“Silence is consent,” said Alan Kornman as he addressed about 50 people at a recent Zionistas-sponsored lecture held at Oakmonte Village in Lake Mary.

Kornman, who is the regional coordinator of the United West—Uniting Western Civilization for Freedom and Liberty, enlightened the group about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“BDS is ‘Jew hatred’ in a different package,” Kornman told the attentive audience.

A resolution to condemn BDS and the increasing incidents of anti-Semitism has been initiated and passed in five states. That initiative was taken by one woman, Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder and president of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations, a Christian Zionist group. Through her actions, Tennessee’s legislature passed an anti-BDS resolution, which was quickly followed by New York, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. And since then, 41 states and seven countries have requested information about the resolution.

“It’s time that state-elected leadership step forward and condemn the hate speech and targeting of pro-Israel and Jewish students on college campuses and the incitement of bigotry and increasing incidents of anti-Jewish hate crimes fueled by the BDS campaign,” Kornman stated.

“Why should every state legislature pass this resolution?” Kornman asked, and then explained: BDS embeds its objectives in claims of pursuing “social justice for Palestinians.” In reality, BDS has made it easy and socially acceptable to give voice to anti-Semitism but not be labeled a Jew hatred. College campuses in Florida are breeding grounds for this kind of anti-Semitism. Groups such as American Muslims for Palestine and Students for Justice in Palestine use the BDS movement to incite Jew hatred under the banner of “social justice.” College students, who often fight for social justice anywhere in the world, are often unaware that untruths are fed to them, in the guise of helping the Palestinian people obtain freedom from the “apartheid” state of Israel. (One need only visit Israel to see first hand that this is far from the truth.)

Kornman quoted Martin Luther King, Jr., who stated, “When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You’re talking anti-Semitism.” He also quoted Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper: “This is the face of the new anti-Semitism. It targets the Jewish people by targeting Israel and attempts to make the old bigotry acceptable for a new generation.”

Kornman encouraged the audience to engage in conversation with their college-aged children and grandchildren about what is going on at their universities. One does not have to become an orator to voice the truth; “table talk” is a great “grass roots” way to have an open dialogue.

Kornman was also going to speak about the Interfaith Movement in Central Florida, however, the audience wanted to know more about the Iran nuclear deal that was before Congress.

An interesting point Kornman made was that the Iran nuclear deal is not a treaty. “A treaty needs two-thirds of Congress’s approval to pass for adoption. This deal is an ‘executive agreement.’ Republicans should have demanded this deal be a treaty.”

Another important point Kornman brought out—and left the audience with—was that in the event Israel takes pre-emptive steps and attacks Iran, because of the deal, our country will have to defend Iran.

Since his talk, the Iran nuclear deal passed in Congress and went into effect on Sept. 17. Will we be silent if Israel defends itself against Iran?