lifted directly from BDS Movement's homepage:
a brief history of how we got here:
Israel was formed in 1948 through the brutal displacement of nearly 800,000 Palestinians and the destruction of more than 530 towns and villages. This pre-meditated ethnic cleansing is known as al-Nakba, the catastrophe. Since then, Israel has implemented a regieme of settler colonialism, apartheid and occupation. over the Palestinian people.
During and since its foundation in 1948, Israel has set out to control as much of the land of historic Palestine as possible and drive as many of the indigenous Palestinian population from the land as it can. Israel's oppression of Palestinians involves settler colonialism: Zionism seeks to establish a distinct new society, take over control of land and resources and forcibly remove Palestinians.
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There are many similarities between apartheid in South Africa and modern day Israeli apartheid. South African apartheid was characterised by settler colonialism and the forced displacement of the indigenous population, the division of the colonised into different groups with different rights, severe restrictions on movement and violent suppression of resistance. These are all key characteristics of Israel's modern day regime over the Palestinian people.
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Israel has de-facto control over all of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories but treats Jewish Israelis and Palestinians very differently. The way in which Palestinians are given less rights than Jewish Israelis is is institutionalised and written into the laws that govern how the Israeli state operates.
The majority of Palestinians are the 7.25m refugees who have been forced from their homes to make way for Jewish Israelis and are denied their right to return to their homes. The demand that Palestinian refugees be allowed their right to return to their homes is a key demand of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality.
Israel says it is a "Jewish and democratic" state. However, the 20% of the population of Israel who are Palestinian citizens of Israel who are subjected to a series of racist laws and segregation policies that facilitate the continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinian citizens of Israel and make them third class citizens. A state that gives different rights to different people based purely on their ethnic identity cannot be described as a democracy.
Israel carried out horrific massacres of Palestinians in Gaza in 2008-09, 2012 and 2014. In all three attacks, the UN and human rights organisations have documented how Israel deliberately attacked Palestinian civilians, schools, hospitals and other civilian infrastructure and other war crimes. A UN report published in 2015 said that Gaza could be "uninhabitable" by 2020 as a result of the economic siege imposed by Israel and its regular attacks on Palestinians.
The offiical list of things to boycott:is fairly short, this list provides many more specifics (and occassinal links for details as well)
that 2nd list is literally the only time i'll ever tell you to read the comments - the bulk of BDS' list is businesses operating in occupied territory and/or directly supporting the IDF. others feel it worth the effort to boycott large business simply operating out of Israel, and other questions get answered like "why isn't Intel on the list?" (the movement feels their near-monopolistic hold makes them a more difficult target for average consumers, and so puts its focus elsewhere - you & I can support AMD, however).
A great mobile resource is Buycott.
It cannot be stressed enough that BDS is just one way to show solidarity, and many civil rights groups are working to fight for their cause - we could do an entire thread on the history of the Black Panther Party & other pioneers seeing common ground in the shared struggle against colonialism. If you're interested, here's an excellent piece on just that.
~F.A.Q.~
Q. Isn't this effort antisemetic in nature?
A. No. the nation of Israel =/= the worldwide Jewish community, as there are far more Jews outside of Israel than in it. Moreover, not all Isrealis are Jewish (hence, apartheid).
while antisemetism is a very real problem & back on the rise again - and these issues are very much worth talking about & combating as well - it is important not to conflate that with honest critiques of Israel's human rights violations.
here's a much more thorough & eloquent source: Jewish Voice for Peace - Fighting Antisemitism
Q. Don't the Israelis have the right to just protect their border? How is this apartheid?
A. this likewise can warrant its own thread, but i find this short series a good primer:
Q. Is this effort even going to have any impact?
A. judging by the condemnations from Israel & the effort to put anti-BDS laws on the books in more american states (a gesture, but an effective one in demonizing the movement for many), I'd say demonstrably yes, but take a look at this:
Q. I don't agree with boycotts.
A. Not only do they have significant historical value in liberation movements, their legality was declared by the US supreme court.
Palestinians already have a difficult time having their struggle heard, when so much of the narrative puts them as terrorists, ant any violent resistance - however minor - often gets them jailed or killed. BDS has proven to be their most effective nonviolent measure to date, and to quote JFK, those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
and so help me god if anyone gets me started on the old "IF YOU DON'T BOYCOTT ALL THE THINGS, YOU CAN'T BOYCOTT ANY OF THEM" anti-logic, ugh
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Resources: (a work in progress!)
^the ebook will be free for 6 more days, grab it while you can!
Angela Davis - Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement
Edward Said - The Question of Palestine, Culture and Imperialism
Noam Chomsky - Gaza in Crisis, The Fateful Triangle, tons of stuff
gentle reminder that antisemitism is very much against ERA's policy, and unwelcome both here and anywhere else. this includes speaking on the international jewish community as though it were a monolithic entity or hinting at tired conspiracy theories of said community controlling everything. be better than this y'all
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