The Christian Democratic Union party (CDU) announced on Wednesday that it passed a resolution opposing the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting the Jewish state at its party conference in Essen because the anti-Israel action is antisemitic.
“Who today under the flag of the BDS movement calls to boycott Israeli goods and services speaks the same language in which people were called to not buy from Jews. That is nothing other than coarse antisemitism, “said the CDU statement.
The CDU compared BDS to the National Socialists who launched boycotts against Jews in the 1930’s. The statement said BDS dresses up antisemitism in the “new clothes of the 21st century” as anti-Zionism.
“The Germany CDU declares with this motion its disapproval and rejection of every form of BDS activity and condemns these activities as antisemitic. The CDU will decisively oppose every hostile action that Israel faces. The CDU professes its deep friendship toward Israel and continues to engage in a peaceful solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians,” noted the motion.
Uwe Becker, the chairman of the CDU in Frankfurt , which formulated the resolution and submitted it at the CDU conference, said he was pleased with the result.
Chancellor Angela Merkel was nominated to run in the federal election next year as the party’s candidate at the party’s convention. The CDU’s resolution appears to be the first German party motion to reject BDS and classify the anti-Israel movement as antisemitic.
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