BDS Organizations Barred from Israel Say Blacklist is Increasing Their Membership
The Times of Israel quotes USCPR Executive Director Yousef Munayyer in response to media reports that USCPR has been included on a blacklist of 20 Palestinian rights organizations whose leadership will be banned from entering Palestine/Israel.
A ban on active BDS proponents entering Israel went into effect in March. Until this week Israel refused to specify who would be affected by the ban, but on Sunday published a full list of 20 organizations around the world, whose leaders and senior members, with some exceptions, will be barred from entering Israel.
The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, which provides tools and training to groups interested in advocating for BDS and which lobbies against U.S. aid to Israel and American support for Israeli government policies, is one of the six U.S. groups whose leadership will be banned from Israel. In a statement Yousef Munayyer, its executive director, wrote, “we wear this designation as a badge of honor. When Israel, which aims to portray itself to the world as liberal and democratic, blacklists activists dedicated to nonviolent organizing and dissent, it only further exposes itself as a fraud. It is clear to us how effective building the movement for Palestinian rights around the world has become.”
In an interview Munayyer told Haaretz that the blacklist “helps our work because it shows people the true nature of the Israeli government and their policies. It is a clear indication of the effectiveness of the movement that we’re working to build. It’s a de facto statement by the Israeli government that our work is important,” he said. “We will only redouble our efforts in light of this.”