German Labor Union Youth Organization Rejects BDS

The youth organization of Germany’s largest service employees union ver.di flatly rejected the anti-Israel BDS campaign in a motion at its Berlin conference on Saturday.

“The union ver.di and all its sub-divisions distance themselves from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and ‘For One State and Return in Palestine’ campaigns and their affiliates,” wrote the youth group on its Facebook page.

The group added: “ver.di disclaims any cooperation with the above-mentioned organizations and their affiliates and their support, and condemns their activities in a political, cultural, economic and scientific context.

“Ver.di and its subdivisions are in solidarity with the activities of our partners in the trade union confederations Histadrut and PGFTU [The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions], which oppose these efforts at a national and international level, even in a trade union context. In this fight, ver.de actively supports the colleagues.“

Ver.di has nearly 2 million members as of December.

The American Jewish Committee’s office in Berlin welcomed the ver.di anti-BDS resolution on Twitter: ”@verdi_Jugend has rejected any cooperation with BDS on their #BJK19. We are very happy about this decision and the political signal. Thank you!”

Benjamin Weinthal is a European correspondent at The Jerusalem Post and a fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.