Dario Celaschi
Part two of a blog by Dario Celaschi. Read part one here
I sit on the NUS NEC (National Union of Students National Executive Council) and am also the NUS London Trans* Officer.
On Monday 4th August NUS NEC voted to adopt a BDS policy, calling for sanctions on Israel and for all students’ unions in the UK to bring boycott campaigns to their campuses.
The motion supports the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel). The BDS movement focuses on using inherently indiscriminate tactics and the boundaries of the campaign are undefined.
Jewish students such as myself know that boycott policies in our students’ union are used to propagate anti-Semitism on campus. Students studying at Manchester were not allowed Kosher food due to Hebrew writing on the products, in just one example.
But what I want to talk about is how the LGBT+ people are used to justify the arguments both for and against BDS. Other members of the NEC took it upon themselves to discuss how my position on the boycott and my Jewish identity would be affected by my Gender and Sexual identity.
Demonstrators calling for an Israel boycott
There are many in the pro-Israel camp that argue there shouldn’t be boycotts of Israel as it is progressive of LGBT+ rights, and use that line of hasbara to claim that pro-Israel advocacy is synonymous with pro-LGBT+ rights.
To them I say:
-You do not have the right to appropriate our experience to hasbara.
-You do not have the right to justify Israel’s savage attacks on Gaza by saying Israel is the only country in the Middle East that has LGBT+ rights.
-You do not have the right to think that Israel allowing me equal rights means I should accept the persecution of the Palestinian people.
There are also many in the pro-Palestinian camp that argue that although Israel is progressive on LGBT+ rights, it should be boycotted as it doesn’t allow for freedom of LGBT+ Palestinians. Therefore they claim that pro-BDS advocacy is synonymous with pro-LGBT+ rights.
To them I say:
-You do not have the right to appropriate our experience to pro-BDS campaigns that propagate anti-Semitism and hate on both sides.
-You do not have the right to justify Hamas’s brutal rocket campaign by saying that you’re fighting against ‘pinkwashing’
-You do not have the right to think that because Israel allows me equal rights, that I accept the persecution of the Palestinian people.
BDS was highly contentious motion that I voted against along with Robbie Young, NUS LGBT Officer (Open Place). His co-convenor of the LGBT campaign Fran Cowling, NUS LGBT Officer (Women’s Place), voted in favour of the boycott.
Emily Carp, UJS (Union of Jewish Students) LGBT+ Network Co-Convenor said, “Although NUS also passed policy advocating a two state solution I’m deeply disappointed that a boycott was passed by the NEC. I would like to stress that the UJS LGBT+ Network will be supporting Jewish LGBT+ students like Dario who may come under fire for their opinions on the boycott with those criticising them using gender and sexual identity as a justification.
“Furthermore, I would like to add my voice to Dario’s in criticising those people on both sides of this argument who believe it is acceptable to appropriate the narrative of queer rights for their own ends.
“Queer people have converging and separate experiences of oppression with both Israelis and Palestinians, but we are not pawns in this sordid game.”
Read more on Dario’s blog
Part of this article has been removed as the author has since received information that nullifys some of the original statement. Apologies for any offence caused.
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