BDS Is a Bullsh*t Purity Test' for Democrats: Bill Maher Rants Against Boycott Israel Movement

[Mosby]

Comedian Bill Maher lashed out at the Boycott Israel movement and its popularity among some progressive Democrats, saying “BDS is a bullshit purity test” within the party.

His comments came after a days-long public furor over the planned visit to Israel and Palestine by Muslim Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.), who are vocal BDS supporters. Their visit was foiled after the Israeli government backtracked on its initial approval a month ago and decided to block the pair from entering after President Donald Trump publicly encouraged the country to do so. (Israel later flip-flopped once more, to allow the Congresswomen in, but both Tlaib and Omar ultimately chose not to go.)

Maher, not holding back, slammed the boycott efforts as mere virtue signaling.

“BDS is a bullshit purity test by people who want to appear woke but actually slept through history class,” he said, to both cheers and jeer. “It’s predicated on this notion, I think, it’s very shallow thinking that the Jews in Israel, mostly white, and the Palestinians are browner, so they must be innocent and correct, and the Jews must be wrong. As if the occupation came right out of the blue, that this completely peaceful people found themselves occupied.”


https://www.mediaite.com/tv/bds-is-a-bullsht-purity-test-for-democrats-bill-maher-rants-against-boycott-israel-movement/

[CurtEastPoint]

1. for those of us like me who didn't know what this means....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott,_Divestment_and_Sanctions

[Mosby]

2. Thanks, I didn't think to include info.

[still_one]

3. Maher is right, it is also an excuse for anti-Jewish elements to come out of the woodwork

[pennylane100]

5. Leaving the woodwork brings them head to head with all the Palestinians

who have been imprisoned in what is left of their own land. I do believe that there enough hatemongers on both sides and there does not seem to be any end to this problem.

[still_one]

6. Perhaps you need to refresh yourself on history. Regardless though, I agree with your last

sentence, but do not subscribe to the hopelessness you seem to convey.

I believe with the right leaderships, a peaceful remedy can be found.

It came close under people like Sadat, Rabin, and Carter, and it can happen again

[pennylane100]

7. what was historically inaccurate.

I did not go into who did what, there were many mistakes made on both sides and sadly, the Palestinians lost any sympathy for their treatment when they attacked innocent civilians all over the place to promote their cause, which of course backfired and they became the bad guys. However Israel has done many things that only made things worse.

I hope you are right and a peaceful solution can be found, unfortunately there is still so much hatred and distrust coming from both sides. I do not see any easy solution while the differences are many and both sides seem to believe that they have god on their side.
When my dad was not feeling very optimist about a situation he would always say "Live in hope, die in despair" A grim statement that may be true in this case.

[still_one]

8. This last reply told me I misunderstood you first response. It was over the phrase

"imprisoned in their own land".

That connotation can mean many things, and has been control by many powers, both within and outside of the middle east.

I took too broad of an interpretation of that comment, while now I think you are referring to the situation today.

I should have also added Bill Clinton to the list of peacemakers.

In fact, what I believe started to derail any possible peace efforts was when George W. Bush became president, and every republican since then has done everything to make it worse, while every Democratic President tried to bring both sides together.

No doubt that Trump has got to be the worst thus far in the last thirty 30 years

[pennylane100]

9. Well yes, I was referring to todays situation.

and you said it perfectly when you mention Trump, He most definitely is the worst person in the world to deal with just about any international problems.

[WSSlover]

18. To be truthful, however,

the United States, unfortunately, has never, ever been an honest broker regarding the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian debacle. Donald Trump has helped to make it worse.

[madaboutharry]

4. The goal of the BDS movement is the destruction of Israel.

There is nothing else to say.

Bill Maher is 100% correct. It is a smokescreen devised to hide the true intent of the BDS movement. It is a pity that so many have been taken in by it.

[SCantiGOP]

10. I see the goal of the BDS movement

as recognizing that the Palestinians are one of the most oppressed people on the face of the Earth.
Instead of a two-state solution or the current disenfranchisement of the Palestinians, why does no one recommend the simple approach of a democratic solution? Could it be because a free election by all of the adults population would result in an Arab-majority government?

In my opinion, defending Israel on this question is no different than supporting the apartheid government in South Africa.

[Mosby]

11. That's sort of the point of BDS, to create a single, Muslim majority country to replace Israel.

The problem with that is the Jews, who are indigenous to Israel, have every right to their own lands, just like any other indigenous group.

[hack89]

12. There are no Arab democracies

So it is hard to imagine a democratic solution. A single state solution will lead to an Islamic theocracy and civil war.

[mapol]

17. The 2-State Solution: The only safe, sane and sensible solution to the I/P debacle:

I'm still of the opinion that the two-state solution is the only safe, sane and sensible solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian debacle. When one looks at both Jewish history and Palestinian history, it is clear that both peoples need self-determination, normalization and protection against oppression in the form of their own individual, independent, sovereign nation-states alongside each other. Israel, the jewish-majority sovereign nation-state, and the nascent (new) independent, sovereign Palestinian nation-state alongside Israel, and not in place of Israel.

I'll also add that Jerusalem should be an international city, and a shared Capitol between Israel and Palestine; Jewish West Jerusalem as the Capitol of Israel, and Arab East Jerusalem as the Capitol of the nascent State of Palestine.

Having said all of the above, the international community, the UN Security Council, and the United States should do what should've been done immediately after the 1967 Six-Day middle east war: Enforce the two-state solution, with Jerusalem as a shared Capitol between the two sovereign nation-states of Israel and Palestine, and not permitted the building of settlements and/or right-wing Jewish Israeli settlers to create their own housing in West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Those other territories do not belong to Israel, and the International community and the United States must move in and stop Netanyahu from annexing them--now!

[WSSlover]

19. I disagree with the notion that a one-state solution is the only democratic solution to this debacle

Imho, the two-state solution is the only truly democratic, safe, sane and sensible solution to the Israeli-Palestinian debacle. If a one-state solution is the BDS movement position, I will absolutely not support the BDS movement.

The fact is that a one-state solution would result in an Arab-majority government, and the Israeli Jews, rightly, do not wish to become a minority in their own country. When one looks at history, unlike the Irish, Italians, Greeks, and most other groups who fled their old countries due to various oppressions, and were majorities in the countries from which they fled oppression, the Jews and are still a teeny tiny minority in the countries from where they fled, and, when one looks at both Jewish and Palestinian history, both peoples need their own independent, sovereign nation-states, in which they are a majority, are normalized, and can control their own destiny, and have self-determination.

[gtar100]

13. Showing support for Palestinians will not be tolerated.

Can't believe this shit. Palestinians had their homes and land taken from them. What would anyone expect them to do. Maher has his own purity test he's laying on this situation. If you can't see it, you passed it.

[aranthus]

16. Do Jews have rights?

Specifically, do the Jews of Israel have a right to a Jewish majority state in any part of historical Palestine?