The document discusses the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel and why Israel is worried about it. It originated in 2005 from a call by Palestinian civil society for boycotts, divestment and sanctions. The BDS movement has three demands: ending Israel's occupation, recognizing Palestinian rights in Israel, and respecting the right of return for refugees. While initially derided, the BDS movement has grown and led some companies and organizations to withdraw support from Israel. Israel has passed laws against boycotts and lobbies other countries to do the same, showing that BDS is effectively pressuring Israel.

1. Why is Israel
so worried about BDS?
Peter Larson
Chair
National Education Committee
on Israel/Palestine
National Council on Canada-Arab
Relations (NCCAR)

2. Why is Israel
“the only democracy in the middle east”
so worried about BDS?
“a legal, non-violent movement for human rights”
Peter Larson
Chair
National Education Committee
on Israel/Palestine
National Council on Canada-Arab
Relations (NCCAR)

3. Outline
 Background – what is the BDS movement?
 How did it originate?
 The 3 demands or objectives
 The 3 elements: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions
 BDS and Palestinian unity
 Progress so far
 Victories
 Israeli reaction
 Dangers - can the BDS movement be “hijacked”?
 The United Church of Canada and BDS
 Conclusion

4. What is the BDS movement?
In 2005, Palestinian civil society
issued a call for a campaign of
• Boycotts,
• Divestment, and
• Sanctions
Endorsed by 170 Palestinian organizations in the West Bank, in Gaza,
inside Israel, in refugee camps and in the Palestinian Diaspora
Source: http://www.bdsmovement.net/

5. Some examples:
Council of National and Islamic Forces in Palestine
Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO)
Global Palestine Right of Return Coalition
Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS)
Federation of Independent Trade Unions
General Union of Palestinian Workers
Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions
General Union of Palestinian Women
Union of Palestinian Farmers
General Union of Palestinian Teachers
General Union of Palestinian Writers
Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and
Employees (PFUUPE)
Union of Public Employees in Palestine-Civil Sector
Grassroots Palestinian Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (Stop the
Wall)
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC)
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of
Israel (PACBI)…
……And 150 other organizations

6. The call
“We (…) call upon (…) people of conscience all over
the world to impose broad boycotts and implement
divestment initiatives against Israel (…) and pressure
your respective states to impose embargoes and
sanctions against Israel. (…).
2005 – First BDS Call by Palestinian civil society

7. The 3 objectives of the BDS movement
1. “Freedom” Ending Israel’s occupation and colonization of all Arab lands
and dismantling the wall
2. “Equality” Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian
citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. “Return” Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian
refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN
resolution 194.”
From BDS website

8. The logic of the 3 objectives
The campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions
(BDS) is based on a rights-based approach and
highlights the three broad sections of the Palestinian
people:
1. the refugees,
2. those under military occupation in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip, and
3. Palestinians in Israel.
Source: BDS website

9. The 1948 Nakba
scattered the
Palestinians around,
and out of, Mandate
Palestine

10. Where are the
Palestinians today?
1. West Bank* 2.4 M
2. Gaza* 1.6 M
3. Refugees in Lebanon,
Jordan, Syria 3.5 M
4. Israel 1.4 M
5. Diaspora 2. M
Total 10.9M
* - More than 1.4 M of the people
now living in the WB and Gaza
are refugees from what is now
Israel.

11. The Three BDS elements (or levers)
1. Boycott
2. Divestment
3. Sanctions

12. 1 Boycott
Targets products and companies (Israeli and international)
that profit from the violation of Palestinian rights, as well as
Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions.
Who does it?
- mostly individuals
Examples:
• Individual consumer products
• Music groups/sporting events/academic events
NB: does not apply to:
• Individual academics who go to/come from Israel
• Touring Israel to see the situation in historic Palestine

13. 2 Divestment
Targets corporations complicit in the violation of Palestinian
rights and ensuring that investment portfolios are not used to
finance such companies.
Who does it?
- mostly big money managers and institutions
Examples:
• Pension funds
• Banks
• Individuals (e.g. Israel bonds)

14. 3 Sanctions
Targets Israel’s membership of various diplomatic and
economic forums.
Who does it?
- States and international organizations
Examples:
• International bodies – e.g. FIFA
• State-to-State agreements – e.g. Canada Israel Free Trade
Agreement

15. Growing support for BDS
2005 – BDS call
2007 – First Palestinian BDS Conference
2007 - Creation of BDS Coordinating Committee
2009 – “A moment of Truth” – Palestinian Christian
churches join in

16. 2011 – Growing international support

17. Progress so far:
Boycott – growing rapidly
• Sodastream
• Stephen Hawking
• Musicians: Bono,
• Elvis Costello, and others
Divestment – some movement
• Dutch pension fund giant PGGM withdrawn its
investments from Israel's five largest banks.
• Norwegian government pension fund divests
Sanctions – early stages
• Debate over Palestinian representation at UN
• Question over Israeli participation in FIFA

18. Some Churches around the world have taken up a
partial “boycott”
e.g. United Church of Canada
GC41 August 2012
Calls on United Church members to take concrete actions to support
the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
• Initiates “Unsettling Goods” campaign
• Focus on boycotting goods produced in illegal settlements
• Much attention on SODASTREAM

19. Main differences between BDS and UCC position
• UCC “unsettling goods campaign” limited to boycotting goods produced in
settlements, and not Israel as a political entity.
• “The church does not support the formal BDS Campaign, which calls not
only for a comprehensive boycott of all Israeli businesses and products,
but also for the full implementation of a Palestinian Right of Return.”
• “The Church recognizes Israel as a Jewish State”
- Statement of Church policy

20. Israel’ is starting to notice….
Israel’s politicians sound rattled
by the campaign to isolate their country
Feb 8th 2014 | JERUSALEM |
ONCE derided as the scheming of crackpots, the campaign for
boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, widely
known as BDS, is turning mainstream.
(…)
That, at any rate, is the fear of a growing number of Israelis.

21. Israeli reaction to BDS
• 2011 Knesset passes
“anti boycott” law
• debates “whether to
launch an aggressive
public campaign or
operate through quieter,
diplomatic channels.”
• Lobbies in Canada,
Australia and USA for
anti-boycott legislation in
other countries

22. 2013 reaction stiffening
• BDS is “Immoral and anti-
Semitic” – Shimon Fogel, CEO
of CIJA
• Kenney’s “buycott”
Left – Jason’s “buycott” – the tweet that
went across Canada

23. Netanyahu’s speech in Washington, March, 2014
Mentioned BDS 14 times
“Netanyahu repeated several times that the BDS movement
would fail, but the more he elaborated on the issue, the more
he revealed just how worried he is that these activists will
actually succeed in their efforts to isolate Israel and portray it
as an apartheid state.”
Haaretz reporter Barak Ravid

24. “An academic boycott is against academic freedom”

25. “If Palestinians don’t boycott Israel, why should you?”

26. “The goal of BDS is the end of the State of Israel itself”

27. “A boycott will have negligible economic effect”
Main exports - high technology products, telecommunications
equipment, military equipment, pharmaceuticals, mechanical
machinery and machinery based equipment, cut diamonds and
jewelry, agricultural products and foodstuffs, chemicals, textiles and
apparel.
Source: "Israel: Trade Statistics". Global Edge. Retrieved March 18, 2013.

28. The three main impacts of BDS
• Boycott – educational
• Divestment – economic
• Sanctions - political
=> All result in pressure building on Israel

29. Why is Israel so worried about BDS?
1. BDS arisen out of the lack of progress since Oslo in 20 years of
“negotiations”
2. BDS cannot be dealt with militarily
3. BDS is broadly based – its leadership cannot be bought off
4. The 3 BDS demands attack the fundamentals of the State of Israel
1. Freedom for Palestinians under occupation
2. Equality for Palestinians in Israel
3. Return for the refugees
5. The more Israel attacks it (e.g. recent laws in Israel), the more
support grows for BDS

30. Where will this end?
Why is Israel so worried
about BDS?
“As long as there is hope for a 2 state solution, Israel is safe.
But when that hope evaporates, the Palestinian struggle will
change. It will become a struggle for equality and human
rights. That is a struggle Israel cannot win in the court of
world opinion”
Jonathan Cook – Ottawa, March 2014