The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, known as BDS, is an international, decentralized movement formally launched by Palestinian organizations in 2005 that seeks to delegitimize and pressure Israel through diplomatic, financial, professional, academic and cultural isolation. BDS-aligned groups worldwide often engage in BDS campaigns at their own discretion. Increasingly, BDS campaigns have also targeted Jews, Jewish institutions and others who support Israel’s right to exist or are perceived to be connected to Israel.
While BDS presents itself as a nonviolent movement for Palestinian rights, its goals and tactics go beyond criticism of specific Israeli policies. The movement seeks to isolate Israel as a whole, reject Jewish national self-determination and challenge the legitimacy of Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
1. BDS is not just criticism of Israeli policies.
Criticism of Israeli government policy is legitimate and common, as it is with any country. BDS, however, goes beyond criticism of specific policies or government actions. The movement seeks to isolate Israel as a whole, pressure others to cut ties with Israeli institutions and challenge the legitimacy of Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.
2. BDS’s goals and tactics can be antisemitic.
Many of BDS’s founding goals are antisemitic because they reject the Jewish people’s right to self-determination. That includes BDS’s support for a so-called “right of return” for Palestinian refugees and their descendants to Israel, which, if implemented, would end Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state. While some supporters view boycott or divestment as a nonviolent way to advocate for Palestinians, BDS’s goals, rhetoric and tactics often go beyond policy criticism and contribute to the delegitimization and demonization of Israel and its supporters.
In recent years, BDS-aligned campaigns have increasingly targeted “Zionists,” Jewish communal organizations, Israeli-linked businesses, academic partnerships, cultural events and individuals perceived as supportive of Israel. Some campaigns have also used antisemitic stereotypes, rhetoric and comparisons, including claims about Jewish power or control, accusations of dual loyalty, Holocaust inversion and language that holds Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s actions.
3. BDS uses pressure campaigns to cut ties with Israel and its supporters.
BDS campaigns use a range of tactics to pressure institutions, companies, governments, cultural figures and individuals to sever ties with Israel, Israeli institutions or those perceived as supportive of Israel. These tactics include divestment resolutions, boycotts of Israeli products and institutions, campaigns against Israeli academics and artists, pressure on public officials, calls to cancel events or partnerships and informal “soft” or “shadow” boycotts.
4. BDS is not simply about helping Palestinians.
BDS is often presented as a movement for Palestinian rights, and many supporters understand it that way. But BDS campaigns frequently go beyond advancing Palestinian rights or opposing particular Israeli policies. In practice, they seek to isolate Israel, reject normalization with Israelis and exclude Jewish or pro-Israel voices from academic, cultural, civic and political spaces. BDS campaigns can also harm Palestinians, including those who benefit from employment, investment and economic cooperation connected to Israeli businesses.
5. BDS does not promote peace or coexistence.
BDS does not promote mutual recognition, Israeli-Palestinian engagement, peace negotiations or a negotiated two-state solution. A central feature of BDS is anti-normalization, which opposes dialogue, coexistence efforts or joint Israeli-Palestinian initiatives unless participants first accept the movement’s framing of Israel and Zionism. This discourages engagement that could build trust, support compromise and advance peace.
Bottom Line
BDS is often presented as a movement for Palestinian rights, but its goals and tactics go far beyond criticism of Israeli policy and in many ways even Palestinian rights. In practice, BDS seeks to isolate Israel, rejects Jewish self-determination, discourages coexistence and often fuels the exclusion or targeting of Jews and Jewish institutions.