal ideals of equality and human rights. many jews today since 1948 the state of israel decidedly not an expression of jewish self-determination. for another, the question of israel's right to exist is not the same thing as its right to exist as a jewish state if that existence is predicated on the displacement and depression of the non- jews within its borders. given the flaws in the state department and has no place and keep speech. although discussions around israel and zionism may often be uncomfortable for its supporters and detractors like something i witnessed in my class most semesters its ability students

is to foster dialogue and not too limited, to understand the historical indications of her speech and to allow for the meaning and definition of broad terms to develop and change in a consequence of informed the liberation and debate. probably difficult. the definition of anti-semitism that can be used for legislative purposes. the root of the current base of anti-semitism lies in the problem of how to critique to us collect power in a way that does not immediately resonate with a long history of anti-semitism. the last thousand years of european history jews were regularly characterized as an commencement and elements that sought to undermine the established religious political or economic order. the accuser painkillers of christ seeking to repeat this event with the murder of innocent christian children. such accusations a time led to blood libel list, first conversions in exile. in more recent centuries jews were characterized simultaneously as shippers of national identity and is disloyal citizens, capitalist schemers and subversives. such allegations lead to disciplinary legislation riots,

explosions and violence. in the early 20th century jews were branded as a biological and racial pride and entire armies was up to exterminate them. in each of these moments jews were imagined as united group that possessed power and authority far beyond their actual numbers. in 1948 with the founding of israel a solution to anti-semitism the situation changed dramatically. for the first time has significant number of jews identified as a national group gained actual and not military power. i'm sorry, not imaginary power. today the state of israel has borders, police, courts, military, nuclear arsenal, political parties in a marginally democratic system at least for its jewish should distance. like all other states its actions are and must be permitted to be a matter of public debate and discuss within the community and outside of it. the problem in part is that were learning how to talk about

israel's actual power and repeated claims to present jews all over the world in ways that do not seemingly echo much older and anti-semitic depictions of imaginary jewish power. this is in part because the long history of hatred in the west but also because as easy legislative initiatives such as anti-semitism or an exact we moved to stop bds to characterize any speech as critical of israel as intrinsically anti-semitic as a highly effective a tool employed by those who uncritically support every action israel and seeks to stigmatize criticism. considering the multiple in consolation forms of anti-semitism that have emerged since the term anti-semitism first appeared in germany's and of 19th century it is wrong for congress to establish legal authority on the definition of anti-semitism that is so contested. to insist that israel cannot be protested or objected to intimidate the jewish court power cannot be analyzed or debated or to conclude that jews

because they were once victims of one of humanity's greatest genocidal crimes are somehow immune from becoming perpetrators of acts of violence against other people but only reinforces the police that jews are fundamentally different. moreover and perhaps dangers of it all attempts to broaden the definition of anti-semitism that clearly is not anti-semitic and cannot only make it more difficult sorry, can only make it more difficult to recognize and isolate and oppose anti- semitic when it appears. although it appears that legislation in congress installed and maybe that it advocates also get their way but last month congress affirmed the commitment and they lost the strategist and the group that's been targeting and is head of the department of education's office for civil rights. marcus will now be in a position to implement the state farm and

definition and continue his long decades effort to press academic speech and campus activism that is critical of israel. so, to conclude, in the invitation letter we were asked to offer some type of hope in these difficult times. [laughter] it's true, we were. first thing i want to say is that during the break i checked my phone and i saw the news that benjamin netanyahu was question for five hours by the police. i take that as a good sign. [applause] on the eve of the aipac conference it seems to be a good thing and shove it shalom. [laughter] if we are serious about anti-semitism then we have to commit ourselves to ending the act occupation of palestine. these are intertwined struggles. we have to recognize that it doesn't exist in a vacuum and we have to think about it in these exceptional ways. instead we need to look at history as part of the modern

legacy of racial discrimination and persecution. in the present moment there is no exception. instead of perpetuating a narrative of jewish exceptionalism by clearing that somehow the only country we cannot criticize on college campuses is israel right instead of draw from earlier periods of america history were jews link their fates to other people. as italian jewish workers organize together or labor unions and as jewish contributed to the naacp and his jewish college students participated in voter agreement drive in desegregation campaigns with african-americans in the south and religious figures help foster post world christian dialogue in mutual understanding jewish merchants have an opportunity to forge alliances in combating hatred and intolerance. it was a coalition of palestinian rights organizations both arab and jewish that came

together to stop the advancement of the anti-semitism artifact in the house. the very next day on november 8 petition with over 20000 signatures was delivered to the anti-defamation league by jewish voice for peace demanding that the adl stop facilitating place trainings between israeli and american law officials. [applause] that same day lawsuits were thrown out by a judge recognized that the weakness of the complaint so there are reasons to hope. keep fighting and continue working side-by-side with one another to create bonds of solitary. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. our next speaker is doctor [inaudible] but the director and senior scholar in the arab and muslim ethnicities and associate professor of ethnic studies and resistant studies at san francisco state university. she is a cofounder and editorial

board member of the islamaphobia studies journal which is co- editing the forthcoming issue on gender, sexuality and racism. she is co-author of mobilizing democracy, changing us policy in the middle east and co- editor of arab and arab american semitism's gender violence and belonging which is for sale here today. her work has appeared in seven languages in academic journals and she was winner of the 2012 national arab american nonfiction book award. as many are you aware and was referenced she at the has been the target of a lawsuit says it promotes the hostile student produced students but it was out in november. her bio and work show that she is not left to the smear campaign to define her career and we are pleased to welcome her to discuss how and why the israel lobby is suppressing free speech and academic freedom and campus campuses.

[applause] >> good morning. thank you for having me. i also want to acknowledge and begin acknowledge that we are convening [inaudible] and i want to acknowledge the people who are fighting the in and out of all forms of racism and racial dissemination from the people who are fighting against white supremacy to the people who are fighting against and i semitism, islamaphobia and anti- arabs, nation as well as people who are trying to clean up washington. thank you for having me. [applause] last week, oh, i need to come here. last week president trump issued a statement that [inaudible] is

not welcome on cancer he met with members of hello and he came out with the statement that i can share the slide with people. for my presentation i wanted to answer a few questions. what does david mean to welcome sign as to campus and what is the history behind his statement and how it relates to our discussion of israeli lobby and where do we go from here. immediately after he issued a statement i issued a statement right away in which san francisco state is a banding at social justice mission by welcoming zionists and i called upon people to reclaim the social justice of san francisco state as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1968 san francisco [inaudible]. i also argued as people have already before me there is no equivalence between zionism,

israel and anti-semitism. they are not one and the same. what happened also in addition to my statement is there were multiple statements published that day black students union published a statement along with other black student group on campus and those groups against zionism has emerged and jewish voice for peace published a statement condemning president statements saying we would not have seen 15 years ago or 11 years ago when i joined san francisco. this is something that is important to the argument that he is making. things are changing. the tide has turned and i think we need to keep that in mind. when we know that the tide has turned we know that will not become more vicious and they will target us more and try to

virus. i sent another statement last week also citing the worst of richard spencer who said an israeli tv that i'm a white zionist as well as the son of benjamin netanyahu who basically trash people who argued and organized against white supremacist in charlottesville and said that organizers around palestinian rights are more damaging. obviously, we know where the alliances are. meeting with hello what does it stand for and i would just read a couple of points. wherever we stand, we stand with israel. he led as a national organization that is involved in silencing us it does not allow jewish to belong to its who are does not allow [inaudible]. one of the questions we are raising is against zionism, israel and jews are one of the same and barry has talked with that so i will not get into it but we have a history of silencing palestine at san francisco state. what is going on with the lawsuit that the judge dismissed

on november 8 but give them leave to amend so they may come back and they already said that they will be amending. it's aided by a law form in san francisco that is almost a thousand hours pro bono and i have two incredibly pro bono lawyers for standing by me day in and day out and i would not change them for anybody. [applause] justice is on our side. that is important. but who is attacking palestine and it's what we call in blood the industry network. as the international jewish and zionist network report of 2015 it outlines who are some of these donors in the fact that is really government also has millions of dollars in the so were not talking about [inaudible]. were talking about people who are organized and these are the list of the group and i don't

have time to go into it but the only two groups that are not directly although we're getting public record request is the brand [inaudible] friends of idf have been called and copied on e-mails but although we do have is really soldiers on campus that continue to be in active duty in the israeli army. so we are calling this [inaudible] and the reason for saying this is because it's exactly as mccarthy in the 50s work. and what it does is that it attaches federalism label and it insights islamaphobia by building us as terraced and peanut in their minds. it engages anti- semitic smear and it spreads misinformation for allegation and the university invents new ambiguous legislation -- >> he said the most potent weapon in their equal rights fight is boycott investment in

sanction. it's a global movement that aims to generate significant economic and political pressure on israel that will ultimately force it to give palestinians their equal rights. israel and its supporters in the west view bds as an existential threat because it takes aim at apartheid, a morally repugnant political system that is universally condemned. here to talk about the palestinian bds campaign what it is and how it is growing and why the effort to stop it will fail is andrew, and organizer and committee member of the us campaign for palestinian rights. he's a blogger at the electron electronic, a member of [inaudible] the palestinian policy network and he has written for or appeared in the guardian, usa today, the crt, city lab, the new york daily

news and the bbc. i put them organizing students for justice in palestine and for the past 16 years he has mobilized students and activists at the grassroots level. he's organized digital campaigns and raise awareness and advocated change. please, come to the podium and we are so happy to have you. [applause] >> thank you for having me here. let's see if it's feasible to have this water on the podium. it is. so, i'm going to jump right in. i do need to get my -- everybody pray to the clicker god. wonderful. there we go. great.

resistance to israeli politics, repression and military occupation including the martial law that was imposed on palestinian citizens of israel between 1948 and 1966 is nothing new. in the 1930s palestinians carried out a general strike shutting down centers of commerce and bringing popular protest to the streets. in the 1980s as most of you are aware the first uprising happened and was wave of popular protest that included guerrilla schooling meaning like people sneaking around from house to house in order to be able to continue their education in light of israeli and it involves a boycott of israeli product and israeli taxation. the first thing to follow was mostly recognized by images of young palestinians throwing stones at armored is really soldiers and vehicles and you may remember the time that [inaudible] had the saying about how they will break their bones for those who are throwing

stones. i didn't mean to make it right. many palestinians was being decided to stop paying the taxes demanded of them by the israeli military and in the town of [inaudible] they decided that they would replace israeli products by using their own cows to produce them as depicted in the film the wanted 18 which hopefully some of you have seen. if you have seen it israel declared the israeli military declared the national security threat to the state of israel and disperse them in their popular protest. in the 2000 the second broke out and though it was largely armed it also saw unarmed protest spreading drop palestinian villages particularly along the route of israel's walls. they were crushed by a heavily armed israeli presence. then we come to 1993 where

[inaudible] conceded most of the historic palestinian homeland for the promise of having a state on 22% of it and that led to the [inaudible] but instead as most of you probably know between 1993 and 2000 that number of settlers almost doubled and by now it has nearly tripled. the agreement also made space for a lot of joint israeli-palestinian adventures that in the name of peace even though the military occupation continued. in 2000 for the international court of justice or icj rolled the law had to come down due to its route and judging it illegal and also reiterating that settlements were illegal. notably there was not a state response to this and at this point palestinians for the past couple of years had been meeting with their south african counterparts and learning more and better on the same or the struggle against south african apartheid.

there we go. in 2005 over 170 palestinians decided that it was time to enforce the ruling and called for a south africa style boycott. that call has three demands, equality for palestinian citizens of israel and and the occupation in dismantling its walls and the right of return from palestinian refugees. as you can see this is the modern-day incarnation where it's a boycott national committee which is maintain the boycott and is a white swap of society including trade unions, faith-based organizations, students and many more. this bds coalition basically represents hundreds of thousands if not millions of palestinians through these organizations. what is the value of the tactic person-to-person from its value is that this focuses the discourse on what israel is

doing and is not simply become a debate about whether there is or is not an occupation it comes a discussion of palestinian rights. ultimately the campaigns you are able to educate people about these campaigns but with an end goal in mind rather than simply having the debate, walking away and nothing changes. this is a rights -based disbursement this is no longer solutions, states and just land but human rights, a single palestinian body and an indigenous preparation. they are one people. this also addresses our complicity in the us and internationally because as you all know and have heard here today israel is singled out by the us for some $4 billion a year in aid, unlimited veto power with one exception recently and nonprofit status for organizations that are funding the israeli military in israeli settlements. this is a tactic with history. as you all know in montgomery in

california the great boycott and in south africa most famously. in south africa some of the successes that came about a seven year campaign pressuring polaroid led to south africa cutting ties and in the year 1986 alone barclays, coca-cola, ibm, general motors and kodak all either withdrew from south africa or cut their ties and explicitly cited apartheid. imagine the corporations actually being honest about why they are leaving. in fact that year at least 22 us companies cut ties to apartheid south africa. in one instance for company did not the shell corporation was actually punished by new jersey states which refuse to allow them to operate service stations on the new jersey turnpike and that was as late as 1991. this boycott is one of the israeli state israeli companies and international companies that

are participating in israel violation of palestinian rights. you can see here some of the corporations that have been targeted over the past ten years and caterpillar is one that i haven't pictured here but has been prominently featured in boycott campaigns. that's right. hewlett-packard is featured here and has been a major part of campaigns recently. i'm going to start with few cases one of which is an israeli businessman who fourth magazine described as the king of diamonds has funded and built israeli settlements and a campaign targeting him sought unicef, oxfam, the uk government and celebrities all distance themselves from him. he was hit with divestment by one of the largest investment banks in the world, blackrock. the norwegian pension fund in others. his company which after only three years of campaigning against them announced they were no longer involved in

settlements and later we discovered was buying and continue to operate in israeli settlements but most recently after ten years of protest in crated action in front of the stores he his flagship has closed in new york city as has three other stores that he was operating from. another company is a multinational security firm that you would be patrolling a local business or an embassy but you will also see working in us prisons for example. the company was helping operate is really presence providing equipment and services to israeli military checkpoints and military and police billing for the campaign targeting them sought the united methodist church shall shares as well as the bill and melinda gates foundation which markedly sold over $180 million in shares after a campaign pressuring. in durham, north carolina they start working with the local giving the cost the company a million dollars and later a very large, 132 million-dollar contract with the bdc was lost

after campaign targeting the bbc. eventually g4 asked .-ellipsis leaving and selling off its israel operations and as you can see that has already started. [inaudible] is a french multinational that cross the greenline and was running waste management in israeli settlements. you can imagine that. that means dumping waste onto palestinian villages. they lost over $20 million in contracts due to boycotts and actually at some point a financial analyst presenting at the company's shareholders meeting acknowledge that fact. they lost out on contracts across the globe but those included st. louis, missouri here in the us where they began to become the subject of a more ural debate. that means two main candidates decided to debate over whether they should or should not come out to operate. eventually it announced that it was selling off its is really assets and was the $20 billion that did it.

i mixed up. the boycott is also a cultural one in the boycott is a cultural and academic as wellin addition to economics. unlike in south africa i don't know how many people are playing with it but the boycott was a blanket boycott so there was no exceptions. but in this case there are exceptions on the palestinian side. i can get into that in the q&a. the biggest part of the south african boycott was sports boycott which meant a lot to south africa. mind you this is what normalize south africa within the international community is they were a major participant in cricket and rugby and at the olympics. they were basically kicked out of the olympics and banned from the cricket world cup's. i know most of us don't watch cricket but on the cultural side artists across the spectrum decided to boycott south africa and as you know there was the famous city song that was

produced by [inaudible] and so it is -- what is that -- so it is that we moved to israel. [inaudible] was launched in 2005 and expanded is basically a branding campaign for the state and in 2009 the deputy director for the ministry of foreign affairs told "the new york times" we will send a well-known novelist and novelist overseas, theater companies the state you show israel's prettier face so we are not thought of purely in the context of war. after 2009 israel started to do things like creating a brand ambassador and if you look up someone told lyon he was the first israeli brand ambassador. the boycott has actually been endorsed by significant number of artists. give me one moment. i think i am out of order.

including, as you can see, roger waters who decided that he would perform in israel and the later decided that was a bad decision and announced his support for a boycott of israel. cassandra wilson, santana canceled in 2010 and later decided to go back. of course, the moral deacon of the world snoop dogg canceled his concert in israel. additionally you have found others like [inaudible], cornell west, naomi klein and alice walker endorsing bds. if stevie wonder canceling, i mentioned the 501 canceling of fundraiser for a military fundraiser and lauren hill one of the biggest cancellations today withdrawing from her show and explaining why to her fans. in just the past year the two biggest cancellations have probably been favorite singer

board, which i was in palestine for that cancellation and i saw the impact it had on palestinians. and super bowl champion and pro bowler michael bennett of the seattle seahawks who set the stage, yeah, he deserves it. he set the stage for half the delegation for nfl players to cancel. it's also words mentioning a rapper who penned an op-ed in time magazine entitled what palestine taught me about american racism. on the flipside israel also has its brand ambassadors who are cultural workers and as an example is really uses its [inaudible] this artist you see on the screen is viewed as an artist in favor of peace and harmony and someone who is multicultural in inclusive but he describes it being as part of the israeli army as a key ingredient to in israeli identity which i am sure he would not appreciate that and appreciate but agree with. he's played for soldiers, attacking gaza before and during

and after israel's war and he's been working with the israeli government through chores. [inaudible] presentations to the israeli consulate and more. this is an example of where the state is sponsoring an artist and bringing him over for propaganda. in the academic side us cancellations like steven hawking deciding not to go to an academic conference despite it being at the invitation of the israeli president at the time the number of academic associations to endorse and participate in the academic boycott and the largest one being the reckon studies association and ultimately have other areas and approaches that i realized we should at least mention which are student groups, faith-based institutions municipalities and among the space groups the [inaudible] have invested over $21 million and they are two of over a dozen

faith-based organizations that include pension funds, church regions and more that have taken action. nearly 50 campuses including nearly all of the university of california shot out to [inaudible] have asked past student divestment and funds. across the globe and not long ago in new york groups of artists have signed on to boycott pledges asking bds not playing israel. the new york new orleans [inaudible] notably in that instance defenders of israel had to show up in argue that this entire thing should not be passed on the basis of just israel being targeted. which, i think is an implicit acknowledgment there. there's been endorsements across the movements so for example groups like [inaudible] from sending in the movement for black life and others group fighting racism and state violence have an answer support for bds. given the other talk i will keep

the section three brief. as early, obvious, they've drawn party actors across the us in israel and as early as 2009 apex executive director said it was a threat and the israeli government response began with holding a conference that brought together government ministers, ngo, staff videos and intelligence officials to have a conference about bds, the growing anti-semitism without acknowledging that bds includes lots of juice folks and is an antiracist movements. the israeli government commissioned a report by the [inaudible] it's to which you can see here which i wrote about calling sabotaging the palestine solidarity among other strategies. a report that benjamin netanyahu declared in a report from the jewish people policy institute here to sign the overall response abilities for the campaign against delegitimization for strategic

affairs which included the coordination of efforts with ngos in israel and all over the world and a roll that will include the establishment of a professional staff for delegitimization. the israeli government was caught coordinating stand with us the us-based group such as tens of the olympia food co-op boycott. also the ceo of soda stream, one of the companies that was targetable but got that led them to leave the west bank settlement they were operating out of made his way to the us to be part of the congressional bds hearings. here you can just see some of what was happening at the state level. i'll talk about take although it they talked about kenneth marcus and title vi and the idea of determination against israel is a reason that you shouldn't boycott or have 300 free speech

on campus. hillary clinton, big supporter of aipac and also an outspoken critic of bds. the approach to fighting it bds have been trying to legislate against bds. there's been a state level legislation and attempt to add clauses about boycotts of israel in trade agreements in the us. as i mentioned, the use of title vi complaints claiming dissemination. again, the person who is headed those title vi complaints is actually someone the trumpet wants to appoint to the department of education. ... >> companies that have actually participated in or endorsed the boycott or decided to withdraw from israel, as has illinois and a number of other states.