The Power of Boycotts: How BDS Upholds Justice for Palestine
- Abeera Marium Siddiqui
- February 28, 2024
- 7:23 pm
For decades, the Palestinian people have faced harsh oppression and human rights violations under Israeli occupation. Yet around the world, a powerful nonviolent movement for Palestinian rights is growing to stand up for them through boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS). This form of economic and social pressure has proven to be an effective way for people of conscience to take a stand in solidarity with Palestine.
The BDS movement began in 2005, when dozens of Palestinian civil society organizations called for a global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions. Their aim was to pressure Israel to comply with international law and recognize the basic human rights of Palestinians. Inspired by the successful boycott campaign against apartheid South Africa, BDS offers a nonviolent path to pursue justice for Palestine and the Palestinian freedom movement.
Here are some of the key ways the BDS movement empowers people around the world to stand up for Palestinian rights:
-Consumer boycotts of Israeli companies and goods, from Sodastream home carbonation devices to Sabra hummus to Ahava cosmetics. By refusing to buy these products, consumers can apply economic and reputational pressure on companies complicit in Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights.
-Boycotting cultural and academic institutions that are sponsored by Israel or have ties to companies profiting from occupation. In the arts and academia, this includes declining participation in Israeli-government sponsored events, conferences, and exhibitions.
-Divestment campaigns urging banks, pension funds, universities and other institutions to withdraw investments from companies involved in Israel’s occupation. Major churches, student groups and pension funds have pledged to divest, including the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA and Norway’s largest private pension fund.
-Calling for sanctions such as arms embargoes and trade restrictions on Israel until it complies with international law. Governments worldwide are urged to ban imports from illegal Israeli settlements and prohibit military exchanges with Israel.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”
The BDS movement offers a powerful way to break free from complicity and to stand in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinian people. Already BDS has begun to move public opinion and influence policy worldwide.
-The United Nations has issued dozens of resolutions affirming the rights of Palestinians and condemning Israeli violations of international law.
-Major European banks have divested from Israeli companies involved in settlement construction which is illegal under international law.
-Human rights organizations like Amnesty International and the Israeli group B’Tselem have called for international action including sanctions to stop Israel’s systematic oppression of Palestinians.
-In the U.S., progressive members of Congress have called for conditioning military aid to Israel based on respect for human rights. They cite the inspiring precedents of economic sanctions that helped end apartheid in South Africa and Jim Crow segregation in the southern U.S.
Around the world, diverse groups endorse BDS as a moral call for solidarity, from South African freedom fighter Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Jewish Voice for Peace to the Movement for Black Lives. By flexing our economic and social power, ordinary citizens can make a meaningful difference. We invite all people of conscience to learn more about the BDS movement for Palestinian rights at bdsmovement.net and find a way to get involved, whether by pressuring your elected officials, sharing on social media or simply choosing where you spend your consumer dollars. Together, we can stand on the right side of history.
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