Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

"Refuse to finance the occupation – Boycott Israel"— A Swedish poster calls for a boycott of Israel.

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) refers to a campaign started on 9 July 2005 by 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations in support of the Palestinian cause for Boycott, Divestment and International sanctions against Israel.

Background

Main article: Boycotts of Israel

In January 2005 the Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI) presented a call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel to the 5th World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil (26 January and 31 January). The launch of the campaign coincided with the first anniversary of the International Court of Justice ruling on the Israeli West Bank barrier.

Goals and Proclamations

According to their website, the BDS campaign claims to support the Palestinian cause because Israel "was not complying with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights."

Particularly it has stated three main goals:

1. Freeing all Palestinian territories from Israeli influence since 1967 and dismantling the Israeli West Bank barrier;
2. Acting towards the rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel; and
3. Promoting the interests of Palestinian refugees in reference to the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 of 1948.

Reaction

Australia

Australia held its first national BDS conference in 2010.

Australian pro-Palestinian groups have targeted, in particular, the Israeli-owned business Max Brenner. In Victoria in 2011, a picket was staged of a Max Brenner store located in the Queen Victoria Village, in Melbourne's central business district, for the company's alleged support for the Israeli Defense Forces. 19 activists were arrested during the protest. 16 were charged and bailed on offences including assaulting police, riotous behaviour, besetting premises and trespass. The Australian Jewish News reported the protesters were not peaceful and that no member of the public was injured, however The Palestine Telegraph reported that the protest was peaceful and that a protester suffered a dislocated shoulder from police. The incident led conservative blogger and author, Pamela Gellar, to label Students for Palestine (one of the groups involved in the protest) a "terrorist organization". Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein and Gerry Conlon were signatories to the petition to defend those arrested, known as the "Boycott Israel 19".

Though Max Brenner is targeted by some Australian Palestinian activists the Australian Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said, “I don't think in 21st-century Australia there is a place for the attempted boycott of a Jewish business.” In addition, the Reverend Jim Barr, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, while supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel, disagreed with the protest, saying, "that stuff just discredits the whole movement."

In New South Wales in 2011, Walt Secord of the Labor Party's NSW Legislative Council, called on the NSW Minister for Police, Michael Gallacher, to "provide assurances for the protection of businesses with Israeli links" after two BDS protesters were arrested outside a Max Brenner store. Also in New South Wales, on April 19, 2011, the town council of Marrickville held a fiery meeting over whether to support the global BDS campaign. Though they struck down the motion, one councilor went on record hoping that Israelis and Palestinians could, "live in peace in the future without Marrickville Council trying to interfere."

The NSW Greens State Conference prior to the 2011 NSW State Election adopted a resolution in support of BDS. In support of the statement, Senator Lee Rhiannon said it was "motivated by the universal principles of freedom, justice and equal rights" and also "I see the value of that tactic as a way to promoting Palestinian human rights." Following the election, Federal leader Bob Brown said that he had conveyed his disapproval of this policy emphasis to Rhiannon. In December 2011, the NSW Greens reviewed their support the BDS campaign against Israel, bringing the branch more closely in line with the federal Greens Party position. However, they did vote to support BDS as a "legitimate political tactic." Rhiannon said that this was not a defeat, but rather, "The resolution recognizes the legitimacy of the BDS as a political tactic.”

Canada

The most visible face of organizing in support of BDS in Canada is Israeli Apartheid Week, originally started in Toronto in 2005.

A three-day BDS conference held at the Université du Québec à Montréal in October 2010 was "a dismal failure" according to Quebec-Israel Committee (QIC) executive director Luciano Del Negro.

In February 2012, Vancouverite Shani Bar-Oz's soap products store was being boycotted for carrying Israeli goods and "venemous protests" were staged outside her store, which included the shouting of anti-semitic slogans. This resulted in "a huge wave of support and generated new business...with new orders pouring in as result of the story."

France

Following the Gaza War in 2008-2009, in February 2009, a call for an academic boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli institutions was published.

In June 2009, several French organisations gathered to organize a French BDS campaign against specific targets like Carrefour, Ahava, Agrexco-Carmel, Veolia Transport and Alstom.

Olivia Zemor, of the group EuroPalestine, was summoned to appear in French court in 2011 for posting a video to the internet of Palestinian and French activists wearing t-shirts that called for a boycott of Israel. Zemor says she was not present but only published the video on the internet. The court has ruled that "The call for the boycott of the products of a State by a citizen is not forbidden under French law" and is part of the freedom of expression.

Israel

On July 11, 2011, the Knesset passed a law making it a civil offence to publicly call for a boycott against the State of Israel, defined as "deliberately avoiding economic, cultural or academic ties with another person or another factor only because of his ties with the State of Israel, one of its institutions or an area under its control, in such a way that may cause economic, cultural or academic damage". According to the law, anyone calling for a boycott can be sued, and forced to pay compensation regardless of actual damages. At the discretion of a government minister, they may also be prevented from bidding in government tenders.

The new law drew a lot of criticism, including a petition by 32 Israeli law professors arguing that the law is unconstitutional and does grievous harm to the freedom of political expression and freedom of protest. Other pro-Israel advocates who are fully opposed to BDS, including Gerald Steinberg from NGO Monitor and Morton Klein from the Zionist Organization of America, have criticized the law by saying that there are many better avenues with which to counter BDS.

Jordan

Jordan's Prince el Hassan al bin Talal attended the 2012 Herliya Conference in Israel, and spoke to the conference saying "these conversations aren’t going to lead us anywhere unless we find the will to progress together," as did Saeb Erakat, Palestinian Authority negotiator. Erakat and Prince bin Talal's participation was criticized by several BDS supporters, including Omar Barghouti who said it was "an act of complicity in the promotion of Israeli occupation and apartheid," and "the participation of any Arab speaker...[is] a move that undermines our struggle for freedom and our right to return and self-determinism."

South Africa

In 2011 the University of Johannesburg decided to suspend ties with Israeli Ben-Gurion University, while still allowing "individual faculty" to continue cooperating with the Israeli University on a water purification project, citing the University's support for the Israeli military. The decision was seen to affect projects in biotechnology and water purification. However, two days later, Ihron Rensburg, vice chancellor and principal of the university issued a statement saying that "UJ is not part of an academic boycott of Israel...It has never been UJ's intention to sever all ties with BGU, although it may have been the intention of some UJ staff members."

United Kingdom

Main article: Academic boycotts of Israel

On April 22, 2005, the Association of University Teachers (AUT) Council voted to boycott two Israeli universities: University of Haifa and Bar-Ilan University. The motions to AUT Council were prompted by the call for a boycott from Palestinian academics and others. The AUT Council voted to boycott Bar-Ilan because it runs courses at colleges in the occupied West Bank (in Ariel College) and "is thus directly involved with the occupation of Palestinian territories contrary to United Nations resolutions". It boycotted Haifa because it was alleged that the university had wrongly disciplined a lecturer. The action against the lecturer was supposedly for supporting a student who wrote about attacks on Palestinians during the founding of the state of Israel (he withdrew the claims when sued for libel and the University denied having disciplined the lecturer). The boycott, which was not compulsory, was set to last until Haifa "ceases its victimisation of academic staff and students who seek to research and discuss the history of the founding of the state of Israel,".

The AUT's decision was immediately condemned by certain groups, both Jewish and non-Jewish, and members of the AUT. Critics of the boycott within and outside the AUT noted that at the council at which the boycott motion was passed the leadership had cut short debate citing a lack of time. The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Union of Jewish Students accused the AUT of purposely holding the vote during Passover, when many Jewish members could not be present. Israel's embassy in London issued a statement criticizing the AUT's vote as a "distorted decision that ignores the British public's opinion", and condemning the resolutions for being "as perverse in their content as in the way they were debated and adopted." Zvi Ravner, Israel’s deputy ambassador in London, said that "[t]he last time that Jews were boycotted in universities was in 1930s Germany." Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League issued a statement condemning the "misguided and ill-timed decision to boycott academics from the only country in the Middle East where universities enjoy political independence".

The AUT said that members had voted for the boycott in response to a plea for action by a group of Palestinian academics. It was condemned by the Israeli embassy in London, the British ambassador to Israel, by Jewish human rights groups, by al-Quds University in Jerusalem, by the National Postgraduate Committee of the UK, and by Universities UK.

After the great backlash and condemnation - both internal and external - members of the AUT, headed by Open University lecturer Jon Pike - gathered enough signatures to call a special meeting on the subject. The meeting was held on May 26, 2005, at Friends Meeting House in London. At the meeting the AUT decided to cancel the boycott of both Israeli universities. Reasons cited for the decision were: the damage to academic freedom, the hampering of dialogue and peace effort between Israelis and Palestinian, and that boycotting Israel alone could not be justified.

At the 2006 annual conference of the United Kingdom lecturers' union, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NAFTHE), members were asked to support a motion calling for a boycott of Israeli academics and universities which failed to distance themselves from "apartheid policies". Although the motion was passed it ceased to be official policy just two days later when the union merged with the Association of University Teachers.

Prior to the NAFTHE debate the Federation of Unions of Palestinian University Professors and Employees and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel described the campaign in a letter to the Times Higher Education Supplement as "the only non-violent forms of action available to people of conscience the world over" adding, "We salute those who recognise that, since justice for Palestinians cannot be expected from the international centres of world power, they must organise to further the cause of justice and genuine peace." In contrast, Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg argued that "it is never a good idea for academics to boycott colleagues in other countries on political grounds. During the Cold War, American and Soviet scientists were careful to keep intellectual communication open; this not only served the cause of science, but promoted personal relationships that led to initiatives in arms control. In a similar spirit, when I ran the Jerusalem Winter School of Theoretical Physics we did what we could to recruit Arab students from Muslim countries whose governments discriminated against Jews. We never dreamt of boycotting them."

At its first annual conference (in 2007) the new British academic union (UCU) voted in favour of discussing a boycott of Israeli academic institutions, but not individuals .

United States

University of Pennsylvania President Amy Gutmann said in January 2012 that the university "has clearly stated on numerous occasions that it does not support sanctions or boycotts against Israel." She said that the school was not a sponsor of a BDS conference taking place on campus in February 2012.

The Forward published, in January 2012, an article about Jewish presidents of universities, saying that "many college presidents" see BDS as a "red line" and that "presidents who were previously disinclined to speak out against anti-Israel activity on campus in the name of preserving open dialogue found themselves publicly opposing the movement."

Other

In March 2011, Haaretz reported that many artists, academics and celebrities have supported and participated in the cultural boycotting of Israel. Artists who have voiced support for the campaign or cancelled appearances in Israel citing political reasons include musicians Elvis Costello, Brian Eno, Gil Scott Heron, Pete Seeger, The Pixies, Roger Waters, writers Eduardo Galeano and Arundhati Roy, filmmakers Ken Loach and Jean-Luc Godard. Artists who have voiced oppposition to the campaign include writers Umberto Eco, film makers Joel and Ethan Coen, and musicians John Lydon and Gene Simmons. Many musicians such as Elton John, Leonard Cohen, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Metallica, Madonna, Paul McCartney and Ziggy Marley have chosen to perform in Israel in recent years. Novelist Ian McEwan, upon being awarded the Jerusalem Prize, was urged to turn it down, but said that "If I only went to countries that I approve of, I probably would never get out of bed...It's not great if everyone stops talking."

In August 2011, the American National Middle Eastern Presbyterian Caucus (NMEPC) endorsed the BDS campaign against Israel.

The Irish Dance production Riverdance performed in Israel in September 2011, and despite requests that it boycott Israel, Riverdance posted this statement on their website: "Riverdance supports the policy of the Irish Government and indeed the policy of every other EU state that cultural interaction is preferable to isolation." The show then proceeded as planned.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called on the international community to treat Israel as it treated apartheid South Africa and supports the divestment campaign against Israel.

Noam Chomsky

In 2010, Noam Chomsky, the 2011 Sydney Peace Prize recipient and a prominent pro-Palestinian activist was interviewed regarding the BDS movement and stated that its "hypocrisy rises to the high heavens". He said that its goal was "the destruction of Israel". He said that it's "not a call from the Palestinian people". He said that anything that targets Israel alone can be attacked as antisemitism and "unfortunately this is with justice". He stated that BDS campaign harms the "whole movement". It harms the Palestinians and it is a gift to the Israeli hardliners and their American supporters, because the BDS's "hypocrisy is so transparent... why not boycott the United States?.. Israeli crimes [are] a fragment of US crimes, which are much worse". He also argued that the Palestinian people don't support boycotting Israel and that the BDS movement is run by people who falsely claim to represent the Palestinian people.

Norman Finkelstein

In 2012, Norman Finkelstein, a harsh critic of Israel, "launched a blistering attack" of the BDS movement, saying it was a "hypocritical, dishonest cult" that tries to cleverly pose as human rights activists while in reality their goal is to destroy Israel. In addition, he said: "I'm getting a little bit exasperated with what I think is a whole lot of nonsense. I'm not going to tolerate silliness, childishness and a lot of leftist posturing. I loathe the disingenuousness. We will never hear the solidarity movement [back a] two-state solution." Finkelstein repeatedly describes the BDS Movement as a "cult" led by "gurus", and concluded: "I'm tired of gurus and I'm tired of cults... I just came back from Northern Ireland. They found a settlement. And you know, you talk to Protestants, you talk to Catholics, most people are willing to live with it... And I think you can find a [peace] settlement in Israel-Palestine which virtually everybody... they can live with it. Perfect, no; ideal, no; we can live with, yes. We can find that kind of settlement". He also said "the Solidarity Movement has the right tactics - I support the BDS - but I said they will never reach a broad public until they're explicit about their goal. And their goal will have to include recognition of Israel." Furthermore, Finkelstein stated that the BDS movement has had very few successes, and that just like a cult, the leaders pretend that they are hugely successful when in reality the general public rejects their extreme views.

Palestinian Delegate to Australia

In October 2011, Izzat Abdulhadi, head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia said that he is against the "full-scale" BDS campaign, and in particular expressed his anger over the occasionally violent protests at the Max Brenner stores in Australia, saying, "BDS is a non-violent process and I don't think it's the right of anybody to use BDS as a violent action or to prevent people from buying from any place."

BDS and delegitimization

Analysts, journalists, and policy groups have argued that the BDS movement promotes the delegitimization of Israel. In the Jerusalem Post, Gil Troy argues that the BDS movement does not target Israel's polices, but rather targets Israel's legitimacy. Similarly, The Reut Institute argued that by what they perceive as singling out Israel and applying double standards, the BDS movement delegitimizes Israel. These groups and individuals argue that regardless of whether or not the participants in boycotts seek to threaten Israel's legitimacy, the movement itself and the organizers behind it have the same goal: isolate Israel like South Africa.^{[citation needed]} Although BDS has tried to finesse the question of whether the movement is seeking a one-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, many of its leaders have gone on the record as seeking the anathema-to-Israelis "secular binational Palestine", including Omar Barghouti.^{[citation needed]}

Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz asserted that the BDS movement abets terrorism. "People who advocate boycotts and divestiture will literally have blood on their hands," he said. "They encourage terrorism and discourage the laying down of arms."

Martin Raffel, who oversees the Israel Action Network, argued in March 2011 that Israel's supporters can respectfully debate artists who choose to boycott the West Bank town of Ariel, but that "not recognizing Israel as a Jewish democratic state is a completely different story."

The NGO Monitor has produced "the “BDS Sewer System” which provides detailed information, in graphic form, on the sources of delegitimization campaigns against Israel."

The Economist contends that the boycott is "flimsy" and ineffective, that "blaming Israel alone for the impasse in the occupied territories will continue to strike many outsiders as unfair," and points out that the Palestinian leadership does not support the boycott.

Criticism by artists and public figures

In an op-ed published in the Jerusalem Post in November 2010, Gerald Steinberg and Jason Edelstein contend that while "the need to refute their [BDS organizations] allegations is clear, students and community groups must also adopt a proactive strategy to undermine the credibility and influence of these groups. This strategy will marginalize many of the BDS movement’s central actors, and expose the lie that BDS is a grassroots protest against Israeli policy. Exposing their abuses and funding sources, and forcing their campaign leaders and participants to respond to us will change the dynamic in this battle." In an effort to combat BDS, in March 2011, NGO Monitor produced "the “BDS Sewer System” intended to provide detailed information about boycott campaigns against Israel.

After the post-punk group PiL went to Tel Aviv to headline the Heineken Music Conference 2010 Festival in August 2010, British musician John Lydon responded to criticism by saying: "If Elvis-fucking-Costello wants to pull out of a gig in Israel because he's suddenly got this compassion for Palestinians, then good on him. But I have absolutely one rule, right? Until I see an Arab country, a Muslim country, with a democracy, I won't understand how anyone can have a problem with how they're treated."

Martin Raffel, who oversees the Israel Action Network, argued in March 2011 that Israel's supporters can respectfully debate artists who choose to boycott the West Bank town of Ariel, but that "not recognizing Israel as a Jewish democratic state is a completely different story."

In October 2010, the Cape Town Opera (CTO) declined an appeal by Desmond Tutu to cancel a tour of Israel. The CTO stated that the company was "reluctant to adopt the essentially political position of disengagement from cultural ties with Israel or with Palestine" and that they had been in negotiations for four years and would respect the contract.

Gene Simmons, lead singer of Kiss, said that artists who avoid Israel - such as Elvis Costello, the Pixies and Roger Waters - would be better served directing their anger at Arab dictators. "The countries they should be boycotting are the same countries that the populations are rebelling," he said.

Other artists who have voiced opposition to the campaign include writers Umberto Eco and film makers Joel and Ethan Coen. Many musicians such as Elton John, Leonard Cohen, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, Metallica, 50 Cent, Madonna, Paul McCartney, and Ziggy Marley have chosen to perform in Israel in recent years. Novelist Ian McEwan, upon being awarded the Jerusalem Prize, was urged to turn it down, but said that "If I only went to countries that I approve of, I probably would never get out of bed...It's not great if everyone stops talking."

The Irish Dance production Riverdance is scheduled to perform in Israel in September 2011, and despite requests that it boycott Israel, Riverdance posted this statement on their website: Riverdance supports the policy of the Irish Government and indeed the policy of every other EU state that cultural interaction is preferable to isolation.

Reverend Jim Barr, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, while supporting the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel, criticized protesters who prevented shoppers from entering the Israeli-owned Max Brenner chocolate stores in Australia and the subsequent clash between protesters and police, which he said "discredits the whole movement."

In October 2011, Izzat Abdulhadi, head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia said that he is against the "full-scale" BDS campaign, and in particular expressed his anger over the occasionally violent protests at the Max Brenner stores in Australia, saying, "BDS is a non-violent process and I don't think it's the right of anybody to use BDS as a violent action or to prevent people from buying from any place."

Christmas campaigns

In 2010, Friends of Sabeel-North America circulated a list of ten companies to boycott titled “All I want for Christmas is an End to Apartheid,” stating that “While there are many Israeli and multinational companies that benefit from apartheid, we put together this list to highlight ten specific companies to target.”

1. Ahava
2. Delta Galil Industries
3. Motorola
4. L'Oreal / The Body Shop
5. Dorot Garlic and Herbs
6. Estee Lauder
7. Intel
8. Sabra
9. Sara Lee
10. Victoria's Secret

Adalah-NY, held a demonstration in front of Lev Leviev’s store in New York. Adalah-NY has been holding this demonstration annually since 2007. Activists doctored traditional carols and stories such as “The 12 Days of Boycott” and “The Grinch who Tried to Steal Palestine,” claiming that Leviev’s “dark task” and “true crime” are to “steal Palestine.” The song also blames Leviev for alleged human rights violations in Africa.

In 2010, War on Want's campaign "Help win justice for the Palestinian people this Christmas" accuses Israel of "illegal Occupation," "daily human rights abuses," and "the siege on Gaza and the Apartheid Wall." As in previous years, this NGO calls for holiday donations in the form of "alternative gifts," in order to "launch a sustained campaign against UK companies that are profiting from the Occupation" and to "secure compensation for those who have lost land due to construction of the Apartheid Wall."

In December 2011, NGO Monitor accused NGOs Sabeel, War on Want (UK), Amos Trust, and Adalah-NY "exploiting the holiday to advance immoral anti-Israel campaigns and, in some cases, crude antisemitism" and wrote that "Kairos Palestine, Adalah-NY, and Code Pink repeat the incendiary accusation of 'ethnic cleansing' in their campaigns.”

Also in December 2011, Philadelphia BDS had people stand outside a grocery store singing Christmas carols with lyrics re-written supporting BDS, and asking people not to buy Israeli brand hummus "claiming that the corporate parents of those brands support the Israeli Defense Forces and therefore subsidize Israeli human rights abuses." In response, about 40 University of Pennsylvania students held a counter-protest by buying hummus in the store.

See also

• Economic and political boycotts of Israel
• Academic boycotts of Israel
• Arab League boycott of Israel

References

• Barghouti, Omar (2011). Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. Haymarket Books. ISBN 978-1608461141. 

External links

Supportive of BDS

• Global BDS Campaign
• BRICUP (the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine) the body that promotes the academic boycott in the UK
• PACBI (Palestinian campaign for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel)
• Palestinian United Call for BDS against Israel by the Boycott National Committee
• Jello Biafra: "Caught in the crossfire: Should musicians boycott Israel?" on Al Jazeera website (critically supportive)

Critical of BDS

• Debate between Omar Barghouti and Rabbi Arthur Waskow on Democracy Now!
• BDSISRAEL Canadian Anti-BDS Association - Countering BDS Movement
• Jiulio Meotti, Is BDS campaign working?, Ynetnews, August 31, 2011