Palestine NGOs: German decision against BDS delegitimises peaceful resistance

Palestinians in Gaza protest against Germany's decision on BDS

by Mohammed Asad

Palestinians in Gaza protest against German Parliament decision on BDS, in Gaza on 23 May 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Palestinians in Gaza protest in support of BDS on 23 May 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

Palestinians in Gaza protest against German Parliament decision on BDS, in Gaza on 23 May 2019 [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

The Palestinian NGO Network called on the German Parliament to reverse its decision to class the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as anti-Semitic, describing the decision as an attack on freedom of opinion and expression.

In a press conference held in Gaza City today, the network condemned in “the strongest words” the German parliament’s decision, “which is based on lies that the BDS movement, in support of the rights of the Palestinian people, is anti-Semitic. ”

BDS, the body continued, “calls for peaceful pressure to be placed on the Israeli occupation as well as companies and institutions complicit in human rights violations in order to fully comply with their obligation under international law.”

READ: Germany’s decision to equate BDS with anti-Semitism is ‘immoral’

Adding that it rejects the “baseless allegations, the fabrications of the German parliament against the boycott movement, which aims to delegitimise the peaceful Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation.”

“Depriving Palestinians of the right to peaceful advocacy of freedom, justice and equality, puts the German parliament in opposition to international law,” it said, calling on Germany to repeal its decision “immediately”.

Last week, German parliament – known as the Bundestag – voted to accept a motion defining BDS as anti-Semitic. The motion, “Resist the BDS Movement – Fighting Antisemitism,” was sponsored by the Bundestag’s two largest parties – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian-Democratic Union and the Social Democrat party – as well as the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party.

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