Adelson and Saban to Host Secret Anti-BDS Pow-Wow
06/01/2015
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For several months, I’ve been pointing out how the anti-Israel BDS movement among California student politicians represents a nascent Frankenstein’s Monster for Jewish interests and their traditional strategies of promoting immigration and diversity uber alles. In a country where two percent of the population make up over 30% of the Forbes 400, fomenting a War on Privilege might not be such a good idea these days. From the Jewish Daily Forward:
Sheldon Adelson To Host Secret Anti-BDS Summit for Jewish Donors

Nathan Guttman June 1, 2015

Washington – Leading Jewish mega-donors have summoned pro-Israel activists for a closed-door meeting in Las Vegas to establish, and fund, successful strategies for countering the wave of anti-Israel activity on college campuses.

The meeting, taking place this weekend, will be hosted by casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and was organized by several other top Jewish funders, including Hollywood entertainment mogul Haim Saban, Israeli-born real-estate developer Adam Milstein and Canadian businesswoman Heather Reisman.

… Saban, a Los Angeles billionaire who is also a major Democratic donor with close ties to the Clintons, has been discussing the idea for more than a year, one source with firsthand information of the initiative said. Saban has spoken to Israeli officials, including the former ambassador to Washington Michael Oren and top officials in the Israeli foreign ministry, about setting up a special task force to deal with increased calls on campuses to adopt measures of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, measures commonly referred to as BDS.

According to an official in the Jewish community, it was another California philanthropist of Israeli background, Milstein, who put together the initiative. He got mega-donor Adelson and Reisman, who in recent years has been increasingly involved in initiatives to support Israel, on board. …

Campus activity has been among the fastest-growing fields in Jewish organizations. Most major groups, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the ADL and the American Jewish Committee, have set up operations geared at students, alongside groups whose main focus has always been campus activity, such as Hillel and ICC. Yet despite the growth in pro-Israel activism, pro-Palestinian-driven protests and resolutions have been on the rise. The past year has seen a record number of 15 universities adopt resolutions demanding divestiture of college funds from Israel.

It would be interesting to find out what they decide upon:
  • Expand their blacklist of pro-BDS activists?
  • Double down on promoting Jews as the biggest victimized group ever?
  • Or start to tone down the valorization of victimhood and minorityhood as being, in 21st Century America, not so good for the Jews anymore?
Sheldon would never go for it because it might mean paying a few bucks per hour more to his hotel maids, but maybe some of these guys might want to fund, say, a new Samuel Gompers Institute for the American People to let media types know that not all Jews are on the side of endless mass immigration and that, therefore, being concerned about the current citizens of America and our posterity isn’t anti-Semitic.
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