Mainstream media tends to focus on politicians, but the contours of what’s possible are determined outside of Washington. Despite the tragedies of 2021, the movement for Palestinian rights continued to grow in surprising and profound ways.
Given that there were so many important BDS fights in 2021, here are some products you probably won’t be interested in this holiday season, and the activists you can thank for it.
“If Unilever is so interested in virtue-signaling, why not announce a boycott of countries like China, Russia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, or especially Iran,” asked Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt.
A growing number of Democratic Socialists of America chapters are calling on the national organization to take action against Rep. Jamaal Bowman for violating the group’s political platform with respect to Palestine.
Israel’s Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai tells the American Jewish Committee: “if we see more of the radical left or the progressive liberal Jews continuing to support BDS and Black Lives Matter, as similar to the Palestinians, and they relate to Israel as a genocide state or an apartheid state, we may lose America.”
At a time when long-established rights – the right to vote, women’s right to control their own bodies, the right to organize, the free press — are all under attack, it is deplorable to see Democratic politicians join those tearing down democracy by acting on New York State Retirement System’s policies that penalize the boycott of Israel.
Ben & Jerry’s acceded to activist pressure to stop selling in the occupied territories because the Movement for Black Lives insisted that Palestine was in its agenda for racial justice and when Israel committed its May massacre in Gaza, there were 300 protesters outside the Ben & Jerry’s store in Burlington chanting “Shame, Shame, Shame.” An organizer says, “It shook up the Ben & Jerry’s people.”
The extremist response by Israeli leaders to Ben & Jerry’s — that it is antisemitic or terrorist — ignores the fact that McDonald’s has refused to operate in Israeli settlements for many years. McDonald’s just didn’t make a big splash about it. Ben & Jerry’s very public move is fostering the BDS campaign that sees Israeli human violations on both sides of the Green Line.
By calling an ice cream company ‘terrorist’ for simply adhering to international law, Israeli President Isaac Herzog revealed the absurdity of the official Israeli strategy to counter the BDS movement.
Reactions to Ben & Jerry’s announcement that it is ending business in Israeli settlements shows a new consensus is forming in the Palestine solidarity movement. Many activists are shifting focus from simply boycotting Israeli settlements to boycotting Israeli Apartheid.