Erez

Erez is an internationally renowned violinist, born in Israel and trained at the Juilliard School in New York, among others. Honoured early on - including first prize at the ARD Competition and a silver medal at the Queen Elisabeth Competition - he performs worldwide as a soloist and chamber musician. He has been first concertmaster of the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin since 2002 and combines virtuosity with great musical depth in his playing.

Although music is considered a universal language, current developments show that even classical music is increasingly affected by calls for a boycott.

What is BDS?

BDS stands for Boycott, divestment and sanctions and is an international campaign that has existed since 2005 and aims to exert political, economic, cultural and academic pressure on the state of Israel. Officially, it calls for an end to the occupation of Palestinian territories, equal rights for Arab Israelis and a comprehensive right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants.

The impact of the BDS campaign on social debates is also evident in the cultural sector. When internationally renowned Israeli artists such as the conductor Lahav Shani perform outside of Israel, concert halls and orchestras repeatedly come under political pressure. In Belgium, his concerts in 2025 a. Calls for boycotts are not only aimed at state institutions, but also explicitly at cultural collaborations. For orchestras like the Berliner Symphoniker, this means a special responsibility: they stand for artistic freedom, international exchange and musical dialogue - values that are fundamentally called into question by calls for a cultural boycott.

However, critics see BDS as far more than legitimate criticism of Israel. The campaign explicitly calls for a boycott of the Jewish state - a practice that evokes historical memories of the National Socialist boycotts against Jews from 1933 onwards. BDS is repeatedly accused of not only criticising Israel, but also demonising and delegitimising it. A double standard is often applied, such as the so-called 3-D test (demonisation, delegitimisation, double standards). .

The apartheid accusation levelled by BDS is particularly controversial. Opponents of this narrative emphasise that Israel is a democratic society with equal civil rights for Arab citizens - in contrast to the historical apartheid system in South Africa. The demand for an unrestricted right of return for all Palestinian refugees is also seen as an existential threat to Israel's character as a Jewish state.

It is also critically noted that the supporters of the original BDS call include organisations that are internationally classified as terrorist organisations, including Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

BDS therefore remains highly controversial in social discourse: While supporters see the campaign as a non-violent human rights movement, critics see it as a movement that reproduces anti-Semitic resentment under the guise of political criticism and questions Israel's right to exist.

Glossary BDS 

Article on Lahav Shani in Die Zeit

3-D test 

Director - Nico Beyer

Camera - Michael Mieke

Sound - Jude Dulake

Editing - Nico Beyer

Music/Sound - Christian Meyer

Grading - Michael Mieke

© JEWLIF 2026