To BDS or not to BDS…A Targeted Boycott of Settlements

BDS is the acronym for a growing movement to boycott, divest from and sanction the State of Israel. These tactics are viewed by some of those employing them as a set of non-violent tools to change the world, specifically to end the Israeli policies of settlement and the Occupation. And while some who use these tactics strive to end unjust state policies, others hope that the BDS tactics will help usher in the end of the State of Israel entirely. That this second group exists is a big part of why the mainstream Jewish community dismisses the use of BDS as only about delegitimizing the State of Israel; as the latest form of anti-Semitism that all Jews must both fear and combat.

To be sure, people who ascribe to the BDS formula have a variety of political end games. Some favor a two-state solution with Israel ending the Occupation and the creation of an independent Palestinian state; some favor a bi-national one-state solution, and some are actually anti-Semitic and do not think that the Jewish people constitute a unique nation with the right to self-determination and should never have immigrated to Israel/Palestine. It is important to be honest about the fact that all these groups and individuals holding these various ideas have started using boycott, divestment and sanctions for various reasons.

But not all BDS actions are about ending the State of Israel. Not all BDS actions are about delegitimization. And not everyone who supports the use of BDS is anti-Semitic.

The mainstream Jewish communities in both the US and Israel have tried to paint BDS in the broadest, bluntest, un-nuanced and most illegitimate terms. The organized American Jewish community has now declared BDS and the delegitimization of the State of Israel as its greatest threats, while a bill working its way through Knesset (the Israeli parliament) would make it illegal for Israelis to boycott their own country. Both these efforts are overreactions that miss the point entirely.

The point is that the Israeli government’s policies of settlement building and Occupation are bad policies that need to end as soon as possible. Building settlements in occupied territory is a clear and gross violation of international law, while the Occupation is a complex system of regulations that daily violate the basic human rights including but not limited to: owning property, the freedom of movement, and habeas corpus. These policies not only erode the moral fabric of Israeli society and diminish the State of Israel’s standing in the international community but they also lessen Israel’s ability to reach a two-state solution with the Palestinians, which is the only way forward if Israel is truly be a democratic and Jewish-majority state.

I still support a two-state solution. I believe in human rights for all people, including the right to self-determination for the Palestinian people. And I believe that if Israel abandons the policies of settlement and the Occupation it can still become a deep democracy. Because of these positions I have come to believe that a limited and specific form of BDS, a targeted boycott of goods and services made in the settlements, is an appropriate tactic to effect change. There must be a freeze on settlement as part of the end of the Occupation, and a boycott that targets those policies is an important way to both express disapproval of those policies and non-violently bring those policies to an end.

In getting caught up in who supports BDS and what their ultimate goals are, mainstream Jewish communities are turning a blind eye to the real problem of illegal and immoral government policies. The settlement and the Occupation policies waste Israeli resources, endanger the lives of Israelis, violate international law and are morally indefensible and repugnant. I would boycott any other country that had such policies. But as a Jew, Israel is not any other country to me. I care more about what Israel does; which is all the more reason why I should boycott the settlements.