from Gilad Atzmon

I have just learned that Jacob Cohen, the internationally acclaimed Jewish humanist and intellectual was forbidden to attend the French BDS annual meeting. While it is hard to determine whether the BDS movement has actually liberated a single Palestinian, the list of top pro Palestinian intellectuals and activists who have been harassed, smeared and excommunicated by the BDS* keeps growing. One may wonder, when did the BDS stop being a ‘Palestinian Grassroots Movement’ and become a synagogue?

The following is a translation of an email sent to Cohen by the BDS campaign organiser.

Re: Meeting 7 July.
Dear Jacob Cohen.
We inform you that we do not accept your registration application because of your association with Egalité et Réconciliation (E&R) and Dieudonné, known for their anti-Semitism. They are contrary to the spirit of BDS that strongly opposes to any racism.

Typical idiotic statement by BDS’ leadership. The assertion that E&R and Dieudonné are associated with Jacob Cohen concede that both E&R and Dieudonné are neither anti-Semitic nor they are anti-Jews. They are certainly oppose Jewish political Power. And I wonder, shouldn’t the BDS also oppose Jewish political power?

I saw Jacob Cohen last Sunday at the Bal Des Quenelles celebration held near Paris. I asked him whether he had been officially excommunicated by the Jews. Back in 2012 following the publication of his positive review of my book, ‘The Wandering Who,’ the Jewish French Palestinian Solidarity Group demanded that Cohen withdraw his support for my work or face the consequences. Cohen refused to bow to the Jewish pressure and excommunicated himself. But apparently this wasn’t enough. BDS, now a Jewish occupied zone, decided to punish the French celebrity further.

It would be illuminating to find out from the commissars at BDS France what is it about E&R that they hate so much? Is it the fact E&R and Dieudonné's sites pull 2 million visitors a day? Is it the fact that E&R and Dieudonné are part of a widely popular and diverse movement that includes people of colour, multi ethnic migrants as well as French working class? Is it because E&R and Dieudonné are everything the left Jews claim to be but have never been?

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2015/6/24/bds-excommunicates-the-great-jacob-cohen

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http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2015/5/30/policing-solidarity

Gilad Atzmon is a British Jazz artist and author. Gilad was born in Israel in 1963 and trained at the Rubin Academy of Music, Jerusalem (Composition and Jazz). A multi-instrumentalist he plays saxophones, clarinet and ethnic woodwind instruments. His album Exile was the BBC jazz album of the year in 2003. Gilad writes on political matters, social issues, Jewish identity and culture. His papers are published on very many press outlets around the world. Gilad is a popular political analyst and is often guesting on Television and Radio stations around the world such as RT, Press TV, BBC and many more. Atzmon's novels 'Guide to the Perplexed' and 'My One and Only Love' have been translated into 24 languages. Gilad's latest book, The Wandering Who?, is a study of Jewish Identity politics. It was published in English in October 2011 and has since been translated into ten languages and has been a best seller. Gilad's web site: http://www.gilad.co.uk/