Palestine 104: BDS & College Divestment
Welcome to Palestine 104! This is the fourth post in our series meant to provide introductory information on the history, culture, and politics of Palestine. If you’ve wanted to learn more about the situation in Palestine but have felt confused or overwhelmed by the amount of information out there, this series is for you!
In this edition, we will discuss the BDS movement, its demands, and why it works. Additionally, we will compare our universities and their varying investments in both Israel’s apartheid regime and the US military-industrial complex.
BDS is a movement created by Palestinians in 2005 that calls for specific boycotts, institutional divestment, and state sanctions against Israel’s apartheid. There is no doubt that monetary incentives drive politics. Targeting the pockets of those who fund, support, or profit from apartheid regimes has proven to be tremendously successful. BDS was inspired by the boycott-focused Anti-Apartheid Movement that targeted those benefiting from South African apartheid. The work conducted by the Anti-Apartheid Movement paved the way for the dismantlement that would come 30 years after the movement's emergence. The BDS movement has replicated the hard-hitting motives of the Anti-Apartheid Movement, with the addition of nuances that center Palestine. BDS’ goals are simple: To end Israel’s occupation and colonization, recognize the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties.
In this case, boycotting consists of the collective withdrawal of financial backing for Israel. These are changes we can make in our daily lives and a way for us, as individuals, to exercise agency in the face of genocide. BDS divides boycotting into three campaigns, including academic boycotts, cultural boycotts, and economic boycotts. Targeting Israeli universities (or American university partnerships with them) is impactful because they are both propaganda machines and closely tied to the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF). University of Johannesburg, a South African university, cut ties with its dual study program at an Israeli university because BDS targeted the Israeli institution. Cultural boycotting urges unions, entertainment companies, lobbyists, and cultural institutions to reject funds from Israel and refuse to hold events there. Artists like Roger Waters from Pink Floyd, Lauryn Hill, and Chuck D refusing to perform in Israel is a prime example of this. Economic boycott targets the corporate support of companies profiting from Israel. For example, SodaStream had to shut down their illegal Israeli settlement after BDS targeted them, leading to a loss of over 100 million dollars in revenue.
Targeted boycotts aim efforts at a short list of companies that do the most harm to maximize the efficacy of the movement. They are extremely important when attempting to boycott goods that support Israel because the number of companies invested in Israeli apartheid is so high that it is unfeasible to boycott them all. Trying to boycott a large list of companies often ends up diluting the impact of the movement because people focus on different companies and the economic effects are dispersed between them. Instead, targeted boycotts concentrate on the “major players”, which both economically harm these companies and indirectly apply pressure to others who want to avoid focus being shifted onto them. These “major players” for consumer boycotting include HP Inc., PUMA, Chevron, McDonald’s, Domino’s, Papa John’s, and Burger King. You may also frequently see Starbucks on boycott lists, and while they are not on the BDS movement list, they are being targeted because they have taken legal action against the Starbucks Workers Union over their solidarity with Palestinians and because they have a history of union busting. This is not to say that these are the only companies you should be boycotting, but rather you should prioritize them in your boycotting efforts.
Image via BDS
Divestment aims to hold banks, local councils, churches, pension funds, universities, and institutions of similar capital power accountable for their role in Israeli apartheid. This is done by revoking financial support on a much larger scale than the individual boycott. Given Israel’s nature of conception and relative newness, it receives financial aid incomparable to any other American ally. The American government’s choice to fund Israel so extensively has set the tone for major corporations, universities, and more.
The student intifada is an excellent example of what a fight for divestment can look like. Over the past 10 ½ months Palestinian liberation movements have been popping up at universities across the United States (and outside of the US). These student movements often focus on getting colleges and universities to divest from companies involved in Israeli apartheid. Universities frequently invest their endowments (that use tuition money and donations) in long-term investment funds that include companies that produce war machinery or are otherwise supportive of Israel. Columbia University, for example, invests millions of dollars directly into companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Amazon, all of which develop technology that is used by the Israeli government. They also invest in funds that hold assets in military contractors that produce weaponry for use by the IOF. California Polytechnic State University has partnerships with weapons manufacturers such as Raytheon, Parsons, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, and Boeing, in which the Cal Poly Corporation invests hundreds of thousands of dollars and promotes on their campuses. Additionally, the Cal Poly Foundation Board has a Chairman, Vice Chairman, and one board member from the previously listed companies. As of April of this year, Brown University has agreed to discuss divestment with student organizers, though the outcomes of this agreement are yet to be determined. We encourage all college students to look at your school’s divestment coalition or chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine to learn how your school is invested in Israeli apartheid.
The final major call of the BDS movement is for sanctions against Israel. Sanctions involve the withdrawal of economic support to pressure a country or organization into changing a practice or behavior. While sanctions can take many different forms, an arms embargo is typically prioritized by the movement for Palestinian liberation. An arms embargo involves ceasing the export of weaponry and war technology. Additionally, sanctions require governments to cut ties with Israel by not engaging in trade or sending aid to Zionist forces. The BDS movement calls for sanctions against Israel in an allusion to the efficacy of sanctions in ending apartheid in South Africa.
Any questions on the BDS movement or university divestment? Shoot us a message here and we’ll be happy to help!
