BDS boycotted

Despite fears that last weekend’s Eurovision Song Contest might be marred by protests, the event was a triumph and passed without notable incident.

In advance, the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement had tried their best to disrupt it. They were singularly unsuccessful, not least because most people can see straight through their antisemitic campaign.

The timing may have been unintentional but it was appropriate that the day before Eurovosion, the German Bundestag passed a motion labelling BDS as antisemitic.

Jointly proposed by the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrat Party, the Greens and the Free Democrats, the motion rightly pointed out that BDS is “reminiscent of the most horrific phase in German history…arousing associations with the Nazi slogan ‘Don’t buy from Jews’”.

This must never be forgotten. BDS is antisemitic to the core and those who promote it must be regarded as racists. It is welcome and right that, of all nations, it is Germany which has made this clear. To single out the world’s only Jewish state for boycott is fundamentally antisemitic.

Ignore the sophistry from the racists behind BDS: it is about boycotting Jews because they are Jews. Yes, these are grim times. An antisemite leads the Labour Party, which is itself now institutionally antisemitic.

There are, however, glimmers of hope — one of which is the miserable failure of BDS. I

t has its successes. But they are few and far between. More often than not, those who advocate and act on BDS are the same small band of extremists who convince almost no one and whose obsession with the Jewish state is obvious to the overwhelming majority of normal people.

Hail Shalva!

Had they not had to perform on Shabbat, Israel would almost certainly have been represented at Eurovision by Shalva.

Instead, they sang as guests at the semi-finals two days before the main event — and brought the house down. Nothing unusual there…except that Shalva is made up of disabled people, including two members with Down’s syndrome.

Joyously, its members are stars in Israel. We look forward to them performing here.