BDS angrily criticizes Israel for its ongoing military presence in the West Bank. The BDSers demand that Israel immediately end its “occupation” of Arab land. When it does this, BDS is blaming only one side to this conflict – Israel – for the failure to achieve peace. In so doing, BDS ignores the following key facts:
- Israel has repeatedly offered to withdraw from almost all of the West Bank to create a Palestinian state – most recently in 2000, 2001 and 2008.
- The Palestinians have rejected each of these offers.
- When Israel began a phased withdrawal from the West Bank in the mid-1990’s, Palestinian terrorists – many of them backed by the Palestinian Authority — responded with a wave of violent suicide bombings that killed over 1,000 Israeli civilians. These withdrawals did not produce peace, but more violence.
- When Israel withdrew all of its soldiers and civilians from Gaza in 2005, rocket fire from Gaza into Israel dramatically increased. Again, withdrawal was not met with peace but with more terror.
If Israel’s critics wanted to be fair, they would recognize that the Palestinian leadership has played a significant role in fueling this conflict. But BDS has no interest in being fair or objective. BDS prefers to blame Israel and only Israel.