BDS movement aims to erode support of Israel

In recent years, growing numbers of activists have participated in events and campaigns under the banner of “BDS:  The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement.” This global network of individuals and organizations aims to isolate Israel politically, economically and culturally through boycotts of Israeli products, divestment from companies doing business in Israel and imposing international sanctions on Israel. 

While BDS activists describe themselves as part of “a strategy that allows people of conscience to play an effective role in the Palestinian struggle for justice,” the movement actually has much more insidious goals: The gradual erosion of political support for Israel in America and the international community and the eventual dissolution of Israel’s right to exist as the democratic nation state of the Jewish people. 

A decade ago, small numbers of students would listen to anti-Israel activists lecture in university classrooms. Today, the BDS movement boasts hundreds of groups that organize anti-Israel activities on campuses, within faculty associations, church movements, grocery stores, legislative bodies, transportation systems, minority groups, the LGBTQ community, cultural institutions and unions. 

BDS strategies are designed with one goal: Create controversy around Israel. The more controversial Israel becomes, the more people of conscience will have difficulty supporting Israel. For this reason, BDS campaigns are often organized to elicit emotions that cause individuals to either feel personally responsible for causing Palestinian suffering or to personally identify with the struggles of Palestinians under occupation. 

For example, when the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team came to play the Brooklyn Nets, a local BDS group protested with the slogan, “We don’t play with Apartheid!” Currently, BDS activists have drawn false parallels between police violence against people of color in America and Israeli military suppression of Palestinian riots. Most Americans would not want to be associated with “Apartheid policies” or “police brutality.” Thus, while purposefully twisting the reality of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a caricature of good versus evil, the BDS movement is able to build relationships with progressive constituencies and push anti-Israel messages into mainstream American discourse. 

No matter your feelings on BDS, information is important. For additional information about BDS and efforts to counter assaults on Israel’s legitimacy, visit IsraelActionNetwork.org.

NOAM GILBOORD is Director of Community Strategy at the Israel Action Network, a project of the Jewish Federations of North America in partnership with the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.