Israel comes in for particular attention by people concerned for human rights for several reasons, none of which so far as the overwhelming majority of critics has anything to do with its being Jewish.

One reason is that our countries' governments provide significant backing for the Israeli government, whatever it does. That is especially true of the USA. This factor also applies in the case of Saudi Arabia, where the policy of our governments in ignoring human rights abuse and supplying weapons with genocidal capacity is strongly imp Von osed by many of the same people who are criticised for focusing attention unfairly on Israel.

Another reason is that Israel has a democratic political culture and structures, and makes great play of how different in this respect it is from neighbouring countries. But a commitment to democracy and human rights carries an expectation that human rights will be respected. When Israel is seeen as failing on this front it is inviting people to cry foul. And they are aware that there is a tradition within Israel's political culture that shares these concerns, and is in fact founded on a concern for human rights that is centuries old.

A third reason is that there is a sustained effort by the Israeli government to drum up support for it in our countries, both at a national and popular level. The more this is seen as succeeding, the more many people feel a duty to oppose that.

And a fourth reason in relation to BDS is that the experience with Apartheid South Africa encourages people to hope that the same effect could in time come about in the case of Israel, and that this could mean a way out from a tragic human situation that avoids the appalling violence which is seen as only too likely to occur within a few years.