An unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas this month and the resulting escalating siege of Gaza has thrust the movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel, called BDS for short, into the spotlight again, as some wonder what they might be able to do to encourage a ceasefire and help Palestinians facing a looming ground invasion of the crowded Gaza Strip.
Just last year, a Pew survey found that some 84 percent of Americans had little to no awareness of the roughly two-decade-old campaign. Now, on social media sites such as X (formerly Twitter) and Tiktok, using the hashtag #BDSMovement, people are naming brands with ties to Israel and calling for boycotts: McDonald’s is being targeted after a location in Israel offered free food for the Israeli military, as are other global fast food chains such as Domino’s Pizza and Burger King. Some are boycotting Starbucks after the company sued its labor union this month over a union social media account posting support for Palestinians. Meanwhile, demonstrations organized by local BDS-affiliated groups are taking place around the world.
The renewed attention on BDS comes at a pivotal time for American public sentiment on Israel and Palestine. Here’s what to know about the controversial boycott.
What is BDS and how does it work?
At its simplest, BDS is a global nonviolent protest movement. It attempts to use economic and cultural boycotts against Israel, financial divestment from the state, and government sanctions to pressure Israel’s government to abide by international law and end its controversial policies toward Palestinians — policies now described by some human rights experts and legal scholars as apartheid.
BDS is a tactic, not an organization, so disparate groups take up their own campaigns that may focus on a slightly different set of targets, though all share a moral grounding and tactics of peaceful resistance. BDS takes direct inspiration from the South African anti-apartheid fight and…
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