Third Annual BDS Conference Highlights Progress, Challenges
Reageer (0)19-12-2011
On Saturday, the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) held its third annual conference in the West Bank city of Hebron. Panelists addressed the challenges and opportunities facing the BDS campaign and the current state of its efforts.
High-quality olive oil is one of the few Palestinian products that reliably reach markets abroad (Lo Yuk Fai, PNN).
The BDS campaign began in 2005 through a call by over 170 Palestinian civil society groups, a year after the International Court of Justice found Israeli’s barrier wall to be illegal. Since then, BDS has gained international momentum in implementing an economic, cultural, and academic boycott of Israel. The campaign aims to pressure Israel to adhere to international law and end its colonial measures.
Over 450 people attended the all-day conference, which featured prominent speakers such as BNC representative Omar Barghouti and Hebron Governor Kamil Hmaid. Participants were also able to provide feedback through interactive discussion sessions and workshops. Simultaneous translations were available for non-English or Arabic speakers.
Conference organizers provided shuttles to the event from all major West Bank cities as well as Jerusalem and Haifa. Transportation services--which had also been included in the last two conferences, held in Nablus and Ramallah--were meant to encourage the representation of different Palestinian voices.
The event’s first panel addressed the international successes and challenges of the BDS movement while the second panel tackled local circumstances. Michael Dean, BNC coordinator in Europe, argued that the movement has been a huge success in Europe. “BDS is now the main framework for solidarity” with Palestinians in Europe, said Deas, adding that by keeping up the momentum, ”we are very close to closing the European market to Israel.”
BDS activist in the United States Adam Horowitz gave a bleaker picture of the campaign in the United States. One challenge, he said, is that the United States, unlike Europe, does not have many consumer products from Israel.
But the campaign’s main obstacle in the United States is that it does not have a lot of financial support, especially compared to the pro-Israel organizations working against it. Despite the challenges, Horowitz said that the U.S. campaign has made progress—such as in boycotting Ahava products—and is attracting new members.
The second panel elicited emotive commentary from the audience on the difficulties of boycott, failure of some Palestinian business to adhere to it, and the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) role in encouraging the boycott. Several audience members offered suggestions for how Palestinians can practice the boycott and challenge the current discriminatory system that underlies Palestinian-Israeli economic relations.
Speaker Salah Haniyyeh stressed the BDS campaign’s responsibility in changing the consumer behavior of Palestinians and encouraging them to buy Palestinian products, rather than relying on PA government procedures to do the job.
According to panelist Ibrahim Shikaki, "Economic dependency on Israel is not the disease, but rather a symptom. The disease is the narrative disseminating that Palestinians have closed their chapter of national liberation and are now fighting for a state (one that comprises around 10 percent of historical Palestine and shaped as disconnected 'bantustans'), and that normal economic relations with Israel must prevail.”
Shikaki, an economist, added, “There is no lack of alternatives…the lack is in political will."
The event’s last session was a series of workshops that participants had to choose from. The topics covered the student and youth, women organizations, civil society, formal labor, private sector, popular committee against the wall and settlements, and the international BDS campaign. The workshops allowed for further discussion and input by the audience.
According to one of the attendees, Yassmine Saleh, “The most interesting part of the conference was hearing the comments of the audience about their ideal and what BDS should be. The conference is for them to unite and exercise their rights in freedom of expression and engagement.”
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