The Ideological Foundations of the Boycott Campaign Against Israel


 

Publication Date: September 2007

Publisher: American Jewish Committee

Author(s): Ben Cohen

Research Area: Culture and religion; Politics

Keywords: Political Behavior; Zionism; Ideology; Community Relations

Type: Report

Coverage: United States Israel

Abstract:

The author looks at the ideological basis for the recent boycott of Israel. He states that this boycott has concentrated on two interrelated issues: the thematic overlap between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism and the emergence of the left as the principal driver of anti-Zionist discourse in Western democracies. He argues that what needs to be interrogated is the set of ideas that underlie the boycott movement as well as their appeal, both actual and potential.