By Arlene Bridges Samuels
The acronym BDS, meaning Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, has become a symbol of destruction for Israel and the global Jewish community. While the movement claims to advocate for Palestinian rights through economic, academic, and cultural boycotts, it is in reality a modern form of antisemitism. Its ideological roots are connected to the same hatred that once drove Nazi and Muslim Brotherhood extremists, and its influence continues to grow.
The BDS movement will not dissolve on its own. Hatred of this kind tends to intensify and spread. After decades of anti-Israel slander, BDS has succeeded in orchestrating a vast international disinformation campaign that mirrors the propaganda strategies of the Nazi era. Scripture, both Old and New Testament, reaffirms God’s enduring love and purpose for His Jewish people. Yet in these deeply troubling times, believers must be vigilant, responding with prayer, truth, and action for the land that gave us both our Scriptures and our Savior.
BDS was cofounded in 2005 by Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti, who united 146 Palestinian organizations under a shared resistance banner. Born in Qatar in 1964 to Palestinian parents, Barghouti grew up in Egypt, studied at Columbia University, married an Arab-Israeli citizen, and later attended Tel Aviv University. Highly educated and articulate, he has been embraced by many in academic and political circles, including some Christians and Jews who fail to recognize the movement’s underlying hostility toward Israel’s existence.
Following Hamas’s massacre of Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, BDS experienced a surge in global support. Millions joined or endorsed its rhetoric, echoing chants such as “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” This seemingly poetic slogan is, in fact, a call for Israel’s annihilation, since the river is the Jordan and the sea is the Mediterranean, encompassing all of Israel’s land.
New forms of BDS activism appear constantly, spreading like toxic weeds through social media, academia, and the arts. One of the latest examples is the “No Music for Genocide” campaign, a boycott movement among musicians protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza. Hundreds of artists have signed on, amplifying a message that isolates Israel culturally and psychologically.
Attorney Lana Melman, CEO of Liberate Art and author of Artists Under Fire: The BDS War Against Celebrities, Jews, and Israel, has described the “No Music for Genocide” initiative as a deliberate psychological weapon designed to make Israelis feel isolated and abandoned. She points out that such efforts are largely symbolic. “It doesn’t cost the signatories much since tiny Israel makes up only 0.12 percent of the world’s population.”
Melman also referenced the Trump administration’s peace plan, welcomed by Israel and several Arab nations, observing that true concern for Palestinians would involve urging Hamas to embrace peace rather than perpetuating violence. “I’m not holding my breath,” she adds.
The world saw BDS’s moral bankruptcy clearly after October 7, when Palestinian terrorists recorded their own barbaric acts against Israeli civilians. Despite overwhelming evidence of these atrocities, nations such as France, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have rushed to recognize a Palestinian state, ignoring both the motives of the murderers and the chaos their actions are fueling at home.
During Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, a terrorist attack in Manchester, England, left two Jewish worshippers dead and four injured. U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the act as “vile” and expressed solidarity with Britain’s Jewish community. The attacker, a 35-year-old Syrian named Jihad al-Shamie, had been granted British citizenship as a child yet turned that gift into a weapon of hate.
As darkness gathers on the horizon, it can be tempting to despair. But believers are called to stand firm, guided by the eternal truth of Scripture. Zechariah 12:3 warns us of a day when “all the nations of the earth are gathered against” Jerusalem, yet God promises that those who try to move His immovable rock “will injure themselves.”
Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch Christian who sheltered Jews from the Nazis and endured concentration camps herself, offered a profound reminder: “When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” We too must remain steadfast, trusting that God’s light is ahead and His purposes unshakable.
Our CBN Israel team invites you to stand with us in prayer and to share this message as a voice for truth and faith in support of Israel, our spiritual homeland.
Prayer Points:
- Pray for President Trump’s wisdom as he advances his 20-point peace proposal.
- Pray for the total release, alive and deceased, of all hostages.
- Pray for evangelicals worldwide to boldly share truth whenever possible.
- Pray for discernment to recognize truth and resist media deception.
Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.