Initial Questions
-Do you boycott any companies in your own life? Chick-Fil-A, Amazon, SeaWorld, etc.? If so, do you encourage others to as well?
-Do you boycott any general items in your own life (not including kashrut and health-related restrictions)? Meat, fish, palm oil, resin, etc.? If so, do you encourage others to as well?
-Do you boycott any public figures or media entities in your own life? Mel Gibson, Info Wars, Al Jazeera, the NFL, etc.? If so, do you encourage others to as well?
If you said yes to any of these, does that contrast with your view on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement? Why or why not?
-Do you feel that boycotts make an impact?
How does BDS define itself?
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.
Israel is occupying and colonizing Palestinian land, discriminating against Palestinian citizens of Israel and denying Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law.
BOYCOTTS involve withdrawing support from Israel's apartheid regime, complicit Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions, and from all Israeli and international companies engaged in violations of Palestinian human rights.
DIVESTMENT campaigns urge banks, local councils, churches, pension funds and universities to withdraw investments from the State of Israel and all Israeli and international companies that sustain Israeli apartheid.
SANCTIONS campaigns pressure governments to fulfil their legal obligations to end Israeli apartheid, and not aid or assist its maintenance, by banning business with illegal Israeli settlements, ending military trade and free-trade agreements, as well as suspending Israel's membership in international forums such as UN bodies and FIFA.
BDS is an inclusive, anti-racist human rights movement that is opposed on principle to all forms of discrimination, including anti-semitism and Islamophobia.
Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the Palestinian BDS call urges nonviolent pressure on Israel until it complies with international law by meeting three demands:
1- Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands [East Jerusalem, Gaza, Syrian Golan Heights, and the West Bank] and dismantling the Wall
2- Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality
3- Respecting, protecting, and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194
Israel maintains a regime of of settler colonialism, apartheid and occupation over the Palestinian people. This is only possible because of international support. Governments fail to hold Israel to account, while corporations and institutions across the world help Israel to oppress Palestinians.
Because those in power refuse to act to stop this injustice, Palestinian civil society has called for a global citizens’ response of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality.
BDS aims to end international support for Israeli violations of international law by forcing companies, institutions and governments to change their policies. As Israeli companies and institutions become isolated, Israel will find it more difficult to oppress Palestinians. BDS campaigns also raise awareness about how Israel oppresses the Palestinian people. As Israeli corporations, institutions and organizations become isolated or suffer economic setbacks due to international BDS campaigns, Israel, including business and society, will find it more difficult to maintain its oppression of Palestinians.
The BDS movement does not advocate for a particular solution to the conflict and does not call for either a “one state solution” or a “two state solution”. Instead, BDS focuses on the realization of basic rights and the implementation of international law. As in the boycott against apartheid South Africa, the BDS movement calls for a boycott of Israel’s entire regime of oppression, including all of the Israeli companies and institutions that are involved in its violations of international law.
BDS does not target identity. It strictly targets companies and institutions based on complicity in denying Palestinian rights. For example, we call for a boycott of all Israeli fruit and vegetables, regardless of whether they are grown inside Israel or in illegal Israeli settlements because all Israeli agricultural businesses are involved in human rights violations. We also call for a boycott of all Israeli universities, because they are implicated, to various degrees, in the design, implementation, justification, or whitewash of Israel's crimes against Palestinians.
Questions for Consideration
- Is there anything that sticks out to you, or doesn't make sense? Is this blurb internally consistent?
- Is there anything in this blurb that jumps out to you as antisemitic? On a surface level, are any of the claims made here antisemitic?
- If you were new to the Conflict and to Jewish issues, would a movement like this appeal to you? Why or why not?
- Do you think that the goals stated here affect the day-to-day life of Palestinians in the West Bank and/or Gaza?
How do Israeli and/or Jewish organizations view BDS?
From the Anti-Defamation League:
BDS: The Global Campaign to Delegitimize Israel
The BDS movement aims to emulate the 1980s campaigns against South African apartheid. Its supporters claim that Israeli policies towards Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank is akin to the apartheid regime that existed in South Africa, and that the same tactics used to demand that apartheid be dismantled in South Africa should be employed to pressure, ostracize and marginalize Israel.
Campaigns have been launched demanding the "divestment" of university, municipal, church, union and other investment portfolios from companies that advocates claim “aid Israel’s occupation”, as well as the “boycott” of Israeli products, professionals, professional associations and academic institutions, and artistic performances (in Israel and abroad).
Some supporters of BDS may genuinely believe that these efforts will encourage Israel to change policies with which they disagree. However, the predominant drive of the BDS campaign and its leadership is not criticism of policies, but the demonization and delegitimization of Israel. BDS campaigns promote a biased and simplistic approach to the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and present this dispute over territorial and nationalist claims as the fault of only one party – Israel. The BDS campaign does not support Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, and rejects a two-state solution to the conflict.
Many of the founding goals of the BDS movement, including denying the Jewish people the universal right of self-determination – along with many of the strategies employed in BDS campaigns are anti-Semitic. Many individuals involved in BDS campaigns are driven by opposition to Israel’s very existence as a Jewish state. Often, BDS campaigns give rise to tensions in communities – particularly on college campuses – that can result in harassment or intimidation of Jews and Israel supporters, including overt antisemitic expression and acts. This dynamic can create an environment in which antisemitism can be expressed more freely. And, all too often, BDS advocates employ antisemitic rhetoric and narratives to isolate and demonize Israel.
From the Israeli Government: Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy
Today (Wednesday, September 25 2019), Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan revealed at the European Parliament in Brussels a new report from the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, “Behind the Mask: The Antisemitic Nature of BDS Exposed”. The event was organized by the European Jewish Association (EJA), led by Rabbi Menachem Margolin, and included in attendance are the special envoys charged with combatting antisemitism from both the US, Elan Carr, the EU, Katharina von Schnurbein, members of European Parliament, and leading Jewish organizations.
Minister Gilad Erdan: “Today we have proven beyond a doubt that BDS is an anti-Semitic campaign led by supporters of terror with one purpose: the elimination of the Jewish State. I urge Western countries not to take part in the anti-Semitic lies of BDS, not to legitimize its racism, and surely not fund it.”
Questions for Consideration
- Is there anything that sticks out to you, or doesn't make sense?
- Do you believe that the charges or accusations of antisemitism that the ADL and the Israeli government make are valid, just from these cursory explanations?
- Do you believe that any charges, accusations, or characterizations of BDS (outside of antisemitism) that the ADL and Israeli government make are unfair or false?
- If you were new to the Conflict, and all you knew of BDS was what's written here so far (BDS self-definition, ADL charges, and comments by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs), would you believe the ADL and the Israeli Government, or would you believe BDS? Why?
Is BDS successful?
Anders Persson, Haaretz, December 20th 2018
When the BDS movement was founded in 2005, Israel’s GDP (in current US$) was $142 billion, according to the World Bank. In 2017 (the latest available figure), it was $350 billion. By comparison, the economy of the United States grew by 47% during the same period, France by 17% and the United Kingdom by 4%, according to the same World Bank statistics.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows to Israel also reached an all-time high in 2017. Both 2017 and 2018 have also been record years for tourism in Israel with more people than ever visiting the country.
Israel is flourishing not just in the economic sphere but in the diplomatic sphere as well. Having written about Sweden’s recognition of Palestine and whether EU members would follow - so far none has - it has long been clear that it is Israel that is enjoying increased recognition, and not the Palestinians.
This is obvious when one looks at the many meetings Netanyahu has had with world leaders: from hosting the President of Chad recently, to his trip to Oman, to his secret dealings with other Gulf and Muslim League countries, to his close relations with the Visegrad countries, to his strategic alliance with Greece and so on.
When it comes to actual boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel, there have over the years since 2005 been a number of small victories for the BDS movement, the latest of which was Airbnb’s de-listing of accommodation in Israeli settlements (which now seems to be in jeopardy), possible new laws on the way in Ireland and Chile against the settlements, academic boycotts, cancelled music concerts, and two U.S. police departments’ cancelling of training in Israel.
While these measures have received much publicity, they have - just like similar measures in the past - done very little to improve the situation on the ground for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
During the lifetime of the BDS movement, the number of settlers in the West Bank has actually grown by almost 70% (from 247,300 in 2005 to 413,400 in 2017), according to data from Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, used by Peace Now’s Settlement Watch.
Questions for Consideration
-Persson paints a very clear picture of the impacts of BDS on various aspects of Israeli life and policy. Since his writing, a number of Israeli victories in the diplomatic sphere have taken place, including but not limited to the United States recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the Abraham Accords, and normalization with Sudan. With all this in mind, is BDS really that effective or successful?
-If BDS has not made an impact on Israel economically or diplomatically, but rather has in the social sphere, why does Israel care so much about the movement? Why do non-Israeli Jewish groups? Is it all about antisemitism, or is there something more to it?
- Does it help or harm Israel when non-Israeli Jewish groups act so strongly against BDS?
What are some criticisms of BDS that aren't centered around antisemitism?
Noam Chomsky (in an interview on BDS and his conditional support of it, September 2nd 2010)
It’s not a call from the Palestinian people. It’s a call from groups who call themselves the Palestinian people. In fact it’s been hard enough to try get the Palestinian people to boycott settlement produce. And the very people who are calling for this are perfectly happy to study in Tel Aviv University. So it’s not a call from the Palestinian people. These are tactics, not principles. To be a [good] tactic it has to meet at least two conditions. One, it has to be helpful to the victims, not harmful to them. And two, it has to be educational. That is, it’s directed at somebody. It’s symbolic of course, like other non-violent actions. It’s directed at an audience. It has to help educate them –not miseducate them– so that then they’ll be able to go on and take further actions. That’s the whole point of civil disobedience. And there are many proposals that have exactly that effect. So for example those that call for, say, an end to US arms sales to Israel have exactly that effect. It’s symbolic of course, but if implemented, yes, it would benefit the Palestinians. And it educates Americans and Europeans, who are the crucial people here. Well, if you focus on arms sales, on corporations operating in the occupied territories, on purchase of goods from the occupied territories and so on, it meets those two criteria. On the other hand if you say, let’s boycott Tel Aviv University, or let’s insist on boycotting Israel until they end internal repression, anybody with a brain is just going to laugh. They’re just going to laugh and it’s just going to be a weapon in the hands of hard-liners.
The New York Times, July 27th, 2019
Critics say B.D.S. is actually counterproductive to resolving the conflict, because it rejects Israel’s right to exist in spite of settled international law; encourages Palestinians to insist on the right of return for all refugees, which Israel is unlikely to ever accept in negotiations; pressures only one side to make concessions; and discourages bridge-building efforts between Israelis and Palestinians on the grounds that they “normalize” Israel. They say its rejection of the Jewish state distracts from debate over how to end the conflict and plays into the hands of right-wing Israeli opponents of a Palestinian state.
Palestinian Response to Criticisms of BDS
“Every other form of Palestinian resistance has been criminalized and made unavailable,” says Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney and assistant professor at Rutgers University. “It’s not that BDS is integral. What do we have besides it?” The fact that the Trump administration has attacked even BDS sends a message “demanding that Palestinians surrender,” she adds. “If you say anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism then you’re basically condemning all Palestinians as anti-Semites because they decide to exist,” Erakat says. The reason that BDS has been met with fierce opposition is because it “morally challenges Zionism as a political project,” she adds.
Questions to Consider
- Do you agree with Noam Chomsky? Is BDS accessible? Is it largely symbolic? If so, is that bad?
- Do you agree with the New York Times? Is BDS realistic?
- Noura Erekat raises a very important point- that many feel that BDS is the only means left of nonviolent resistance. Do you agree with this? Do you feel that there are ways to refine or restructure the BDS Movement to address its criticisms- including antisemitism?
-After reading these sources and discussing them, has your stance on BDS changed? If so, in what way?