By Daphna Kaufman
A tweet by the Boston BDS chapter promoting an interactive map created by their “friends at the Mapping Project” provoked widespread reactions. The map, framed as illustrating “how local support for the colonization of Palestine is structurally tied to policing, evictions, and privatization locally, and to US imperialist projects worldwide,” plotted the locations of Jewish groups and institutions, connecting them to the negative societal phenomenon that they allegedly influence. It was widely criticized as antisemitic for conflating Jews with Israel, employing conspiratorial tropes in assigning malign intention and undue influence to Jewish communal organizations and institutions, and in seemingly marking targets for antisemitic backlash, even potentially violent. The map attracted the attention of the FBI, which was urged in a letter signed by a bipartisan group of 37 House members to investigate.
From our friends at the Mapping Project! Their map and articles illustrate how local support for the colonization of Palestine is structurally tied to policing, evictions, and privatization locally, and to US imperialist projects worldwide.
— BDS Boston (@BDSBoston) June 3, 2022
Check it out: https://t.co/HpNaCvxUXS pic.twitter.com/fzyFP5uERE
Reactions to the Mapping Project stood out as a rare example of relative unity on the left against antisemitism from the left. Responses included broad condemnation across much of the left, notably including state Democratic Members of Congress progressives Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley. The incident was also prominently framed in mainstream media as antisemitic.[1]
In contrast, the Mapping Project BDS tweet provoked disunity within the BDS movement. While the international BDS organization distanced itself from the Mapping Project, calling on the Boston chapter to disassociate from it or remove the BDS acronym from its name, prominent elements within the BDS movement publicly rejected, and even condemned, this call. Notably, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement in appreciation of BDS Boston for the Mapping Project in English and Arabic.
Background BDS-related developments similarly reflected progress in challenging related antisemitism on establishment levels, alongside growing antisemitic anti-Zionism on the decentralized fringes. This month for example:
- BDS supporters claimed victory when U.S. band Big Thief, bowing to pressure, canceled a scheduled Tel Aviv appearance. While BDS supporters were also quick to declare victory when General Mills announced departure, the company claimed that its move was a business decision, not a boycott.
- An Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that boycotts are not protected by the First Amendment, in a case that challenged a law that requires public contractors to sign a pledge promising that they do not boycott Israel – a version of which exists in 33 states. The verdict was widely decried on the far-left as silencing free speech; a charge sometimes associated in this context with antisemitic tropes insinuating undue Jewish or Zionist oppressive influence. In a reaction she later apologized for, a Boston City Councilor, tweeted that, “ya’ll are letting the Zionists SHAKE YOU DOWN,” silencing charges in this context frequently employ antisemitic tropes in insinuating undue Jewish or Zionist influence. Additionally, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court.
- Proactive tactic to fight BDS at the corporate level: Pro-Israel activists declared victory after Morningstar, a financial services company they accused of having waged a “soft” boycott against Israel, pledged to make changes to avoid inadvertently steering investors away from Israel. A U.S. shareholder sued Unilever, the parent company of Ben & Jerry’s, claiming the company improperly concealed the decision to stop selling ice cream in Israeli settlements in the West Bank. A major pro-Israel donor – who is also a major donor and honorary co-chairman of the board at the Simon Wiesenthal Center – will be added to the Unilever board after his investment company recently became its largest shareholder. Indeed, Unilever recently announced it has reached a new arrangement for Ben & Jerry’s in Israel which will ensure the ice cream stays available to all consumers. In a letter to the Conference of Presidents CEO, the company emphasized its unequivocal renunciation of antisemitism and that it has never supported BDS.
