Boycott - Divestment - Sanctions Campaign

Palestinian Civil Society

Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights.

BNC LogoOne year after the historic Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which found Israel's Wall built on occupied Palestinian territory to be illegal, Israel continues its construction of the colonial Wall with total disregard to the Court's decision. Thirty eight years into Israel's occupation of the Palestinian West Bank (including East Jerusalem), Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan Heights, Israel continues to expand Jewish colonies. It has unilaterally annexed occupied East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights and is now de facto annexing large parts of the West Bank by means of the Wall.

Israel is also preparing - in the shadow of its planned redeployment from the Gaza Strip - to build and expand colonies in the West Bank. Fifty seven years after the state of Israel was built mainly on land ethnically cleansed of its Palestinian owners, a majority of Palestinians are refugees, most of whom are stateless. Moreover, Israel's entrenched system of racial discrimination against its own Arab-Palestinian citizens remains intact.

In light of Israel's persistent violations of international law, and

BDS_Poster_New_MGiven that, since 1948, hundreds of UN resolutions have condemned Israel's colonial and discriminatory policies as illegal and called for immediate, adequate and effective remedies, and

Boycott - Divestment - Sanction CampaignGiven that all forms of international intervention and peace-making have until now failed to convince or force Israel to comply with humanitarian law, to respect fundamental human rights and to end its occupation and oppression of the people of Palestine, and

In view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community have historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott, divestment and sanctions;

Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid and in the spirit of international
solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression,

We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace.

These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:

  • Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;
  • Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
  • Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

BDS Movement held its Fourth Conference in Bethlehem

Category: Boycott - Divestment - Sanctions Campaign
Created: 09 June 2013

8th, June 2013

The Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) National Committee (BNC), held its Fourth Conference in Bethlehem on Saturday the 8th of June, entitled "Boycott of Israel and Anti-normalization contribute to achieving liberation and self-determination", where the JAI team participated.
The conference aimed to enhance and expand the Palestinian civil society’s active implementation of BDS locally, regionally and internationally, as an effective and popular strategy of resistance.

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The opening session included the reading of letters from Palestinian political leaders in the Israeli jails, followed by an introduction and briefing of the BDS with its philosophy, strategy and successes. Then two recorded solidarity messages to the conference were screened to the attendees from Arch. Desmond Tutu and Roger Waters. The session speakers were the President of Bethlehem University, a Representative of the Coalition of Palestinian National and Islamic Forces, and a Representative of the BNC in the Gaza Strip – through Skype.

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The first session presented some BDS activities and Initiatives on the local, Arab and international levels, where speakers were from the: Kairos Palestine, Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel (Lebanon) – through Skype, the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, Arab Campaign for Boycotting G4S – through Skype, Israeli Apartheid Week, BDS48, Palestinian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), and some local BDS initiatives.
This was followed by questions from the audience and answers by the speakers.

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The second session discussed strategies to combat normalization, which included introducing to normalization, with its definition and principles, by PACBI, then briefings about the cultural, academic, economic, and youth/students normalizations. Followed were questions from the audience and answers from the speakers.
Before the third session, a recorded message to the conference from Lebanese artist Marcel Khalifeh was screened to the audience.

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The third session was for Palestinian officials and civil society representatives to answer questions about boycotting Israel and countering normalization, where there were a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) representative, the Palestinian Minister of National Economy, and a representative of the BNC.

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Workshops were then held for the discussion of secotral BDS strategies, based on outcomes from preparatory workshops. The sectors included: Youth and Students, Women, Prisoners Support (G4S Campaign), Agricultural Sector, Tourism Sector, Trade & Professional Unions, Civil Society Organizations, Official level, and International BDS.
This was followed by a short film on BDS, and closing remarks.

 

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