Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) is a nonviolent^[2][6] Palestinian-led^[7] movement promoting boycotts, divestments, and economic sanctions against Israel. Its stated objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations under international law,^[8] which it defines as withdrawal from the occupied territories, removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and promotion of "the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties".^[9] The movement is organized and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee.^[10] BDS is modeled after the Anti-Apartheid Movement.^[11] Supporters describe it as a human rights movement^[12] and compare Palestinians' situation under Israeli policies to that of black South Africans under apartheid.^[13] Protests and conferences in support of the movement have been held in several countries.

Some critics accuse the BDS movement of antisemitism,^[14][15][16] a charge the movement calls an attempt to conflate antisemitism with anti-Zionism. Since 2015, the Israeli government has allocated significant resources to campaigns portraying BDS as antisemitic and has encouraged legal measures against the movement in other countries.^[17] Multiple countries, as well as a majority of U.S. states, have passed laws aimed at countering BDS.