Related Quarterly Updates

German chancellor Angela Merkel postponed indefinitely the Israeli-German summit scheduled for 5/10/2017, according to a report in Haaretz on 2/13. Berlin’s official explanation was that the summit might interfere with the upcoming German elections, but German and Israeli sources alleged (2/13) that Merkel was displeased with Israel’s new so-called Regulations Bill (see “The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict” above).

                Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, passed a motion condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as anti-Semitic on 17 May. The motion urges the German government to not support projects cooperating with or actively calling for boycotts of Israel. A long list of Jewish scholars called on the German parliament not to equate BDS with anti-Semitism prior to the vote. The Palestine Liberation Organization secretary general Saeb Erakat also urged German lawmakers to reverse the resolution in a letter to the Bundestag. Secretary General Erakat called the resolution “utterly biased, void of any context and an affront to the right to freedom of expression.” After the resolution passed, the American rapper Talib Kweli was disinvited to perform at a music festival in Düsseldorf because he supports BDS. The artistic director of the festival wrote to Kweli, “The new situation is that since 17 May 2019, there is now an official statement from the German government signed by all parties which basically officially declares the statements and methods of the BDS as anti-Semitic.”

               The German city Aachen withdrew the Aachen Art Prize of $10,900 given to artist Walid Raad. The city’s mayor cited Raad’s support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as the reason for withdrawing the funds. Similarly, the German city of Dortmund withdrew the Nelly Sachs award worth $17,600, given to the author Kamila Shamsie, over her support for the BDS movement. Subsequently, more than 250 writers signed an open letter criticizing the city from stripping Shamsie of the award, “punishing an author for her human rights advocacy.”

Quarterly Updates for (1 Jan 1970 — 1 Jan 1970)

               The German city Aachen withdrew the Aachen Art Prize of $10,900 given to artist Walid Raad. The city’s mayor cited Raad’s support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as the reason for withdrawing the funds.