An email blast went out from the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation in 2012 urging BDS adherents to write to songstress Alicia Keyes, thanking her for not visiting Israel and for promoting the boycott of the Jewish state. At the same time, BDS activists took a video of hijab-clad Arab women outside an Israeli prison demonstrating to demand the release of Arab terrorists who were imprisoned there for murdering Israeli men, women and children. Alicia Keyes’ new song was “This girl is on fire” and was played as the musical background to the You Tube video. I immediately went on the Web and found Alicia Keyes’ manager and agent and told him about the copyright violation of her song being used to promote a Palestinian propaganda video to release terrorists. The You Tube video was taken down by next morning with an explanation that copyright laws forbid its illicit use by BDS activists. At the same time, Alicia Keyes’ management confirmed she had canceled a trip to Israel, but it had nothing to do with promoting BDS, but was simply due to scheduling conflicts. Keyes went on later to visit and perform in Tel Aviv to adoring crowds of Israelis, both Jews and Arabs. On another occasion, Tom Jones sang at a fundraiser for children in Gaza. The BDS movement claimed the Welsh crooner was a supporter of BDS. I wrote an article about that whose title was The Day the Music Died . Point of fact, Jones was singing at that event because he thought he was helping children. Contrary to supporting BDS, he sang also in Tel Aviv to adoring crowds of both Arabs and Jews. I wrote him a letter of apology for my article. The Big Lie had even tricked me. For the last year or so new reports put out by the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement (ISM) claimed that Santana supports BDS because he, too, had canceled a trip to Israel to perform. Even members of the Israeli press fell for that lie. Santana recently told the public he didn’t cancel his performance in Israel to promote a boycott, but due to other commitments, Prior to the Oscars taking place in Hollywood, glaring headlines emerged claiming that after all the contenders were offered free all-expense paid trips to visit Israel by the Israeli government, to date none had accepted the free trip offer. To the Jew haters and destroyers of Israel this was touted as proof that BDS is working. BDS activists took out a $10,000 ad in the L.A. Times urging Oscar contenders to boycott Israel. Just as with Alicia Keyes, names of the famous who didn’t go to Israel were used to claim celebrities were boycotting Israel. The Jerusalem Post, Ha’aretz , reported that none of the celebrities had taken Israel up on the offer and practically quoted verbatim the propaganda from BDS activists as facts. What they didn’t mention was that Stallone, Schwarzenegger and all the biggest names on the list came out in support of Israel and against Hamas. The BDS movement is run on a Big Lie technique pioneered by Goebbels during Hitler’s regime. The technique holds that if you tell a big enough lie long enough and keep repeating it, people will believe it’s true. This is the foundation of the BDS movement against Israel in America and around the world. The BDS campaign has recently changed its name to the “U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.” Anna Baltzer, the campaign head of the U.S. BDS Campaign, now the campaign for “Palestinian rights,” has been accused of using multiple aliases. She did a You Tube video in which she promoted BDS at San Diego State proclaiming she did this “as a proud Jewish woman.” She also ran an article on the ISM’s Electronic Intifada website where she met with an Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade terrorist and explained to him she was born to a Jewish mother but wasn’t raised Jewish, knew nothing about the religion and was opposed to Israel’s existence. From there she did a radio interview in Canada where she exclaimed, “Inshallah! One day we will bring down Zionism [the Jews}.” After doing some research, I found that BDS claimed that since Oscar winner Leonardo DI Caprio hadn’t taken the free trip to Israel, he must be a BDS supporter. I was happy to see the article at this link . DiCaprio jas visited Israel many times and even hopes to work with an Israeli director. Di Caprio is only one of the movie stars BDS wants people to think supports the Boycott. They run photos with others, but most have no intent to boycott Israel - they are in no rush, as the trip offers are good for one year. This is not mentioned on the BDS sites. The idea that Oscar contenders not redeeming their trips just prior to the Oscars means they are anti-Israel is deceptive. Most wouldn’t want to be out of town during the Oscars and will, in all probability, visit Israel in the coming year. Readers can take action themselves against BDS by researching the actors’ managements as I did and get the truth out about the misuse of their names. This is one way for individuals who love Israel to stop the Big Lie that is the BDS movement. Lee Kaplan heads Stop the ISM. He is an investigative journalist and contributor to Front Page Magazine, senior intelligence analyst and communications director for the Northeast Intelligence Network, and also heads Defending America for Knowledge and Action (DAFKA). He appears frequently in the US media.
