“If Omar Barghouti achieves his goal of the destruction of Israel, will his Master’s degree in philosophy from Tel Aviv University still be valid?”

It is unclear whether Barghouti considers an Israeli education legitimate, as he has described Israel as an illegitimate country. Omar Barghouti, a prominent spokesman for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, said recently that, if the movement achieves its goals, then the Jewish state will cease to exist.

JIJThe American Jewish Committee lambasted the BDS movement following Barghouti’s latest remarks. “We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The campaign to boycott Israel, known as the BDS movement, openly seeks Israel’s destruction,” the group tweeted. “Don’t believe us? Ask the guy who started it.”

In 2005, Omar Barghouti founded the infamous boycott, divest, and sanction (BDS) movement; a movement which on its surface appears to promote the rights of Palestinians by pursuing economic, academic, and cultural boycotts of Israel.  Beneath the surface, however, it becomes clear that this movement’s true goal is to bring an end to the State of Israel and replace it with a sovereign Palestinian state.

Omar Barghouti was born in Qatar to Palestinian parents, grew up in Egypt, and received a master’s degree from Columbia University before marrying an Arab-Israeli woman and gaining permanent residency status in Israel.  He has since received a second master’s degree as well as a PhD from Tel Aviv University in ethics.  The irony of this is almost laughable, given that a founding principle of the BDS movement is an academic boycott of Israeli institutions, scholars, and studies.  He has enjoyed invaluable benefits from Israeli academic institutions, yet actively promotes boycotting those very institutions.

Barghouti has publicly expressed disapproval for a two-state solution, instead favoring a single Palestinian state with a Jewish minority presence.  He believes that a Jewish state and a Palestinian one are incompatible.  Even though the BDS movement claims to not advocate for any particular solution, the nature of the movement and the intentions of its founder suggest otherwise.  While BDS appears to support one people’s self-determination, the heart of the movement aims to destroy that of another.  Implicit in the movement’s advocacy is Barghouti’s personal goal of the elimination of the Jewish state.

Barghouti is vocal about making false claims of Israeli apartheid, violence against Palestinian children, colonization, and more.  At the same time he denies violence and persecution against Jews in Arab states.