Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
Building on decades of popular resistance
RAMZY BAROUD presents a guide on the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement

The boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement was the outcome of several events that shaped the Palestinian national struggle and international solidarity with the Palestinian people following the second intifada in 2000.

Building on a decades-long tradition of civil disobedience and popular resistance, and invigorated by growing international solidarity with the Palestinian struggle as exhibited at the World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, Palestinians moved into action.

In 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) called for the boycott of Israeli government and academic institutions for their direct contributions to the military occupation and subjugation of the Palestinian people. This was followed in 2005 by a sweeping call for boycott made by 170 Palestinian civil society organisations.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
RESPECT EARNED: Palestinian activists hang the flags of Spain and Norway in the West Bank city of Ramallah, in recognition of their diplomatic efforts for Palestine, September 16 2025
Features / 19 September 2025
19 September 2025

Spain has joined South Africa’s ICJ genocide case against Israel while imposing weapons bans and port restrictions, moves partly driven by trade unions — proving just how effectively civil society can reshape government policy, writes RAMZY BAROUD

INTERNATIONAL OUTRAGE: A demonstration, outside Greece's Parliament in central Athens, against the war in the Gaza Strip and Israel blocking of emergency food supplies, Thursday, July 24 2025
Features / 26 July 2025
26 July 2025

HUGH LANNING reports on an initiative that will aim at counteracting the anti-Palestine narratives spoon-fed to Western governments and the mass media by Israel’s propaganda machine

Buildings destroyed during the Israeli air and ground offens
Features / 4 March 2025
4 March 2025
Israel’s crimes in Gaza have forced a reckoning with international law’s selective application as Western nations sanction ICC prosecutors and attack UN officials who demand accountability, writes RAMZY BAROUD