The Truth about the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement

Omar Barghouti — a founding member of the Boycott National Committee (BNC) and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) — explains frankly and clearly that, despite what many might think, the end of Israel’s presence and the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza is not the end game of BDS.

In the eyes of BDS, the Palestinians not only have a right to the lands controlled by Israel as a result of the Six-Day War in 1967, but they also have a right to the “1948 lands,” meaning all of the land within the internationally recognized boundaries of the State of Israel.

Below, Mr. Barghouti explains it even more plainly.

“Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine,” he says, referring to the entire stretch of land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea encompassing the West Bank, Israel proper, and Gaza:

The BDS movement has a list of demands that is meant to obfuscate their true aims. In their demands they state that they will maintain a boycott of Israel until 1) it “ends the occupation of all Arab lands,” 2) until it recognizes the “fundamental right of Arab citizens of Israel to full equality,” and 3) until it grants the so-called “right of return” to Palestinian refugees.

In terms of its first demand, the BDS movement considers all of Israel to be part of “Arab lands,” meaning that Israel itself must be eradicated.

In the video below, Mr. Barghouti explains the true implications of this third demand — the so-called “right of return” for Palestinian refugees and all their decedents. 

“If the refugees were to return,” he says, “you would not have a two-state solution. Like one Palestinian commentator said, you would have a Palestine next to a Palestine, rather than a Palestine next to Israel.” 

In the video one can also hear Mr. Barghouti oppose the two-state solution. He supports a one-state solution in which Israel will be replaced by a Palestinian state encompassing all of what is now Israel and the Palestinian territories. He also has stated there is no reason not to re-name this new state, “Palestine.”

Many of the leading BDS organizations are no longer hiding their true motives and their support for militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad (two US and EU designated terrorist groups that are also part of the BNC). 

Here is a video of New York’s leading BDS group, Within Our Lifetime, who have been the main organizers of the BDS marches in the city. They call for the eradication of Israel and violence to be waged not just against Israel, but also against any Jew or Jewish organization in America that supports Israel:

BDS leader Omar Barghouti also supports violence against Israel and resistance by any means, despite claiming the BDS movement is non-violent in their literature.

The BDS “anti-normalization” policy opposes any interactions between Arabs and Israelis, as well as any events that showcase Israel as a legitimate country.

Unlike other cultural boycott campaigns, the policy of “anti-normalization” impacts Palestinians and other Arabs most heavily, as its primary purpose is to prevent the Arab world from interacting with Israelis. For example, PACBI, the main cultural boycott organization, recently launched a pressure campaign targeting Palestinian participants in an EU program that was seeking to bring young Israeli and Palestinian leaders together in Brussels, branding it a “normalization” program.

Another important component of this policy is the inability of artists to perform in both Israeli and Palestinian venues. A number of artists over the years, including Coldplay, Lauryn Hill and Lana Del Rey, have attempted to perform in venues in both Israel and the West Bank, and been rebuffed by Palestinian venues due to pressure from BDS anti-normalization activists, since any performance in Israel normalizes it as a legitimate country.