BDS Founder Omar Barghouti Arrested For Tax Fraud

This is rich: BDS movement founder Omar Barghouti has been arrested by Israeli authorities for allegedly evading taxes on $700,000 of his earnings.

“Voodoo economics”

The leader of the campaign to boycott Israel was arrested by Israeli authorities on Monday for allegedly failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in income, Globes reported.

Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, is suspected of evading taxes on some $700,000 that he earned between 2007 to 2017 while serving as the director of the Ramallah-based National Computing Resources, which markets and rents ATMs and other technology within the Palestinian Authority.

Barghouti, who resides in the Israeli city of Acre, deposited the money in a Ramallah bank account to hide it from tax authorities, according to the charges. He is also believed to have deposited income from a global speaking tour and book royalties in a bank account in the United States, which was similarly hidden from authorities.

Police say that credit cards and transaction records found at his house support their suspicions.

While Barghouti was released on bail after being interrogated by authorities in Haifa, he is currently subject to a travel ban. His defense attorney is asking for leniency in application of the ban, as Barghouti is scheduled to go abroad twice in April, including once to receive a prize for his work with the BDS campaign by the organization Promoting Enduring Peace.

Barghouti, a Qatari-born Palestinian, is married to an Arab-Israeli woman and holds Israeli permanent residency status. He earned a degree in philosophy at Tel Aviv University.

The BDS campaign, which Barghouti helped launch in 2005, attempts to delegitimize and isolate Israel in an effort to advance Palestinian interests. Many leaders of the campaign have publicly affirmed that they seek Israel’s destruction, with Barghouti saying in 2013, “We are witnessing the rapid demise of Zionism, and nothing can be done to save it … I, for one, support euthanasia.” He also said the following year that Palestinians have a right to “resistance by any means, including armed resistance.”

So let’s break this down: the founder of the BDS movement is a man from Qatar, who lives in Israel and has enjoyed all the benefits of this life – including a university education, and a nice paying job – yet feels the need to not only lead a demonization campaign against Israel but also illegally enrich himself at the state’s expense.Oh, and he also clearly has made money off his BDS activities.

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6 thoughts on “BDS Founder Omar Barghouti Arrested For Tax Fraud”

  1. mrharmonicaman

    Interesting how he didn’t boycott Israeli universities until after he obtained his degree. Shame on him for trying to prevent Palestinians and Israeli Arabs from obtaining a higher education.

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