Israel occupies and colonizes Palestinian land, discriminates against Palestinian citizens of Israel, and denies Palestinian refugees the right to return to their homes. It maintains a regime of occupation, apartheid, and settler-colonialism over the Palestinian people.
Israel is only able to maintain this illegal regime thanks to international support and complicity. Rather than holding Israel accountable, many governments provide Israel with political, diplomatic, military, and financial support. Companies seek to profit from Israel’s violations of international law.
When those in power refuse to act to stop this injustice, a response from global citizens is required.
The BDS movement aims to pressure Israel into respecting international law by:
- Ending the occupation and colonization of Arab land and dismantling the wall. International law recognizes the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza, and the Syrian Golan Heights, as occupied by Israel.
- Recognizing the fundamental rights of Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality.
- Respecting, protecting, and promoting the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties, as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.
These are three basic rights without which the Palestinian people cannot exercise their inalienable right to self-determination. The BDS movement does not advocate for a specific solution to the conflict and does not call for a “one-state solution” or a “two-state solution.” Instead, BDS focuses on the realisation of basic rights and the implementation of international law.
A boycott is an individual action, but it becomes more powerful when promoted and supported by a large group of people and organisations. Such an action works in two ways: first, the boycott and the narrative around it raise awareness among other consumers about Israeli policy. Second, a boycott exerts economic and moral pressure on Israel.
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Would you like to start a boycott of an Israeli company in your municipality? Do you have questions about an Israeli product and where it comes from? Are you interested in our campaigns? Then contact us: [email protected]
Without volunteers, there are no campaigns against Israeli products, companies, and services. We need doers and thinkers! People with different expertise and experiences. People for short-term actions and long-term projects. People from across the country. Interested? Send an email to [email protected]
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The 2005 call for BDS is endorsed by all major political parties, trade union federations, refugee rights associations, academic unions, farmers’ organizations, NGO networks, women’s unions, youth movements, and others.
The signatory organizations of the 2005 call represent Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and Palestinians in exile (primarily refugees).
The BDS call is the most broadly supported document in recent decades of Palestinian history. Palestinians living under Israel’s regime of colonial oppression cannot possibly boycott Israel fully. Support for boycotting Israeli goods in the OPT has grown enormously since the Israeli massacre in Gaza in 2014.
According to a World Bank report, Israeli exports to the Palestinian economy fell by 24% in the first quarter of 2015. The report attributes this to a growing Palestinian boycott, despite the obstacles Palestinians face due to Israel’s effective control over Palestinian economic activity.
A recent poll of Palestinian public opinion in the OPT, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, shows 86% support for BDS.