Israeli Policies Toward International Boycott Movement (BDS) 2009-2019 (original) (raw)
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This dissertation examines the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign1 in terms of three dimensions: as a discourse, as a strategy and as a political movement representing the interests of Palestinians. Following an overview of the historical context in which the BDS emerged in chapter one, in chapter two I evaluate the role of the BDS in promoting a new discourse based on international law and human rights. I argue here that this new discourse marks a departure from pragmatic negotiating positions and towards a debate which opens up fundamental issues at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Chapter three investigates the BDS as a strategy for galvanising public opinion and putting economic and social pressure on Israel. This chapter includes a comparison with the South African anti-apartheid campaign which largely inspired the BDS. In the fourth chapter, I consider the extent to which the BDS constitutes a political organisation representing the Palestinians and the extent to which it advocates a particular solution to the conflict. I argue that the BDS is primarily a campaign to inform and empower individuals to act according to their moral conscience, therefore, it assumes no mandate to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians in favour of any particular political settlement. I conclude that the role of BDS is not to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What it does is far more limited, but nevertheless very powerful: It provides a narrative to the Palestinian case; enabled by the BDS discourse, globalised by the strategy, and directed by the moral compass of the world.
1960
An intelligent understanding of international relationships requires a special study of the critical places where continuous crisis arises. It was felt, therefore, desirable to examine a significant aspect of the conflict between the Arab World and the State of Israel that provides the subject of this study. The economic boycott of Israel has assumed a grave significance in international relations, yet to the author\u27s knowledge this subject has not been investigated in a scholarly and comprehensive manner in any available publication. The writer embarks on this topic in the hope that it may provide the American student of Middle Eastern affairs with the essential data for its clear understanding
2020
PHD DISSERTATION This dissertation explores the struggle in Canada over international boycott campaigns, providing a comparative analysis of Canadian solidarity movements which deploy economic practices of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (known collectively as “BDS”) to target the policies of foreign country, specifically focusing on campaigns against apartheid South Africa and contemporary Israel. In particular, this study looks closely at the organized backlash to these campaigns, including the role of domestic lobbies and state-led propaganda campaigns, in an attempt to explain why the boycott campaign against South Africa appeared to be so successful, while the campaign against Israel has struggled to become popular. This analysis relies on original archival research, as well as interviews with both supporters and opponents of these boycott movements. It also provides a new theorization of BDS in terms of its political economic character, exploring the limits and possibilities of these forms of activism, both in terms of material economic impact (as per Marx) and their role in ideological struggle (as per Gramsci and Hall). This study identifies a number of factors which distinguish the pro-South Africa and pro-Israel lobbies, which have affected the ability of each lobby to articulate to common sense and build popular and state support. While the pro-South Africa lobby ultimately failed to counter the anti-apartheid movement, Israel’s support within Canadian society has allowed its defenders to go further and deploy coercive measures against boycott supporters, narrowing the space for pro-Palestinian solidarity activism.