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Israel : Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement Gathering Pace

s28

ODI Debutant
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Some useful links

http://www.bdsmovement.net/

WHAT IS BDS?
In 2005, Palestinian civil society issued a call for a campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. A truly global movement against Israeli Apartheid is rapidly emerging in response to this call.


9 ways to effectively support Gaza through Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions


http://www.bdsmovement.net/get-involved

http://www.palestinecampaign.org/campaign/bds/

Israel continues to build illegal settlements and the wall, controls Gaza, denies Palestinian refugees their right to return, grows produce and sets up industrial zones on stolen Palestinian land. Only international pressure can deliver a just peace for Palestinians.

As Governments have failed to hold Israel accountable, it is up to people of conscience in civil society worldwide to heed Palestinian calls for protection and justice. Only international pressure can make Israel cease its violations of international law and human rights.


- See more at: http://www.palestinecampaign.org/campaign/bds/#sthash.AiW8MpIK.dpuf
 
In an interview with IBTimes UK, Hugh Lanning, chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), said the tide of public and governmental opinion has turned against Israel and that BDS, the global lobby group campaigning to penalise Israel for its occupation of the Palestinian Territories, has enjoyed unprecedented support in recent weeks.

"In the past all the mainstream parties wouldn't countenance any discussions. The Labour Party of which I'm a member was very keen to not be associated with anything that said boycott. The glass ceiling has been broken with talk of the arms embargo and military trade.

"We get the feeling that people are anxious. Individuals who have been outraged by what they've seen want ways in which they can individually protest. Boycott actions are being seen as a way the person in the street can say: out with that," he said.

The groundswell of public opinion against Israel can be seen in countless examples of anti-Israel activity across the UK. Today it was reported that Buycott, an app that allows consumers to search for products linked to countries or companies, has gathered 350,000 supporters for two anti-Israel campaigns.

Under pressure from BDS, the security company G4S announced that it will stop operating Israeli prisons which allegedly hold Palestinians illegally. John Lewis has stopped stocking Soda Stream products because the company has a factory in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"The shock around what people are seeing [in Gaza] means an awful lot more people are seeing BDS as legitimate and to be targeted at Israel because of what they've done," Lanning said.
 
What's the point if you continue using computers powered by Intel who design most of their chips at their Israeli facilities and connecting to the internet since it's backbone is formed around Cisco networking gear, a fair bit of which, particularly their high end products(routers over $1 million), is also of Israeli design. Ditto for just about any technological products. A boycott of Israel simply isn't possible until a technological hub of similar capabilities can be established elsewhere and given how far ahead they are of everyone but the Americans, that's just not going to happen so all this BDS talk is, at best, posturing where you boycott what can be conveniently boycotted while continuing to type away on a computer that is based around a chip developed by Israelis and sharing your profound thoughts over the internet, all routed using Israeli designed routers and switches.
 
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I don't see any problem in using Israeli developed technology, if one can use the same technology against them. Boycott their products you can, otherwise use their products against them.
 
Tech is controlled by those that make it. There's a reason Pakistan and Saudi can't use their F-16s/F-15s against US/Israeli interests or even take them out for a ride without their location, accurate to a meter, showing up on half a dozen agencies' computer monitors. You can try it but all you will accomplish is losing access to the tech.
 
They get most of their money from the U.S congress. Not products

$3-4 billion a year is what they get from the US. They export well over twice as much as Pakistan($62.5B vs $25B), a nation of 210 million compared to their 8 million(and have a bigger economy to boot). Their industrial exports are comparable to those of the entire Muslim world's non oil exports(again, I can't emphasize this enough, there's 8 million of them versus 1.5 billion of you guys and they still end up producing more). They are more critical to the ICT industry than OPEC is to the energy business or Britain to financial services so unless you want the world to boycott all things digital - if they start putting 'Israel Inside' on every product that contains proprietary Israeli technology, an average human being, outside of maybe the remotest parts of Africa, can not go a single day without coming into contact with at least one such product - by all means go ahead and call for it.

People see Israel dropping bombs and making a mockery of human rights in general(only thing they have in common with their arch nemeses, the Muslims) and they figure that that's pretty much all they do, not realizing just how much of a role tech developed by Israelis in Israel plays in their everyday lives.
 
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$3-4 billion a year is what they get from the US. They export well over twice as much as Pakistan($62.5B vs $25B), a nation of 210 million compared to their 8 million(and have a bigger economy to boot). Their industrial exports are comparable to those of the entire Muslim world's non oil exports(again, I can't emphasize this enough, there's 8 million of them versus 1.5 billion of you guys and they still end up producing more). They are more critical to the ICT industry than OPEC is to the energy business or Britain to financial services so unless you want the world to boycott all things digital - if they start putting 'Israel Inside' on every product that contains proprietary Israeli technology, an average human being, outside of maybe the remotest parts of Africa, can not go a single day without coming into contact with at least one such product.

People see Israel dropping bombs and making a mockery of human rights in general(only thing they have in common with their arch nemeses, the Muslims) and they figure that that's pretty much all they do, not realizing just how much of a role tech developed by Israelis in Israel plays in their everyday lives.

i dont understand this line of argument at all. why does having contact with israeli ip throughout our lives detract from attempting to minimise support for that economy by a 'best efforts' bds? since when is a boycott only effective if its 100% or nothing? it goes without saying that a 100% boycott would be more effective than a 50% boycott, but how are you arriving at a conclusion that a 50% 'hit', so to speak is 'posturing' as opposed to noticeably damaging to the israeli economy? if it is so ineffectual, how do you explain the link that s28 provided above:

"http://www.economist.com/news/middle...-their-country

From The Economist magazine :-

Sanctions against Israel - A campaign that is gathering weight

Israel’s politicians sound rattled by the campaign to isolate their country"
 
i dont understand this line of argument at all. why does having contact with israeli ip throughout our lives detract from attempting to minimise support for that economy by a 'best efforts' bds? since when is a boycott only effective if its 100% or nothing? it goes without saying that a 100% boycott would be more effective than a 50% boycott, but how are you arriving at a conclusion that a 50% 'hit', so to speak is 'posturing' as opposed to noticeably damaging to the israeli economy? if it is so ineffectual, how do you explain the link that s28 provided above:

"http://www.economist.com/news/middle...-their-country

From The Economist magazine :-

Sanctions against Israel - A campaign that is gathering weight

Israel’s politicians sound rattled by the campaign to isolate their country"

I was going after the moral aspects of it, not the practical ones. Practically, you can cripple entire economies just by boycotting rice(Vietnam, Thailand) or Soy(Argentina). It's the moral hypocrisy of boycotting only where it's convenient for you but continuing to use their products where it isn't. The other elephant in the room is a big one, called the United States. As long as Israel has them on their side, boycott all you want, nothing's going to change.

PS. Before anyone makes any incorrect inferences, I'm just as disgusted by the crimes against humanity that Israel perpetrates on a daily basis, nor do I have anything but the deepest disdain for their actions(though I do have a lot of respect for what they have achieved. I wish Pakistan could achieve even a fraction of that), but for me it's a purely humanitarian issue that I can be objective about as opposed to an emotional, us vs them, issue that robs our Muslim friends of any semblance of objectivity.
 
DW44 you didn't answer the question.

It's a quite simple direct question which you seem to have ignored (either because you can't answer it or it doesn't fit your argument ?)

If The Economist is stating the BDS is having an impact on Israel in the real world then obviously it's not all as 'hopeless' as you are trying to make out.
 
Also you seem to be reducing this down to a muslim vs zionist argument.

At yesterdays March through London there were plenty of White English people of all faiths and none as well as Jews. Many of these people are veterans of the anti-apartheid movement which eventually made a major difference in changing White South African attitudes to the Blacks/Coloureds participation in the running of their Country.
 
DW44 you didn't answer the question.

It's a quite simple direct question which you seem to have ignored (either because you can't answer it or it doesn't fit your argument ?)

If The Economist is stating the BDS is having an impact on Israel in the real world then obviously it's not all as 'hopeless' as you are trying to make out.
What is the question then? I have already conceded that what has been done so far has had an impact. My argument is that it's not a real boycott if you only boycott when it's convenient for you.

Also you seem to be reducing this down to a muslim vs zionist argument.

At yesterdays March through London there were plenty of White English people of all faiths and none as well as Jews. Many of these people are veterans of the anti-apartheid movement which eventually made a major difference in changing White South African attitudes to the Blacks/Coloureds participation in the running of their Country.

It was in response to a poster known to be a conservative ideologue. My previous post was in response to a poster who's a known conservative ideologue who made a patently false statement. To me, Muslim or Zionist doesn't matter, I have very little love for either group although much like most human beings, I react more strongly to what goes on around me compared to how I react to something similar(in this case, much smaller in magnitude) happening a few thousand miles away even if I do stand against both. Like I've said, to me, the actions of the Israel over the course of their existence in general(bar the 1967 and 1973 wars) and the last few months in particular are no more morally justifiable than those of ISIS or pre civil war USA and everything that goes in between so I don't find what you've said hard to believe since any person with a scintilla of conscience will find their actions reprehensible.
 
Well we can't by ourselves influence anything. That is the point of building a mass-movement so together we may all have a bigger impact. I don't think even Mandela would say he alone 'defeated' apartheid it took a worldwide mass movement over many years.

BDS seem to recognise that their best hope is targeted boycotts. At the margin (which the Economist will be aware of is where market demand and supply equate and prices are set) is where the action is. So if you are the marginal buyer for a specific Israeli good / service and the BDS has some impact in your decision matrix as to whether or not you will purchase the Israeli good versus a near substitute then it ultimately can make a difference. That applies to an ordinary consumer but equally in business-to-business markets. Will a Tesco buyer when comparing Dates from Israel versus near substitute Dates from Morocco take into account the fact he or his Company may face 'negative externalities' in the form of a boycott or picketing of their stores ? Will a Cisco router/switch buyer make the same marginal decision when comparing Israeli tech versus Stanford tech or MIT tech or Silicon Fen tech ?

From Arthur Zeikel;

"As all of us were taught, but most of us have long since forgotten, economic change occurs at the margin, where the action takes place... individuals who can think on the margin always have an advantage over those who cannot."
 
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I was going after the moral aspects of it, not the practical ones. Practically, you can cripple entire economies just by boycotting rice(Vietnam, Thailand) or Soy(Argentina). It's the moral hypocrisy of boycotting only where it's convenient for you but continuing to use their products where it isn't. The other elephant in the room is a big one, called the United States. As long as Israel has them on their side, boycott all you want, nothing's going to change.

PS. Before anyone makes any incorrect inferences, I'm just as disgusted by the crimes against humanity that Israel perpetrates on a daily basis, nor do I have anything but the deepest disdain for their actions(though I do have a lot of respect for what they have achieved. I wish Pakistan could achieve even a fraction of that), but for me it's a purely humanitarian issue that I can be objective about as opposed to an emotional, us vs them, issue that robs our Muslim friends of any semblance of objectivity.

if i understand it correctly, thats an extraordinarily petty argument. its not an issue of convenience. any boycott, like almost anything in the world is rarely absolute - its very obviously a best efforts endeavour. its like complaining about a scratch on the space shuttle, its missing the point. i dont read your post as going after the moral aspects of a boycott at all, it reads far more like a bizarre and deliberate obscurantism, apparently because of some weird hangup you have about religion or some poster's views on that topic - if so, keep it outside please and try not to derail what is a rarely noble and excellent thread on pakpassion.
 
Am starting to see real evidence of BDS movement on other forums i frequent namely Investor forums.

This forum relates to an Israeli technology company which deals with Israeli military and is listed on the London AIM Market.

http://www.lse.co.uk/ShareThread.asp?tcode=fsv78wco5d&ShareTicker=PTV&share=peertv

cashonly
Posts: 2,833
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I'm out
Sat 13:57

In light of Digiteks stated intention to work with the Israeli military & the conflict in Gaza (something I feel very strongly about but somehow the connection here just didn't click/register with me when I invested a few days ago, I intend to sell on Monday at a small loss.)

I deplore loss of life on both sides but don't feel comfortable investing in a company that stands to be complicit in the murder of innocent men, women & children, which stands to profit from the violation of the Palestinian peoples human rights under international law.

Digitek for it's services and subsequent profit stands to be complicit in Israel denying Palestinians fundamental rights of freedom, equality, and self-determination through ethnic cleansing, colonization, racial discrimination, and military occupation. Despite abundant condemnation of Israeli policies by the UN, other international bodies, and pre-eminent human rights organisations, the world community has failed to hold Israel accountable and enforce compliance with basic principles of law. Israel’s crimes have continued with impunity.

Best of luck in your other investment guys.
 
Here is another post from a different investor forum from someone suggesting it as reason to short Tesco shares on account of their dealing with Israel

http://uk.advfn.com/cmn/fbb/thread.php3?id=26125421&from=433235



duxy786_3 11 Aug'14 - 15:07 - 6379 of 6380 0 0 edit

Investors like myself, dont live in cocoon worlds and sit with rose tinted glasses. The world is RALLYING behind Palestinians, all bought together with the power of social media. Investors see every news event as one which will make them money or loose them money.

Shorting TSCO (if you short stock and I can assure you, I dont) would have made you money when I first mentioned this. TSCO was worth 300p+. I mentioned this again around the 285p mark, again by shorting it, you would have profited.

Am saying it again, this time with proof (pastebin.com/2AaK6JGn) that the world is Boycotting for Palestine. The BDS Movement has been campaigning for 9 years, but have seen an exponential growth in visitors since the start of the current conflict in Gaza (via tweet). The Irish, who have protesting loud have already managed to change Tesco Ireland: http://www.ipsc.ie/boycott/confusion-regarding-article-about-tesco-in-irish-sun-newspaper


elmfields comments are very harmful. Tesco is firstly, NOT a green grocer. My local green grocer does not sell clothes and TV's. It's naive and dangerous, but your money elmfield, good luck.

TradeJunkie again, very naive. If you read the entire pastebin, it's about Tesco. A direct attack on Tesco to be precise.

If you think this doesn't affect TSCO share price, filter me, I dont really care.

more evidence:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/n...sainsburys-in-protest-over-gaza-30488190.html

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/supervalu-removes-israeli-carrots-from-shelves-30488359.html


http://www.timesofisrael.com/tesco-to-stop-selling-dates-from-west-bank/

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/...ops-to-remove-produce-from-israel-637424.html
 
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Dear Avaazers,

This is a big deal. At 1.5 million strong and counting, we've built the largest divestment campaign in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Longtime peace activists are telling us this could be a game changer, but the next few days are crucial -- will our thousands of email, Facebook and Twitter messages to these companies be a flash in the pan, or will we keep up the pressure until they cave in and do the right thing? They're riding us out right now -- let's show them that won't work.

The good news is we've already gotten responses! Barclays is stonewalling with a "it's not our fault" PR statement, but ABP, a huge pension fund, have asked to personally meet with the Avaaz team. The pressure is working -- for the sake of the children still being killed in Gaza, let's keep it up. Click below to keep sending those messages:

http://avaaz.org/en/israel_palestine_this_is_how_it_ends_uk_action/

Scroll down to see the original email that launched this campaign. We've been getting loads of grateful messages from peace activists for this campaign, since it's really rare that a mainstream group is willing to take strong steps like this. But Avaaz is just a community of people, who just want to do the right thing. So we don't have much fear. Which is part of our promise to help save the world. Thanks for being such a hopeful and fearless community :).

With hope,
Ricken

PS - here's the original email -- if you haven't forwarded it yet to people who might care about this, now's the time!



Dear friends,



As a new round of violence kicks off in Israel-Palestine and more children are killed, it's time to take definitive non-violent action to end this nightmare. Our governments and companies have continued to aid, trade and invest in the violence, but we can help stop it if we call on key banks, pension funds and businesses to pull out their investments -- add your voice now:

SIGN THE PETITION
As a new round of violence kicks off in Israel-Palestine and more children are killed, it's not enough just to call for another ceasefire. It's time to take definitive non-violent action to end this decades long nightmare.

Our governments have failed -- while they have talked peace and passed UN resolutions, they and our companies have continued to aid, trade and invest in the violence. The only way to stop this hellish cycle of Israel confiscating Palestinian lands, daily collective punishment of innocent Palestinian families, Hamas firing rockets, and Israel bombing Gaza is to make the economic cost of this conflict too high to bear.

We know it works -- when EU countries issued guidelines not to fund the illegal Israeli settlements it caused an earthquake in the cabinet, and when citizens successfully persuaded a Dutch pension fund, PGGM, to withdraw, it created a political storm.

This may not feel like a direct way to stop the current killing, but history tells us that raising the financial cost of oppression can pave a path to peace. Click to call on 6 key banks, pension funds and businesses to pull out -- If we all take smart action now and turn up the heat, they could withdraw, the Israeli economy will take a hit, and we can turn the calculation of the extremists politically profiting from this hell upside down:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/israel_palestine_this_is_how_it_ends_3b/?bydacib&v=43908

In the last six weeks three Israeli teenagers were murdered in the West Bank, a Palestinian boy was burnt alive, an American kid was brutally beaten up by Israeli police, and now almost 100 Gazan kids have died in Israeli air strikes. This is not the "Middle East conflict", it's becoming a war on children. And we are becoming numb to this global shame.

The media makes out like this is an intractable conflict between two equal warring parties, but it is not. Palestinian extremists' attacks on innocent civilians are never justified and Hamas’ anti-semitism is disgusting. But these extremists claim legitimacy by fighting the grotesque, decades-long oppression by the Israeli state. Israel currently occupies, colonises, bombs, raids, and controls the water, trade and the borders of a legally free nation that has been recognised by the United Nations. In Gaza, Israel has created the largest open-air prison in the world, and then blockaded it. Now as bombs fall, the families literally have no way to get out.

These are war crimes and we wouldn't accept that anywhere else: why accept it in Palestine? Half a century ago Israel and its Arab neighbours went to war and Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. Occupying territory after war happens all the time. But no military occupation should turn into a decades-long tyranny which only fuels and benefits extremists who use terror to target the innocent. And who suffers? The majority of loving families on both sides that just want freedom and peace.

To many, particularly in Europe and North America, calling for companies to withdraw investments from financing or taking part in Israel's occupation of Palestine sounds completely biased. But this campaign is not anti-Israel -- this is the most potent non-violent strategy to end the ritual violence, ensure Israelis' security and achieve Palestinian freedom. Although Hamas deserves much pressure too, it is already under crippling sanctions and facing every kind of pressure. Israel's power and wealth dwarfs Palestine, and if it refuses to end its illegal occupation, the world must act to make the cost unbearable.

Dutch pension fund ABP invests in Israeli banks that help fund the colonisation of Palestine. Massive banks like Barclays invest in suppliers of Israeli arms and other occupation businesses. Computer giant Hewlett-Packard supplies sophisticated surveillance to control the movement of Palestinians. And Caterpillar provides bulldozers that are used to demolish Palestinian homes and farms. If we can create the biggest global call ever to get these companies to pull out, we will show clearly that the world will no longer be complicit in this bloodshed. The Palestinian people are calling on the world to support this path and progressive Israelis support it too. Let's join them:

https://secure.avaaz.org/en/israel_palestine_this_is_how_it_ends_3b/?bydacib&v=43908

Our community has worked to bring peace, hope, and change to some of the world's toughest conflicts, and often that means taking difficult positions to address the root cause. For years our community has looked for a political solution to this nightmare, but with this new round of horror unfolding in Gaza, the time has come to turn to sanctions and disinvestment to finally help end the horror for Israelis and Palestinians.

With hope and determination,

Ricken, Alice, Fadi, Ben, Laila, Anna, Jo, Nell, Mais and the entire Avaaz team
 
was just about to post that too - very impressive. i think by far a greater impact would be pressure on the government. once they sanction a change of policy, the corporations will have an excuse to do the same.

but all pressure is good pressure.
 
From Palestine Solidarity Campaign email today :-

Mass Lobby of Parliament for Gaza

Tuesday 9th September, 2-4pm, House of Commons


We need everyone possible to come to Parliament on Tuesday 9 September to tell their MP that we want:
An immediate and permanent lifting of the blockade on Gaza, allowing free movement of people, goods and humanitarian aid
An end to UK-Israel arms trade and military collaboration with Israel
Sanctions against Israel until it abides by international and respects Palestinian human rights

Parliament rally
Put this into your diary now. Ask your friends and family to come.
You can also send a letter to your MP asking them for a meeting>
But don’t worry if you don’t get a reply – do come along and make sure our voices are heard!
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today I want to publicly announcement full support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions of Israel. <br><br>The war crimes & mass human rights violations they committed yesterday should cause all people of conscience to pause and ask how they can make a difference there. <a href="https://t.co/8IO1HnGQwj">https://t.co/8IO1HnGQwj</a></p>— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/996452976276508672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">15 May 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Today I want to publicly announcement full support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions of Israel. <br><br>The war crimes & mass human rights violations they committed yesterday should cause all people of conscience to pause and ask how they can make a difference there. <a href="https://t.co/8IO1HnGQwj">https://t.co/8IO1HnGQwj</a></p>— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShaunKing/status/996452976276508672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">15 May 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Who is this? Never heard of him.
 
This is quite a coup for the BDS folks.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Argentina’s national football team canceled a World Cup warm-up match with Israel that was scheduled for Saturday in Jerusalem. <a href="https://t.co/cB7sgLBCxq">pic.twitter.com/cB7sgLBCxq</a></p>— AJ+ (@ajplus) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajplus/status/1004120133747347456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BDS: how a controversial non-violent movement has transformed the Israeli-Palestinian debate, by <a href="https://twitter.com/NathanThrall?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NathanThrall</a> <a href="https://t.co/pYdXHmh03o">https://t.co/pYdXHmh03o</a></p>— The Long Read (@gdnlongread) <a href="https://twitter.com/gdnlongread/status/1029291582661513217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 14, 2018</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
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