Lessons of the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel

by Mick Napier & Sofiah MacLeod of Scottish PSC

 It is useful for delegations to visit Palestine to witness for themselves the full horror of Israeli occupation. It is, however, more important to support the Palestinian appeal for boycott of Israel in our own universities and trade unions. Here, we are strong and Israel is exceedingly weak. Campaigning for institutional commitment to boycott can deepen Israel's isolation, win active support for Palestinian human and national rights and deliver psychological and even economic blows against the apartheid state.

This article outlines some of the lessons learned so far in BDS campaigning in Scotland. We face some real challenges, as well as significant opportunities as we work to take the BDS campaign forward. We should be clear that the BDS campaign can only rely on those who are willing to answer the appeal from Palestinian civil society for us to use this non-violent, democratic weapon to punish Israel for its crimes. BDS is unlikely to win support from currents and individuals who aim to 'balance' between Israeli crimes and Palestinian rights, who refuse to align themselves clearly with the struggle of the Palestinian people, and only sympathize with their suffering.

The key role for any movement which claims to be in solidarity with Palestine in the current period is to channel the widespread anger at Israel's brutal methods of ethnic cleansing into an effective BDS campaign. The aims of the BDS campaign are not unrealistic, i.e. they are realizable: to send a clear message to Palestinians that the bulk of global civil society supports the Palestinians and is hostile to Zionism, despite the clear positions of Western governments to the contrary. We also send a clear message to Israelis that if they persist in policies and practices of murder, torture, and dispossession, they will pay an increasing price from international civil society.

Full article at Al Majdal Magazine