Boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns as an alternative to peace talks ‘BDS’ campaigns against Israel around the world have intensified. BDS stands for ‘Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions’. According to a Palestinian strategy paper which was obtained by the Israeli Foreign Ministry and made public in January 2012, the Palestinian Authority aims to place Israel under “international siege” during the year (Ha’aretz newspaper report, based on Israeli Foreign Ministry Briefing, 2 January 2012). BDS campaigns led by activist groups in Europe and internationally are one tool in mounting that “siege”. Such campaigns are set to accelerate in 2012. All supporters of peace and of a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians need to oppose such measures, strongly and publicly.
All of these BDS measures promote discrimination against Israel and Israelis in the public arena. They undermine the integrity, impartiality and values of the NGOs, cultural, professional and other groups, and student and academic bodies, which actively support them or allow them to proceed. They display a double-standard by ignoring the massive human rights offences being perpetrated in many parts of the Arab and wider world (as well as in Gaza). They promote stereotypes about Israel and polarise attitudes. And they are built on a completely one-sided narrative of the rights and wrongs of the underlying conflict. Key messages:
The BDS campaign as part of a wider effort to ‘delegitimise’ of Israel The BDS campaign is part of a wider effort to ‘delegitimise’ Israel. Some proponents of BDS claim that it is just a tool to force Israel out of the West Bank, and they claim to support Israel’s basic rights as a state. But if you ask those same people if they believe in Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people, or if they believe that the Palestinians should relinquish their ‘right of return’ into Israel, they will usually say no, and advocate a one-state solution instead. And they will rarely if ever attribute responsibility for the conflict to Arab or Palestinian intransigence. Deliberately, or unwittingly, the BDS movement contributes to the delegitimisation drive. Israel has no rights. Israel has no context. Israel does not deserve to be heard. Israel is to blame. Explaining ‘delegitimisation’..... in plain English ‘Delegitimising’ Israel involves an assault on the concept of Israel. Not just on specific policies, but on the very idea of a sovereign Jewish state in the region. You assault the concept of Israel by calling for a so-called ‘one-state solution’ in which Jews and Arabs live side-by-side, which sounds polite and even liberal.... but is actually immoral, discriminatory and completely unworkable You assault the concept of Israel by labelling Israel an ‘Apartheid state’, which attacks its moral and legal foundations, besides being completely unfounded. And you assault the concept of Israel by rewriting history to suggest there is no legitimate connection between the land of Israel and the Jewish people The UK is one of several “hubs” in this assault on Israel, according to the Re’ut Institute, the JCPA thinktank and others. And the BDS campaign is part of this wider, persistent and international phenomenon. Key message:
Some related Beyond Images Briefings Boycotting Israeli academics (Briefing 30 – January 2003) Delegitimisation of Israel (Special Briefing – November 2010)
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