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The Palestine Israel Ecumenical Network (PIEN) members attended a BDS conference in July 2017 which included details of its boycott campaign. This campaign focused on dates coming into Australia, sourced from the Palestinian Territories but labeled as “Product of Israel.” Similarly, another company with Jordan Valley dates labeled as “Product of Israel” was contacted by PIEN in 2019.

On April 30, 2019 we officially launched our Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions policy and campaign. We have chosen to focus our first effort on Hewlett Packard due to their direct link to the illegal occupation through equipping the Israeli military with the technology infrastructure used to maintain the systems of apartheid and oppression.

We have produced a number of resources for individuals and churches to use, such as a postcard addressed to the Director of HP in Australia, a brochure, a fact sheet, and a number of posters. We are still in the early stages of rolling out the campaign. We see our primary target group as Christians and churches. We have started a grassroots campaign contacting churches on our mailing list.

We consider BDS to be the one human rights initiative which Israel itself fears and we support because it is nonviolent, can be applied very widely, and is known to be effective. Israel cannot ignore measures based on International Law.

In the wider Australian context, there are certainly other important human rights issues, including Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers who arrive by boat, its policies affecting the welfare and rights of Australia’s First Nations peoples and a whole range of issues related to the rights of women, children, prisoners, the disabled, the aged and religious minorities. These other human rights issues receive far more political and public attention in Australia than those of occupied Palestine.

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I first heard about BDS at Carlton University in Canada in 2009 after the “Cast Lead” war on Gaza. The BDS call was focus within the context of Israeli Apartheid Week, and I attended a talk by Omar Barghouti on campus.

I have lived in Australia since 2010 and there has been a steady improvement and acceptance of BDS over the years. There is a greater acceptance of Palestinian rights than there is of BDS as a means to achieve them, but I would say overall there has been noted improvement.

There have been efforts to demonize BDS supporters. I have personally been a target of such campaigns. But the pushback and grassroots support to include Palestinian voices and advocates for BDS within mainstream platforms has been growing. We are not there yet, but there have been gains made for sure, especially within the Arts sector and in writing festivals and theatre practices.

The Australian BDS movement seems to be more organized and focused this year and they ran a very good campaign against Eurovision. The cultural boycott is growing with more mainstream names signing calls for boycott. Stronger ties are being forged with indigenous rights groups and the upcoming Black-Palestinian Solidarity conference at Melbourne University is a great step forward.

We are unique because what we are fighting against is a unique struggle. We are fighting colonialism in a post-colonial era. We are fighting for the rights of refugees to return—when they are the only refugees denied this universal right . We are fighting for equality in a country that is built on the premise of inequality and cannot survive without its discriminatory policies. We are advocating for refugees, millions of whom are living still within historic Palestine—refugees in their own homeland. We are constantly up against exceptions to the rules because Israel is an exception regarding the violation of the rules.

A big challenge exists within the multi-faith dialogue group and so called “peace initiatives.” Here in Australia, Muslim organizations are being pushed into such initiatives by the government, because the government ties up lots of funding toward such initiatives. But the end result is that they end up using religion to whitewash Israeli crimes. The problem is many of the Jewish organizations have links to Israeli Zionist groups and fundraising campaigns and material support.

What works:

Intersectional solidarity —getting involved and being supportive of other struggles for justice can only strengthen our own.
No room for hypocrisy or racism —human rights are human rights, and we are only stronger together. Do not tolerate hate speech, Islamophobia, antisemitism or any other form of racism.
Look for opportunities in the arts, political forums, academia to advocate for justice, peace and equality through BDS.
Look for ways to establish and strengthen faith dialogue groups that do not support Israel’s criminality. There are many Jewish groups that work tirelessly against the occupation and subjugation of Palestinians. Why not build a multi-faith dialogue with such groups to challenge and weaken the current existing bodies? It is important for religious groups to build bridges, but there needs to be awareness about how this can be done without compromising the Palestinian struggle.

BDS Toolkit

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: Resisting Apartheid & Racism

on bds from australia

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