AFZ campaign page | Let’s make the Netherlands an Apartheid Free Zone
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The Palestinian struggle has exposed the tangled web of interests that bind global powers – especially in the West – to an oppressive status quo. Much like the international response to South Africa’s apartheid, Palestine’s liberation movement has unmasked the façade of “universal values” upheld by Western democracies, revealing their complicity in maintaining and scaling-up the system of occupation and oppression. The ideals of international law, human rights, and justice have been overshadowed by rampant militarism, leaving countless lives shattered and entire communities destroyed.
But this struggle has also revealed something else: the quiet yet pervasive complicity of individuals, institutions, organisations and businesses – often without them (us) even realising it. In a capitalist system designed to perpetuate ignorance, the distance between “consumers” and the true impact of their choices has grown wider than ever. From cultural products to everyday goods, the origins and ethical implications of what we support remain hidden, as we’re all caught up in surviving the next crisis – be it a layoff, a pandemic, or a natural disaster. This deliberate distancing has eroded critical consumption practices, creating a vacuum where capitalistic and colonial agents thrive. Thus, complicity is not merely accidental, it’s engineered to ensure the status quo persists.
That is why calling for boycott, divestment, and sanctions is not only a moral stance but a concrete, non-violent strategy for civil society to take action.
Some concrete examples…
People love carbonated water. As a matter of fact, the global sparkling water market size was valued at USD 38.13 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to USD 42.62 billion in 2024 (Fortunebusinessinsights, e.n.). The biggest carbonation system company in the world is Sodastream. The company was initially founded in the UK and only few years ago has been bought by the already infamous PepsiCo. Sodastream’s headquarters are now located in Kfar Saba (Israel) and it has 13 production facilities, some of them built inside of illegal settlements in Palestinian land. The biggest of those, in Maaleh Adumim, fell target of a global BDS campaign that led to its closure. Buying Sodastream today means being complicit both in Israel’s policy of displacing the indigenous Bedouin-Palestinian citizens of Israel in the Naqab desert and in the mistreatment and discrimination of its Palestinian workers. SodaStream has opened its biggest European factory in the Dutch city of Tilburg in 2021.
Who doesn’t like a sweet date together with a warm cup of tea? As of last year, the global dates market was valued at USD 29.48 billion (Fortunebusinessinsights, e.n.), and despite Israel being a small producer in this specific market (0.5% of the global production), dates export yields hundreds of millions dollars to the Israeli economy (FAOSTAT, e.n.). What is less known is that this industry is highly exploitative – even from its inception when different strains were smuggled illegally to the colony from other ME countries – and much of its operations take place in illegal settlements. It’s estimated that more than 40% of what is exported as “Israeli dates” is grown in illegal settlements, where Palestinian workers are not only paid low-wages (if they are paid at all) but also forced to work in extreme conditions, especially in the Jordan Valley where temperatures can get prohibitive during the harvest season. Workers, including children, are forced to work long hours and fulfil quotas before they are able to go home. On top of that, these plantations divert crucial water resources away from Palestinian villages, depriving them of adequate water for drinking and farming. As a result, the local Palestinian date industry, already strained under military occupation, struggles to compete with the flood of Israeli dates dominating local and international markets. One of the most infamous Israeli dates brand, Hadiklaim, is accused of using child labour and paying Palestinian workers less than the minimum wage. Hadiklaim operates in the Netherlands through its subsidiary, Palmfruits BV.
Attending university is seen as an essential step for securing a well-paying, highly skilled job and is also viewed as a status symbol for those who have the means to pursue it. This trend is confirmed also in the Netherlands where, according to the Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS), the number of people with university degrees has trebled in the last 40 years. But universities are more than just places of learning; they are the breeding grounds where the next ruling class is shaped and groomed. They serve as spaces where future leaders, influencers, and decision-makers are not only educated in academic fields but are also immersed in the social networks, values, and ideologies that will define their roles in society. This gets a grim turn when applying it to Israel where, for decades, universities have played a key role in planning, implementing and justifying Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies, while maintaining a uniquely close relationship with the Israeli military. In the Netherlands, almost all the universities have sealed strategic collaborations with Israeli counterparts, undermining their of academic integrity, perpetuating a cycle of complicity, enabling oppressive systems and silencing critical discourse. The Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), for instance, not only collaborates with major Israeli arms manufacturers such as the Israel Aerospace Industries – one of the primary suppliers to the Israeli Defense Forces – by providing drones, aircraft, and missiles used also in the ongoing genocide in Gaza, but also maintains partnerships with Israeli institutions like the Ben-Gurion University, founded in 1969 as a settlement outpost in the desert region and established to encourage new settlers to populate the area, further entrenching the occupation and displacement of Palestinian communities.
The movie-theatre industry is staging a comeback. After a long period of low attendance, 2023 has seen cinemas welcoming back large audiences, rekindling the social aspect of watching films together. However, this enjoyment can come with a troubling implication: when Israeli films are screened, viewers may inadvertently contribute to the normalisation of apartheid. Consider, for instance, purchasing a ticket for a film produced by the Samaria Film Fund, which is distributed in the Netherlands. Would viewers be aware that this and similar funds are designed to promote the cultural and economic normalisation of the occupation? Would they know that these funds prioritise film productions in the occupied West Bank while explicitly excluding Palestinians living in the area from participating? We believe they should.
Critical consumption and boycott: embed them in your everyday life
The examples mentioned above illustrate just a few of the many invisible connections we encounter in our daily lives and interactions. In today’s world, it is virtually impossible to navigate without encountering systems of complicity – be it through our consumer choices, institutional affiliations, or the cultural products we engage with – all of which are often intertwined with global injustices and human rights violations.
As people of conscience, it is crucial for us to ensure that the spaces we inhabit or participate with do not support or sustain a violent, genocidal apartheid regime like the Israeli one, nor benefit from severe human rights abuses, or become influenced by such systems.
That’s why, following the examples of many before us, BDS Netherlands wants to to respond to the pressing issues of our time and launch a new campaign through which we aim to transform the whole country, bit by bit, into an Apartheid Free Zone (AFZ) while defining the boundaries of a growing community of people that want to commit to concrete actions and choices against the Israeli occupation and any other regime of oppression.
Apartheid Free Zone campaign | What is it and why is important?
The Apartheid Free Zone is a BDS international campaign that addresses places, social movements, associations, and institutions upholding the principles of freedom, justice, and equality. It promotes creating a network of spaces – both virtual and physical – that declare themselves free from all forms of discrimination and commit to not engaging with systems of injustice and oppression, and people who want to contribute to creating an active community of solidarity and practical support for Palestinian rights.
We strongly believe in this campaign mission and its strategic impact in our national Palestinian liberation movement. In fact, while is important to keep up the pressure to institutions and organisations who are directly complicit with the system of apartheid with more targeted campaigns and by crowding public spaces with recurring sit-in and demonstrations, the AFZ campaign calls for the building of a long-standing community which embraces and embeds BDS principles in their daily activities and interactions.
This has become even more urgent following the International Court of Justice’s ruling on July 19th, 2024. The court formally declared that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza is entirely unlawful and constitutes a system of apartheid and racial segregation. The ICJ further emphasised that all states have a duty to help bring these violations to an end, which includes cutting off economic, trade, and investment relations with Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory. In other words, under international law, every country is obligated to participate in an economic boycott of Israel’s activities in the OPT and to divest from any ongoing economic relationships there. For any organisation, engaging in boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel’s occupation, colonisation, and apartheid is not only a moral and constitutional right – it is now also an international legal obligation.
Apartheid Free Zone campaign | Who are we looking for
The AFZ campaign, as described above, aims to bring together both spaces and individuals united by a shared commitment to taking concrete action against Israel’s occupation and apartheid regime. BDS offers them a well-established framework through which this collective effort can be effectively organised and implemented, and such community achieved.
While acknowledging that the campaign framework will be subject to further updates, as of now (check the last edit date at the beginning of the page) we mainly target the following AFZ types:
- Social AFZ: this category includes social movements, communities of neighbours, squatters, social centres, and grassroots organisations are practical examples of potential Social AFZs. More generally, any recurring, organised gathering of individuals – whether physical or digital – can become a Social AFZ.
- Academic, Cultural and Sports AF: this category encompass educational institutions (such as universities and schools), festivals, cultural centres, art galleries, libraries, theatres, sports clubs, fan associations and similar entities committed to promoting critical thinking and cultural exchange.
- Commercial AFZ: this category comprise supermarkets as well as local businesses, cafes, restaurants, and shops committed to ethical consumption and social responsibility practices.
- Union AFZ: this category targets trade unions, student unions, women’s unions or professional unions that organise and mobilise for the rights and interests of their members.
- Political AFZ: this category includes include organisations such as political parties, and advocacy groups. If you work inside a governmental body and you are interested in advancing ethical procurement policies that take into account BDS demands and principles, contact us and we will be available to help you further .
*For each of those, specific minimum requirements will have to be met in order to become eligible for the AFZ campaign. All the details can be found in the AFZ campaign manifesto below.
Apartheid Free Zone campaign | How to join, resources & extra steps
If you are a representative of an organisation that falls into one of the categories listed above, and you would like to submit the application to join the AFZ campaign and declare your space as an AFZ, then follow these steps:
- Step 1 – Read the AFZ Campaign manifesto [PDF in EN to be linked] carefully and in detail.
- Step 2 – Make sure your space meets all the minimum requirements
- Keep in mind that if your space spans more than one AFZ category, all the minimum requirements have to be met (ex. cultural venue that sell consumer goods is eligible both as a Cultural and a Commercial AFZ)
- Step 3 – Sign the AFZ project charter [PDF in EN to be linked] to submit your application. You can do this by:
- Filling the PDF and sending it to [email protected]
- Printing the PDF, filling it manually and send it to our address – Teleportboulevard 130, 1043 EJ Amsterdam
- Filling this online form [Google Form to be linked in EN] which is alternative to the charter doc
- Step 4 – You will receive an AFZ welcome kit which will include
- AFZ stickers to be applied at the front-door/window of your AFZ
- AFZ toolkit
- Copy of the signed campaign charter
- AFZ membership card
- Other BDS material
- Step 5 – You are in! At this point, if you want to contribute further, we suggest you to:
- Give consent to receive our newsletter
- Access our broadcasting community group (no spam) on Telegram
- Request to be added to our ambassadors group where we will welcome all the AFZ representatives and broader campaign allies that want to help us developing the framework and expanding the reach of the campaign.
If you are an individual and you would like to be part of the AFZ community, then follow these steps:
- Step 1 – Email us at [email protected] and request to be added to the community by specifying if you would like to be added to the AFZ mailing list or to the community group in Telegram*
- If you want to receive the AFZ membership card, we will ask you to provide an address we can mail it to
- Step 2 – In case you would like to be added to the community group, one of our moderators will ask you a couple of screening questions to make sure the community is kept safe from fake accounts and infiltrators
- Step 3 – You are in! Interact with the content that will be shared in the community channels, reach out in case you have feedback and connect with the other members of the community. But most importantly, spread the word with friends and family and pay a visit to the AFZs
*The main difference between the newsletter and the community group will be on the frequency of the publications (longer digest via emails, more regular updates via the group) and the featuring of an AFZ map for the community group where it will be possible to visualise all the AFZs that joined the campaign in the Netherlands.
Apartheid Free Zone campaign | The journey continues
Becoming part of the AFZ community is only the first step and definitely not the last one in anyone’s journey to achieve full clearing of any tie with systems of oppression. In fact, we invite you to continue independently your journey in standing intersectionally with other justice struggles and participate actively in BDS campaigns, to ultimately have your space aspiring to be free of all forms of oppression and help us build intersectional support for Palestinian rights, encouraging other movements to join.
You can continue your AFZ journey by ensuring you have no ties with any other corporations and
institutions that are complicit with Israel’s regime of settler-colonialism, military occupation,
apartheid and genocide.
While there is no comprehensive database of all the companies involved in Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, the following are important and reliable resources:
- the targeted BDS campaigns;
- the UN database;
- the DBIO list of financial institutions and companies involved in Israel’s illegal settlements enterprise;
- the AFSC investment screen and divestment list;
- the Who Profits database.
Apartheid Free Zone campaign | Long-term vision
Yes, you heard that right – we want to transform the entire Netherlands into an Apartheid Free Zone.
While this may seem like an ambitious goal, each step we take and every business, institution, and public space that commits to disengaging from apartheid will bring us closer to making this vision a reality.
We recognise that this is a long-term endeavour and won’t be achieved overnight. That’s why the campaign team will lay out a series of project phases and specific goals to guide our efforts before moving on to the next challenge. This phased approach will provide us with the focus and strategic direction needed to ensure the campaign’s sustainability and effectiveness.
As of now (please refer to the last edit date at the beginning of the page), we are in Phase 0 of the campaign. Our main objectives during this stage are as follows:
- Building a critical mass of both Apartheid Free Zones and individuals
- Launching and activating our community channels
- Refining the campaign framework and related materials
- Defining Phase 1 goals and timeline
Apartheid Free Zone campaign | Join the team
The AFZ campaign team is actively seeking support to help us tackle the challenges ahead and establish a sustainable way of working. There are several ways you can contribute and get involved, depending on your availability and level of commitment. Below, we outline four options, ranging from a lighter involvement to a more engaged role:
- Join our community: simply join our community and help us achieving a critical mass that will facilitate the campaign recognition and expansion.
- Join our ambassadors: join our ambassadors group and help us managing the community by proposing ideas for content, activation strategies and join our quarterly meetings to contribute to the framework improvement.
- Be a decentralised partner/group: help us increasing the range of the campaign and its national coverage by becoming a proxy for campaign onboarding and reach-out. You will collaborate with our team and access our resources.
- Join our operational team: be part of our core team and schedule – with required minimum capacity per week. We are looking for volunteers to join to bring ideas and talent (community development, visual design, content production, copywriting, translation, etc.)
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