On the heels of President Obama’s criticism of the recently passed bipartisan anti-BDS Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act last week, Alabama became the fifth state in the nation to pass a landmark resolution to condemn the anti-Semitic BDS movement.
Laurie Cardoza-Moore, President of Proclaiming Justice to The Nations (PJTN), who spearheaded the passage of the Resolution in Tennessee stated, “President Obama once again, is in complete opposition to the majority of citizens throughout the U.S. The passage of another anti-BDS Resolution in the Alabama State Legislature is a testimony to that fact. This President never seems to miss an opportunity to single out Israel with his appalling action of boycotting America’s only legitimate ally in the Middle East, further threatening to isolate and demonize Israel.”
Building on the nationwide momentum created by the Tennessee State Legislature in 2015, legislators in Alabama decided to join their colleagues in Tennessee to confront this growing threat head-on. The Senate Joint Resolution 6 (SJR6) was introduced by Alabama State Senator Arthur Orr and Alabama House Speaker Pro Tem Victor Gaston and was signed by Governor Robert Bentley on February 16, 2016. The passage of the strongly worded Joint Resolution also reaffirms Alabama’s support of the State of Israel as a Jewish State and recognizes that the Jewish people are indigenous to the land of Israel.
The catalyst for this effort was a result of PJTN’s grassroots/media campaign in conjunction with Jewish and Christian leaders mobilizing together across the state, including the Birmingham Jewish Federation, The Alabama-Israel Task Force and Church4Israel.
According to Robin Rowan, Founder of Church4Israel, one of the organizations spearheading this effort in Alabama, “The purpose is to recognize the resurgence of global anti-Semitism currently being at its highest point since World War II and condemns the anti-Israel activities on college campuses. It recognizes that the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has resulted in ‘intimidation and violence on University campuses, is harmful to the State’s Jewish citizens and has a deleterious impact on the educational environment.'”
PJTN’s Board Chairman, Mr. Stanley G. Tate stated, “Alabama and Israel have enjoyed a long history of friendship and are great allies of our shared Democratic values. Alabama has a unique history with regards to the State of Israel. In 1942, Alabama passed a resolution calling for the establishment of the Jewish State and homeland five years before the Nation State was established. That’s a miracle! No other state shares that unique history.”
BDS is an international anti-Israel, anti-Zionist propaganda campaign and by extension, an anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish campaign. The BDS movement calls for:
• Boycotting Israeli products, academics, and cultural leaders.
• Pressuring companies to stop doing business with Israel and divesting from companies that do business with Israel.
• Sanctioning Israel for its legitimate self-defense measures to protect Israelis of all ethnicities from terrorism, and Hamas rocket/missile attacks.
The BDS movement promotes the delegitimization of Israel with the stated goal… to eliminate the State of Israel, utterly and completely.
The time has come for elected state leaders to step forward and condemn the hate speech and targeting of pro-Israel and Jewish students on college campuses that has been fueled by the BDS campaign. The incidents of anti-Semitic attacks in general, and against Jewish students on college campuses specifically, have seen a dramatic increase over the last several years.
In closing, Ms. Cardoza-Moore stated, “The recent passage of the Alabama resolution can serve as a positive example and concrete model of a firm step that other state legislators can take as we begin to expose the malicious intent of the BDS campaign and confront it head-on! With 70% of Americans supporting Israel, I am calling on Christians, Jews and people of conscience to add their voices to this groundbreaking initiative by contacting PJTN.org and launching this initiative in their states. It’s time to confront this anti-Semitic threat head-on!”
By: Jackie Monaghan
