This morning I just happened onto a confluence of articles about the growing BDS Movement, which, given the Obama administration’s backtracking on Middle East peace, seems to be the only road left for achieving Palestinian statehood. (BDS means boycott, divestment, and sanctions, and as with bringing down Apartheid in South Africa, it is intended to cause economic pain to nations practicing human rights injustices.)
Antony Loewenstein started the ball rolling writing that: BDS is the new anti-Semitism. “The issue of targeted boycotts against Israel is growing by the day,” he said, quoting Muzzlewatch, a Jewish Voice for Peace site, which reported that the BDS movement is producing “the latest sign of panic within the Zionist establishment in the US.”
Adam Horowitz of Mondoweiss just wrote about “A new generation of giants,” after attending the Hampshire National Campus Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Conference.
The students meeting at Hampshire represented over 40 campuses from across the U.S. and Canada. From what I can tell there are at least 10 active divestment and boycott campaigns underway now, with about at least 10 or 15 more just about to get kicked off. The ideas being discussed range from forcing universities to divest their investment holdings to canceling vendor contracts with companies benefiting from the occupation to challenging study abroad programs in Israel that discriminate against Palestinian students (and lots more in between). All options are on the table, and enthusiasm, creativity and hope abound.
Finally, Mark Elf of Jews sans frontieres (England) put together this collection of stories from the Israeli press about the fearsome BDS Movement (links in the original), entitled,
It’s getting hard to keep track of Israeli press mentions of the boycott, divestment & sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Their frequency & tenor bespeaks a growing alarm at the BDS threat — notably, amongst establishment journos. To whit:
Sever Plocker, Chief Economics Editor and Commentator for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s largest daily, in an article noting “Israel in midst of freefall on global front,” Nov. 3:
By coincidence, or not, large foreign investors are pulling out of Israel.
Another Yedioth journo, Ron Yishai, on Oct. 14, on “Israel’s growing isolation” :
We are seeing an anti-Israeli tide in Europe and in South America as well that at times gives rise to latent anti-Semitism. The list is long: Ranging from the media-covered conflict with Sweden over the “harvesting of body parts” affair (which was needlessly inflated by us) to the Norwegian decision to boycott the stocks of Elbit. It continued with the embargo imposed by Britain on the importation of spare parts to the Israeli Navy and the boycott on goods produced in the territories…
We are dealing with an accumulation of positions, declarations, and actions adopted by organizations and governments worldwide with growing intensity, in the aims of isolating Israel and thereby pressuring it to modify is political positions and force military restraint upon it. And this is the good case scenario.
Ari Shavit in Ha’aretz, Oct. 15:
But things are not all right – they really are not. Why? Because underneath those still waters on which Israel’s ship is sailing lurks an iceberg.
The Goldstone report marked the iceberg’s first appearance. Turkey turning its back on Israel was the second. Attempts by European courts to try Israel Defense Forces officers were the third; the boycott of Israeli products and companies in various places round the world was the fourth; and global indifference to the nuclearization of a regional power that threatens to wipe Israel off the map is the fifth. Every week, almost every day, the iceberg peeks above the surface. And when one takes a good look over the railing of this pleasure cruise, one can see exactly what it is: The iceberg is the loss of the State of Israel’s legitimacy.
Amir Oren in Ha’aretz, Nov. 22:
In the years in which it moved toward peace and security in exchange for land, Israel managed to overcome the Arab boycott. It’s now facing a Western boycott – a product of the ongoing settlement project supported by the Israel Defense Forces.
Daniel Levy in Ha’aretz, Nov. 20:
Palestinian civil society, for instance, has long ceased to rely on its leadership’s strategies for achieving de-occupation. Inside the territories, nonviolent resistance, notably to the separation barrier, continues to gather adherents and momentum. Outside, the campaigns for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel are growing to dimensions that should make Israel’s leaders sit up and take notice.
It appears now that BDS may be the only way to finally achieve Palestinian freedom.
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BDS Omar Barghouti – United in Struggle against Israeli Colonialism, Occupation, and Racism
BDS: Hitting Israel Where it Hurts – Its Economy
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."THanks for this video Oui. Easy to forget the many Palestinian supporters of BDS and the job they are trying to do.
May share it with Open Left.
I can’t say I disagree with your sentiment but please be aware it is ILLEGAL under US law to boycott Israeli products.
Furthermore, it is illegal to do business with any COMPANY that boycotts or has refused to do business with an Israeli company slash in Israel itself.
I’m too busy to look up the federal law at the moment but I assure you it is there. Cornell has a wonderful website for such things.
Pax
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The mission of the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) Export Enforcement (EE) is to protect U.S. national security, homeland security, foreign policy, and economic interests through a law enforcement program. EE consists of the Office of Export Enforcement (OEE), the Office of Enforcement Analysis (OEA), and the Office of Antiboycott Compliance (OAC). Together with BIS’s licensing officers and policy staff, EE employees apply their law enforcement and export control expertise to prevent and deter exports of the most sensitive items to illicit end-users and uses, to embargoed destinations, and to ensure that parties involved in U.S. commercial transactions do not engage in prohibited boycott activities.
Impact of Federal Anti-Boycott And Other Laws On BDS Campaigns
National Lawyers Guild – International Committee October 2009 (pdf)
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Oui filled in the gap here with a link. Not being a lawyer, I’m not sure I completely understand the implications of this law in practice. The law was apparently instituted to counter the Arab League boycott of Israel. It does appear that the BDS actions of individuals and NGOs, of which there are hundreds, are affected.
Too bad if the law is that restricted, because nothing would more helpful to the BDS movement, at least here in the US, if members of boycotting orgs were arrested for boycott activity. As with nonviolent protest, boycott and divestment actions are more effective when they get publicity.
It really is targeted toward American companies and the Arab League boycott. American companies that are trying to market their products in Arab countries may not explicitly boycott components from Israel (or market themselves as being in-line with the boycott). Some companies have taken to making available on their websites information about all of the countries that contribute components to their various products, which may be a way to get around the boycott controversy.
While it is illegal to promote the Arab League version of a boycott, individual consumers are still free to spend their money as they please. It’s just not always possible to get all of the information about products in order to make informed decisions.