'Anti-Israel, antisemitic': Germany's intel agency labels BDS movement as 'suspected extremist'
Pro-Palestinian protesters during UN Climate Change Conference
Germany's domestic intelligence agency has categorised the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a "suspected extremist case."
BDS movement is a global campaign that "works to end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law," as per the information on its website.
The announcement was made by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) in a report that Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser released on Tuesday (June 18).
The report highlighted that the BDS movement was established in 2005 and supported by over 170 Palestinian organisations, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
According to the report, the movement breaches "idea of international understanding."
It cited "strong factual indications" linking BDS to secular Palestinian extremism and claims that the movement undermines Israel's right to exist.
In addition to that, the report mentioned the mobilisation of BDS-affiliated groups following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on southern Israel, where these groups participated in anti-Israel rallies and called for boycotts against Israel.
Minister Faeser pointed out the importance of addressing internal threats from extremism and said, "We must oppose internal threats from extremism just as decisively as external threats."
She added, "We absolutely have to break the spiral of escalations in the Middle East, leading to even more disgusting hatred of Jews here."
Faeser assured that security authorities are "reacting with great vigilance" to these developments and are actively combating anti-Israel and antisemitic activities.
German-Israeli Society welcome move
The German-Israeli Society praised the BfV's classification of the BDS movement.
Its president, Volker Beck, noted, "For the first time, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution names the anti-Israeli boycott movement BDS as a suspected extremist case in its annual report."
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He also highlighted the significance of this decision in supporting the German Bundestag's 2019 resolution against the BDS movement and called for continued action against all forms of antisemitism.
The society also stressed the need for cultural institutions to stop trivialising or sympathising with BDS and welcomed recent measures by Minister Faeser to ban associations linked to extremist antisemitic organisations.
(With inputs from agencies)