BDS is an international movement, dedicated to creating an economic and cultural boycott of Israel in support of the Palestinians. A recent report of their successes noted that:

A planned soccer match between Argentina and Israel was canceled after the Argentinian team received threats to themselves and their families…….Meanwhile, In May Netta Barzilai’s song “Toy” earned Israel the right to host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. Calls to boycott the upcoming event began immediately, particularly in Iceland, Ireland, Sweden and Britain…..

Elsewhere internationally, local efforts to boycott Israel accelerated dramatically. In Ireland the Galway City Council voted to boycott Israel, while in Spain there is a renewed wave of BDS moves. In a first, the state of Navarre condemned Israel and passed a resolution calling on the Spanish government to support the international BDS movement. This followed similar calls in the cities of Valencia, Oviedo, and Pamplona. Oviedo immediately canceled a performance by an Israeli orchestra and ballet company saying, “Israeli organizations are not wanted.” Overall, some 90 Spanish communities have voted to support BDS.

And while these politicians were waving their speeches in the air, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have fled their homes and have made their way to the border with Jordan and Israel. The only significant aid for them has been supplied by Israelis, primarily from the area, which these same politicians call the “occupied Golan Heights”.

Israeli Flying Aid secured most of the 300 tents, 13 tons of food, 15 tons of baby formula, three pallets of medical supplies, and 30 tons of clothes and shoes sent ….to Syrian civilians fleeing Bashar Assad’s latest offensive against rebel holdouts in the Daraa region of southwest Syria.

Ironically, these people and their numbers no longer capture international headlines. In contrast, 12 boys and their football coach, miraculously surviving in a underground cave in the middle of Thailand, are far more news worthy. One of the first rescue teams to find them came from the UK.

And how was that accomplished? The trackers were primarily dependent on an emergency mobile communications technology, developed by the Israeli company Maxtech Networks.  As their CEO observed, since Maxtech’s role in the rescue attempt hit the news, the company has been inundated by enquires from all over the world. The website has almost crashed.

And reflecting on the contribution of BDS to these stories? Well if people had listened to the campaign’s advocates, the answer would have been death, hunger and illness. Well, that is what you expect from a campaign, based on hate and hypocrisy.