Radhika Sainath's NYT Letter to the Editor on BDS article

Senior staff attorney Radhika Sainath appeared in Saturday’s New York Times with a letter to the editor responding to their July 28 article on the BDS movement “Is B.D.S. Anti-Semitic? A Closer Look at the Boycott Israel Campaign.“

To the Editor:

While providing a glimpse into boycotts for Palestinian rights, “A Look at the International Drive to Boycott Israel” misses important context on why Palestinians are asking people to support their struggle for freedom.

For centuries, movements have used the tactic of boycotts to pressure states and complicit institutions to end discrimination, colonialism and apartheid. From the Boston Tea Party and the Montgomery bus boycott to apartheid South Africa and the anti-transgender law in North Carolina, the historical pedigree and legitimacy of boycotts as a tool to challenge injustice, including against another country, are unimpeachable.

Like my Indian relatives who tired of living under British colonial rule, Palestinians are asking for noncooperation with their undemocratic overlords. Yet their movement is being singled out with false charges of anti-Semitism for focusing on the state that denies them their rights. Those who wouldn’t accuse Gandhi (and his supporters) of being anti-white for singling out Britain should ask why they’re holding Palestinians to a different standard.

Read all the letters here.