RAtionale for 10 Commandments of BDS solidarity
1. Thou shalt practice absolute commitment to non-violence.
The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,
and God's soul hates the lover of violence. ~Psalm 11:5
BDS is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It calls for change through age-old nonviolent tactics that have been practiced through history by many peoples around the world.
- Contrary to common criticisms, BDS is not “violence against Jews,” because it does not target Jews. It targets actions not people.
- BDS has been demonized as a threat to Israel but it is in fact a threat to the unfair status quo and the principalities of unjust powers.
2. Thou shalt be steadfast in solidarity and practice sumud.
Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. ~1 Corinthians 15:58
The Arabic word sumud means perseverance and resilience. In the Palestinian context, it has come to mean steadfastness in the face of oppression. (read more on Palestinian sumud).
- Take lessons from the sumud of Palestinians and persevere in your solidarity in the face of attacks on your work for Palestinian rights.
- Just as Palestinians aren’t staying on their lands, we need to be in the struggle for the long haul. BDS is a “politics of erosion”; it is slow-acting and takes time and patience, working to wear out those who abuse their power.
- In The Parable of the Persistent Widow, Jesus taught his disciples to always pray and not give up. The widow’s persistence paid off with her receiving justice from the unjust judge. (Luke 18)
3. Thou shalt love your enemies.
I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven… ~ Matthew 5
- Jesus of Nazareth said: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy,’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven…” (Matthew 5). These words turned cultural norms upside down. Who are one’s enemies? If one is told to love enemies and pray for persecutors, who is there left to hate and dispossess? The whole premise of BDS is about flipping societal norms and expectations for the purpose of revealing the justice of the Realm of God.
- Kairos Palestine on resistance: KP4.2.3: We say that our option as Christians in the face of the Israeli occupation is to resist. Resistance is a right and a duty for the Christian. But it is resistance with love as its logic. It is thus a creative resistance for it must find human ways that engage the humanity of the enemy. Seeing the image of God in the face of the enemy means taking up positions in the light of this vision of active resistance to stop the injustice and oblige the perpetrator to end his aggression and thus achieve the desired goal, which is getting back the land, freedom, dignity and independence.
4. Thou shalt challenge discrimination based on identity.
There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. ~ Galatians 3:28
Israel has different laws for different ethnicities and religions.
- Israel is engaged in apartheid based on identity which is racist.
- Discriminating against people based on their religion or identity is unacceptable.
- BDS is an anti-racist movement and challenges Israeli discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, race, etc.
This is an important passage from Matthew 15:
“Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith!”
Whether we like to admit it or not, even Jesus got caught in a moment of discrimination, but he caught himself. Jesus declared that he was sent only to “the House of Israel.” As a result, when a Canaanite woman asked for help, he compared her to a dog. The Canaanite woman called him out for his cultural bias and discrimination, Jesus caught himself in doing that and told the woman her faith was great, thus praising her for her courage and faith.
BDS seeks to overcome cultural bias and discrimination by calling it out as the Canaanite woman did with Jesus. Even Jesus, by acknowledging she was right, was able to overcome the challenge of societal discrimination and bias.
5. Thou shalt reject normalization of Israel’s narrative and monopoly.
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ~ 2 Chronicles 7:14
Reject the notion that there is only one narrative. Israel’s claim to the land presumes God as a real estate agent. The land is God’s and all the people’s. Israel insists that they should have a monopoly on the land.
BDS opposes and challenges the following:
- God as real estate agent
- Israel’s monopoly of the narrative
- Israel’s monopoly of the land
6. Thou shalt speak out against lies and propaganda.
They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their detestable conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush… ~Jeremiah 8:11-12
- “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” The Ninth Commandment, Exodus 20:16 Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann* speaks against bearing false witness in defense of truth, saying the Old Testament commandment urges “members of the covenant community not to distort reality to each other. The major pertinence of the prohibition in our society is the collapse of truth into propaganda in the service of ideology.” Brueggemann warns that “public versions of truth are not committed to a portrayal of reality, but to a rendering that serves a partisan interest…” Further, he reminds us that no one is exempt from this, especially religious leaders who are “tempted to deception which both advances institutional interests and seeks to give credence to theological claims (Jeremiah 6:13-14: 8:10-11). [*The New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume I, Exodus.]
- Hasbara / Propaganda normalizes the unfair and unjust status quo. BDS Challenges Israel's Hasbara. (Hebrew for propaganda).
- Challenge the silence of the post-holocaust theology which Jewish theologian Marc Ellis has called “The Ecumenical Deal,” and agreement by Christians not to criticize Israel in exchange for forgiveness for the sins of the holocaust.
- In the same way that the Ecumenical Deal is wrong, silence today on the human rights abuses of Israel is a false witness.
7. Thou shalt criticize in love, in the prophetic tradition.
Thou shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, so so you will not share in their guilt. ~ Leviticus 19:17
- Resist with love as your logic. Be strong and practice tough love.
- Do Tochecha at the risk of defamation.
The sacred duty of tochecha, sacred rebuke in Hebrew, is found in the Holiness Code (Lev 19:17) in the Hebrew scriptures. It is incumbent upon those working for justice to be true to this tradition and call out immoral and unethical behavior. In a sermon at St. John’s Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, Rabbi Alissa Wise of Jewish Voice for Peace says,
Tochecha is about our obligation to tell someone when they have done or are currently straying and behaving wrongly – whether to us, or to another. What’s more, tochecha requires us also to engage with those we are rebuking and assist them and support them in the repair of the wrong you are calling out.
In a later sermon, Rabbi Wise teaches “I can think of no greater act of friendship than to risk defamation in order to remind one’s friends of their own ideals when they, themselves, have forgotten them. That is tochecha—sacred rebuke.”
8. Thou shalt show concern and put people before profits.
Did not your father eat and drink and do justice and righteousness? Then it was well with him. He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Is not this to know me? says the Lord. But your eyes and heart are only on you dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence. ~ Jeremiah 22: 15-17
- Challenge companies who profit from human rights abuses.
- Stewardship of resources calls for more than having a “Clean Hands” policy; scripture calls for bringing about change where profits come before people.
- In the Parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus, as told by Jesus of Nazareth (Luke 16:19-31), the rich man who oppressed Lazarus in his lifetime asks God to send Lazarus to warn the rich man’s brothers about their oppressive behavior before it was to late. God replied: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.” BDS is proactive social action that does not wait for eyes to open. Rather, it seeks to turn over the tables of abusive power and wealth so that those who oppress others see and understand, in ways they were not previously able to comprehend.
9. Thou shalt apply justice universally.
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it; the world, and all who live in it. ~ Psalm 24:1
- Work for a liberation of all peoples. All people deserve dignity and freedom.
- Do not make exceptions when it comes to freedom and justice.
- BDS is in line with all liberation movements and does not call for exceptions.
- The Bible calls for Jubilee, a liberation for all through: Release, Remission, Rest and Return:
- Jubilee, or the year of release, comes every 50 years, according to the Leviticus. It is to be set aside as a year of emancipation and restoration of God’ will. As a biblical mandate, Leviticus 25 speaks of restoring justice. We are to release people from their debts, release the captive, and return property to those who owned it so they can enjoy the fruits of their land.
- The book of Ezekiel, regarded as an early holiness code, refers to a year of liberty during which property is returned to the original owner.
- Jesus of Nazareth announced his public ministry in his hometown synagogue by reading these words from Isaiah “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captive and recovery of sight to the blind; to set at liberty those who are oppressed and to proclaim the year of Jubilee.” By the end of the conversation that ensued, Jesus’ own hometown community wanted to throw him off a cliff for calling for justice in this way. The justice of Jubilee, and of BDS, challenges unfair status quo that cannot abide radical societal change for the sake of those who are oppressed and suffer the most. Even biblical Jubilee was rejected in the context of such radical a faith. BDS is about justice and jubilee.
10. Thou shalt be blessed when thou arT persecuted for justice sake.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. ~ Matthew 5: 10-11
Challenge the powerful in an organized way.
- There is safety in numbers
- Do justice in community; build a community.
- As in the story of Nehemiah 5 in which people complained about being enslaved, Nehemiah calls the community together for strength and turns their focus to a broader message of doing justice together.
- Find partners in the struggle.
- Partner with other justice struggles, e.g., climate, hunger, women’s rights, etc. Ask for help when needed and give help when asked.
- Do justice in community; build a community.
- Blow-back will come. Expect attacks and be prepared for them.