In May of this year, I attended a conference sponsored by Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) and the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists at the University of Baltimore Law School on Confronting BDS – the radical left-wing Palestinian movement to boycott Israel on campus.
Richard Landes, a renowned historian, put forth the ideological underpinnings of BDS as more of a secessionist religion of converts that believe in its mission as an ideological utopia rather than an intellectual debate.
Alexander Joffe, a scholar and an author, spoke about his research regarding the BDS movement’s funding networks and its links to the Muslim Brotherhood and CAIR.
Jeffrey Herf, an intellectual historian, sociologist, political scientist, and Professor of Modern European History, shared the exact timeline and actions that took place in his fight to lead the American Association of Historians to vote “no” regarding a BDS motion. His talk exposes the nefarious tactics of the people who promote these motions in an attempt to politicize campus academic institutions.
Alan Dershowitz, the renowned lawyer, and retired Harvard law professor answered questions from the audience: