Workshop 6: BDS and Preparing for JCM by Ian Langleben

The workshop we had last Sunday was both very interesting and a lot of fun. Two McGill students came in to speak to us about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and what happened in recent weeks at McGill -- a motion to support BDS passed at the most recent Students' Society of McGill University General Assembly, but did not subsequently pass after the online student vote. Unfortunately there was also a rise in anti-semitic statements and sentiments during this time.

We discussed the reasons many social justice groups (such as feminists, black activists, etc) tend to side with this movement: it seems that BDS has identified itself as being among this class of activist groups.

We discussed how even though the underlying principles of BDS – equal rights and support to the Palestinian people – were commendable from a moral standpoint, the BDS movement in fact has more a negative effect on them, as it causes industries that supply the Palestinians with jobs to close (e.g. Sodastream). Additionally, our guest speakers explained that the BDS movement does not promote discussion or peace, and rather aims to wipe Israel off the map completely. After discussing an article about BDS at McGill, we spent time in small groups coming up with ways that we would create campaigns to fight this movement. Overall, the discussion was very interesting.

After a break, we made creamy perfect hummus dip. Or, at least, we tried! We followed a recipe that Moriel had provided. However, after following it and putting the right amount of each ingredient into the blender, we found that it didn’t quite match our standards for taste. Oh, well. Either way, we had a lot of fun making it, and it will only be a few months before we can get the real thing in Israel!

Finally, our parents came for an info session on the upcoming Jewish Community Mifgash between our community and our sister community, Be’er Sheva-B'nei Shimon. Everybody is very excited for the Mifgash, and we’re all looking forward to hosting the Israelis!