BDS Overview

What is Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and does it help?

 

BDS is an international, non-violent means of resistance against Israel’s violations of international law and it’s ongoing illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.

 

The BDS call came from within Palestine, and since 2005 over 170 organisations have joined the movement, taking it from strength to strength. It is now endorsed by trade unions, student unions, faith groups, prominent writers/artists and solidarity movements from all over the world.

 

Boycott

Boycotts can take many forms, including cultural, academic and consumer initiatives. Focus for the UK boycott has been on trade with Israel, in particular with illegal Israeli settlements. Please visit the current campaigns page for the latest boycott action

 

Divestment

Divestment is the targeting of corporations that are complicit in the occupation – and therefore Israel’s violations of international law. This includes supporting the building, functioning and economic growth of the illegal settlements.

War on Want has an excellent report entitled: Profiting From the Occupation, which lists several companies involved in this way.

Many of the companies listed on our current campaigns page can be targeted for boycott and calls for divestment.

 

Sanctions

Sanctions are political trade restrictions, put in place by one government to another, designed to put pressure on that government to change their actions.

In this case, we are calling on our UK government to end its complicity with Israel’s violations against international by freezing or ending it’s economic and trade ties with Israel.

 

Organisations that support BDS

 

Here are some organisations that support the BDS campaign and provide information and resources about its current campaigns:

 

Sabeel-Kairos is the operating name of Friends of Sabeel UK (FOSUK) Ltd, Charity number 1116817, Company Number 5595112

website design by AndrayV