What is the "BDS" Movement? Should we "Support" it?

What About the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction Movement (BDS)?
Rev. John Kleinheksel, Kairos West Michigan (KWM) blogger

Perhaps you too, have had mixed feelings about the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). What is it? Is it dangerous to the State of Israel? Is it a legitimate nonviolent tactic by civil society to bring human rights to Palestinians in Israel/Palestine? Has it ever “worked” over time and in different places, globally? Should we oppose it? Endorse it?

What I want to do in this article is to 1) hear what Palestinian civil society is saying in their call for BDS; 2) understand what the Israeli lobby has done to twist its meaning here in the US; and 3) be completely conversant with the critique of an informed Jewish commentator, (namely, Brant Rosen).

I WHAT IS THE BDS MOVEMENT?
Here is relevant material from the Palestinian (civil society) organizers of the BDS movement (July 9, 2005):
One year after the historic Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which found Israel's Wall built on occupied Palestinian territory to be illegal. . . .(and) Fifty-seven years after the state of Israel was built mainly on land ethnically cleansed of its Palestinian owners, a majority of Palestinians are refugees, most of whom are stateless. Moreover, Israel's entrenched system of racial discrimination against its own Arab-Palestinian citizens remains intact. . . . In view of the fact that people of conscience in the international community have historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott, divestment and sanctions; and Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid and in the spirit of international solidarity, moral consistency and resistance to injustice and oppression;
We, representatives of Palestinian civil society, call upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era. We appeal to you to pressure your respective states to impose embargoes and sanctions against Israel. We also invite conscientious Israelis to support this Call, for the sake of justice and genuine peace.
These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:
1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.
Even if the BDS movement took root in the US, how effective would it be in bringing the Israeli State to negotiate for Palestinian self-determination with their own State, alongside the Israeli State, adjudicating the “right of return”?

II WHAT IS HOUSE RESOLUTION 246 (HR 246)?
This matter is especially relevant now because recently, the US House passed HR 246, strongly opposing the BDS movement. The vote was 398 – 17.

Boycotts have a long and storied history in the US. The Presbyterians conducted a boycott of a Florida-based tomato processing plant some years ago, bringing that company to the negotiating table resulting in higher pay for the workers. When businesses boycotted the State of South Africa, it had an effect on the Apartheid government there, bringing an end to the institution of Apartheid. (Of course, there is still racial reconciliation work to be done there as well as here in the US).

The voices of traditional Israeli State sympathizers convinced the US Congress that the BDS movement was devised by Israel’s “enemies” to delegitimatize the Israeli State (eliminating Israel’s right to self-determination). [Here is the full text of HR 246]
As the newspaper Haaretz makes clear, House Democrats have been eager to show the US its total support for Israel to counter GOP accusation that “The Squad” (Muslim freshwomen Representatives) defines the Democrat’s luke-warm support for Israel. Not so, the vast majority of the House has declared in passing this Bill! [Read the Haaretz report here, but you may need to subscribe to get the full article!]

III AN ANTI-ZIONIST CRITIQUE OF HR 246
Friend, what we really need is a Pro-Israel, anti-Zionist Jew to educate us about the real meaning of the House vote.
Fortunately, we have such a person. His name is Rabbi Brant Rosen, the Midwest Regional Director for the American Friends Service committee (AFSC), formerly the rabbi of Tzedek synagogue in Chicago (a Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation).

He rightly points out that the real goal of the BDS movement is NOT to exclude the Israeli State “from the economic, cultural an academic life of the rest of the world” (HR 246). Rather, the BDS movement has three goals: 1) to end the occupation; 2) to insist on equal rights for Palestinians; and 3) to recognize the legitimacy of the “right of return” for Palestinian refugees.

So, you who read this report, make up your own mind about the way forward. KWM is committed to providing time and space for the underlying issues in our region to be openly discussed, with a view to bringing adjudication of grievances experienced by both Israelis and Palestinians. KWM is laser-focused on dealing honorably with the growing calls for “justice” for the downtrodden and disrespected.

IV THE CRY FOR HELP FROM OUR PALESTINIAN BROTHERS AND SISTERS
Here is the cry for help from our Palestinians brothers and sisters and the way they couch their call for BDS:

4.2.6 Palestinian civil organizations, as well as international organizations, NGOs and certain religious institutions call on individuals, companies and states to engage in divestment and in an economic and commercial boycott of everything produced by the occupation. We understand this to integrate the logic of peaceful resistance. These advocacy campaigns must be carried out with courage, openly, sincerely proclaiming that their object is not revenge but rather to put an end to the existing evil, liberating both the perpetrators and the victims of injustice. The aim is to free both peoples from extremist positions of the different Israeli governments, bringing both to justice and reconciliation. In this spirit and with this dedication we will eventually reach the longed-for resolution to our problems, as indeed happened in South Africa and with many other liberation movements in the world.

With countless others, Kairos West Michigan will continue to pursue an honest, just and peaceful resolution to the conflict in Israel/Palestine.

Four Views on "The Deal of the Century" (Economic Summit in Bahrain)

Four Views of the Bahrain Economic Summit
(and the “Deal of the Century”)
John Kleinheksel, Kairos W. MI (June 20, 2019)

In preparation for unveiling “The Deal of the Century” to “end the conflict” in Israel/Palestine, the Trump administration is calling for an Economic Summit for Arabs, Israelis, and Palestinians, June 25, 26 in Bahrain.
Palestinian Arabs and most Arab states refuse to come. Israeli leaders have not been invited because of it.

There are at least four views on the meaning of this Summit (and the “Deal of the Century”)

1) The Israeli/US view: One – State, with Palestinians subsumed under Israeli control
Mr. Trump and his associates are billing it as an opportunity for Arabs and Arab Palestinians to boost the viability and effectiveness of a Palestinian-based economy (but tied to Israeli control mechanisms).
As summarized in the Wall Street Journal (May 19, 2019):

Palestinian officials have said they are wary of an effort by the Trump administration that would bring economic relief but doesn't acknowledge their political and national aspirations for an independent state.
“No matter how compelling a picture they paint of what life could be like in Gaza and the West Bank...the fact is you can’t trade Palestinian views on compromises on Jerusalem, statehood and sovereignty for a chicken in every pot, a computer in every house, aid and trade,” said Aaron David Miller, a distinguished fellow at the Wilson Center who has worked on previous U.S. Middle East peace efforts.
The administration is said to be seeking tens of billions of dollars for investment in Gaza and the West Bank as well as neighbors Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon [a Middle East “Marshall Plan”]
The economic plan is modeled after efforts to boost economies in Poland, Japan, Singapore and South Korea with an aim to allow the Palestinians and neighboring countries “to get to a place of self-sufficiency and get to a place to raise their standard of living,” the senior administration official said. [Wall Street source:]

2) A Christian Palestinian View: Two – States side by side, each with “autonomy” in their own space
The Palestinians have rejected it out of hand as it would mean (from their point of view) that they are accepting Israeli control of the One State reality, “relinquishing their right for full sovereignty over the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the right of return”.

In the words of Philip Farah, the Palestinians are still holding out for the Two State solution, with a viable Palestinian State, side by side with Israel, “with all governmental institutions.” In this view, Palestinians can build a Palestinian economy on their own once the barriers of Occupation are removed (Statement by the Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace – PCAP).
Thus, they don’t want to be an economic entity tied to the Israeli economy.

3) A “Liberal Zionist” view: Two – States side by side (e.g., Aaron David Miller)
In a June 18, 2019 statement to CNN, Mr. Miller says “The Real Goal of Jared Kushner’s Peace Plan” (and, by extension, the Economic Summit) is three-fold:
1) Boosting Mr. Trump’s stock with US hardliner supporters of Israel
2) Gutting the Two-State solution
3) Entrenching the status quo in I/P (P. M. Netanyahu’s Likud in charge)

He sees Mr. Trump as fully supporting the present One State Israeli State under P.M. Netanyahu, and condescending to the Palestinians (who fully realize the US has no intention of pursuing the “Two-State”.)

But for all his erudition and knowledge about the Middle East, Mr. Miller has no suggestion as to a way forward, other than Mr. Trump “throw(ing) his support behind a candidate who is serious [about peacemaking]. There is NO such Israeli Prime Minister candidate that wants a Two-State solution. Here is his CNN article:

4) A Kairos view: One State with liberty and justice for all (Mark Braverman, KUSA Executive Director)
1) The Two-State never was a viable option (given the hard-nosed Zionist philosophy of controlling the One State, from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River)
2) The US has never been an honest broker (the US has ALWAYS favored Israelis dominance)

In questioning Mr. Miller’s point of view, Mr. Braverman asks: “Is he asking for more effort to negotiate for the Two-State solution? Then we are “wasting our time with him”. Negotiating for a Two-State solution “is always a snare and delusion; it’s a dead end”, (post from Mr. Braverman to John Kleinheksel, June 20, 2019).

Strongly implied in this view is the need for BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) to apply “economic and political pressure brought against Israel” [as with S. Africa] (post to John Kleinheksel, June 20, 2019).

Thus, the Kairos USA position is to convince the Palestinians to give up the notion of the Two-State and hold Israelis accountable for bringing liberty and justice for all in One pluralistic (secular) Democratic State as here: [You have to do a search for "One Democratic State"]

Americans need to learn first-hand of the oppression experienced by Arab Palestinians, in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem (to say nothing about the second-class citizenship experienced by Arab Israelis, 21% of the population of Israel, who have minimal representation in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.)

Thanks to Mazin Qumsiyeh, we have a graphic look at how Israel has expanded its control over all of historic Palestine, all the while claiming Arab terrorists want to control “all” of it. Click here and explore what B’tselem, an Israeli human rights organization in Israel has now made clear.

Posted by John Kleinheksel, Executive Director, Kairos W. MI

Better Use of This Blog

Dear Friend,
I see I have been neglecting to post relevant material on this blog.
The reason is simply that I've invested more energy in Kairos West Michigan, the movement/community we are building in W. MI.

Please follow us on our new Website: and the blog we have there.

BTW, MUSALAHA is a Messianic Jewish organization that has both Jesus believing Jews and Jesus believing Arab Palestinians. You can imagine the challenge of being in fellowship with each other. But our common Lord, Jesus, is the uniting personality that enables Jews and Arabs in the land of our Lord, to really be in touch with each other's narratives and forge bridges instead of strengthening the walls that divide.

There are some exciting new initiatives we are working on in KWM. Be part of our community. Learn with us. Travel with us.
Advocate with us. Help us elevate the Palestinian narrative that is regularly smothered by the frenetic efforts of the Israeli lobby that insists that only the Israeli narrative be the predominant one that is heard. Thanks for checking in. John

Resilience in a Time of Escalating Violence

Friend,
This is the report of one of our collegues on the ground: Salim Munayer, of MUSALAHA.
It came out on March 29, 2019. It represents the kind of wrestling that we in Kairos West Michigan affirm.


Resilience in Time of Escalating Violence
As the time drew near for the public affairs leaders’ seminar, which took place this past weekend in Athens, we at Musalaha began to worry about the mounting tensions in the land. Nonetheless, we continued planning for the weekend meeting. Almost every other day we could hear shooting and saw news of killings. We felt concerned because in the past when things got tense and violence escalated, people withdrew and didn’t want to participate until things quieted down. The participants of our groups face pressure from family and friends not to come meet together with “the other.” The tension and violence in our country continued to escalate to a high level. However, to our joy and encouragement, the members of the group were determined to come and meet with each other, to share and listen to one another.

This group of public affairs leaders had previously met several times at a desert encounter weekend and a couple of other weekend seminars. They had already begun to develop relationship and trust. They had already gone through our identity seminar and were ready for the upcoming seminar about historical narrative. This seminar is usually the most difficult. The historical narrative seminar is one of the milestones in the stages of reconciliation for Musalaha and is usually the most heated, emotionally charged and difficult to facilitate. Talking about historical narrative can become heated and emotional because it examines and challenges the stories of history we’ve been told by our schools, communities, and families that have formed our worldview and our individual and collective identities. History is rarely taught in objective bullet point form but is weaved into a story that gives meaning to our identity, therefore becoming a narrative. Narratives are useful for motivating people to action and giving them a sense meaning and belonging. The historical narratives we believe tell us who we are, who our enemies are, why our enemies are wrong and we are right, and inspire loyalty to our group. In instances of conflict, especially ours, there are often many narratives that conflict with each other.

In the seminar on historical narrative, not only do they learn about historical narrative, but they also have to write down the two main narratives and work in groups to present each other’s narratives. The purpose is not only to process their own narratives and see the challenges to it but also to see the gap between the historical narrative they’ve been living by and that of the other group. Seeing and understanding this gap is very important to illuminate to people the shortcomings about their narrative. Many times when the groups present, they make statements that aren’t true and reveal their biases. They resort to denial, rejection, and blaming. The two groups ask difficult questions aimed at each other. Things can get charged quickly and people shut down.

With this group, there were many challenging questions, but they were answered with openness and civility which was encouraging; however, it was still emotionally draining. Unfortunately, many times the groups stop here at attempting to understand each other’s narratives. However, with this group, we were able to facilitate the creation of a joint narrative for the Israelis and Palestinians. To my joy, this group was able to create a joint, common narrative that they could build together. For example, they discussed creating a shared narrative of being in and living in the land together. Points they had in common were that both communities have experienced exile, both have felt betrayed by the international community, and both dislike the current situation of segregation, suffering from their political leaders, and the current cycle of fear and violence perpetuated by extremists on both sides. Lastly, they talked about how they want to turn conflicting narratives about 1948, which for Israelis is the year Israel gained independence and for Palestinians is the year of Nakba or catastrophe, into a new narrative that bridges the two. They showed great maturity and resilience. They also agreed to continue meeting and are determined to start a joint project.

Did we solve the Conflict this weekend? No. We didn’t expect to. But we DID help 20 community leaders find their way through the emotionally charged discussion that brings us one step closer to reconciliation. Who knows if one of these people will be a leader of their political party and help to give us all a better future?

By Salim J. Munayer, Ph.D

Executive Director