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Why We Shouldn't Be So Upset that Matisyahu Got the Boycott
(Los Angeles Jewish Journal) Jared Samilow - BDS overplayed its hand. Openly discriminating against an American Jew would not fly in front of a broad public. Such garish anti-Semitism might cut it among certain benighted precincts, but was bound to get the cold shoulder from ordinary concert-goers and the political elite. BDS activists are acutely aware that their bizarre fixation on Israel will be tolerated only if it remains possible to convince the mainstream that it is not anti-Semitic. That diaspora Jews are the Jewish state's most natural allies is not an awkward coincidence, but an expression of the Jewish people's affection for its motherland. Boycotting half of the world's Jews will inevitably lead to isolating and discriminating against the other half. Jared Samilow, 19, participated last year in the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Fellowship in Israel-Arab Studies.