The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (stylized as PACBI) is an initiative which pushes for individuals and institutions involved in education, the arts, and the preservation of cultural heritage to disassociate from their Israeli and pro-Israel counterparts. Launched in 2004, the campaign is a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, which aims to isolate the state of Israel economically and diplomatically with the ultimate goal of undermining the country’s political and historical legitimacy.

PACBI claims that Israel is engaged in “colonial oppression” of Palestinians, both within its own borders and in the region’s disputed territories, including through a “military occupation” of the West Bank and through an alleged “system of racial discrimination” in Israeli law. The campaign further claims that Israel’s formation and expansion starting in the late 1940s was accomplished through “ethnic cleansing” and forced removal of Palestinians living in the region. It condemns the Israeli state for not acknowledging this dispossession. PACBI labels the “vast majority” of Israeli and pro-Israel academics and intellectuals as complicit in this perceived oppression, either by directly defending it or insufficiently condemning it. ^{1 2}

Fiscal Sponsor­­

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel is a fiscally sponsored project of the Alliance for Global Justice, a parent organization for a broad variety of left-wing activist groups and the successor to the defunct pro-communist Nicaragua Network. In addition to backing pro-Palestine and anti-Israel causes, the alliance has supported international left-wing radical activists and groups, as well as the socialist governments of Cuba and Venezuela. The alliance’s financial backers include the Tides Foundation, a pass-through entity for left-of-center grantmaking within the Tides Nexus, and the Open Society Foundations, the flagship entity within the network of liberal activist financier George Soros. A number of philanthropies set up by prominent left-leaning celebrities, including the Ben and Jerry’s Foundation and the Pamela Anderson Foundation, have also donated to Alliance for Global Justice. ³

Demands

As the self-proclaimed representative of Palestinian academics and intellectuals, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel calls on the international community to “comprehensively and consistently boycott” Israeli institutions, which allegedly contribute to the “colonization” of the disputed Palestinian territories. The campaign has endorsed specific actions: refusing to collaborate with Israeli academics, pressuring institutions around the world to do the same, cutting off funding to universities and cultural centers in Israel, and drawing up resolutions condemning the Israeli government. PACBI encourages its followers to support Palestinian institutions instead, and emphasizes that this support must be free of any expectations that these institutions engage with their counterparts in Israel. ⁴

Impact

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel claims to have convinced “thousands of artists worldwide” to issue public endorsements of boycotting the state of Israel, including more than 3,000 in Great Britain and in Ireland, as well as hundreds in European countries such as Belgium, Finland, and Portugal. In America, the campaign says it collected more than 600 signatures from artists in New York City, as well as more than 1,100 as part of a “Black for Palestine” campaign across the United States. ⁵

In July 2023, PACBI issued a statement endorsing a decision by the American Anthropological Association to boycott Israeli universities deemed complicit in Israeli government policy towards the disputed Palestinian territories. The statement also noted that several other activist academic organizations in the United States, including the American Studies Association and the Middle East Studies Association, had also previously committed to boycotting universities in Israel. ⁶

Controversies

In September 2023, the Washington Examiner reported that the Democratic Party-aligned fundraising platform ActBlue had been processing donations for Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel since at least 2021. The Examiner quoted an ActBlue spokesperson who claimed that the firm had suspended the campaign’s account and that it had only been allowed to remain due to a “clerical error.” ⁷

Leadership

Omar Barghouti is a founding member of Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and a career campaigner against the Israeli government’s Palestinian policies. In April 2009, the Jewish Chronicle reported that he had enrolled in doctoral courses at Tel Aviv University. According to the Chronicle, Barghouti called his decision to attend the Israeli institution a “personal matter” and declined to comment. ⁸

Financials

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel is a fiscally sponsored project of the Alliance for Global Justice, which is authorized to provide payroll and fundraising services to the campaign. ⁹

1. “Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.” BDS Movement. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi
2. “Call for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.” BDS Movement. July 6, 2004. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi/pacbi-call
3. Gabe Kaminsky. “Democratic behemoth ActBlue boots anti-Israel group accused of terror ties off platform.” Washington Examiner. September 7, 2023. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/democratic-behemoth-actblue-boots-anti-israel-group
4. ^[1]“Call for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.” BDS Movement. July 6, 2004. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://bdsmovement.net/pacbi/pacbi-call
5. ^[1]“Artists’ pledges for Palestinian rights.” BDS Movement. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://bdsmovement.net/cultural-boycott-pledges
6. ^[1]“American Anthropological Association Votes by 71% to Boycott Complicit Israeli Universities.” BDS Movement. July 24, 2023. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://bdsmovement.net/news/american-anthropological-association-votes-by-71-boycott-complicit-israeli-universities
7. Gabe Kaminsky. “Democratic behemoth ActBlue boots anti-Israel group accused of terror ties off platform.” Washington Examiner. September 7, 2023. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/democratic-behemoth-actblue-boots-anti-israel-group
8. Anshel Pfeffer. “Academic boycotter to study in Tel Aviv.” The Jewish Chronicle. April 23, 2009. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20100515150345/https://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/academic-boycotter-study-tel-aviv
9. Gabe Kaminsky. “Democratic behemoth ActBlue boots anti-Israel group accused of terror ties off platform.” Washington Examiner. September 7, 2023. Accessed September 11, 2023. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/democratic-behemoth-actblue-boots-anti-israel-group