A BDS Supporter (Wikimedia Commons) On March 16, the BDS National Committee hosted its sixth annual BDS National Conference in Ramallah. The conference, which received a statement of support from internationally recognized terrorist organizations such as Hamas, the Palestinian National and Islamic Forces (PNIF), and the People’s Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was heavily attended by individuals associated with terrorism. Khitam Saafin, a leader in the PFLP, attended as a panelist for a workshop on BDS policy. Also in attendance was Abu Marsel Karaja, a member of the PFLP who has been arrested numerous times by Israeli security forces. Lastly, Dr. Wasel Abu Yousef, who currently acts as secretary of the PNIF in the West Bank, attended the conference as a speaker. The main goal of the conference was to advocate for the expansion of boycott practices and the implementation of a strict “anti-normalization” policy with Israel. The conference also pushed for increased lobbying against Israel within international bodies and organizations such as the European Union. The conference included workshops on boycott policies, labor sectors and trade unions, normalization, and BDS within the Palestinian Territories. The conference was acknowledged by diplomats from several countries, including Baleka Mbete the speaker of the lower house of South Africa’s National Assembly. Mbete sent a recorded statement affirming that the “Palestinian struggle is our struggle.” Among the attendees was Omar Barghouti, the Qatar-born US educated founder of the Israel boycott movement. Barghouti was recently denied permission to travel to the United States. Barghouti and other leaders in the boycott movement stated at the conference that BDS was part of a “popular resistance” movement against Israeli “occupation.” As part of this stance, BDS leaders stated that the Palestinian Liberation Organization would not work with the Israeli police on fighting crime and terrorism, regardless of whether those crimes affect both Palestinians and Israelis. The leaders also called on members of the Palestinian Authority government in the Gaza Strip to cease all forms of security coordination, economic cooperation, and cultural normalization with Israel. As reported by JNS, BDS experts Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser and Dan Diker, noted how “the organizers’ affiliations and cooperation with terrorist groups indicate that BDS is aimed at annihilating the Jewish state—the political form of terrorism.” Both Diker and Kupperwasser also agreed that “by promoting anti-normalization, BDS clearly shows that it does not aim to help the Palestinians, as the Palestinians are the ones who gain the most by normalizing and working together with Israelis, whereas Israel would do just fine without cooperating with the Palestinians in business.”