Trump’s Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travelled to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and made two very concerning announcements: that the United State would consider the non-violent BDS movement to be antisemitic, and that imports to the US from illegal West Bank settlements could be labeled “Made in Israel.”

American Jews are calling on you to immediately and publicly commit to reversing those decisions on Day 1 of your administration. To reverse these decisions is less than the bare minimum that is necessary to end the occupation and achieve freedom and dignity for all Palestinians and Israelis.

To be clear: The BDS movement is not antisemitic. It is a non-violent protest movement that ends to achieve freedom for the Palestinian people. Whether or not you personally support BDS as a tactic, we can all agree that labeling an entire tactic of nonviolent protest as anti-semitic sets a dangerous precedent for weaponizing Jewish trauma to quash dissent. We must protect the people's right to protest.

Officially labeling BDS as antisemitic is yet another disastrous policy decision by the Trump administration in the region. It will be used to silence legitimate criticism of Israel and infringe on free speech. It will be used to target Muslims for censure, to prevent Palestinians from getting jobs, and to silence other critics of the Israeli military occupation.

As Jews who deeply care about combatting antisemitism, we also believe that labeling BDS and other movements critical of Israel as antisemitic only further distracts from real threats of antisemitism and provides cover for the far-right, allowing them to continue spewing antisemitic conspiracy theories while claiming their opposition to BDS proves they are not antisemitic.

Labeling settlement goods as “Made in Israel” also has frightening implications. It signals that the US believes that illegal settlements are legitimate, giving the Israeli government a green light to continue expanding settlements onto Palestinian land, against international law. It recognizes the Israeli far right’s claims of sovereignty over large swaths of the West Bank, violating the rights of millions of Palestinians. In short, it validates the Israeli military occupation.

President-elect Biden, you ran on a campaign to restore America’s image abroad and employ a foreign policy based on human rights. We know you believe in the power of free speech. We know you don’t want to give authoritarians like Netanyahu free range to steal land and force oppressive regimes over neighboring people.

We’re calling on you to act on those values we share, and commit to reversing these harmful policies. Reversing these inhuman policies is the bare minimum you can do to protect human rights.

Yours in the fight for freedom and dignity,