For all of the successes of the global boycott, divest and sanction (BDS) movement, the campaign remains widely misunderstood. BDS urges various forms of non-violent boycott of Israel until the country meets three primary obligations, in line with international law. First, Israel must end its occupation of Arab land conquered in 1967, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Second, it must respect the rights of Palestinian refugees who wish to return to their homes, as outlined in United Nations resolution 194.
These two items are understandable even for those who disagree with them, but the final one has been less visible in the rhetoric over BDS in part because it focuses on the rights of non-Jews inside Israel. The movement demands that Israel “recognise the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality”.
As the United States finds it increasingly difficult to write off the ills of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, the space for fresh debate about Israel’s treatment of its non-Jewish citizens has presented itself. And events on the ground are forcing the conversation. On Monday, thousands of Palestinian pupils in Israel protested against the government's decision to cut funding to 57 Palestinian Christian schools. Christian Arab schools have reportedly lost 75 per cent of their state funding over the past seven years, resulting in huge debts and the looming possibility of closure. Tel Aviv’s position has been clear: the schools aren’t entitled to state funding unless they fall in line with the state education system.
For decades many Christian schools enjoyed a modicum of educational autonomy due in part to their founding by international church groups. The Israeli government sees this autonomy as a threat and a possible breeding ground for subversive thinking and has pushed forward with the cutting of state funds.
Such a position would be understandable if it weren’t for the massive public funds that are routinely made available for private religious schools that service the ultraorthodox Jewish community. Why should there be autonomy for Jewish religious education and not Christian, considering that some of these private Jewish schools have been linked to Israeli settler groups on the West Bank that routinely engage in extremist acts against Palestinians?
Given the country’s important Christian heritage, the small Arab Christian community is regularly discussed when it comes to equality for Arab citizens of Israel. Pope Francis has raised the school funding matter with Israeli president Reuven Rivlin, and Christian leaders are flirting with the idea of temporarily closing holy sites such as the Basilica of the Annunciation Church in Nazareth in retaliation for the funding cuts.
Israel has invested significant resources in whitewashing efforts that highlight how Christians are allowed to freely practise their religion in the country. What the country’s strategists are careful to avoid is the level of discrimination that Christian and other non-Jewish minorities with Israeli citizenship face on a regular basis.
This is where the underlying logic of the BDS movement comes into play. The campaign’s aggressive position on issues such as equality for Israeli citizens helped to lay the foundation for spirited debate on the exact nature of Israeli society. And this discussion couldn’t come at a more important time, especially in America.
With the likely passage of the Iran deal and the possibility of normalisation in American-Iranian relations, Israel is going to be forced to demonstrate its continued relevance to America’s foreign policy in the region. The primary selling point for this alliance has long been Israel’s self-described status as the “only democracy in the Middle East”.
This is now a tall order as the occupation is impossible for the average American to ignore and Tel Aviv’s continued intransigence over peace with the Palestinians is unavoidable. If Tel Aviv continues to target its minority groups with openly discriminatory actions such as budget cuts to Christian schools, the democracy selling point will be exposed as a fallacy.
jdana@thenational.ae
On Twitter: @ibnezra
