Expert Opinion by M. Zuckerman on the Right to Boycott

I am emeritus professor at the Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas at Tel Aviv University, Israel. I have taught history and philosophy of the humanities, social sciences and cultural sciences, including German history of the humanities, at this institute. Among other things, I have published on German-Jewish history, on Zionism and antisemitism, and have lectured and written extensively on antisemitism and the public debate on Israel and its politics in Germany.

Mr. Ahmed Abed asked me to prepare an expert opinion on a case he is currently representing against the City of Bonn. I would like to emphasize and explain three things with this expert opinion: (1) that the decision “There is no place in Bonn for the anti-Semitic BDS movement” taken by the City of Bonn on 14.5.2019 incorrectly equates legitimate criticism of the Israeli government with antisemitism; (2) that BDS is a non-violent movement that protests against human rights violations in Israel/Palestine and has expressed its strong opposition to “all forms of racism, including antisemitism”; (3) that the application of the Decision has an adverse effect on the legitimate and urgent debate on violations of human rights and international law in Israel/Palestine, thus disregarding and undermining the right to freedom of expression as formulated in Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees “the reception and dissemination of information and ideas without interference by public authorities and regardless of frontiers”.”

Read the expert opinion [German]