Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS): an important part of the dialogue process

Mahmoud Abbas told the UN that Israel “perpetrated genocide” in its most recent assault on Gaza, he has called on the United Nations security council to support a resolution setting a clear deadline for Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories as he in effect declared the US-sponsored Oslo peace process over.

Each time moderate voices such as this go unheard it mobilises more Palestinians to turn to violence. I believe this is the very fuel used by extremists in Gaza to justify their rocket attacks on Israel. 

With growing Jewish support for the boycott a prominent Israeli politician, Avrum Burg, a former chair of the Knesset,recently declared that BDS is best option there is for ultimately bringing peace, because it supports non-violence: “if anyone is asking us or has to care what we think – boycotts and sanctions are actually the most kosher. Silencing and repression are bad, and violence is worse”, said Burg who was also chair of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization.

I do agree with Stephen Zunes that occupations everywhere deserve to be boycotted, that means Morocco’s occupation of Western Sahara, and Armenia’s occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well.

In the interests of peace and security in the whole region, for Israelis and Palestinians I think the next right step is for the world to recognise Palestine.

For clarity I support the kind of BDS that objects to Israel’s militarism, Occupation and settlements. In this, at least, I agree with Rabbi Michael Lerner, of the US-based Network of Spiritual Progressives, who favours a targeted BDS. A form of BDS that affirms the right of the State of Israel to exist but within the borders agreed by the UN in 1967. That means I do not consciously buy or allow for sale products that have been produced by West Bank settlements. Nor will I support the sale or research of military equipment to Israel that is used primarily to enforce the Occupation or to build settlements.

However, I disagree with Lerner on the academic boycott. It is specifically because Israeli universities, such as the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Technion University, are directly complicit with the Occupation, that we should avoid engaging in institutional links with them such as joint Fellowship schemes. That is the best way to apply extrinsic pressure for a change of approach, which will ultimately create conditions for a dialogue with a genuine chance of succeeding.