Veteran Israeli journalist Gideon Levy has reaffirmed his support for the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, speaking in aĀ HaaretzĀ podcast interview.

Asked about the backlash against the boycott, both in Israel and in the United States, Levy said that the BDS campaign is still ā€œthe only game in townā€, a description he first used in 2016.

According to Levy, ā€œone of the biggest successesā€ of the boycott has been the way it has ā€œchanged the discourseā€ internationally; now ā€œpeople start to ask and question Zionismā€, and whether ā€œit is the only regime we can have in this piece of landā€.

ā€œThis discourse is a very fascinating one,ā€ Levy said.

Responding to the claims made by the Israeli government that theĀ BDS movementĀ is ā€œanti-Semiticā€, Levy dismissed such charges as ā€œthe automatic response of the Israeli propaganda against any criticism of Israel, not just BDSā€.

Levy said he believes that as BDS gains more momentum, Israelis will move beyond simply dismissing the boycott as a form of anti-Semitism and ask if ā€œthere is something wrong about usā€.

Despite the denial and aggression, Levy continued, ā€œthere is this knowledge that something is burning under our feetā€.

Addressing the goals of the BDS movement, Levy said his understanding was that ā€œit’s about changing the regime from anĀ apartheidĀ one to a democracyā€.

~ Haaretz/Days of Palestine

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