Germany's intelligence agency labels BDS movement as 'suspected extremist case'

BDS, a Palestinian-led movement, seeks end of occupation of Palestinian land, and oppression of Palestinian people.

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the country’s federal domestic intelligence agency, has classified the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement as a “suspected extremist case.”

A new report issued by Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser on Tuesday said the BDS movement was supported by over 170 Palestinian organisations, including Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).

The report said the movement has "links to secular Palestinian extremism," and that “there is sufficient, strong, factual evidence to suggest that [the] BDS thereby violates, among other things, the idea of international understanding.”

Furthermore, the report stated that after October 7, 2023, BDS-affiliated groups organised and participated in numerous calls for an end to "Israeli apartheid" and boycotts of Israeli-related companies and goods.

The UN recognises Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land as apartheid

Many international human rights organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, also recognise Israeli practises as apartheid.

Israel has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 85,000 others in Gaza since the October 2023, Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,200 Israelis.

Gaza with a population of two million is described as the world's largest openair prison following an Israeli-imposed blockade on the beseiged Palestinians.

The BDS movement calls for economic pressure on Israel to end the occupation of Palestinian land, and an end to the oppression of the Palestinian people.

It wants Arab citizens to be granted equal rights and want the recognition of the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

A majority of lawmakers in the Bundestag had earlier in 2019 voted to label the international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement as an entity that uses anti-Semitic tactics to fulfill its political goals.

Tel Aviv is also accused of committing a genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians during its ongoing war on Gaza.

Germany has been steadfast partner of Israel since 1948 and the end of the World War II.