BDS stories from south africa on Palestine

story 1

I heard of BDS during my training as an ecumenical accompanier with EAPPI (Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel of the World Council of Churches) in 2011. I understood it to be a form of nonviolent resistance that helped to end apartheid in my own country, South Africa, and there it could be effective in the case of Israel/Palestine...

The Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa (URCSA) issued the following statement: “Synod acknowledges the significant similarities between (the South African) context and that of occupied Palestine today. The URCSA stands with the people of Palestine against the practices of abuse, oppression, marginalization and dehumanization directed towards them by the state of Israel. Synod also expresses concern about the ease with which Christian faith communities proclaim a Zionist agenda justified by Scripture, and calls on URCSA congregations to refrain from such Christian Zionism. In the spirit of the Belhar Confession, the URCSA has no other option but to stand with our sisters and brothers in Palestine as they continue to suffer the atrocities of occupation and oppression.”

This was not followed by any substantive (BDS) action because our churches do not have investments in Israel. We have had only one big consumer boycott in South Africa (2014).

I am aware of the “Come and See” booklet, and it is an important and relevant document. More information, and especially theological reflections on land, identity, history, covenant, etc. can help Christians to become sensitized and discerning.

from story 1

In the spirit of the Belhar Confession, the URCSA has no other option but stand with our sisters and brothers in Palestine as they continue to suffer the atrocities of occupation and oppression.

story 2

My duration in the West Bank lasted from May 1, 2004 until April 30, 2005, serving as a Communication Coordinator for the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the YWCA of Palestine and YMCA of East Jerusalem. There have been numerous subsequent solidarity visits as well, locating me at the cold face of the development of the BDS Campaign...

The first time I heard and followed this noble call (BDS), I was based in Beit Sahour. It was very easy for me to comprehend the BDS Call as a South African who values the International Solidarity of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. I carried on this advocacy work upon my return back home to South Africa. I kept reporting about the “Palestine Question” within the South African National Council of YMCAs. This extended to the (then) School of Religion and Theology through the UJamaa Centre for Community Development and Research. Some results of this approach led to the late Professor, Steve de Gruchy, including the Palestine Olive Tree Campaign in his Theological Discourse. Two more colleagues would later accompany me to Palestine to learn about the struggle there...

When I started talking about this Palestine Question, it irritated so many in my circles. But today, BDS in South Africa is a well-known course. It agitates and angers “White Monopoly Capital” and has made it impossible for the African National Congress to sit on the fence and be non-committal. Minister Lindiwe Sisulu had to be reshuffled due to her outright support of BDS and related campaigns against the dehumanization of Palestinians.

When the South African Council of Churches found no room or physical space on its premises to accommodate the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel, my denomination, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in South Africa, adopted the SA Coordinator of the WCC EAPPI Programme.

The next National General Secretaries of the YMCA in the Globe meeting will be held in East Jerusalem in 2020. This act preceded the establishment of the Task Team formed in London last month. Within the Kairos Palestine SA Working Group, assistance has been given to the Anglican Church in Southern Africa’s forthcoming General Assembly to table A Motion in Support of the Palestine Solidarity Initiatives. If this succeeds, the next Lambeth Conference may be compelled to discuss the Palestine International Solidarity initiative.

The Methodist Church in Southern Africa undertook a “Come and See” Alternative Tour to Palestine this year. In my own denomination, a resolution was taken this month by the Young Adults League Church-wide Conference to undertake a “Solidarity Visit to Palestine.” Last year, this organization hosted Muna Nassir of Kairos Palestine during her visit in July 2018.

These are but a few positive steps that are slowly becoming tangibles in my space and society.

from story 2

When I started talking about this Palestine Question, it irritated so many in my circles. But today, the BDS Campaign in South Africa is a well-known course. It agitates and angers “White Monopoly Capital” and has made it impossible for the African National Congress to sit on the fence and be non-committal.

story 3

I was involved with BDS in the 1970’s and 1980’s through the South African anti-apartheid movement. I understood that call as an effective way of mobilizing popular resistance in nations and communities around the world; a way of exerting economic pressure on the South African regime to abandon its racist practices.

Following that experience, when I first went to Palestine/Israel in 2008, as a human rights observer, it wasn’t difficult to recognize the similarities between South Africa and the Occupation. Becoming involved with Kairos Palestine and the response in Kairos Britain, there was no doubt in my mind that BDS was going to become a major tool of resistance. The fact that Palestinian civil society, as well as the churches, are calling for it gives us an important lever for advocacy in this field.

At the national level, the campaign for morally responsible investment and calling for divestment from companies and organizations complicit in the Occupation has achieved limited success. My own local group is engaged with supermarkets and shops regarding goods imported from illegal Israeli settlements and we are persevering with a campaign calling for a boycott of those products. Some of us would want to go further to include a boycott of all Israeli produce and manufactured goods until the Occupation ends. We persevere with this, but the recent (deliberate) campaign to equate opposition to the state of Israel with antisemitism has made promotion of BDS more difficult.

We find that enabling the stories of the Palestinian people to be heard in their struggle through film and personal/group visits are powerful not only in themselves but in take the story to the next level by answering the question: So what can we actually do apart from sending money? The “Come and See” call is so vital. Minds and hearts become changed when people are enabled to see for themselves.

from story 3

story 4

I first heard about BDS in 2009. Coming from South Africa, this was not a difficult thing to understand, knowing what BDS has done of us as black South Africans who once lived under colonialism and maximum racist injustice. All I understood was the need to encourage and remind our own where we come from and that it was a time for us to give back in solidarity, knowing what apartheid did to us and how we came to the decision to sanction the “hand that was feeding us.” So when the call came from Palestine, for us here it was more of a look back to where we came from and how what we did (through BDS) saved us.

Culturally the call has been taken seriously over the past 5 years. At first, our people were misinformed about the state of Israel. People still held to the understanding of the Israelites as the “people of God” and were fearful to mess that up. Through the teachings of activists, people gained a better understanding, so now the boycott of cultural boycott (for instance) has been opened within our art and sports cultures. This has been the same for society at large and people of faith. Education is the key, but mostly Palestinians need to have a strong lead.

We are seeing a lot of improvement regarding the Call to BDS, especially amongst workers, those in government, and some in Church. We still lack full commitment due to us being a developing country and somehow still dependent on the well-developed nations. This causes our government to be more lenient vs. taking a firm stand, especially in regard to what is proposed by society at large.

BDS remains the most robust and active human rights initiative that we have in the forefront. Every day it continues to put itself forward by conscientious people, more than entities. For South Africa it is more about giving back for what was once done for us. We remember very well how it feels to be colonized and is therefore not so much of a struggle to understand. Our society is still concerned about Palestinians not showing a strong lead themselves in taking BDS further.

As a people of faith, we are never to stop doing right in accordance with the teaching of Scripture, but we must look beyond the person and see the human in every human being. BDS is a gentle and nonviolent way of persuading Israel to do what is right. It has worked in other similar intractable conflicts like South Africa and there is no reason to suppose it will not work to help resolve the Palestine/Israel injustice.

from story 4

For South Africa it is more about giving back for what was once done for us. We remember very well how it feels to be colonized and is therefore not so much of a struggle to understand. ...

BDS is a gentle and nonviolent way of persuading Israel to do what is right. It has worked in other similar intractable conflicts like South Africa and there is no reason to suppose it will not work to help resolve the Palestine/Israel injustice.

BDS Toolkit

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: Resisting Apartheid & Racism