Israeli Ambassador to Washington, DC, Ron Dermer, is using the holiday season in the US to deliver a clear message of defiance against ongoing BDS boycott Israel efforts. Ambassador Dermer made a point of announcing his gifts will contain items originating in communities in Yehuda, Shomron and the Golan Heights. His act comes at a time when the EU community steps up its economic sanctions on goods from those areas, insisting that all “settlement goods” are appropriately marked to inform a potential buyer of their place of origin.

Dermer used Twitter to get his message out – twitting “This year I decided to send a gift for the holiday that would also help combat BDS”. He attaches the letter on official Ambassador of Israel stationary dated December 17, 2015 to the tweet, which reads;

“This holiday season, I decided to send a gift that would also help combat the latest effort by Israel’s enemies to destroy the one and only Jewish state,” wrote Dermer in his letter.

“The main forces behind this movement are fanatics who actively seek to eliminate Israel. Unfortunately, they are occasionally joined by fools who naively believe that in promoting BDS, they are advancing peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” he added.

“The fanatics and the fools are simply promoting a new anti-Semitism. Once Jews were singled out and held to a different standard than other peoples. Today, the Jewish state is singled out and held to a different standard than other countries.

“The most recent case of this was the European Union’s decision to label products that are made in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria differently than other products made in Israel. Of the over 200 unresolved territorial disputes around the world, Europe decided that only these Jewish-made products deserved to be labeled.

“What makes this unfair treatment of Israel all the more shameful is that Israel upholds the highest democratic values in the darkest region on earth and while facing threats faced by no other nation. In a Middle East where women are treated as chattel, gays are hanged, minorities are decimated and Christians are decapitate, Israel is proud to have female fighter pilots, Arab Supreme Court Justices, gay pride parades and a thriving Christian community.

“As we have seen in the wake of the attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, democracies are tested when there are real threats to security. Israel has passed that test with flying colors for the past 67 years despite being the most threatened democracy on earth.

“In response to this effort to cast a beacon of freedom tolerance and decency as a pariah state, I have decided this holiday season to send you products that were made in Judea, Samaria, and the Golan Heights. I hope you will enjoy them.

“May you and your family enjoy a New Year of health and happiness”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)