BDS Norway

BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL ADOPTED BY YMCA INTERNATIONAL AND NORWEGIAN BRANCH, DENOUNCED BY SWC AND OSLO YMCA AFFILIATE……..

 

The move by YMCA international and YMCA Norway to boycott Israel is condemned by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and the local YMCA affiliate in Oslo. This shows the the great disparity in society for the BDS movement, which is increasingly being interpreted (correctly) as nothing more than a product of radical Leftist politics, and a by-product of traditional antisemitism.

NOTE: The SWC letter denouncing the YMCA can be seen below the fold.

boycott YMCA

Norway’s YMCA Adopts Israel Boycott, Jewish NGO Objects

By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus
Facebook page of Norway's YMCA, announcing its boycott of (all of) Israel
Facebook page of Norway’s YMCA, announcing its boycott of (all of) Israel

Late last month the Norwegian branch of the YMCA, the Young Men’s Christian Association, aligned itself with the economic warfare movement known as the Boycott of, Divestment from and Sanctions against the only Jewish State, Israel. This salvo goes beyond the Peter Beinart version of BDS, and calls for an economic boycott of all goods and services from all of Israel, including the areas within the 1949 Armistice Line.

The Norwegian branch of the YMCA, which in Norwegian is abbreviated, “KFUK-KFUM,” is one of the largest and oldest youth groups in that country.

The KFUK-KFUM announced on its Facebook page that it “encourages broad economic boycott of goods and services from Israel and Israeli settlements to pressure the Israeli government to follow up on U.N. resolutions and end the illegal occupation of Palestine.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center responded to KFUK-KFUM’s boycott by dashing off a letter to the Secretary General of the Geneva-based World Alliance of YMCAs, urging the parent body to denounce the Norwegian branch’s action.

 More here.

YMCA INTERNATIONAL URGED TO DENOUNCE NORWEGIAN  BRANCH’S DECISION TO BOYCOTT ISRAEL

Boycott is “totally opposite” the World Alliance of YMCA’s Mission

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is urging the leader of the international YMCA to denounce the   Norwegian YMCA/YWCA’s announcement it will “initiate an economic boycott of Israel.” The Norwegian YMCA organization–which claims 30,000 members in over 500  chapters—said in their website that they are aiming to pressure the Israeli government to follow up on UN resolutions and end the illegal occupation of Palestine.”

In a letter to Reverend Johan Vilhelm Eltvik, the Secretary General of the Geneva-based World Alliance of YMCAs, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center and Mark Weitzman the Center’s Director of Government Affairs, urged the parent body to denounce the move.  “This proposed boycott of the only democratic state in the Middle East is totally opposite of the principles expressed in The World Alliance of YMCA’s Mission Statement of ‘Fostering dialogue and partnership between people of different faiths and ideologies and recognizing the cultural identities of people.'” The protest added that such an action targets all citizens of Israel: Jews, Muslims and Christians, alike.

“The YMCA movement has a long and proud history of contributing to the improvement of civil society in many different areas,” the leading Jewish NGO’s protest continued. The World Alliance must affirm its commitment to being ‘mediators and reconcilers in situations of conflict’ by rejecting this unjust, one-sided, anti-peace policy adopted by the Norwegian YMCA-YWCA, they added.

“It is outrageous that any branch of a respected organization that prides itself on inclusion and tolerance would embrace the anti-Semitic poison of the ongoing of the radical anti-Israel global BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) campaign that whose activities don’t improve the life of a single Palestinian but whose sole goal is to demonize and isolate the lone democracy in the Middle East, the Jewish State of Israel,” Rabbi Cooper noted.

For more information, please contact the Center’s Public Relations Department, 310-553-9036, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).

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