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Movement

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)

BDS Movement logo (link)
Type:

Anti-Israeli Movement
Formation:

2005

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Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (better known by its acronym, BDS) is an international campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel as the expression of the Jewish people’s right to national self-determination by isolating the country economically through consumer boycotts, business and government withdrawal of investment, and legal sanctions. Critics allege that the group crosses the line from opposition to Israeli policy or to the administration of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into open anti-Semitism. 1

The movement, which claims to have originated in a 2005 call from Palestinian civil society groups, seeks to apply the pressure tactics used by activists against the apartheid regime of Cold War-era South Africa against Israel.2 It also echoes the Arab League’s failed boycott of Israel, which the organization has claimed to maintain since 1948 amid numerous defections.3 The BDS movement was founded by Omar Barghouti, a Qatari-born Palestinian. 4

The formal goal of BDS is to push Israel to recognize the rights of Palestinian Arabs currently living in Israel and to allow Palestinian refugees, who fled Israeli land as early as 1948 when Israel was created, to return to their homes, including homes in Israel’s internationally recognized territory. The movement also argues for Israel to withdraw from all land that it seized after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, including the West Bank, which is claimed by the Palestinians. 5

In the United States, BDS focuses its efforts on left-of-center university campuses, academic organizations, and cultural figures. The movement has limited support from the mainstream center-left, with the most major known institutional funder of organizations that support BDS being the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.6 Notable organizations supporting the BDS campaign include Jewish Voice for Peace, National Students for Justice in Palestine, and the American Friends Service Committee—the public policy arm of the Quaker religious movement.7

History

Opponents of the existence of Israel have rejected its legitimacy and sought to use boycotts and political sanctions to end the Jewish State since its establishment. To this day, Israel has diplomatic relations with only 167 of the 192 other United Nations member states: 8 most of the nations which do not maintain or have never established diplomatic ties with Israel are leftist regimes or Muslim-majority nations.9

Since 1945 (when the League declared a boycott against Jewish-controlled entities in the Holy Land), the Arab League, an intergovernmental organization of 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, has maintained a formal boycott of Israeli goods and services; in the past, the League has attempted to enforce a “secondary boycott” against any company engaging in commerce in Israel. The U.S. government has passed numerous laws prohibiting American companies from complying with the boycott and requiring American companies to report any demands by a state to engage in the boycott.10

The Durban Conference

The modern private-sector BDS campaign evolved from the fallout over the controversial 2001 United Nations-sponsored World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held at Durban, South Africa. In a sidebar to the controversial intergovernmental negotiations, an NGO (nongovernmental organization) Forum resolved that Israel was committing “genocide” and “apartheid” against Palestinians. Observers have noted that the Final Declaration of the Durban NGO Forum “has served as a blueprint for the well-financed NGO network that aims to demonize and isolate Israel internationally,” which has centered on the BDS movement.11

Amid widespread bipartisan criticism for financially supporting the Durban Conference, the Ford Foundation instituted a rule requiring grantees to agree not to promote the “Destruction of any State.”12 Ford had funded the Palestinian Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, known as LAW, which was characterized as a “principal player in the anti-Israel agitation in Durban.”12

Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS

In July 2005, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign was launched. BDS activists claim it arose from a “call by Palestinian civil society organizations for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and for academic and cultural boycott of Israel”; the movement’s pro-Israel opponents tie the launch of the campaign to the Durban Conference. Opponents note that the claim of support by Palestinian civil society is at odds with some Palestinian organizations’ policy of seeking negotiation with their Israeli counterparts.13

The Call for Boycott allegedly arose from the Government of Israel’s construction of the “Security Barrier,” a fortification in the disputed West Bank built to interdict terrorism during the Second Intifada terrorist campaign.14

Palestinian activist Omar Barghouti is credited as a co-founder of the BDS movement. During the Second Intifada terrorist campaign, Barghouti wrote a polemic denouncing a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, proclaiming that the world was entering “what may be considered the final chapter of the Zionist project.”15

Modern Boycott Movement

Academic Efforts

One of the most prominent BDS victories was the 2013 announcement by physicist Steven Hawking that he would not attend an event in Israel honoring then-Israeli President and former Prime Minister and Nobel Peace laureate Shimon Peres. Hawking had previously attended events in the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.16

BDS activists have targeted professional associations of academics, seeking to sever ties between American researchers and their Israeli counterparts. In 2013, the American Studies Association passed a resolution boycotting Israel; the decision was repudiated by the ASA’s California and Eastern divisions and led to substantial departures from the organization.17 Opponents of the boycott resolution have sued to have the resolution overturned.18

In 2016, the American Anthropological Association narrowly rejected a proposal to boycott Israeli academic institutions.19 In response to a boycott proposal, the Modern Language Association of America passed a separate resolution which called for the MLA to “refrain from endorsing the boycott” of Israeli academic institutions.20

Campus Campaigns

In addition to attempting to sever ties between academic organs and Israeli universities, BDS activists have targeted student governments at American colleges and universities, seeking to pass resolutions endorsing the movement. In the mid-2000s, the student government at the University of Michigan-Dearborn began annually passing a resolution endorsing BDS, while in the 2010s the student government at the University of California Riverside demanded that the school stop serving Sabra hummus, the parent company of which is partly owned by an Israeli company.21

In 2017, BDS activists at Tufts University succeeded in passing a divestment resolution. The effort was criticized for the timing of the student government vote: The left-of-center Anti-Defamation League (ADL) noted that BDS supporters scheduled the vote for the day before the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover, when Jewish students might have left campus to be with family.22 A similar tactic was employed by BDS proponents at Pitzer College, part of the Claremont Colleges consortium, who held a BDS vote in the student government during the Passover holiday.21 In November 2017, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor student government passed a divestment resolution; BDS advocates censored a professor from speaking on the Israel-Palestinian conflict before the vote.23

On-campus BDS efforts are led by the entity Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), an advocacy group with over 115 chapters at U.S. universities. The organization promotes “Israel Apartheid Weeks” propagandizing against the Jewish State on numerous college campuses. SJP chapters have partnered with campus groups aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement, attempting to analogize Israeli security practices to American police brutality, and they have also sought to attack Israel’s policies as “pinkwashing”—using pro-LGBT policy to distract from alleged violations of Arab rights. SJP chapters have been known to explicitly refuse dialogue with defenders of Israel, a practice known as anti-normalization.24

Polling has found BDS activities are unpopular with American college students; a 2017 survey at four schools (including the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor) found that fewer than 15 percent of non-Jewish students supported an academic boycott of Israel.25

Entertainment Industry

BDS attempts to use left-wing entertainment figures to promote its agenda with mixed results. Roger Waters, former front-man of the band Pink Floyd, is a leading supporter of BDS and leads pressure campaigns against musicians considering performances in Israel.26

BDS activists have published letters signed by artists and entertainers calling for Israelis to be excluded from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, one of the largest performing arts festivals in the world, and asking the Lincoln Center to not perform a play (ironically, one opposed to war) written by an Israeli.27 In 2017, New Zealander singer Lorde cancelled a performance scheduled for Tel Aviv after pressure from BDS activists.28

While there is limited support among left-wing entertainers for BDS, other prominent entertainers are vocally opposed to the movement. Actress Scarlett Johansson disassociated from a role with Oxfam after the organization criticized her for being a spokesperson for SodaStream, a beverage company which operates a factory in the disputed West Bank that employs Palestinian workers.29 Thom Yorke of the band Radiohead said a demand from BDS supporters “patronized” the musicians, who played a show in Tel Aviv.30 Nick Cave, an Australian singer, scheduled a Tel Aviv show after BDS supporters asked him to sign a pro-BDS petition.31

Tourism Industry

In November 2018, the official BDS Twitter account tweeted out “[h]ow the tourism industry underpins illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land,” asserting that “[t]ravel agencies. . . and booking sites like @Airbnb and @bookingcom profit from and normalize Israel’s illegal land grabs” (Image available here).32

Religious Endorsements

Some left-wing religious denominations, most prominently the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) and the Presbyterian Church USA, 33 have endorsed the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement. The refugee assistance, political, and policy arm of the Quakers, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), is a leading participant in organized BDS activism in the United States. 34

AFSC is led by a West Bank-born Palestinian activist, Joyce Ajlouny.35 Its BDS activity predates Ajlouny’s appointment: AFSC was reportedly a member of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, a pro-BDS coalition in 2015.36 In 2014, AFSC cosponsored a “BDS Summer Institute” to promote on-campus activism against Israel. The organization has also taken an active role in federal anti-Israel legislation, endorsing legislation which would restrict U.S. military aid to Israel.37

Organization and Funding

Most major left-wing funders avoid explicit support of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel. The most prominent funder of BDS groups and BDS activities is the Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF), which has provided over $1 million to BDS-supporting groups since 2013.38 RBF’s support for BDS organizations has all been conducted under Fund president Steven Heintz, formerly president of the left-wing think tank Demos.39

A major recipient of RBF grants is an organization called Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), an organization which works to make it appear that the Jewish community supports anti-Israel activities, including BDS.40 RBF made its first contribution to JVP in 2015; in 2017, RBF made an additional two-year grant of $140,000 to JVP.38 Since that contribution, JVP has led numerous anti-Israel demonstrations, including disrupting New York City’s Celebrate Israel parade in Jun 2017.41

Despite its professions of peace, JVP has had associations with Palestinian extremists: Rasmea Odeh, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine extremist convicted of involvement in the murder of two Israeli students in a terrorist bombing, addressed the group’s annual member’s meeting in March 2017.38

RBF contributed an additional $50,000 to American Friends Service Committee; it has also supported the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, an anti-Israel coalition of which many RBF grantees are members. RBF has also supported a Tel Aviv-based organization, Zochrot, which advocates against Zionism.38

RBF denies taking a position on BDS; however, its grants to BDS-supporting organizations have been for “general support,” allowing those organizations to use grants for any purposes, including BDS.38

Other funders of BDS groups include the Firedoll Foundation, the personal foundation of major Democratic Party donors Sandor and Faye Straus.42 Firedoll has given substantial funding to JVP; in 2014, support totaled $25,000. The Tides Foundation also provided JVP with slightly less than $50,000.43

The Government of Israel has issued a regulation forbidding the entry of foreigners who “knowingly [issue] a public call for boycotting Israel” into Israel. In addition to the American Friends Service Committee and Jewish Voice for Peace, persons associated with American Muslims for Palestine, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights, National Students for Justice in Palestine, and Code Pink are barred from Israel on grounds of advocating BDS.44

U.S. Political Support Before October 7, 2023

Before the October 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack against the State of Israel and the ensuing escalation in conflict, support for BDS in the United States was limited, however some far-left organizations have endorsed the anti-Israel campaign. Most prominently, in 2017 the far-left political organization Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) — which represents socialist supporters on the left-wing of the Democratic Party — endorsed BDS at its national convention.45 A Democratic candidate for governor of Illinois changed running mates after it emerged that Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, a DSA-supported Chicago city alderman, had spoken in favor of BDS.46

In 2014, Occupy Oakland, a branch of the Occupy Wall Street left-wing activist movement, blockaded the Port of Oakland preventing an Israeli-owned cargo ship, the Zim Piraeus, from unloading.47

While the mainstream left have not typically endorsed BDS, some have expressed sympathy for BDS goals and limited support for BDS tactics. In October 2016, a number of left-leaning intellectuals and commentators (most prominently pundit Peter Beinart) proposed a boycott of all Israeli-owned or Israeli-produced goods and services from Israeli-controlled territory outside the 1949 armistice line (in practice, the disputed West Bank and Golan Heights and portions of Jerusalem).48

J Street, a left-of-center Middle East policy advocacy group created to rival the pro-Israel American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), claims to “not advocate for or support any boycott, divestment or sanctions initiative whatsoever”; however, it has also expressed, “We do not oppose boycott, divestment, or sanctions initiatives that explicitly support a two-state solution, recognize Israel’s right to exist, and focus only on occupied territory beyond the [1949 Armistice] Line.”49 The organization has condemned American50 and Israeli efforts to counter the BDS movement. 51

In 2018, the BDS movement condemned then-President Donald Trump’s relocation of the United States Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The Palestinian BDS National Committee claimed the move was an extension of the 1948 “nakba” when Israeli forces removed Palestinians from Israeli territory. 52

In 2020, of at least seven United States Senators who ran or considered running for the Democratic presidential nomination, six of them voted against a measure from U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) that would allow state and local governments not to do business with companies that supported the BDS movement against Israel, including Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), then-Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), then-Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). 53

2023 Israel-Hamas War

On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists launched a wave of terrorist attacks into Israel that killed over 1,200 civilians. Several victims were sexually assaulted before being killed. This attack launched the Israel-Hamas War, a period of escalated violence between Israel and Hamas operatives in Gaza and the West Bank. In response to Israel’s defense of its citizens and its sovereignty, several entities and individuals have expressed their support and opposition to the BDS movement against Israel. 54

BDS Response to Hamas Attack

On October 7, 2023, the BDS movement published a press release blaming Israel for the Hamas massacres of Israeli citizens.  The movement claimed that “Israel’s far-right government is the most racist, fundamentalist and fanatic ever” and had “been ruthlessly escalating its ethnic cleansing, siege, killings, incarceration, and daily humiliation of millions of Indigenous Palestinians.” BDS condemned Western governments for their lack of context and disregard for the alleged history of oppression of Palestinians by Israel. BDS said that Israel is “drunk with power and impunity as a result of unconditional US and European collusion, funding and arming.” BDS claimed that oppression is the root of violence and so justifies Hamas’ violence against Israel. BDS said that its tactics of divestment and sanctions “are the most ethical and strategic forms of international solidarity to end all oppression and all violence.” 55

Local Divestment

BDS saw increased support and influence following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in 2023. Major United States cities began the process of divestment from Israel. In early September 2024, the city council of Portland, Maine became the fourth U.S. city to vote to cut investments from companies doing business with Israel since October 7, 2023. Other U.S. cities that have embraced BDS measures include Portland, Oregon; Berkeley, California; and St. Louis, Missouri which have passed measures focused on specific companies. Portland, Maine’s resolution marked the first time a U.S. city council fully endorsed a pro-BDS measure against Israel. 56 57

People in several counties across the United States are pushing their local and state governments to divest from Israeli government bonds through the national Break the Bonds campaign. In Palm Beach County, Florida, residents have anonymously sued the county government for holding $700 million in Israeli bonds, the largest such investment in the world. As of November 2024, the Palm Beach County Clerk’s office filed a motion for the plaintiffs to identify themselves and had asked for the case to be dismissed. 58 59 56

BDS proponents also celebrated that Scotiabank, a major bank based in Canada and the Americas, halved its investments in an Israeli arms manufacturer from 2023 to 2024. 1832 Asset Management was the largest foreign shareholder in Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems with more than 5 percent of shares. In 2024, the firm dropped more than 40 percent of its investments to now hold 1.44 percent of Elbit’s shares. Elbit Systems also closed one of its Massachusetts-based subsidiaries, KMC Systems, after months of weekly pro-Palestinian protests near Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company was expected to remain a tenant through 2025 but left its office space early. 56

Following the Israel-Hamas War’s start, the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) announced the union’s international pension fund would divest from companies supporting “the genocide” and continue demanding the federal government adopt BDS policies. 60

Campus Protests and University Divestment

The Israel-Hamas War sparked several college campus protests and university divestment plans in support of the BDS movement. 61 The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tracked the organization, participation, and frequency of pro-BDS protests on college campuses from 2023 to 2024. The ADL report found that ten major universities that were the most common places for the protests included Columbia University (52 protests); University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (38 protests); Harvard University (36 protests); University of California, Berkeley (36 protests); University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (35 protests); Rutgers University, New Brunswick (33 protests); Stanford University (30 protests); Cornell University (27 protests); University of Washington (26 protests); and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (25 protests). However, collectively, these incidents only represent approximately 16 percent of all pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses from 2023 to 2024. 62

Between protests, encampments, and demonstrations, ADL tracked 1,481 incidents across American colleges and universities, 73 of which directly impacted Hillel- and Chabad-affiliated Jewish student centers. During these events, 28 assaults were reported, as well as 201 reports of vandalism, and 360 reports of harassment. 62

From 2023 to 2024 there were also 80 explicit BDS proposals across student organizations on campus. 62 Internationally, there have been 10 universities that enacted divestment plans from Israel. In May 2024, ​​Sacramento State University became California’s first public university to agree to pull investments from companies that “profit from genocide, ethnic cleansing, and activities that violate fundamental human rights.” The university did not directly invest in such companies, but still vowed to drop indirect investments worth $4.5 million. 56

San Francisco State University also vowed to divest from Israeli weapons makers. After a three-week encampment, San Francisco State University agreed to move $163 million in investments from three companies it says don’t meet its human rights standards, including security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin, Italian-based military manufacturer Leonardo, and U.S. software company Palantir Technologies. The university was the first in the U.S. to negotiate publicly with students. 56 The university began the divestment process in August 2024. 63

Also in May 2024, Ontario Tech University became the first major Canadian school to sign an agreement with protestors. As a result, the university agreed to disclose and review its investments, as well as fund three scholarships for Palestinians displaced by the war. The institution also said any student or faculty who joined the encampment will not face academic or professional repercussions. Also in Canada, Montreal’s Concordia University student union pledged to drop investments with Scotiabank over its ties with Elbit Systems, an Israeli arms manufacturer. The move meant the student union would move its $10 million investment elsewhere. 56

Also in May, Trinity College Dublin in Ireland became one of the first universities to agree to cut ties with Israeli companies. Students blocked the front of the Book of Kells Museum, a popular tourist attraction. The student union was fined more than $230,000 for the loss of revenue that resulted from the protest. However, following a five-night encampment, the university agreed to divest. 56

Opposition

The opposition to Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions in the United States and Israel is widespread across the political spectrum. National public opinion polling shows that Israel maintains strong favorability among the American public64 and that Americans largely side with Israel over the Palestinians in the continuing conflict.65

Bipartisan Political Opposition

Both major political parties formally oppose boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israel. In the 2016 election, both the Republican and Democratic Party platforms opposed BDS. The Republican platform was more strident in its rhetoric, calling BDS one of a number of “alternative forms of warfare” employed against the Jewish State.66

Haim Saban and Sheldon Adelson, leading Democratic and Republican political donors respectively, briefly collaborated on a project to counter BDS activism on college campuses; Saban later broke the partnership amid a dispute with Adelson over support for conservative-leaning pro-Israel groups. 67 The American Jewish Committee secured the support of all 50 then-serving U.S. state governors and as well as District of Columbia (DC) Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) for a letter condemning the BDS movement as “antithetical to our values and the values of our respective states, our support for Israel as a vital U.S. ally, important economic partner and champion of freedom.”68

Right-of-Center Political Opposition

Republicans and conservatives have become staunchly supportive of the State of Israel since the early 2000s.65 The Republican Jewish Coalition, a constituency group representing American Jews in the Republican Party, has encouraged the passage of legislation restricting state agencies from supporting businesses engaged in BDS activities.69 In 2018, the Trump administration appointed a leading critic of BDS, Kenneth Marcus of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, for a senior position in the U.S. Department of Education. 70

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump relocated the United States Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Trump’s actions were an attempt to show international solidarity with the State of Israel against claims including those by the BDS movement that attempt to delegitimize Israel’s existence. This move marked a reversal in decades of American foreign policy which had treated Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel. 52 71 The First Trump Administration consistently condemned the BDS movement and expressed its unwavering support for the State of Israel. 5

In 2019, the Trump administration refused entry into the United States to international BDS movement leader Omar Barghouti. Despite holding valid travel documents, Barghouti was told that United States immigration officials had ordered the U.S. consul in Tel Aviv to deny him permission to enter the United States. Barghouti had scheduled a speaking tour that included stops at Harvard and New York University, meetings with Washington policymakers, and other opportunities for Palestinian advocacy. The Trump administration cited Barghouti’s BDS activities as justification for his entry ban. 4 In 2017, Israel passed a law to similar effect that banned entry to any foreign activist who supported a boycott of the country. 72

2020 Federal Rule and 2024 Legislation

In November 2020, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave a speech in Israel and rolled out new federal rules concerning the markings on goods imported to the United States. The rules required that anything produced in areas of the West Bank under Israeli administration be labeled with Israel as their country of origin. The policy marked a departure from the Obama administration, which, in its own final days, issued guidance saying it was “not acceptable” to label goods produced in the West Bank with any variation of “Made in Israel.” 73

In response to Pompeo’s statements that accused BDS of anti-Semitism and the new federal rule, Palestine Legal claimed this was an attempt to shut down free speech and advocacy on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Palestine Legal is a left-of-center, pro-Palestinian advocacy group that represents individuals and organizations who allegedly suffer legal repercussions for their support of a Palestinian state. 74 The group claimed that 30 states in America had laws that inhibited the First Amendment rights of its citizens to criticize and oppose the State of Israel. 75

In 2024, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to adopt the Trump administration’s rule in federal legislation. In September 2024, United States Representative Claudia Tenney (R-NY) introduced H.R. 5179, the Anti-BDS Labeling Act, to codify the Trump rule into federal law.  The bill passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 231 to 189, would require products made in Israeli-controlled areas of the West Bank be labeled as originating from “Israel,” while goods produced in Gaza or Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank be labeled as “Gaza” or the “West Bank.” 76 The bill did not receive a vote in the U.S. Senate and failed to become law. 77 78

Left-of-Center Political Opposition

While Democrats and liberals have become less supportive of Israel, the institutional Democratic Party and major left-wing donor infrastructure — with the notable exception of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund — opposes BDS. The 2016 Democratic nominee, former U.S Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wrote a letter to Democrat donor Haim Saban and other prominent Jewish Democrats condemning BDS and asking for Saban’s assistance in developing counter-BDS strategies. 79 Other Democratic elected officials, including U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) 80 and former U.S. Representative Shelley Berkeley (D-NV) have condemned BDS.81

In 2016, then-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) issued an executive order barring state agencies from entering into business arrangements with groups that boycott Israel. The move came shortly after Democrats in the California legislature weakened a state effort to counter BDS and the Democratic-controlled New York State Assembly failed to pass counter-BDS measures.82

Left-of-center finance billionaire and donor to numerous political causes George Soros does not appear to support the BDS movement, though his Open Society Foundations have supported non-governmental organizations that have sought to isolate Israel in the international arena. In 2014, BDS activists called for boycotts against Soros after Soros Fund Management and Open Society Foundations made investments in two Israeli companies, Teva Pharmaceuticals and SodaStream.83

In 2019, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) expressed her opposition to the BDS movement and was accompanied by a rabbi during the launch of her 2020 presidential campaign. Klobuchar was the only Democratic U.S. Senator running for president in 2020 who voted in favor of U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) bill that would allow state and local governments not to do business with companies that support boycotting, sanctioning and divesting from Israel. 53

In 2019, the Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign expressed its opposition to the BDS movement, although former Vice President Biden affirmed his support of the First Amendment and the right to criticize Israel through free speech and free expression. 75 In 2020, former Vice President Biden reaffirmed his opposition to BDS. During a phone call with major donors, President Biden described how “[c]riticism of Israel’s policy is not anti-Semitism,” but that “too often that criticism from the left morphs into anti-Semitism.” 84  

This marked a split within the Democratic Party over how to handle the Israel-Palestinian question, as Biden attempted to balance the interests of several Jewish donors and a largely Democratic Jewish-American voting base with radical-left support for Palestinian nationalism. Still, Biden upheld his opposition to BDS, stating that the movement “singles out Israel – home to millions of Jews – and too often veers into anti-Semitism, while letting Palestinians off the hook for their choices.” 84

In August 2020, the Democratic National Committee’s platform officially opposed BDS and offered its support for a two-state solution. It also expressed its support for the Trump administration’s decision to relocate the United States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 85

When Vice President Kamala Harris replaced then-President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee in the 2024 presidential election, she was accused of being uncommitted about BDS while formally maintaining the Biden administration’s opposition to BDS. In March 2024, Vice President Harris called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War before President Biden did. However, as a U.S. Senator, Harris had opposed anti-BDS legislation backed by pro-Israel advocates, on constitutional free speech grounds. Harris also condemned protestors outside Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s address in a joint session of U.S. Congress in July 2024 on the due to protestors burning the American flag and an effigy of the Israeli leader. 86 87

Allegations of BDS Anti-Semitism

The BDS movement and the program of boycott, divestment, and sanctions has been accused of anti-Semitism both in movement supporters’ conduct and in the principle of targeting Israel for delegitimization. The U.S. Department of State characterizes “applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation” as an example of anti-Semitism;88 the U.S. Congress has considered codifying the U.S State Department’s definition into law as a directive to the U.S Department of Education. 89

In 2015, BDS movement supporters issued a call for an “International BDS wave of solidarity with Palestinian Popular Resistance” that coincided with the beginning of a wave of stabbing attacks against Israelis by Palestinian extremists.15

Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd front-man who has been a leading advocate for BDS among musicians, was criticized for anti-Semitism after he compared Israeli policy to “what went on in the ’30s in Germany” and used an inflatable pig with a Star of David to equate Israel with totalitarian regimes.90 Waters’ anti-Semitic rhetoric has seen German radio and television stations refuse to broadcast his concerts.91

BDS activists in the Spanish region of Catalonia were criticized after they issued a statement suggesting Europeans bore “responsibility” for an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist attack against the region’s capital and largest city, Barcelona.92

On March 7, 2018, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) denounced BDS during a speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) for the group’s condemnation of Israel. He stated, “We must continue to stand firm against the profoundly biased campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel through [BDS]…While Iran publicly executes its citizens, Turkey jails its journalists, scores of Arab nations punish homosexuality with imprisonment and torture, why does BDS single Israel out alone for condemnation?”93

In a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November 2020, then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo labeled the BDS movement as “a manifestation of anti-Semitism.” Pompeo said U.S. State Department officials planned to identify and withdraw the department’s funding and support from organizations linked to the movement. The Palestinian BDS National Committee pushed back against Pompeo labeling the movement as anti-Semitic, claiming it was a “smear” intended to discredit those who support Palestinian independence. The committee claimed that Jewish organizations, scholars, and Holocaust experts have condemned the expansion of the definition of anti-Semitism to include companies and individuals who oppose Israeli involvement in Gaza and the West Bank. 73

Also in response to the Trump administration’s designation of BDS as anti-Semitic, the Palestinian BDS National Committee claimed that it was a peaceful movement that would prevail over then-President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu’s “far right” alliance. The committee claimed that Trump “continues to enable and normalize white supremacy and antisemitism in the US and worldwide while simultaneously smearing BDS,” which it claims is a movement that “rejects all forms of racism, including anti-Jewish racism, as a matter of principle.” 94

CODEPINK, a radical-left advocacy group that is ardently anti-Israel and supports BDS, also opposed the Trump administration’s categorization of BDS as anti-Semitic. The group claimed that Trump’s actions regarding Israel were illegal under international law, including his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, his recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory, and his claims that Israeli settlements are legal. CODEPINK claimed that these were all measures taken to support what it considers Israel’s apartheid regime against Palestinians. CODEPINK affirmed that it opposes anti-Semitism. 95

Following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in 2023, there have been accelerated accusations at the international level of BDS’ inherent anti-Semitism. In Australia, academic scholar Philip Mendes accused the BDS movement of turning from “racist ‘anti-Zionism’ to xenophobic anti-Semitism.” He noted that BDS Australia’s tactics have shifted from hateful rhetoric to quasi-violent actions, such as invasions of Jewish-populated suburbs in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney by pro-Palestinian mobs, the doxing of hundreds of Australian Jews who were participating in a private online group to combat anti-Semitism, and Jews being forced to leave workplaces and even residences due to ongoing threats and harassment. 96

References

  1. “Calling out BDS anti-Semitism.” The Canadian Jewish News. August 26, 2015. Accessed January 29, 2018. http://www.cjnews.com/perspectives/opinions/calling-bds-anti-semitism
  2. “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS): The Global Campaign to Delegitimize Israel.” Anti-Defamation League. 2014. Accessed January 29, 2018. https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/israel-international/israel–middle-east/bds-campaign-backgrounder.pdf.
  3. “Arab League Boycott: Background & Overview.” Background & Overview of the Arab Boycott of Israel. Accessed January 29, 2018. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/background-and-overview-of-the-arab-boycott-of-israel.
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