On 17 December 2020 the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the EU ruled that a Decree by the Flemish Region that requires animals to be stunned prior to slaughter to reduce their suffering does not contravene European law. This judgement is a serious threat to the freedom of religion in Europe.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECt.HR) has ruled that calls for boycott of Israeli products are justified under European human rights law. This case raises serious policy issues. BDS activities are at their core discriminatory and anti-Semitic.
The Israeli government has called the BDS movement the second most serious existential threat to Israel. Second only to the threats issued by Iran to destroy Israel. Israel is not overreacting. The BDS movement is both dangerous and misleading. As Canadian PM Trudeau recently remarked, it is also anti-Semitic.
On Friday 17 May, the German Bundestag became the first national parliament in the European Union to adopt a motion denouncing the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for its anti-Semitic ‘pattern of argument and methods’.
By Dr. Matthijs de Blois, senior fellow at thinc. Introductie On 8 January 2019, the Netherlands Institute of International Relations – Clingendael – has sent a Policy Brief to the Permanent Committee of Foreign Affairs of the Dutch Parliament, entitled: ‘Wie wind zaait, zal storm oogsten: bezetting en de Staat Israël’. In this Policy…