Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Formation 9 July 2005 (2005-07-09)
Type Non-profit organization
Purpose Boycotts, political activism
Website http://bdsmovement.net/

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS Movement) is a global campaign attempting to increase economic and political pressure on Israel to comply with the stated goals of the movement: the end of Israel's occupation and colonization of Palestinian land and the Golan Heights, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and respect for the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

The campaign is organised and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.[1] The campaign was started on 9 July 2005 by over 170 Palestinian non-governmental organizations in support of the Palestinian cause for boycott, divestment and international sanctions against Israel. Citing a body of UN resolutions and specifically echoing the anti-apartheid campaigns against white minority rule in apartheid era South Africa,[2] the BDS campaign called for "various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law".[3]

Protests and conferences in support of the campaign have been held in a number of countries around the world. Supporters of BDS include academics, trade unions, political parties and Israeli citizens.[4]

Supporters of BDS compare the movement with the 20th century Anti-Apartheid Movement and view their actions similar to the boycotts of South Africa during its apartheid era, comparing the situation in Israel to apartheid.[5][6][7]

There is considerable debate about the scope, efficacy, and morality of the BDS movement. Critics argue that the BDS movement disincentivizes the Palestinian leadership from negotiating with Israel at present,[8] is antisemitic,[9][10] and that it is a form of anti-semitic anti-Zionism[11][12] that promotes the delegitimization of Israel.[13][14] BDS supporters counter accusations of anti-semitism by noting the many Jewish and Israeli supporters of the movement.[15][16]

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

Background

In 1967, Israel occupied the Palestinian territories and the Syrian Golan. After the signing of the 1993-95 Oslo Accords, the Palestinians expected to establish their own independent state. Israel, however, did not end the occupation.

During the Second Intifada Palestinians began establishing new approaches that concentrated on developing international solidarity and support that could be used to apply pressure on Israel through non-violent means.[17][18] Calls for a boycott campaign emerged in 2002 and 2003.[17] In April 2002, at the point that the Israeli assault upon Palestinian cities and towns in Operation Defensive Shield was at its height, an initial call for a limited academic boycott of Israeli institutions was made in the UK. The call was widely supported among Palestinian academics. It was followed by other initiatives in Europe, Australia, and the US. In August 2002, a group of Palestinian organizations in the occupied territories, including the Palestinian NGO Network, issued a statement calling for a comprehensive boycott of Israel, including a boycott of academic and cultural institutions.[19] Palestinian academics and intellectuals also called for a boycott, in October 2003.[19] In 2004, an attempt to coordinate the boycotts gained momentum following the start of the construction of the Israeli West Bank barrier.[17] In April 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) was founded.[20] One of the founders was Omar Barghouti.[21][22]

On 9 July 2005, the first anniversary of the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in which the West Bank barrier was declared a violation of international law, a large number of organizations representing Palestinians in Israel, Palestine and abroad called upon the international community for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights.[23] At the first Palestinian BDS Conference, held in Ramallah in November 2007, the "BDS National Committee" (BNC) was established as the Palestinian coordinating body for the BDS campaign worldwide.[23] The movement's great example and source of inspiration is the 20th century boycott of South Africa by the Anti-Apartheid Movement.[24]

Goals of the BDS campaign

On 9 July 2005, a broad spectrum of over 170 Palestinian non-governmental organizations[23] initiated a campaign for a boycott, divestment and international sanctions against Israel in support of the Palestinian cause. According to the call, the BDS campaign urges various forms of non-violent punitive measures against Israel until it complies with the precepts of international law.[25] These measures should bring about:[25]

  1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;
  2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
  3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

The BDS campaign is organised and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.[1] The committee cites a body of UN resolutions and specifically echoes the anti-apartheid campaigns against white minority rule in apartheid era South Africa,[2] the BDS campaign called for "various forms of boycott against Israel until it meets its obligations under international law".[3]

Methods

BDS protest in Melbourne, Australia against Israel's Gaza Blockade and attack on humanitarian flotilla in 2010.

The BDS Movement uses the means of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. The campaign has organised demonstrations and protests targeting companies which have contracts with the Israeli military or with companies in Israeli settlements.[26][27][28] Actions may also target prominent individuals who openly support settlements businesses.[22]

Social media platforms are used to draw attention to BDS activities.[29] With public calls on social media, protests, petitions and in articles, pressure is put on individuals to cancel their participation in events in Israel or in Israeli settlements, such as concerts or academic events.[30] On the other hand, Israelis are pressured not to take part in activities outside Israel or the Occupied territories.[31] Participants in events are sometimes demanded to declare solidarity with the Palestinian cause.[32]

Naomi Klein has described BDS as one of the few non-violent tactics to protest that Palestinians still have at their disposal.[33]

Israeli Apartheid Week

Israeli Apartheid Week is an annual series of university lectures and rallies against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The series is normally held in February or March. According to the organization, "the aim of IAW is to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build BDS campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement."[34] Since IAW began in Toronto in 2005, it has since spread to at least 55 cities around the world including locations in Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Austria, Jordan, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Botswana, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa, Mexico, Norway, Australia, and Palestine.[35][36][37][38][39][40]

Responses by Palestine and Israel

Reactions by Palestinian authorities

In December 2012, following the withholding of taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinians, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called for a boycott of all Israeli goods. In the past, he had unsuccessfully called for a boycott of goods made in Israeli settlements.[41]

During a visit to South Africa in 2013, President Mahmoud Abbas stunned reporters and Palestinian activists by stating that the Palestinians do not support a general boycott of Israel. He supported, however, a boycott of settlement products.[42]

In February 2015, activists from Fatah launched a new campaign in reaction on another Israeli punitive withholding of taxes. They called on people to boycott products made by six major Israeli food companies. Abbas apparently did not openly support the boycott, but rather asked the Fatah-led Palestine Liberation Organization to lead the campaign.[43] At the 25th African Union assembly in the South Africa in June 2015, President Abbas urged the African countries to boycott goods produced by settlement companies in the West Bank.[42]

Reactions by Israeli authorities

On 11 July 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.[44]

The new law drew a lot of criticism. 32 Israeli law professors signed a petition arguing that the law is unconstitutional and does grievous harm to freedom of political expression and protest.[45] Other critics include BDS opponents, such as Gerald Steinberg from NGO Monitor and Morton Klein from the Zionist Organization of America, who criticize the law noting the many better avenues with which to counter BDS.[46]

On 10 December 2012 the Israeli Supreme Court froze the law and issued an interim order to the state of Israel to explain why the law should not be struck down. The court order gave the state until 14 March 2013 to respond. The final hearing on the issue was to be before a nine-justice panel of the court presided over by Asher Grunis, President of the Supreme Court of Israel. Yehuda Weinstein Attorney General of Israel is reported to have called the law "borderline" defensible and admitted in defending the law in the hearing that it had serious problems.[47]

In March 2016 the Israeli Intelligence and Atomic Energy Minister Yisrael Katz argued that Israel should employ “targeted civil eliminations” against leaders of the BDS movement. The expression puns on the Hebrew word for targeted assassinations.[48]

Academic boycotts

The campaign for academic boycotts of Israel is led by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. It has been endorsed by nearly sixty Palestinian academic, cultural and other civil society federations, unions, and organizations, including the Federation of Unions of Palestinian Universities’ Professors and Employees and the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) in the West Bank.[49]

Academics in a number of countries have signed on to support the campaign. Since 2010, over 250 Irish artists, students, and professors have pledged to boycott Israel along with over 140 Irish academics.[50] In 2015, 240 Belgian academics and researchers pledged to boycott Israeli academic institutions;[51] 1600 Spanish academics and academic staff signed a statement in support of the academic boycott of Israel;[52] over 300 academics from the UK pledged to boycott Israeli institutions;[53] and over 200 South African academics signed onto the BDS campaign to support the rights of the Palestinian people.[54]

As'ad AbuKhalil, a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus and supporter of the BDS movement, stated in his blog that the aim of the BDS campaign should be "to bring down the state of Israel", since "Justice and freedom for the Palestinians are incompatible with the existence of the state of Israel".[55]

English theoretical physicist and professor Stephen Hawking is a supporter of the BDS movement and supports an academic boycott of Israel. In 2013, Dr. Hawking boycotted the prestigious Israeli Presidential Conference, held by Israeli president Shimon Peres, because, in his words, “I have received a number of emails from Palestinian academics .... They are unanimous that I should respect the boycott."[56][57][58] Hawking had accepted the invitation to attend the conference, then declined after receiving "a number of emails from Palestinian academics" asking him to respect the academic boycott against Israel. Hawking then stated about his original intent, "Had I attended, I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster." He wanted to express his opinion on the prospects of a peace settlement, and to lecture on the West Bank.[59] Among the 20 academics who pressured Hawking to boycott were Professors Noam Chomsky and Malcolm Levitt, with Levitt saying that this was the method available for a scientist to counter the "explicit policy" of "systemic discrimination" against the non-Jewish and Palestinian population.[60] However, Chomsky has also stated that he is against the BDS movement as a whole, which he finds hypocritical.

In December 2013, the American Studies Association (ASA) decided to join the boycott of all Israeli academic institutions.[61][62] Israel is the first nation ever boycotted by the ASA in the 52 years since the organization's founding. The New York Times reported that ASA's president Curtis Marez argued that America has "a particular responsibility to answer the call for boycott because it is the largest supplier of military aid to the state of Israel" (see below).

The Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) endorsed the boycott of Israeli academic institutions in December 2013.[63] Its declaration "encourages NAISA members to boycott Israeli academic institutions because they are imbricated with the Israeli state."[64]

In March 2014, in Ireland, members of NUI Galway Students' Union voted 64% to join the BDS campaign, making it the first Irish students' union to endorse a boycott of Israel. The vote is non-binding on the university.[65]

In May 2014, the UK's National Union of Students Black Students conference passed Motion 402: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions by an "overwhelming" majority endorsing the Palestinian call at their national conference at the University of Warwick.[66]

In November 2015, the annual business meeting of the American Anthropological Association voted to join the academic boycott campaign, by a margin of 1,040 to 136.[67] The resolution will be put to the full body of the membership in early 2016.

Business boycotts

United Nations Special Rapporteur on "the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967", Richard A. Falk,[68] in his 2012 report to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) recommended that "businesses highlighted in the report – as well as the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise – should be boycotted until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards." He specifically named the United States' Caterpillar Inc., Hewlett Packard and Motorola; Israel's Ahava, Elbit Systems and Mehadrin; Sweden's Volvo Group and Assa Abloy; France's Veolia Environment; United Kingdom's G4S, Belgium's Dexia Group, Netherlands' Riwal Holding Group and Mexico's Cemex.[69] At a news conference Falk said: "The focus on business activities is partly an expression of frustration about the inability to obtain compliance with these fundamental legal obligations of Israel and the ineffectiveness of the U.N. efforts to condemn settlement expansion." He also stated "The whole issue of Palestinian self-determination is at risk here."[70]

Effects of business boycotts on Palestinian employment

Opponents of BDS argue that BDS destroys employment for Palestinians. They argue that companies in settlements are beneficial for Palestinians. They claim that they offer employment with high wages compared with Palestinian factories and that the Palestinians are happy with their jobs and do not feel exploited.[22] Proponents of BDS allege that in 2011 many Palestinians worked in settlements without permits and earn less than the Israeli minimum wage or even less than half the minimum wage.[71] In the former SodaStream factory in Ma'ale Adumim, for example, for entry-level employees there was not much difference in the salaries between SodaStream and Palestinian factories. The majority of Palestinian employees at SodaStream had renewable seasonal contracts that last only three months each. Palestinians work in settlements because they have no other choice and 82% of Palestinians working in Israeli settlements would quit those jobs if viable alternatives were available. Omar Barghouti said that the fact that "tens of thousands" of Palestinians work in settlements is the direct result of Israeli policy. For decades, Israel has been "systematically destroying Palestinian industry and agriculture, confiscating our most fertile lands and richest water reserves, and imposing extreme restrictions of movement preventing many from reaching their workplaces".[22] According to Who Profits, all of the Palestinian trade unions and labor unions and almost all Palestinian civil society organizations, including political parties, support the BDS call for boycott, divestment and sanctions.[71]

Examples of business boycotts

In December 2012 the New Zealand Superannuation Fund excluded three Israeli companies from its portfolio because of their involvement in the construction of Israeli settlements and the Israeli West Bank barrier. The fund's manager for responsible investment stated that "Findings by the United Nations that the separation barrier and settlement activities were illegal under international law were central to the fund's decision to exclude the companies." The New Zealand Herald described "the fund's investments in the [Israeli] firms", which amounted to less than $83,000, as "insubstantial".[72][73]

In late 2013, Luxembourg's state pension fund, FDC, "excluded from [its] authorised investment universe" eight major Israeli firms, including Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, and AFI Group, for "financing" or "supporting [the] construction" of "illegal settlements in occupied territories", namely the State of Palestine, or, in the case of Elbit Systems, "providing security systems for [the] illegal separation barrier on occupied territories". FDC also excluded American firm Motorola Solutions for "assisting in human rights violations in occupied territories" in the State of Palestine.[74][75]

In January 2014, the government of Norway announced that its pension fund will no longer invest in two Israeli companies (Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus) "due to [their] contribution to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem".[76] Norway's YMCA-YWCA joined the boycott in 2014, announcing that it will support "[a] broad economic boycott of goods and services from Israel and Israeli settlements".[77][78][79]

In January 2014, Danske Bank, which is the largest bank in Denmark, blacklisted Israel's largest bank, Bank Hapoalim, for "acting against the rules of international humanitarian law" due to its funding of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Previously, Danske Bank had withdrawn its investments from Africa Israel Investments Ltd. and Danya Cebus for the same reasons.[76]

On 21 July 2014, the government of the Maldives announced the annulment of three bilateral trade agreements with Israel, and a government boycott of all Israeli goods. Mohamed Hussain Shareef, the minister at the President's Office, also announced that the government planned to ban the import of Israeli goods into the state.[80][81]

In February 2016, Crepes & Waffles, a Colombian restaurant chain with international presence in Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Spain,[82] decided to terminate its security transport contracts with the British G4S citing that "contracting G4S ran counter to the chain’s ethical principles and offended many of its loyal clients."[83] G4S has provided equipment to Israeli prisons where human right abuses have been reported to occur.[84]

Cultural boycotts

The organizers of the week long Rototom Sunsplash music festival held in Spain in 2015, cancelled the scheduled appearance of Jewish American rapper Matisyahu after he refused to sign a statement supporting a Palestinian state. Matisyahu stated that it was "appalling and offensive" that he was singled out as the "one publicly Jewish-American artist."[32] After criticism from Spain's daily paper El País,[85] the Spanish government as well as Jewish organisations,[86] the organisers apologised to Matisyahu re-inviting him to perform. They stated that "it made a mistake, due to the boycott and the campaign of pressure, coercion and threats employed by the BDS País Valencià."[87]

Impact of BDS

The effectiveness of the movement has been questioned. Many reports from both in and outside of Israel indicated that the movement had made very little impact on the Israeli economy, and suggested that it was unlikely to for the foreseeable future.[88][89][90][91][92]

In June 2015, the Rand Corporation reported that a successful Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel, if it could be maintained for 10 years, could potentially cost the Israeli economy $47 billion - this figure, which was not published in the report, was reportedly determined by using a model examining previous attempts to boycott countries. However, the Rand Corporation also noted that "evidence on the effectiveness of sanctions is mixed, making an assessment of the potential economic effects of the BDS movement problematic."[93][94]

Supporters

Political organizations

The African National Congress, South Africa's governing political party, endorsed BDS in 2012. The party declared itself to be "unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel."[95] Scotland's Green Party endorsed a boycott of Israel in October 2015.[96]

Trade unions

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) supports the campaign for BDS against Israel, fully endorsing it in July 2011.[97] During the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, COSATU vowed to "intensify" their support for the campaign, picketing Woolworths for stocking Israeli goods.[98]

In April 2014, the UK's National Union of Teachers, the largest teacher's union in the EU, passed a resolution backing boycotts against Israel.[99] In July of that year, the UK's Unite the Union voted to join BDS.[100]

In April 2015, The Central Council of the Confederation of National Trade Unions, Quebec, Canada, representing 325,000 in nearly 2,000 unions, voted to join the campaign for BDS and support a military embargo against Israel.[101]

Other prominent people

Other supporters of BDS include Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters,[102] Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Alice Walker.[103]

Jewish individuals and organizations outside of Israel

Peter Beinart has repeatedly written in support of a settlements boycott in order to "save Israel". Beinart supports a targeted approach to boycotting West Bank settlements, specifically calling on American Jews: "We should lobby to exclude settler-produced goods from America’s free-trade deal with Israel. We should push to end Internal Revenue Service policies that allow Americans to make tax-deductible gifts to settler charities. Every time an American newspaper calls Israel a democracy, we should urge it to include the caveat: only within the green line".[15] In 2011, the liberal Zionist organization Meretz USA called on American Jews to boycott West Bank settlement goods to "Buy Israel—Don't buy Settlements".[104] Naomi Paiss, the vice president of public affairs for the New Israel Fund shows support for the same type of targeted approach, claiming that "boycotting settlements is not anti-Israel".[105] At the same time, she clearly opposes the BDS movement, calling it "inflammatory and counter-productive."[106] The Australian Jewish Democratic Society, "has become the first Australian community-affiliated Jewish organization to adopt the view that some boycotts of Israel may indeed be justified", according to their website. The group only supports "selected BDS actions designed to bring about an end to the Israeli occupation, blockade and settlement on Palestinian lands lying outside of the June 1967 Israeli borders." The organization resolves to boycott settlement products as well "specific academics openly supportive of the Occupation".[107]

In 2014, an international Jewish group, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, issued a list of signatories endorsing the American Studies Association academic boycott of Israel.[108] Peter Slezak, co-founder of Independent Australian Jewish Voices, Jewish human rights activist, and professor at the University of NSW stands in favour of the academic boycott through his vocal support of Sydney University’s Professor Jake Lynch.[109] Jewish American academic, Colin Dayan has also written in support of a boycott of Israeli academic institutions.[110] Charles H. Manekin, an orthodox Jewish studies and philosophy professor who divides his time between Israel and the United States, stated in 2014 that he is "sympathetic" to the BDS movement.[111]

Israeli individuals and organizations

Settlement boycott

In 2006 the Israeli peace activism group headed by Uri Avnery, Gush Shalom, published "a list of several hundred products made in areas beyond the Green Line. The list, containing many food products, also includes businesses operating in the Golan Heights."[112] In 2011, Israel enacted a law that established civil penalties on any individual who called for a boycott of Israel or of the settlements.[113] Consequently, Gush Shalom appealed to Israel's Supreme Court to rule the law unconstitutional, joined by several minority rights groups, including: The Civil Rights Association, Yesh Din, Adalah, the Women’s Coalition for Peace, The Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism, Knesset member Ahmed Tibi and The Arab Monitoring Committee[114] Similarly taking a stand in the eye of the public, Israeli politician, Zehava Gal-On, head of the Meretz opposition party, "said that while she opposes international boycott efforts against Israel as a whole, she refrains from consuming settler products because there must be a 'price to the occupation.'" Civilian support for the boycott of settlement goods continues to grow amongst Israelis, causing manufacturers and producers in the West Bank and Gaza to "encounter obstacles" in the marketing of their goods "Not just overseas, also in Tel Aviv".[115]

Academic boycott

In 2009, the Israel-based Alternative Information Center released a report which alleged the complicity of all Israeli universities in the Occupation of Palestinian territory.[116]

In 2013, a group of Palestinian, Israeli and other oral historians and academics from Europe, South Africa, Oceana, Asia, and the Americas issued an international call for the boycott of the "International Oral History Conference" organized by The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

General boycott

The Israeli activist organisation Boycott from Within supports the BDS campaign, including the call for a cultural boycott of Israel. Boycott From Within regularly releases statements calling on musicians to cancel concerts scheduled in Israel.[16]

Reaction

Australia

Support

In 2011, a series of protests were staged at Max Brenner outlets, a franchise of the Israeli food manufacturer Strauss Group, which provides soldiers in the Israeli Defence Forces with care packages.[27][117]

The NSW Greens State Conference prior to the 2011 NSW State Election adopted a resolution in support of BDS.[118] In support of the statement, Senator Lee Rhiannon said it was "motivated by the universal principles of freedom, justice and equal rights"[118] and also "I see the value of that tactic as a way to promoting Palestinian human rights."[119] Following the election, Federal leader Bob Brown said that he had conveyed his disapproval of this policy emphasis to Rhiannon.[120]

In December 2011, the NSW Greens reviewed their support for 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."[121][122]

Oppose

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 condemned 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."[123]

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.[124] Also in New South Wales, on 19 April 2011, Marrickville municipal council held a fiery meeting over whether to support the global BDS campaign. Though they struck down the motion, one councillor went on record hoping Israelis and Palestinians could "live in peace in the future without Marrickville Council trying to interfere".[125]

In August 2012, Liberal MP David Southwick said in parliament that Labor MP Martin Foley had links to BDS group through union membership. Foley responded by saying "I seek his withdrawal of these comments where he has sought to associate [me] with this racist, anti-Semitic and anti-Israel boycott movement."[126]

Following the incident, Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that the "campaign does not serve the cause of peace and diplomacy for agreement on a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine", and added that Australia has always had firm opposition to the BDS movement.[127] Others, including former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, also condemned the protests in a follow-up article by the Australian discussing protests at the University of New South Wales.[128]

Representing the Coalition prior to the 2013 federal election, Liberal Party deputy leader Julie Bishop reaffirmed Gillard's stance by promising to cut off federal grants for individuals and institutions who support the BDS campaign. On 29 May 2013, Jewish Australian academics Andrew Benjamin, Michele Grossman, and David Goodman condemned the Coalition's election promise as "an anti-democratic gesture par excellence".[129]

Canada

Support

The most visible face of organizing in support of BDS in Canada is Israeli Apartheid Week, originally started in Toronto in 2005. The United Church of Canada voted to boycott products from Israeli settlements.[130] In March 2014, the University of Windsor Student Alliance is considering plans to implement the results of a referendum vote in which the majority of voters called for the University to boycott companies with ties to Israel.[131][132]

In Québec the political party Québec solidaire, the second largest public sector union Centrale des syndicats du Québec and the feminist organization Fédération des femmes du Québec have all supported the BDS campaign. Amir Khadir has sponsored a petition to the National Assembly of Quebec calling for the suspension of Québec's cooperation accord with Israel.[133]

In 2006, the Canadian Union of Public Employees voted to join the boycott of Israel "until that state recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination" and "until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law".[134][135][136]

Oppose

In February 2011, the Québec National Assembly voted against a motion that condemned boycotts of Québec businesses that sell products made in Israel and "reiterates Québec's support for the understanding on co-operation between the government of Québec and the government of the State of Israel, which was signed in Jerusalem in 1997 and renewed in 2007".[137][138]

Israel

Support

An Israeli activist group launched in 2009 to support BDS from within Israel. It concentrates on cultural boycott by appealing to international personalities, artists and academics who consider visiting Israel.[139]

The 'Who profits?' project is another Israeli group involved in the BDS campaign that documents and publicizes how profits are made from the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, including documentation of who benefits from the occupation. According to 'Who Profits?', both Israeli and international corporations are involved "in the construction of Israeli colonies and infrastructure in the Occupied Territories, in settlements' economy, in building walls and checkpoints, in the supply of specific equipment used in the control and repression of civilian population under occupation".[139]

Oppose

A group of Israeli businessmen have started a sales website called "Shop-a-Fada" in order to promote Israeli products. Tal Brody is the honorary chairman of the initiative and said the purpose is to "fight back against those who think that they'll be able to destroy Israel by waging economic warfare".[140]

Some Jewish factory managers who employ Palestinian labor have condemned the boycott, claiming a boycott of Israeli products will result in the loss of Palestinian jobs.[141]

The Netherlands

The lower house of the Dutch Parliament passed a motion on 18 March 2014 undermining the concept of BDS. It came in response to water company Vitens' BDS support. Kees van der Staaij of the Reformed Political Party and Joel Voordewind of the ChristianUnion jointly submitted the motion. It calls on the government "to indicate in a visible and convincing way that it encourages relations between Dutch and Israeli businesses and institutions" because "economic cooperation promotes peace, security, stability in the region." It passed by a large majority.[142][143]

Romania

Claiming "respect for international law, the positions of the EU and the protection of Romanian citizens", Romania announced in 2012 that it will not allow Romanian labourers to be sent to Israel unless guarantees are provided that they will not be employed in construction projects in the West Bank. Commenting on the refusal to grant this condition for Romanian workers, Israeli MK Michal Rozin stated that "Israelis are being harmed by the government's activity in the territories."[144][145][146]

South Africa

The University of Johannesburg has issued conflicting stances toward BDS. In 2011, it voted not to renew a joint agreement with Israel's Ben-Gurion University for research in biotechnology and water purification. A campaign before the vote cited BGU's cooperation with the military, occupation and apartheid. The vote did not preclude faculty members from individually choosing to continue in the joint project.[147] However, two days after the vote, Vice Chancellor Ihron Rensburg, a principal of UJ, stated 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."[148]

On 31 August 2012, the Wits University Students' Representative Council (Wits SRC) adopted a declaration of academic and cultural boycott of Israel.[149] Several days later, the Executive Committee of Wits Convocation, representing the alumni and academic staff of the university, distanced itself from the declaration. The South African Union of Jewish Students, sharply criticized the resolution, calling it "a vicious and one-sided resolution aimed at shutting down all debate and discussion surrounding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict".[150]

In March 2013, eleven student BDS supporters at the Wits University were charged by the university after they forced the cancellation of a concert by Israeli pianist Yossi Reshef. They were subsequently sentenced by the university to community service. At a follow up concert held on 28 August 2013, which featured Israeli jazz saxophonist Daniel Zamir, dozens of BDS protesters gathered outside. Due to security measures implemented by the University, the protesters were unable to disrupt the performance, as they were kept from entering the venue.[151] However, concert goers were subject to verbal abuse including the singing of a song that included the lyrics "Dubula iJuda" (Shoot the Jew), at as well as chants of "There is no such thing as Israel" and "Israel apartheid". Some attendees were also pelted with sheets of paper. The actions of the protesters were condemned by University Vice-Chancellor Adam Habib and by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Muhammed Desai, coordinator of BDS South Africa later went on to justify the actions.[152][153][154] Several days later, however, BDS released an official statement condemning the chants of "dubula ijuda". Desai was later called on to resign by BDS supporters.[155]

On 8 March 2015, outside a South African Zionist Federation event, BDS supporters staged a protest at which protesters threatened to kill Jews. They chanted antisemitic slogans such as "You think this is Israel, we are going to kill you!" and "You Jews do not belong here in South Africa!"[156] The picketers who were joined by members of the South African Communist Party also included the head of the ruling African National Congress (ANC)'s International Relations, Government Deputy Minister Obed Bapela who accused Israel of oppressing Palestinians.[157] In another March 2015 event in South Africa, a mob of BDS supporters threw rocks, broke equipment, and looted a store that sells products from Israel.[158]

United Kingdom

On 22 April 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.[159] 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[160]). 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".[161][162][163][164] and by Universities UK.

After both internal and external backlash and condemnation, 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 26 May 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.[165]

At the 2006 annual conference of the United Kingdom lecturers' union, the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE), members were asked to support a motion calling for a boycott of Israeli academics and universities that did not distance themselves from "apartheid policies".[166] 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.[166]

Prior to the NATFHE 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."[167] In contrast, Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg argued:

"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."[167]
BDS supporters protesting in London. The poster reads, "Boycott Israeli Products".
A sign on the front door of a Palestinian house that reads: "I have a clear conscience, do you? This home is free of products produced in Israeli settlements."

In March 2009, large scale student demonstrations were held at several UK Universities to protest Israel's actions in Gaza. At Cardiff University the protests led to the University divesting all investments in BAE Systems, an arms manufacturer that co-operates with Israel.[139] In May 2009, advertisements for tourism in Israel were removed from the London underground network in response to pressure from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.[139] In July 2009, Dexia, a Belgian-French financial group, stopped all financial services to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.[139] In 2009, the UK's University and College Union passed a resolution to boycott Israeli academics and academic institutions by a large majority. Delegates stated that Israeli academics were complicit in their government's acts against Palestinians. However, the vote was immediately declared invalid as UCU attorneys repeated previous warnings that such a boycott would likely trigger legal action against the union.[168][169]

In 2013, "a motion calling for blanket sanctions against Israel was rejected by the Oxford University Students' Union."[170] The motion was defeated by a large margin: 69–10.

In July 2014, UK department store John Lewis removed all SodaStream products from all its shelves, amid growing pressure from the public and declining sales. John Lewis' Oxford Street, London, store has been the site of biweekly BDS protests for its sale of SodaStream products. SodaStream operates its primary manufacturing facility in an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. Additionally, after two years of weekly BDS protests, SodaStream closed its Brighton store in July 2014.[171]

In November 2015, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London and Conservative MP, described proponents of a "so-called" boycott of goods and services, as well as other punitive measures such as sanctions or divestment of shares in Israeli companies, as "corduroy jacketed-academics... by and large lefty academics who have no real standing in the matter and are unlikely to be influential on Britain". He subsequently cancelled planned public events in the West Bank because of security fears, with suggestions that the charity that had invited him to the West Bank had withdrawn their invitation, and that Palestinian politicians had also refused to meet him.[172]

United States

Activist group Code Pink in Los Angeles, supporting Israeli boycotts, specifically targeting Israeli-owned Ahava, for the company's factory in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.

Noam Chomsky is against the formal BDS movement, but supports certain aspects of boycotting Israel. The prominent activist for Palestinian human rights and 2011 Sydney Peace Prize recipient stated he supports the "boycott and divestment of firms that are carrying out operations in the occupied territories"[173][174] but the current BDS movement's "hypocrisy rises to heaven". He stated that the 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 "one man NGOs" who falsely claim to represent the Palestinian people.[175] In the same interview, he also criticized BDS founder Omar Barghouti for advocating a full boycott of Israel, despite having studied at Tel Aviv University. Despite his disdain for the formal BDS movement, he was among the academics who lobbied Stephen Hawking to boycott an Israeli conference.[60] (See above.)

Peter Beinart, in his 2012 book The Crisis of Zionism, describes BDS as a "shrewd tactic" in that "[a]s a non-violent movement, it turns the world's attention away from terrorism, which has long undermined sympathy for the Palestinian cause. It gives activists frustrated by America's unwillingness to pressure Israel a mechanism to do so themselves. It harnesses new technologies that empower citizens to organize across national lines. And it capitalizes on the revulsion that many people whose nations were once colonized – or were once colonizers – feel toward an Israeli occupation with clear colonial features."[176]

Norman Finkelstein, a harsh critic of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory, has also expressed an ambivalent attitude towards BDS. He has supported economic boycott of Israel[177] and said that BDS has the "right tactics", but that it needs to be "explicit on its goal" and that "the goal has to include recognition of Israel, or it won't reach the public". He is hostile towards the BDS movement in its current form, labeling it a "hypocritical, dishonest cult" led by "dishonest gurus" who want to "selectively enforce the law" and try to cleverly pose as human rights activists, whereas their real goal is the destruction of Israel.[178][179] 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." Furthermore, Finkelstein stated that the BDS movement has had very few successes, and that like a cult, the leaders pretend that they are hugely successful when in reality the general public rejects their extreme views.[180]

In April 2014, the Washington State Court of Appeals upheld a 2012 ruling, affirming the dismissal of a lawsuit against the Olympia Food Co-op for their 2011 decision to boycott Israeli products, mandating the plaintiffs pay $160,000 in statutory damages as well as other legal fees. In a press release, the Center for Constitutional Rights quoted one of the defendants and a Co-op staff member: "We are thrilled to hear that ... our right to freedom of speech has been upheld [..] Boycotts are a longstanding form of non-violent political expression; using the Court system to attempt to silence our right of expression clearly qualifies as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation."[181][182]

On 4 December, a chapter of US Student-Workers Union at University of California have voted to support BDS campaign and became the first US labor union to join.[183][184]

In the sixth of December 2015 Hillary Clinton The democrat contestant and former secretary of the United States, said in the saban forum "As Secretary of State I called out systemic structural anti-Israel basis at the UN and fought to block the one sided Goldstone report particularly at a time when antisemitism is on the rise across the world especially in Europe. We need to repudiate efforts to malign and undermine Israel and the Jewish people. The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement known as BDS is the latest front in this battle. Demonizing Israeli scientists and intellectuals, even young students, comparing Israel to South African apartheid, now no nation is above criticism. But this is wrong and it should stop immediately. Some proponents of BDS may hope that pressuring Israel may lead to peace. Well that’s wrong too."[185][186][187]

In January 2016 the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits, the United Methodist Church's investment agency, announced that it would no longer invest in Israel's five main banks since they did not meet their standards for sustainable investment.[188] In February 2016, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church(USA) was lobbied by its Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) to lay aside a quest for a two state solution and support BDS.[189][190] This was described as a "one-sided, zero-sum solution", by Presbyterians for Middle East Peace.[191]

Official government responses and legislation

In February 2015, the "U.S.-Israel Trade and Commercial Enhancement Act" was introduced to Congress by Peter Roskam and Juan Vargas. According to its authors, the bill will "leverage ongoing trade negotiations to discourage prospective U.S. trade partners from engaging in economic discrimination against Israel" through the monitoring of pro-BDS activities of foreign companies that trade on American stock exchanges and by prohibiting American courts from "enforcing rulings made by foreign courts against American companies solely for conducting business in Israel." However, the bill does not actually impose penalties for supporting BDS. Roskam justified the bill, which may affect current negotiations for the Transatlantic Free Trade Area, stating that there are "an alarming number of countries within the European Union and beyond have embraced BDS as a form of economic warfare aimed to cripple Israel’s economy and demonize its very existence. These attacks not only threaten Israel but commercial relations across the globe."[192][193][194] Another bill introduced in March 2015, the "Boycott Our Enemies, Not Israel Act," would require that contractors with whom the US government does business to certify that they do not participate in boycotts against Israel.[195]

Illinois became the first state in the US to pass a bill that requires state pension funds to divest from companies that support BDS.[196] According to Eugene Kontorovich, professor at Northwestern University School of Law and the head of the International Law Department at the Kohelet Policy Forum, this law and a similar one in South Carolina do not violate the First Amendment.[197]

On 9 April 2015, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a resolution formally condemning BDS. The resolution passed the upper house by a vote of 30-0 and the lower house by a vote of 93-1. The resolution, the first of its kind to be passed by a state government, declared that BDS is "one of the main vehicles for spreading anti-Semitism and advocating the elimination of the Jewish state" and "undermine[s] the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, which they are fulfilling in the State of Israel." The bill was introduced by State Senator Dolores Gresham and co-sponsored with State Representative Sheila Butt. In an interview, Gresham stated that the resolution is proof that the state legislature "chooses to preserve its values by publicly condemning this blatantly anti-Semitic, anti-Israel bigotry, and send a clear message that Tennessee condemns such views."[198][199]

In April 2015, the Indiana General Assembly passed a resolution that "condemns" the BDS movement for "seeking to undermine the Jewish people’s right to self-determination", "activities that contribute directly or indirectly to the denial, violation, or delegitimization of any people’s academic freedom", "agenda inherently antithetical and deeply damaging to the cause of peace, justice, equality, democracy, and human rights" and "promoting a climate of hatred, intimidation, intolerance and violence against Jews".[200][201][202][203] In January 2016, the Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill that defined “'the promotion of activities to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel' as meeting the standard of 'extraordinary circumstances' necessary under state law to mandate divestment from a company."[204]

Academic response

As of 2012, "[n]o American university has divested from Israel and prominent campus presidents have said they would oppose such efforts."[205] 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.[206]

In January 2012, The Forward published an article about Jewish presidents of universities, saying that "many college presidents" see BDS as a "red line" and "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."[207]

To date, student governments at six of the 10 University of California (UC) system schools (Berkeley, Irvine, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Cruz, and UCLA) have passed resolutions calling for their schools to divest themselves of their investments in Israel. The UC Student Association passed a resolution not only to boycott Israel, but also to boycott the United States and several other countries.[208][209] In response to this, Herbert London, president of the London Center for Policy Research, wrote University of California President Janet Napolitano, urging her to promote Israel and get personally involved in the debate at UC system schools about divesting themselves of investments in Israel.[210]

Omri Boehm argued in the Los Angeles Review of Books that "a boycott on Israeli academics is an obvious form of a violent political action".[211]

Criticism

According to Yehuda Ben Meir and Owen Alterman in an essay published in the Strategic Survey for Israel 2011 by the Institute for National Security Studies (Israel), by depicting Israel as a racist, fascist, totalitarian, and apartheid state, BDS engages in defamation and demonization of Israel. They state that this is followed by the specific targeting of Israeli diplomatic, economic, academic, and cultural targets—regardless of their position or connection to the conflict, which they describe as incitement.[212]

Alan Dershowitz and the Israeli Action Network point to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's support of a boycott specific to Israeli businesses that operate in Israeli settlements in the Palestinian Territories over a general boycott of Israel as evidence that the BDS is not in the Palestinians' favor.[213][214] In Haaretz article Dershowitz adds "The BDS movement is immoral because it would hurt the wrong people" such as Palestinians employees of the firms effected by BDS or patients awaiting medicine made by those firms.[215]

In a 2009 opinion column for the The Jerusalem Post, Gil Troy argued that the BDS movement does not target Israel's policies, but rather targets Israel's legitimacy.[216] The Israeli Reut Institute has argued that the BDS movement singles out Israel, and applies double standards that delegitimize Israel.[217]

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".[218]

The Economist in 2007 called the boycott "flimsy" and ineffective, noted that "blaming Israel alone for the impasse in the occupied territories will continue to strike many outsiders as unfair," and pointed out that the Palestinian leadership did not support the boycott.[219] By early 2014, however, they noted that the campaign, "[o]nce derided as the scheming of crackpots", was "turning mainstream" in the eyes of many Israelis.[220]

The director of communications for the New Israel Fund wrote in March 2012 that the BDS movement "has accomplished very little" and that it should be relegated "to the trash-heap of failed strategies, where it belongs".[221] Naftali Balanson, writing a response, says "Even if BDS messaging were improved and there was no backlash among 'besieged' Israelis, BDS would still be immoral and inherently wrong."[222]

According to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, "BDS supports and promotes completely different values than those which currently stand at the heart of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations."[223]

In July 2014, Noam Chomsky warns that the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign could end up harming the Palestinian cause since the demand for a "right of return" for Palestinian refugees has failed to muster significant international support. He also said "if we boycott Tel Aviv University because Israel violates human rights at home, then why not boycott Harvard because of far greater violations by the United States?".[224]

In September 2014, over 620 academics, most of whom are based in North America and Israel, signed an online petition which states that the undersigned "vigorously support free speech and free debate but we oppose faculty or student boycotts of Israel’s academic institutions, scholars and students." The petition states that the BDS movement "violates the very principle of academic freedom" and charges that it engages in "accusations and narratives" that are derived from "overstatements, cherry picked evidence, outright falsehood" or "disputed or highly biased data." Academics who have signed the petition include Alan Dershowitz, Eric Alterman, Judea Pearl and Deborah Dash Moore.[225][226]

According to an editorial by Judea Pearl, the BDS campaign has an anti-academic character.[227]

A Danish bus company dropped a BDS campaign on 35 buses in the Copenhagen area with the slogan "Our conscience is clean! We neither buy products from the Israeli settlements nor invest in the settlement industry." The company stated the ads were "unnecessarily offensive."[228][229]

Criticism by public figures

According to the Canadian academics Abigail Bakan and Yasmeen Abu-Laban, the BDS campaign has been important in contesting what they describe as "the hegemonic framing of Israel as a victim state in the face of Palestinian 'terrorism'."[230]

The long-standing pro-Palestinian activist and political scientist Norman Finkelstein deemed the BDS movement a "cult". He argued that the worldwide movement was overly controlled by the Ramallah headquarters, made irrealistic claims so as to hide a wish to destroy Israel, and accused the movement of exaggerating its achievements and its capacity, most notably by maintaining that it represents the entire pro-Palestine movement. Finkelstein also asserted that the movement misrepresented and misinterpreted Israel's obligation under international law as defined by the International Court of Justice.[231][232][233][234]

Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, says "I think BDS is an unfair, discriminatory movement based on a moral double standard that is, in the final analysis, anti-Semitic [...] BDS is in fact trying to harm every Israeli citizen and not only the government. In reality what BDS wants is to make life in Israel intolerable so the Jewish nation will not be able to have a normal existence in its state. BDS does not only want to change the government's policy, it wants to empty the country of Jews."[235]

Criticism by artists and writers

Israeli-born musician 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.[236] Other artists who have voiced opposition to the campaign include John Lydon,[237] Umberto Eco,[238] Joel and Ethan Coen,[239] and Ziggy Marley.[240] 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."[238] Creative Community for Peace, founded in late 2011, is an anti-BDS organization made up of music executives and music representatives of bands including Aerosmith, Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, and Justin Timberlake.[241]

Allegations of antisemitism

The Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Israeli officials categorize the BDS movement as antisemitic.[242][243][244][245][246] Abraham Foxman penned an advertisement that ran in The New York Times that criticized Brooklyn College's political science department for sponsoring a conference promoting BDS. In the ad, Foxman referred to the BDS movement as antisemitic "at its very core".[9][10]

Other arguments include:

Replies to allegations

Several replies have been made to the allegations presented above:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Palestinian BDS National Committe. BDS Movement, 9 July 2005. Archived on 31 January 2016
  2. 1 2 Mitchell G. Bard; Jeff Dawson (2012). "Israel and the Campus: The Real Story" (PDF). AICE. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  3. 1 2 Charles Tripp (25 February 2013). The Power and the People: Paths of Resistance in the Middle East. Cambridge University Press. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-521-80965-8. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  4. ↑ "BDS in 2015: Seven ways our movement broke new ground against Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid". BDSmovement.net. 2015-12-29. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  5. ↑ Boycotts that aid the Palestinians by Ben White, Al Jazeera, 16 August 2013.
  6. ↑ What's So Wrong With BDS? by Jerry Haber, The Daily Beast, 7 February 2013.
  7. ↑ Israel is new South Africa as boycott calls increase by Jonathan Owen, The Independent, 3 June 2012.
  8. ↑ "Final score: Dershowitz 137, BDS 101". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 2015-11-03. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
  9. 1 2 3 "Is BDS Hate Speech?" The Jewish Daily Forward. 14 February 2013. 2 June 2013.
  10. 1 2 Foxman, Abraham. "An Open Letter on Academic Freedom and University Responsibility". ADL. 2 June 2013.
  11. ↑ Johnson, Alan (Fall 2015). "The Left and the Jews: Time for a Rethink". Fathom. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  12. ↑ Schama, Simon (19 February 2016). "The left’s problem with Jews has a long and miserable history". Financial Times. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
  13. ↑ Nathan Guttman (13 April 2010). "Want to delegitimize Israel? Be careful who you mess with". Haaretz. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  14. ↑ "A blueprint to combat the assault on Israel’s legitimacy in Europe". JPost. 4 June 2014. At its core, the assault on Israel’s legitimacy is a denial of the Jewish people’s right to self-determination.
  15. 1 2 Beinart, Peter. "To Save Israel, Boycott the Settlements". nytimes.com.
  16. 1 2 Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within. "From Israeli citizens to CocoRosie - Please do not play in apartheid Israel". Archived from the original on 7 February 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 Daniel Coleman; Erin Goheen Glanville; Wafaa Hasan; Agnes Kramer-Hamstra (26 April 2012). Countering Displacements: The Creativity and Resilience of Indigenous and Refugee-ed Peoples. University of Alberta. p. 81. ISBN 978-0-88864-592-0. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
  18. ↑ Julie M. Norman (2009). The Activist and the Olive Tree: Nonviolent Resistance in the Second Intifada. ProQuest. pp. 281–. ISBN 978-1-109-16669-9. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
  19. 1 2 Boycotting the Israeli Academy. Lisa Taraki, ZNet, 19 August 2004
  20. ↑ History, PACBI website, 21 December 2008. Archived 3 December 2014.
  21. ↑ Academic boycotter to study in Tel Aviv. Anshel Pfeffer, The Jewish Chronicle, 23 April 2009
  22. 1 2 3 4 SodaStream controversy continues to bubble. Patrick Strickland, Al Jazeera, 11 February 2014
  23. 1 2 3 Introducing the BDS Movement. BDS Movement. Accessed April 2016
  24. ↑ Boycotting Israel. Al Jazeera, 10 May 2013
  25. 1 2 Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS. BDS Movement, 9 July 2005. Archived on 31 January 2016
  26. ↑ UofC Divest. UofC Divest on Facebook, 3 April 2016. Website: About
  27. 1 2 "BDS action against Max Brenner undeterred by counter protest". Green Left Weekly. 27 August 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  28. ↑ The Electronic Intifada. "Under boycott pressure, Veolia dumps most Israel businesses". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  29. ↑ Social Media Rhetoric of the Transnational Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement. Jennifer Hitchcock, Social Media + Society, 24 February 2016
  30. ↑ Palestinians urge Oscar nominees to reject Israel junket. Ali Abunimah, EI, 10 February 2016
  31. ↑ Israeli musician cancels his show in Jordan following anti-Israel outcry. Jerusalem Post, 4 April 2016
  32. 1 2 Matisyahu Kicked Off European Festival Over Palestinian Politics. Kory Grow, 17 August 2015
  33. ↑ Hasan, Medhi. "Naomi Klein: I don't 'pick and choose' on BDS". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  34. ↑ "About Israeli Apartheid Week". Retrieved 2010-03-03.
  35. ↑ Campuses awash in tension over Israel apartheid week", National Post, 2 March 2009
  36. ↑ "Israeli Apartheid Week 2009 may be coming to a campus near you", The Jerusalem Post, 29 January 2009 Archived 13 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  37. ↑
  38. ↑ "Home - The Canadian Jewish News". Cjnews.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  39. ↑ "Editorial, April 1, 2011 - The Australian Jewish NewsThe Australian Jewish News". Jewishnews.net.au. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  40. ↑ Hartman, Ben. "'Israeli Apartheid Week' starts today - Jewish World - Jerusalem Post". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  41. ↑ Palestinian PM calls for boycott of Israeli goods. The Times of Israel, 16 December 2012
  42. 1 2 Abbas urges Africans to label, boycott settlement goods. Adiv Sterman, The Times of Israel, 15 June 2015
  43. ↑ Palestinians call for boycott of Israeli goods. Mohammed Daraghmeh, AP, 11 February 2015
  44. ↑ Jonathan Lis (11 July 2011). "Israel passes law banning calls for boycott". Haaretz.; "New Version of Boycott Prohibition Bill Approved for Final Reading". Association for Civil Rights in Israel. 27 June 2011. which includes a link to download the English translation of the current version of the bill.
  45. ↑ Tomer Zarchin and Jonathan Lis (14 July 2011). "Dozens of Israeli law professors protest against the boycott law". Haaretz.
  46. ↑ Gerald M. Steinberg (23 February 2011). "Transparency for NGOs is not anti-democratic". Haaretz. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  47. ↑ Jeremy, Yonah (2013-03-14). "Court freezes Anti-Boycott Law after petitions - National News - Jerusalem Post". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  48. ↑ Mairav Zonszein, 'In Israel, BDS is winning,'+972 magazine 28 March 2016.
  49. ↑ "BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, AND SANCTIONS (BDS) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS". US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  50. ↑ "140 Irish academics pledge to boycott Israeli institutions". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  51. ↑ "BACBI: Press Releases: Academic". Bacbi.be. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  52. ↑ "Campaña de recogida de firmas: BDS Académico por Palestina | BDS Académico por Palestina". Pebai.wordpress.com. 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  53. ↑ Peter Walker and Ian Black. "UK academics boycott universities in Israel to fight for Palestinians' rights | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  54. ↑ "SA academics show support for Palestinian people – BDS - POLITICS". Politicsweb.co.za. 2015-12-17. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  55. ↑ AbuKhalil, As'ad. "News Politics Culture & Society Economy Opinion Portraits In Focus Blogs GI Files Syria Files Arabic Edition A Critique of Norman Finkelstein on BDS". Al Akhbar. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  56. ↑ Paul, Jonny. "Stephen Hawking reaffirms support of Israel boycott - Diplomacy & Politics - Jerusalem Post". Jpost.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  57. ↑ "Stephen Hawking Joins Boycott Against Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  58. ↑ Harriet Sherwood and Matthew Kalman in Jerusalem. "Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  59. ↑ Harriet Sherwood, Matthew Kalman in Israel and Sam Jones (9 May 2013). "Stephen Hawking: Furore deepens over Israel boycott". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 9 May 2013.
  60. 1 2 Robert Booth and Harriet Sherwood (10 May 2013). "Noam Chomsky helped lobby Stephen Hawking to stage Israel boycott". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  61. ↑ "2013 Top Ten Anti-Semitic/Anti-Israel Slurs". Simon Wiesenthal Center. 2013. 30 December 2013.
  62. ↑ Redden, Elizabeth. "Backing the Israel Boycott". Inside Higher Ed. 17 December 2013. 2 January 2014.
  63. ↑ Gilio-Whitaker, Dina (2013-12-29). "The Native American Studies Association Boycott of Israel". Indian Country Today Media Network.com. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  64. ↑ Council of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (2013-12-13). "Declaration of Support for the Boycott of Israeli Academic Institutions". Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  65. ↑ Irish student union endorses Israel boycott, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) republished in Haaretz, 7 March 2014.
  66. ↑ "NUS Black Students conference endorses BDS, slams Israeli 'systemic' racism". Middle-East Monitor. 19 May 2014.
  67. ↑ Redden, Elizabeth (2015-11-23). "Big Night for Boycott Movement". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  68. ↑ "Human Rights Council elects Advisory Committee Members and approves a number of Special Procedures mandate holders". United Nations. 26 March 2008. Archived from the original on 1 January 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
  69. ↑ Wayne Schoenfeld, Richard Falk Calls for Corporate Israel Boycott; U.N. Official Backs Calls To Shun Occupation-Backing Firms, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 25 October 2012.
  70. ↑ Michelle Nichols, U.N. expert calls for boycott of companies in Jewish settlements Reuters, 25 October 2012.
  71. 1 2 Palestinian Workers in Settlements–Who Profits' Position Paper. Who Profits, 2013
  72. ↑ NZ Super Fund excludes three Israeli firms on ethical grounds, The New Zealand Herald, 12 December 2012.
  73. ↑ New Zealand government fund divests from Israeli firms over settlement construction, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), (republished in Haaretz), 16 December 2012.
  74. ↑ "FDC Exclusion List" (PDF). Fonds du Compensation. 15 November 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2014. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  75. ↑ White, Ben (6 March 2014). "Spring in the step of BDS, as a worried Israel plans pushback". Middle East Monitor. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  76. 1 2 Denmark's largest bank blacklists Israel's Hapoalim over settlement construction by Barak Ravid, Haaretz, 1 Februa==Supporters==ry 2014.
  77. ↑ Norwegian YMCA embraces boycott Israel policy, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (reprinted in The Jerusalem Post), 2 March 2014.
  78. ↑ Norwegian youth group YMCA-YWCA boycotts Israel, Press TV, 4 March 2014.
  79. ↑ Jewish NGO wants YMCA rapped for Israel boycott, The Local, 14 March 2014.
  80. ↑ Rilwan, Ahmed (21 July 2014). "Maldives to boycott Israeli products, annul bilateral agreements". Minivan News. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  81. ↑ "Maldives to boycott Israeli products". Sun Online (21 July 2014). Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  82. ↑ "Crepes & Waffles".
  83. ↑ G4S loses major contract in Colombia after BDS campaign, Middle East Monitor, 26 February 2016.
  84. ↑ "Stop G4S".
  85. ↑ "Unacceptable discrimination | In English | EL PAÍS". Elpais.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  86. ↑ "Spanish Official Condemn Matisyahu Cancellation". Billboard. 2015-08-18. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  87. ↑ "A Rototom Sunsplash public institutional declaration regarding Matisyahu". Rototomsunsplash.com. 2015-08-19. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  88. ↑ "The BDS Movement Can’t Harm Israel’s Economy, Just its Reputation". 5 September 2014.
  89. ↑ "More ‘Noise’ Than Anything?". 28 May 2014. The BDS movement gets heft from media coverage but its impact is minor to inconsequential
  90. ↑ "Knesset report: BDS movement has no impact on economy". Haaretz. 9 January 2015. Finds exports to Europe have doubled since launch of BDS movement
  91. ↑ "Multi-nationals say BDS not making a dent". Jerusalem Post. 17 December 2014. When you’re looking at the dollar sense, you forget the geopolitical reality
  92. ↑ "Boycott Israel Movement Stunts The Palestinian Economy". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  93. ↑ Reed, John (12 June 2015). "Israel: A new kind of war". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  94. ↑ Study: Peace would boost Israel's economy $123b by 2024 by Niv Elis, Jerusalem Post, 6 June 2015.
  95. ↑ Gordin, Jeremy (2012-12-21). "South Africa's Ruling Party Endorses BDS Campaign Against Israel". Haaretz. Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  96. ↑ "Scottish Party Passes Motion for Boycott of Israel, Removal of Hamas From List of Terror Groups". Algemeiner.com. 2015-10-13. Retrieved 2015-11-22.
  97. ↑ "COSATU Endorses the Palestinian Call to Impose an Immediate, Comprehensive Military Embargo on Israel". BDSmovement. 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  98. ↑ "Cosatu to intensify Israeli goods boycott". news24. 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  99. ↑ "NUT Annual Conference 2014 final agenda" (PDF). National Union of Teachers. 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  100. ↑ Lewis, Jerry (6 July 2014). "UK's largest union backs boycott of Israel". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 5 July 2014.
  101. ↑ Louis-Serge Houle (2015). "La CSN se joint au mouvement mondial". Confédération des syndicats nationaux. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  102. ↑ Roger Waters (11 March 2011). "Tear down this Israeli wall". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  103. ↑ Adam Horowitz and Philip Weiss (28 June 2010). "The Boycott Divestment Sanctions Movement". The Nation. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
  104. ↑ Kane, Alex. "‘Progressive Zionist’ group in U.S. calls for settlement boycott". alexbkane.wordpress.com.
  105. ↑ Paiss, Naomi. "Boycotting settlements is not anti-Israel.". jewishjournal.com.
  106. ↑ Paiss, Naomi (2010-11-28). "ZEEK: Articles: Don't Divest; Invest". Zeek.forward.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  107. ↑ "AJDS resolution on Boycotts, Divestment & Sanctions of Israel". ajds.org.au.
  108. ↑ "‘Jews For Palestinian Right of Return’ endorse American Studies Association boycott of Israeli academic institutions". Mondoweiss.net.
  109. ↑ Slezak, Peter. "Anti-Semitism and BDS: Beyond misrepresentations". abc.net.au.
  110. ↑ Dayan, Colin. "Why I support the ASA boycott of Israeli academic institutions". america.aljazeera.com.
  111. ↑ A Conflict of Faith: Devoted to Jewish Observance, but at Odds With Israel by Mark Oppenheimer, The New York Times, 14 February 2014.
  112. ↑ Maltz, Judy. "Boycott = anti-Semitism? Some Israelis avoid settlement products too".
  113. ↑ "High Court Largely Upholds Controversial 'Anti-Boycott Law' - National". Haaretz. 2015-04-16. Retrieved 2016-02-17.(subscription required)
  114. ↑ Keller, Adam. "Supreme Court to rule on legality of settlement boycott.". www.jpost.com.
  115. ↑ Scharf, Isaac. "Israeli settlements also face pressure from within". news.yahoo.com.
  116. ↑ Keller, Uri. "The Economy of the Occupation: A Socioeconomic Bulletin" (PDF). bdsmovement.net. The Alternative Information Center.
  117. ↑ "Strauss Group Ltd. Annual Report, 31 December 2012" (PDF). Strauss-group.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  118. 1 2 "Israel boycotts now official NSW Greens policy". The Australian Jewish News. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  119. ↑ Kerr, Christian (29 August 2011). "Greens senator Lee Rhiannon stands by Israel boycott". The Australian. Retrieved 30 August 2011.
  120. ↑ Massola, James; Kelly, Joe (1 April 2011). "Greens leader Bob Brown slaps down Lee Rhiannon on Israel boycott policy". The Australian. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  121. ↑ "Greens NSW Reviews BDS". Greens NSW. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  122. ↑ "Local Australian political party drops Israel boycott". Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). 6 December 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  123. ↑ Imre Salusinszky (26 October 2011). "Palestinian consul rejects BDS violence". The Australian. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  124. ↑ Gareth Narunsky (24 June 2011). "Police called to action on BDS". The Australian Jewish News. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  125. ↑ Aikman, Amos; Shanahan, Leo (20 April 2011). "Greens forced to back down on Israel boycott". The Australian.
  126. ↑ Ric Willmot. "Martin Foley, Victorian Labor MP scared of Year 12 student". Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  127. ↑ "Julia Gillard Denounces Activists as Anti-Israel Protest Turns Anti-Semitic". The Australian. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  128. ↑ Ean Higgins and Christian Kerr (3 May 2013). "Jihad Sheila link to anti-Jewish posts". The Australian. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
  129. ↑ Ean Higgins (29 May 2013). "In a democracy freedom of expression had to allow a capacity for dissent". The Australian. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  130. ↑ Csillag, Ron (2012-08-19). "United Church of Canada approves boycott of settlement goods | Jewish Telegraphic Agency". Jta.org. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  131. ↑ Boycott of Israel delayed by University of Windsor students, CBC News, 14 March 2014.
  132. ↑ Irish student union joins boycott Israel campaign, Press TV, 9 March 2014.
  133. ↑ Jerome Klassen; Gregory Albo (2013-01-10). Empire's Ally: Canada and the War in Afghanistan. University of Toronto Press. p. 407. ISBN 978-1-4426-1304-1.
  134. ↑ CUPE joins boycott of Israel, National Post, 26 May 2006.
  135. ↑ CUPE in Ontario votes to boycott Israel, CBC News, 27 May 2006.
  136. ↑ CUPE Ontario's Resolution 50: Towards peace and justice in the Middle East, CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee, Page 2.
  137. ↑ Khadir blocks debate on anti-Israel boycott motion by Janice Arnold, Canadian Jewish News, Staff Reporter, 17 February 2011.
  138. ↑ Barbara Kay: Quebec strikes a blow against anti-Israel heels by Barbara Kay, National Post, 4 March 2011.
  139. 1 2 3 4 5 Marcelo Svirsky (28 October 2011). Arab-Jewish activism in Israel-Palestine. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 121–124. ISBN 978-1-4094-2229-7. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  140. ↑ "Site launched to counter boycotts of Israeli goods". The Jerusalem Post. Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). 15 May 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  141. ↑ Elior Levy (20 May 2012). "'Palestinians will lose jobs if boycott persists'". Ynetnews. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  142. ↑ Swiss government, Dutch lawmakers denounce boycotts of Israel, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), 21 March 2014.
  143. ↑ Dutch MP tells 'Post': Boycotting Israel is wrong by Moshe Arenstein, The Jerusalem Post, 10 January 2014.
  144. ↑ Israel-Romania row over settlements building, Al Jazeera, 11 December 2013.
  145. ↑ Romania stops sending construction workers to Israel over settlements by Jonathan Lis, Haaretz, 10 December 2013.
  146. ↑ Romanian FM expected to address labor disagreement during visit by Herb Keinon, The Jerusalem Post, 22 December 2013.
  147. ↑ Ben Hartman (24 March 2011). "University of Johannesburg votes to sever ties with BGU". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  148. ↑ Matthew Kalman (25 March 2011). "U. of Johannesburg Official: 'UJ Is Not Part of an Academic Boycott of Israel'". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  149. ↑ Ant Katz (1 September 2012). "Wits students join UJ boycott". My shtet. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  150. ↑ "South African university distances itself from student boycott of Israel". Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). 4 September 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  151. ↑ Student BDS supporters sentenced for disrupting Israeli pianist, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), 22 January 2014.
  152. ↑ Emelia Motsai (29 August 2013). BDS protests Daniel Zamir concert at Wits Wits Vuvuzela. Retrieved 2 January 2014
  153. ↑ David Lev. (1 September 2013. South African BDS Protesters: 'Shoot the Jew' Arutz Sheva. Retrieved 2 January 2014.
  154. ↑ South Africa BDS leader defends call to 'kill the Jew' by Sam Sokol, The Jerusalem Post, 2 September 2013.
  155. ↑ BDS distances itself from "shoot the Jew" by Emelia Motsai, Wits Vuvuzela, 3 September 2013.
  156. ↑ "South African BDS protesters threaten to kill Jews". Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  157. ↑ "At Israel Trade Event in South Africa BDS Supporters Threaten to 'Kill Jews'". Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  158. ↑ Eichner, Itamar. "21 arrested at violent BDS protest in South Africa." Ynetnews. 23 March 2015. 23 March 2015.
  159. ↑ "Palestinian academics call for international academic boycott of Israel". Birzeit University. 7 July 2004. Retrieved 22 May 2005.
  160. ↑ "The University of Haifa Response to the AUT Decision". University of Haifa. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  161. ↑ Curtis, Polly (24 May 2005). "Second Opinion". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
  162. ↑ BBC News (22 April 2005). "Academics back Israeli boycotts". Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  163. ↑ "Joint Hebrew university—al-quds university statement on academic cooperation signed in London". Hebrew University. Retrieved 15 May 2008.
  164. ↑ Ewing, Jim (6 April 2005). "NPC Says: Don't take Academia Hostage". National Postgraduate Committee. Retrieved 12 August 2007.
  165. ↑ "Academics vote against Israeli boycott". London: The Guardian. 26 May 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2005.
  166. 1 2 "Lecturers call for Israel boycott". BBC News. 30 May 2006. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  167. 1 2 Steven Weinberg and Palestinian academics, 'A Nobel laureate and Palestinian academics on Natfhe's proposed boycott of Israel', Times Higher Education Supplement, 26 May 2006, Pg. 16 No. 1744.
  168. ↑ "British union votes to boycott Israeli universities, academics". Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). 1 June 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  169. ↑ Jessica Shepherd (27 May 2009). "Lecturers vote to boycott Israeli universities". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  170. ↑ "Oxford students reject boycott Israel motion". Jewish Journal 27 February 2013. 27 February 2013.
  171. ↑ "BDS bursts SodaStream's U.K. bubble". Haaretz. 3 July 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  172. ↑ "Boris Johnson cancels West Bank events amid Israeli boycott row". BBC News. 11 November 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  173. ↑ Harriet Sherwood and Matthew Kalman in Jerusalem. "Stephen Hawking joins academic boycott of Israel | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  174. ↑ "Noam Chomsky". The Agenda with Steve Paikin. TVOntario. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
  175. ↑ Noam Chomsky Interviewed by Frank Barat, on Israel/Palestine (4/4). 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  176. ↑ Peter Beinart (27 March 2012). The Crisis of Zionism. Henry Holt and Company. p. 190. ISBN 978-1-4299-4346-8. Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  177. ↑ "Economic boycott of Israel? - Norman G. Finkelstein Norman G. Finkelstein". Normanfinkelstein.com. 2006-01-13. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  178. ↑ "Norman Finklestein on the BDS movement [WHOLE VIDEO". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  179. ↑ "Norman Finkelstein Interview with Frank Barat: BDS Campaign". Imperial College London. 2012-09-02.
  180. ↑ Marcus Dysch (16 February 2012). "Finkelstein disowns 'silly' Israel boycott". The Jewish Chronicle Online. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  181. ↑ "Appeals Court Upholds Olympia Food Co-op's Boycott of Israeli Goods". Center for Constitutional Rights.
  182. ↑ Appeals Court upholds Olympia Food Co-op's boycott of Israeli goods by Jeremy Pawloski, The Olympian 7 April 2014.
  183. ↑ "2014 BDS Vote". Uaw2865.org. 2014-12-04. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  184. ↑ "US student workers’ union becomes first US labor union to back BDS". BDSmovement.net. 2014-12-11. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  185. ↑ Clinton, Hillary. "Hillary Clinton: "the BDS is another step in antisemitism"". antisemitism.org.il. The Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  186. ↑ Clinton, Hillary. "ISRAEL AND THE UNITED STATES: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW" (PDF). BROOKINGS. THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION. Retrieved 14 January 2016.
  187. ↑ Clinton, Hillary. "Hillary Clinton Speech at Brookings Institute Saban Forum". Youtube. PSB SATELLITE NEWS. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  188. ↑ "U.S. Church Puts Five Israeli Banks on Investment Blacklist - Israel News". Haaretz. 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  189. ↑ "PC(USA) policy committee issues new report on Israel-Palestine". PCUSA website. 2016-02-29. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  190. ↑ "Israel-Palestine: For Human Values in the Absence of a Just Peace". PC(USA) Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy. 2016-02-29. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  191. ↑ "Two States for Two Peoples". Presbyterians for Middle East Peace website. 2016-02-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-04.
  192. ↑ US bill seeks to tie massive trade pact to EU rejection of BDS by Rebecca Shimoni Stoil, Times of Israel, 10 February 2015.
  193. ↑ Proposed congressional bill links BDS prevention, EU trade deal, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), 10 February 2015.
  194. ↑ New bill in Congress prioritizes fight against BDS in EU trade talks by Michael Wilner, Jerusalem Post 10 February 2015.
  195. ↑ "U.S. lawmakers introduce legislation to prevent Israel boycotts." Haaretz. 27 March 2015. 26 March 2015.
  196. ↑ "Illinois governor to sign anti-BDS bill". Al-Jazeera. 19 May 2015.
  197. ↑ Kontorovich, Eugene. "Can States Fund BDS?" Tablet Magazine. 13 July 2015. 18 July 2015.
  198. ↑ Tennessee General Assembly becomes first state legislature to condemn BDS by Sean Savage, JNS.org (reprinted by the Connecticut Jewish Ledger), 22 April 2015.
  199. ↑ Fight against Boycott Movement Moving to State Legislatures, Jewish Press, 24 April 2015.
  200. ↑ "House Resolution No. 59". nwitimes.com. 23 April 2015.
  201. ↑ Indiana Stands With Israel, Opposes BDS by Tony Katz, 93.1FM WIBC, 23 April 2015.
  202. ↑ Pro-Israel Effort to Combat BDS on US State Level Gains Steam by Sean Savage, JNS.org (reprinted by The Jewish Chronicle, originally published 23 April 2015.
  203. ↑ Indiana Passes Bill Opposing BDS by Elad Benari, Arutz Sheva, 1 May 2015.
  204. ↑ "Indiana House unanimously passes anti-BDS bill." Jewish Journal. 29 January 2016. 1 February 2016.
  205. ↑ "Study: No anti-Semitism, anti-Israel push at most college campuses". Jewish Journal. 23 October 2012. 23 October 2012.
  206. ↑ "Penn distances itself from BDS conference". Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA). 5 January 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  207. ↑ Naomi Zeveloff (20 January 2012). "College Leaders Balance Israel and Speech". The Forward. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  208. ↑ "U. of Calif. student association votes to divest from Israel, U.S." Haaretz. 10 February 2015. 10 February 2015.
  209. ↑ Wen, Melissa. "UC Student Association votes to divest from companies allegedly violating Palestinian rights." The Daily Californian. 9 February 2015. 9 February 2015
  210. ↑ "Don't Dismiss California School System's Fights Over Israel Divestment | Jewish & Israel News". Algemeiner.com. 2014-07-27. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  211. ↑ Boehm, Omri. "Violent Boycotts and the BDS Movement." The Los Angeles Review of Books. 16 June 2015. 4 January 2016.
  212. ↑ [Meir, Y. B., & Alterman, O. (2011). The Delegitimization Threat: Roots, Manifestations, and Containment. Strategic Survey for Israel. Tel Aviv: The Institute For National Security Studies, 121–137.]
  213. ↑ Dershowitz, Alan. "Israel and the myopic BDS movement". The Boston Globe. 26 December 2013. 1 January 2014.
  214. ↑ Guttman, Nathan. "Academic Backers of Boycott Israel Movement Take Aim at Bigger Targets". The Jewish Daily Forward. 18 December 2013. 1 January 2014.
  215. ↑ Dershowitz, Alan (12 February 2014). "Ten reasons why BDS is immoral and hinders peace". Haaretz. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  216. ↑ "Delegitimizing the delegitimizers". Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  217. ↑ "The Reut Institute: The BDS Movement Promotes Delegitimization against Israel". Retrieved 13 August 2010.
  218. ↑ Stewart Ain (15 March 2011). "Consensus Seen Taking Shape On Boycotts". The Jewish Week. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  219. ↑ "Boycotting Israel: New pariah on the block". The Economist. 13 September 2007.
  220. ↑ "A campaign that is gathering weight". The Economist. 8 February 2014.
  221. ↑ Naomi Paiss (16 March 2012). "A Leftist's Critique of BDS". Open Zion (The Daily Beast). Retrieved 9 September 2012.
  222. ↑ Balanson, Naftali (November 2010). "Moral Argument Against BDS". ZEEK (The Jewish Daily Forward). Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  223. ↑ Rosen, Ehud. "What is the Real BDS Endgame? The Elimination of Israel". jcpa.org. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
  224. ↑ "Chomsky says BDS tactics won't work, may be harmful to Palestinians". The Jerusalem Post. 3 July 2014.
  225. ↑ Hundreds in academic world sign anti-BDS petition, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), 22 September 2014.
  226. ↑ 'Petition to Oppose Boycotts of Israel's Academic Institutions, Scholars, and Students' by Daniel Halper, The Weekly Standard, 18 September 2014.
  227. ↑ Pearl, Judea. "Boycott Israel? Not On My Campus". Editorial. Jewish Journal. 3–9 January 2014: 9. Print.
  228. ↑ "Danish bus ads on Israeli settlements halted". The Local dk. 4 May 2015.
  229. ↑ "Danish bus agency removes ad against Israeli settlements". Yahoo News.
  230. ↑ Palestinian resistance and international solidarity: the BDS campaign. Abigail B. Bakan and Yasmeen Abu-Laban. Race and Class, vol. 51 no. 1 pp. 29-54, July 2009; doi: 10.1177/0306396809106162.
    "The BDS movement has been framed to expose and challenge a series of corresponding repressive policies. These include the denial of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, militarised violence directed against Palestinian men, women and children, the confiscation of land from Palestinians, the demolition of Palestinian homes and the daily racism invoked by a series of policies directed at Palestinians that encumber their freedom of mobility, access to education and ability to earn a living."
  231. ↑ Norman Finkelstein Interview with Frank Barat: BDS Campaign - Imperial College London [09-02-2012]. 6 March 2012 – via YouTube.
  232. ↑ "BEYOND THE MASS BDS PSYCHOSIS - Norman G. Finkelstein Norman G. Finkelstein". Normanfinkelstein.com. 2014-02-14. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  233. ↑ "Norman Finkelstein Throws Wrench In Anti-Israel Movement’s Claim To A Rights-Based Agenda » ADL Blogs". Blog.adl.org. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  234. ↑ The Electronic Intifada. "Finkelstein renews attack on BDS "cult," calls Palestinians who pursue their rights "criminal"". The Electronic Intifada. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  235. 1 2 BDS movement seeks to empty Israel of Jews, former Spanish PM says By HAIM ISSEROVITZ, 06/20/2015, Jerusalem Post
  236. ↑ "Lead singer of Kiss Gene Simmons slams Israel boycotters". Haaretz. Associated Press. 11 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  237. ↑ "John Lydon – Lydon Slams Critics Over Israel Show – Contactmusic News". Contactmusic.com. Retrieved 13 December 2010.
  238. 1 2 "Israel boycotters target authors, artists". Ynet. 5 March 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2011.
  239. ↑ Amit Kling (15 May 2012). "Coen Brothers: Boycotting Israel is a mistake". Haaretz. City Mouse Online, Haaretz Service. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  240. ↑ Karolyn Coorsh (20 July 2011). "Reggae star Ziggy Marley rejects calls to boycott Israel". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  241. ↑ Danielle Berrin (25 April 2012). "Music moguls to artists: Don't boycott Israel". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  242. 1 2 3 4 "Report" (PDF). Wiesenthal.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  243. ↑ Fishman, Joel S. "The BDS Message Of Anti-Zionism, Anti-Semitism, And Incitement To Discrimination". Israel Affairs 18.3 (2012): 412–425. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 June 2013.
  244. ↑ Hallward, Maia Carter, and Patrick Shaver. "'War By Other Means' Or Nonviolent Resistance? Examining The Discourses Surrounding Berkeley's Divestment Bill". Peace & Change 37.3 (2012): 389–412. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 June 2013.
  245. ↑ "Anti-Israel groups push product, performers boycott". USA Today. 17 March 2013. 8 June 2013.
  246. ↑ "The Wrong Way To Fight BDS". The Jewish Daily Forward. 21 February 2013. 11 June 2013.
  247. ↑ Krauthammer:Poison of anti-Semitism continues to proliferate 9 January 2014
  248. ↑ Dershowitz. "Boycotting Israeli universities: A victory for bigotry". Haaretz. 17 December 2013. 23 December 2013.
  249. ↑ "Dershowitz: Boycotts abet terrorism". Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  250. ↑ The European Union's Working Definition of Antisemitism lists "comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis" as an example of antisemitic behavior. qtd. in "Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions ...."
  251. ↑ "Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Resource Page". NGO Monitor. 14 July 2011. 1 June 2013.
  252. ↑ Kerr, Christian Julia Gillard denounces activists as anti-Israel protest turns anti-Semitic. The Australian. 30 April 2013. 7 June 2013.
  253. 1 2 "SWC Commends UEFA for Holding Under-21 European Championship in Israel, Blasts Attempts to Cancel/Boycott the Event". Targeted News Service. 21 May 2013. ProQuest. Web. 8 June 2013.
  254. ↑ Nagourney, Adam. "In U.C.L.A. Debate Over Jewish Student, Echoes on Campus of Old Biases." New York Times. 5 March 2015. 6 March 2015.
  255. ↑ Michaelson, Jay. "The Wrong Way To Fight BDS". The Jewish Daily Forward. 21 February 2013. 11 June 2013.
  256. 1 2 3 Judith Butler's Remarks to Brooklyn College on BDS, The Nation, 7 February 2013
  257. 1 2 Pérez-Peña, Richard (2013-12-15). "Scholars' Group to Disclose Result of Vote on an Academic Boycott of Israel". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
  258. 1 2 3 Jay Michaelson. "There's a Good Reason for 'Singling Out' Israel The Jewish Daily Forward. 25 January 2014. 23 December 2013.
  259. ↑ Harriet Sherwood, Matthew Kalman and Sam Jones Stephen Hawking: Furore deepens over Israel boycott, The Guardian, 9 May 2013.
  260. ↑ Applause for the academic boycott of Israel by George Bisharat, Chicago Tribune, 30 January 2014.
  261. ↑ Chomsky, Noam (1999). Fateful Triangle: The United States, Israel and the Palestinians.
  262. ↑ Fischer, Claude S. Letter – Campus inundated with anti-Israel propaganda, Jweekly, 13 June 2013.
  263. ↑ Why the boycott movement scares Israel, The New York Times, 31 January 2014.
  264. ↑ Blatman, Daniel. Not anti-Semitism but hysteria, Haaretz, 18 June 2015.

Further reading

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Supportive of BDS

Critical of BDS

Debates on BDS and Mixed Support

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.