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What is the BDS Movement?
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, commonly known as BDS, is an international, decentralized movement aimed at delegitimizing Israel. BDS seeks to isolate Israel as a whole, reject Jewish national self-determination and challenge the legitimacy of Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, not merely change specific Israeli policies or government actions. Denying the Jewish people’s right of self-determination and advocating for the eradication of the world’s only Jewish state is inherently antisemitic.
The movement presents itself as a nonviolent human rights movement modeled on the international boycott movement against apartheid South Africa. Its supporters argue that boycotts, divestment and sanctions should be used to pressure Israel to change its policies toward Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and within Israel’s pre-1967 borders.
BDS seeks to achieve these goals through the diplomatic, financial, professional, academic and cultural isolation of Israel, Israeli individuals and Israeli institutions. Increasingly, BDS campaigns also target Jews and all who support Israel’s right to exist, as well as institutions perceived to be connected to Israel.
The BDS movement organizes its advocacy around three stated demands:
- Ending Israel's presence in "all Arab lands" (which includes the entire state of Israel).
- Recognizing the full equality of Israeli Arabs.
- Granting a "right of return" to all Palestinians.
While Israel's Arab citizens already have full equality under Israeli law, the first and the third demands would fundamentally alter Israel's demographic character and territory and, according to the movement's own leaders, is intended to end Israel as a Jewish state in its ancestral homeland.
Omar Barghouti, a co-founder of the BDS movement, has publicly stated that the Palestinian “right of return” cannot be reconciled with a two-state solution and that “a return for refugees would end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”
BDS is one tactic in a long history of efforts to delegitimize the State of Israel. Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel and the ensuing Israel-Hamas war, BDS-aligned activism has intensified across campuses, cultural spaces, civic institutions and corporate settings. Many recent campaigns have gone beyond criticism of Israeli policy to target “Zionists” or those perceived to be Zionists, Jewish communal organizations, Israeli academic and cultural institutions, businesses with perceived ties to Israel and others who support Israel’s right to exist.
The official BDS website lists “partners” of BDS across the world that are affiliated with the movement, including Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). These organizations are independent but are expected to follow BDS guidelines. BDS is designed to be grassroots, and anti-Israel activists across the world often engage in BDS-aligned campaigns at their own discretion.
Background of BDS
The modern BDS movement emerged in the early 2000s during the Second Intifada and the anti-Israel activism surrounding the 2001 U.N. World Conference Against Racism in Durban.
In 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, known as PACBI, issued a call for academic and cultural boycotts of Israeli institutions. The following year, in 2005, Palestinian civil society organizations called on the international community “to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.” The statement also called for pressure on governments “to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel.”
A central BDS demand is the so-called “right of return” for millions of Palestinians, which, if implemented, would likely end Israel’s existence as a Jewish and democratic state.
Together, the PACBI campaign and the 2005 BDS call helped establish the framework for the modern BDS movement: a strategy to isolate Israel diplomatically, economically, academically and culturally and to challenge its legitimacy as a Jewish state.
How BDS Operates Today
BDS campaigns use a range of tactics to pressure institutions, companies, governments, cultural figures and individuals to cut ties with Israel, Israeli institutions or those perceived as supportive of Israel. These tactics include:
- Calls for divestment from companies that do business with Israel.
- Boycotts of Israeli commercial products, academic institutions and cultural events.
- Campaigns against Israeli academics, artists and public speakers.
- Pressure on public officials and local governments to end municipal or state ties.
- Efforts to block partnerships, programs or events involving Israeli, pro-Israel or Jewish organizations.
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. In practice, this means rejecting engagement with Israelis, pro-Israel Jews or Jewish organizations, even when they support peace, coexistence or Palestinian rights.
The BDS approach does not promote peace, mutual recognition, or a negotiated two-state solution; instead, it undermines efforts that could build trust, support compromise and advance a peaceful resolution to the conflict.
Campus Activism and Academic Boycotts
On college campuses, BDS campaigns often take the form of student government resolutions, demands for endowment divestment, calls to end partnerships with Israeli universities and pressure to cancel study abroad programs, speakers, events or academic exchanges connected to Israel.
These campaigns are frequently framed as student activism, but they can contribute to a hostile campus climate by singling out Israel, discouraging engagement with Israeli institutions and vilifying Zionism (the movement for the self-determination and statehood for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland) as a condition of participation in campus life. Faculty, staff and academic associations have also played an increasing role in advancing boycott campaigns and opposing institutional partnerships with Israel.
Politics, Municipalities and Public Institutions
BDS campaigns also seek to influence elected officials, government agencies and public institutions. These efforts can include:
- Calls for municipal or state-level divestment resolutions.
- Pressure on public pension funds to cut investments in companies doing business with Israel.
- Campaigns urging local governments or civic agencies to sever ties with Israeli institutions or companies accused of supporting Israel.
These campaigns are often presented as human rights or social responsibility measures, but they single out Israel for economic and political isolation. In practice, they can turn public institutions into vehicles for anti-Israel activism and impose political litmus tests on partnerships, investments, contracts and civic participation.
Cultural, Corporate and Civic Targeting
In corporate, cultural and civic spaces, BDS campaigns target events, businesses, public figures and community organizations:
- Cultural Spaces: Activists pressure artists and performers to cancel appearances in Israel, call for boycotts of Israeli-linked films or literary events, and protest museums and festivals perceived to have Israeli or Jewish affiliations.
- Corporate and Commercial Spaces: Activists organize consumer boycotts, shareholder campaigns, employee walkouts and public demonstrations against businesses accused of having ties with Israel or supporting Israel’s existence.
- Civic Life: These campaigns can lead to canceled public events, the exclusion of Israeli or Jewish voices and the targeting of Jewish-owned or Jewish-affiliated institutions based on perceived connections to Israel.
Intensification and Expansion Post-October
Following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led terror attack on Israel and the ensuing war, BDS-aligned activism has intensified across campuses, civic spaces and cultural institutions. Many campaigns have framed themselves as responses to the war in Gaza, but instead of condemning Hamas’s atrocities on October 7 or calling for the release of hostages, they often praised the terror attacks in Israel and even called for further violence.
At the same time, BDS activity expanded well beyond formal boycott and divestment demands against the State of Israel. Recent BDS-inspired campaigns have directly targeted “Zionists,” Jewish communal organizations (such as campus Hillel and Chabad chapters), community centers, Jewish-owned businesses and individuals perceived as supportive of Israel. This shift has expanded the practical reach of BDS and deepened its impact on Jewish communities and others connected to Israel.
Understanding Soft and Shadow Boycotts
Efforts to target Israelis, Jews, or Zionists and exclude them from public life are not confined to formal BDS efforts. “Soft” or “shadow” boycotts aimed at excluding Israeli individuals, Israeli institutions or those perceived as connected to Israel from public life are an increasingly common tactic. These efforts often reflect the broader antizionist movement’s strategy of anti-normalization, even when these efforts are not publicly identified as BDS campaigns.
Soft boycotts can include refusing or declining to collaborate with Israeli universities, refusing to invite Israeli speakers or artists, avoiding co-sponsorships with Jewish or pro-Israel organizations, or quietly excluding individuals from grants, conferences, publications or professional opportunities because of their actual or perceived connection to Israel. Unlike formal boycott resolutions, these actions often happen without written policies or public votes, making them difficult to identify or challenge.
These informal campaigns can also extend to businesses, cultural organizations and community institutions, creating reputational pressure that discourages customers and partnerships and, in some cases, can contribute to business closures. Even absent an official boycott, the cumulative effect can be the isolation of Israelis, Zionists, Jewish organizations and others associated with Israel from academic, professional and civil life.
The Intersection of BDS and Antisemitism
Many of the founding goals of the BDS movement are antisemitic, including advocating for the eradication of the world’s only Jewish state.
While some supporters may see boycott or divestment as a nonviolent way to advocate for Palestinians or protest Israeli government actions, the movement’s goals, rhetoric and tactics go far beyond policy criticism and contribute to the delegitimization and demonization of Israel and those who support its existence.
BDS campaigns can also create environments in which antisemitism is normalized or encouraged. Some advocates use antisemitic imagery, rhetoric and comparisons, including tropes about Jewish power, control or dual loyalty; claims that Jews or “Zionists” manipulate governments, media or institutions; Holocaust inversion; and language that holds Jews collectively responsible for Israel’s actions. Others demand that Jews renounce Zionism or distance themselves from Israel as a condition of participation in social, academic or political spaces.
This impact is especially visible when BDS campaigns target Jewish institutions such as Hillel and Chabad, Jewish-owned businesses, or individuals because of their real or perceived connection to Israel. In these cases, anti-Israel activism can cross the line from criticism of a government into the exclusion, harassment or intimidation of Jews and Jewish communities.
Frequently Asked Questions about BDS
Criticism of Israeli government policy is not inherently antisemitic. Like any country, Israel can and should be subject to debate, scrutiny and criticism. BDS, however, goes beyond criticism of specific policies. It seeks to isolate Israel as a whole and increasingly targets Israeli institutions, Jews, Jewish organizations and others who support Israel’s right to exist.
Many of the founding goals of the BDS movement are antisemitic because they reject or ignore the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in its ancestral homeland and call for the dismantling of the state of Israel. While some supporters may not be motivated by antisemitism, and may view boycott or divestment as a nonviolent way to advocate for Palestinians or simply protest Israeli government actions, BDS campaigns are often used in ways that stigmatize, exclude or target Jews and Jewish organizations.
BDS is often presented as a movement for Palestinian rights, and many supporters may understand it that way. But the movement’s demands and tactics are not limited to advancing Palestinian rights or opposing particular Israeli policies. In reality and in practice, BDS campaigns frequently 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.
No. BDS does not promote mutual recognition, dialogue, coexistence or a negotiated two-state solution. Its anti-normalization approach often discourages engagement between Israelis and Palestinians and pressures others to cut ties with Israel or those who support its existence. This undermines efforts that could build trust, support compromise and advance a peaceful resolution to the conflict.