06/18/2024
Jewish Federation Comments on the Withdrawal of Cuyahoga County Council Resolution 2024-0208
- Share This Story
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland today issued the following statement with regard to the withdrawal of Cuyahoga County Council Resolution 2024-0208:
Resolution 2024-0208 is nothing more than yet another attempt by a well-coordinated international effort to attack the Jewish state and the Jewish people. The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement is a decades old tactic that is used whenever there is turmoil in the Middle East involving Israel.
The BDS movement looks to demonize the Jewish people and create a double-standard for the Jewish state, while doing absolutely nothing to better the Palestinian people those advocating for the boycott claim to represent.
In other words, it is the epitome of the internationally recognized definition of antisemitism – or the hatred of Jews – that is also used by the state of Ohio. In fact, Ohio is one of 38 states that have anti-BDS laws in place to prevent state agencies from engaging in boycotts or divestments in the sort of discriminatory manner that was being proposed in this resolution.
To change the language of the resolution to be opposed to any foreign investment is nothing more than an underhanded attempt to cover the anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment at the core of the resolution.
To suggest that this latest BDS resolution is merely a reaction to Israel’s efforts to rescue the hostages taken by Hamas terrorists when it violated an existing ceasefire agreement on October 7, 2023, with an attack that murdered more Jews in a single day than at any time since the Holocaust is beyond disingenuous.
We applaud the members of Cuyahoga County Council who refuse to be bullied into using covert financial and economic maneuvers as weapons to attack a long-time and loyal ally of the United States.
We pray for all who have been affected by the war between Hamas and Israel and join those mourning the loss of all innocent life that has resulted from it. May the day come soon when the Palestinian people and the people of Israel can live in peace and without the fear of violence.
