by Benjamin Weinthal

Rejection of BDS by continental student organizations is believed to the first major European opposition to the hubs of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic academic initiatives in the UK and US.

BERLIN–Student associations at the University of Vienna issued a statement Wednesday declaring opposition to every form of anti-Semitism including the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement targeting Israel.

“As student representatives it is important for us to criticize the academic boycott against Israel, which entirely excludes Israeli academics,” the student council of the University of Vienna said.

Rejection of BDS by continental student organizations is believed to the first major European opposition to the hubs of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic academic initiatives in the United Kingdom and the US.

The student council added, “There are rising violent anti-Semitic attacks on, above all, American universities, which are connected to BDS and Israel Apartheid Week. Academic events from Jewish professors are regularly disrupted. Hostility toward the existence of Israel is expressed by the burning of Israeli flags.”

Camila Garfias, a member of the Association of Socialist Students (VSStÖ), said “Anti-Semitic violence is part of daily life in Europe.” The association is affiliated with the Social Democratic Party in Austria (SPÖ). Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann is a member of the SPÖ.

The student group noted Jews in France no longer feel safe and are immigrating to Israel. An anti-Semitic riot took place against the Israeli soccer Maccabi Haifa in Salzburg; businesses in Paris were vandalized with anti-Semitic slogans, as were synagogues in Germany. The students said these are only a few examples of manifestations of anti-Semitism and anti-Semitism remains part and parcel of everyday life in Europe.

Green Party Students (GRAS), Socialist students, and the Communist student organization Left List, all of which are part of the Austrian Students Union, condemned BDS in their joint statement.

The groups form the governing coalition in the Austrian student parliament at the University of Vienna.

“As a student organization at the University of Vienna, we condemn every form of anti-Semitism, including from German nationalist fraternities, and anti-Semitism in the new form of BDS,” Karin Stanger from the Green Party Students group said.

Left List student Jana Reischl slammed the Austria’s extremist Freedom Party (FPÖ) for spreading “anti-Semitic cartoons and minimizing the crimes of National Socialism.”

Full story here.