Key Quotes on BDS

[1] “Ultimately, BDS aims to turn Israel into a pariah” –Omar Barghouti, co-founder of BDS 

[2] “We oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine… [only] a sellout Palestinian would accept a Jewish state in Palestine.” – Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS Movement

[3] “Good riddance! The two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israel conflict is finally dead. But someone has to issue an official death certificate before the rotting corpse is given a proper burial and we can all move on and explore the more just, moral and therefore enduring alternative… the one-state solution… where, by definition Jews will be a minority” - Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS Movement

[4] “BDS does mean the end to the Jewish State” -Ahmed Moor, Leading BDS Activist

ISRAEL IS AN APARTHEID STATE

“Israel practices apartheid by segregating Palestinians and denying them equal rights, akin to South Africa’s apartheid system”

  • Legal Status: In Israel proper (within pre-1967 borders), Arab citizens of Israel have full voting rights, access to education, and representation in the Knesset (Israel's parliament). Several Arab Israelis hold high-ranking positions in Israeli society, including in the judiciary and healthcare sectors.

  • Comparison to South Africa: South Africa's apartheid laws explicitly segregated races and denied basic rights. In contrast, Israel has laws prohibiting racial and religious discrimination.

  • West Bank Context: The situation in the West Bank is complex, stemming from a disputed territory issue, not racial segregation. The restrictions there are linked to ongoing security concerns, particularly stemming from violent conflicts and terrorism

ISRAEL COMMITS GENOCIDE AGAINST PALESTINIANS

“Israel's military operations and policies are aimed at eradicating the Palestinian population”

  • Population Growth: The Palestinian population in Gaza and the West Bank has grown exponentially since 1948, contradicting claims of genocide.

  • Unlike genocidal campaigns in history, Israel actively implements measures to avoid civilian harm, including issuing advance warnings via text messages, phone calls, and leaflets before strikes. These efforts, widely recognized by military analysts and governments, demonstrate a clear intent to minimize civilian casualties rather than indiscriminately target the Palestinian population.

  • Hamas has a well-documented history of embedding its military infrastructure within densely populated areas, using human shields, and storing weapons in schools, hospitals, and mosques. The group has even threatened civilians to prevent them from evacuating after Israeli warnings of strikes. This deliberate tactic not only endangers Palestinian lives but also manipulates international opinion by maximizing civilian casualties.

  • This conflict has caused immense suffering on both sides. False claims of genocide do not contribute to a meaningful understanding of the situation. Instead, they serve as propaganda tools that embolden Hamas to continue its strategy of maximizing Palestinian civilian casualties so that international pressure mounts against Israel. This ultimately prolongs the suffering of both Israelis and Palestinians.

ISRAEL IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN GAZA

“Israel's blockade of Gaza has created severe humanitarian conditions”

  • Security Concerns: The blockade is a response to Hamas, a terrorist organization ruling Gaza, which has launched thousands of rockets into Israel and has a history of diverting resources to fund its terror operations. The blockade is designed to prevent weapons smuggling while allowing humanitarian aid.

  • Egypt’s Role: The blockade is jointly enforced with Egypt, which controls Gaza’s southern border. Egypt shares security concerns about Hamas due to its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, and its potential support for militant activity in the Sinai Peninsula. In other words, the blockade is not solely an Israeli policy but a regional security measure..

  • Humanitarian Aid: Israel facilitates the transfer of thousands of tons of goods and medical supplies into Gaza weekly. It has also approved infrastructure projects, such as water and electricity improvements, in collaboration with international agencies.

  • Innocent civilians should not have to endure this blockade, and the way to end the blockade is to pressure Hamas to prioritize the well-being of its people and the development of infrastructure over destruction of Israel. Pressuring Israel to end the blockade would only embolden Hamas to continue its abuses.

BDS DOESN’T TARGET JEWISH PEOPLE, ONLY ISRAEL

“BDS is a political movement against Israeli policies, not against Jewish people”

  • Israel’s security policies, such as checkpoints and border controls, exist to counter terrorism and incitement. Hamas terrorism from Gaza, attacks by other factions in the West Bank, and incitement by the Palestinian Authority (PA) have made these measures necessary. For these policies to end, the violence must stop—which requires pressure on Hamas, the PA, and other groups to abandon terrorism and incitement, not pressure on Israel to ignore security threats. BDS does the opposite: it absolves Palestinian leadership of responsibility and incentivizes them to continue rejectionism instead of seeking peace.

  • BDS is not merely about protesting Israeli policies—it is rooted in the rejection of Israel’s existence. On October 8, just one day after Hamas’s massacre of over 1,200 Israeli civilians, the BDS organization published a statement [5]calling the attack “heroic” and “reasonable.” Even after amending their statement [6]—claiming they were hacked—they still referred to Hamas’s mass murder as "powerful." This is a clear indication that the organization supported the attack, which primarily targeted innocent civilians.

  • BDS is not a human rights movement. According to the New York Times, “terrorist organizations, including Hamas" are part of the Boycott National Committee, which leads the BDS campaign globally. [7]

ISRAEL is a colonial state

“Israel is a colonial project imposed on the Middle East by Western powers”

  • Israel is the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, where they developed a unique civilization over 3,000 years ago. Historical and archaeological evidence confirms an unbroken Jewish connection to the land. Colonization implies foreign occupation—but no people can colonize their own indigenous homeland. This false narrative erases Jewish history and is often weaponized to justify violence, including Hamas’s massacre of civilians. Both Jews and Palestinians have legitimate ties to the land and a right to self-determination.

  • The United Nations endorsed Israel’s establishment in 1947, recognizing Jewish self-determination. This was not an imperial conquest but a legal process following the British Mandate and decades of Jewish immigration, driven largely by persecution. Unlike colonial powers that imposed rule over indigenous populations, Israel was built by Jewish refugees with no other homeland, who developed communities and built the nation. Far from serving a colonial empire, Jewish militias actively resisted British rule, seeking independence rather than imperial control.

  • Colonizers typically exploit foreign lands for the benefit of a distant imperial power. Israel, in contrast, was established by Jews returning to their indigenous homeland, building institutions from the ground up. There was no metropole or empire controlling Israel—it was founded by a stateless people seeking refuge and self-determination. Additionally, many Jews in Israel today descend from Mizrahi and Sephardic communities expelled from Arab and Muslim lands, not European settlers. The claim of colonization distorts history to delegitimize Jewish rights while ignoring the complex realities of the conflict.

  • Israel’s territorial gains came from defensive wars, not colonization. In 1948 and 1967, Israel was attacked by surrounding Arab nations seeking its destruction. As a result, it captured land—which international law considers disputed, not colonized. Moreover, Israel has repeatedly returned land for peace, withdrawing from Sinai, Gaza, and parts of the West Bank. Colonial powers do not return land to their adversaries—Israel has.

BDS supports palestinian self-determination

“Palestinians have the right to self-determination, and BDS is a legitimate way to support that right”

  • Two-State Solution: The international community, including Israel, has supported a two-state solution as the framework for Palestinian self-determination. BDS, by opposing Israel's existence as a Jewish state, undermines this framework (see key quotes)

  • Hindrance to Peace: BDS does not differentiate between Israel's proper and disputed territories, rejecting any compromise necessary for self-determination to coexist with Israel's sovereignty.

  • Supporting Palestinian self-determination does not require supporting BDS, which rejects the two-state solution and instead seeks the elimination of Israel. The Boycott National Committee (BNC), which leads the global BDS movement, includes Hamas—a U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist organization that openly calls for Israel’s destruction. BDS does not campaign for a peaceful Palestinian state but rather for the dismantling of Israel.

  • Israelis and Palestinians both deserve self-determination, and a negotiated solution is the only viable path to peace. BDS falsely frames these as mutually exclusive, ignoring the reality that multiple Israeli governments have supported a two-state solution, while Palestinian leadership—including groups within BDS—have repeatedly rejected it. A movement truly committed to Palestinian rights would support coexistence, not Israel’s destruction.

the us finds israel’s oppression of palestinians

“U.S. military aid enables Israel to oppress Palestinians and perpetuate the conflict”

  • U.S. aid to Israel is largely for defensive purposes. The U.S. and Israel jointly develop advanced military technologies, including missile defense systems like Iron Dome, David’s Sling, and Arrow, which protect civilians from rocket attacks and have broader applications for U.S. defense. Israel is also a leader in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and unmanned aerial systems, contributing critical innovations that enhance U.S. military capabilities. This technology has saved both Israeli and Palestinian lives by preventing escalation

  • Ending U.S. aid to Israel, including funding for the Iron Dome, would not only lead to more civilian deaths in Israel but also embolden hostile actors like Iran and its proxies to escalate violence. Israel serves as a frontline defense against terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and ISIS, which threaten both American interests and regional stability. It also plays a key role in countering Iranian aggression, deterring Tehran’s influence across the Middle East. By supporting Israel’s defense capabilities, the U.S. strengthens an ally that helps contain hostile forces, reducing the need for direct American military intervention. Israeli intelligence and counterterrorism efforts have directly saved American lives by thwarting terror plots and disrupting extremist networks.

  • Aid to Israel significantly benefits the U.S. economy, as Israel is required to spend the majority of these funds on American-made military goods and services. This generates billions in defense contracts and creates thousands of American jobs in industries ranging from aerospace to cybersecurity. Additionally, while critics focus on U.S. aid to Israel, the U.S. also provides substantial aid to Palestinians, funding humanitarian and economic initiatives in the West Bank and Gaza.

  • Opinion polls show that Americans overestimate how much foreign aid America gives. Foreign aid is around 1% [8] of America’s federal budget and is spent in over 200 countries. Foreign aid is not given at the expense of American schools, healthcare, or other social services. The federal budget is divided into two categories; mandatory and discretionary spending. Two-thirds of spending is mandatory, and the rest is discretionary. Discretionary spending includes America’s foreign aid budget, and it must be approved each year by Congress and the President. 

ISRAEL violates international law by occupying palestinian territories

“Israel's presence in the West Bank is illegal, and its settlements violate international law”

  • Israel gained control of the West Bank during the 1967 Six-Day War, a defensive conflict against Arab nations seeking its destruction. Prior to 1967, the West Bank was controlled by Jordan and Gaza by Egypt—neither territory belonged to a Palestinian state. Notably, Jordan’s control of the West Bank from 1948 to 1967 was never internationally recognized, and no Palestinian state was established during that time. Israel fully, unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

  • The status of the West Bank remains disputed under international law. UN Security Council Resolution 242 does not declare Israel’s presence illegal but calls for negotiations to determine final borders in the context of a peace settlement. The 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention is often cited in arguments against settlements, but legal scholars dispute whether it applies to the West Bank, as the territory was won in a defensive war against Jordan, who had illegally annexed it prior to 1967.

  • Israel has made multiple offers to withdraw from most of the West Bank and establish a Palestinian state—including at Camp David (2000) and the Olmert proposal (2008). Each time, Palestinian leadership rejected the offers or failed to agree due to unresolved issues like security arrangements and recognition of Israel. Israel has shown willingness to negotiate, but Palestinian leaders have refused every proposal for statehood that required recognition of Israel and security guarantees.

  • Israel’s security presence in the West Bank is a direct response to ongoing terrorism and incitement, not an effort to oppress Palestinians. Terror groups such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and factions of the PA’s own Fatah movement have carried out suicide bombings, shootings, and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians. In response, Israel has implemented checkpoints, the security barrier, and military operations to prevent these attacks and protect its citizens. While these measures impose hardships, they exist because Palestinian leadership has failed to stop terrorism and incitement. For these security policies to end, the violence must stop—which requires pressure not just on Israel, but on Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, and other factions to abandon terrorism and rejectionism. Blaming only Israel ignores the role of Palestinian leadership in perpetuating the conflict.

ISRAEL denies palestinians the right of return

“Palestinian refugees and their descendants have a right to return to their homes in what is now Israel”

  • The term "right of return" is often presented as a humanitarian issue, but both Western and Palestinian leaders have acknowledged that its true goal is the dismantling of Israel as a Jewish state. Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the BDS movement, has explicitly stated, "Definitely, most definitely we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine... A return for refugees would end Israel." Even President Barack Obama recognized this reality, acknowledging that "There’s no magic formula, there’s no right of return, there’s no way that Israel is going to go back to the pre-1967 borders... That’s not realistic." While Western diplomats sometimes use the right of return as a negotiation point, Palestinian leadership sees it as a tool to achieve Israel’s demographic collapse.

  • One of the most overlooked aspects of the Palestinian refugee issue is its historical precedent. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, around 750,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were displaced, while a similar number of Jews were expelled from Arab countries. Unlike other refugee populations, however, Palestinian refugees were given a unique, inherited refugee status, meaning that their descendants—regardless of where they are born or whether they acquire citizenship elsewhere—continue to be counted as refugees. This is why even individuals like Bella and Gigi Hadid, born in the U.S. as citizens, are still considered Palestinian refugees. By contrast, Jewish refugees from Arab lands do not claim a "right of return" because they were absorbed into Israel. The Palestinian refugee issue is distinct because it remains the only case where refugee status is passed down indefinitely, ensuring that the number of claimants only grows over time rather than diminishes through resettlement.

  • The most fundamental issue with the demand for a mass return of Palestinian refugees and their descendants is that it would eliminate Israel’s Jewish majority and end Jewish self-determination. Self-determination applies to both peoples, and a solution must ensure that neither Israelis nor Palestinians are left stateless or vulnerable. Today, if millions of Palestinian refugees were allowed to "return," Israel would become a Jewish minority state, placing Jews at the mercy of leadership that has a documented history of antisemitism. Hamas explicitly calls for Israel’s destruction in its charter, and the Palestinian Authority continues to glorify terrorism against Israelis.

  • Throughout history, large-scale population displacements caused by war and conflict have typically been resolved through resettlement, not mass return. Following World War II, millions of ethnic Germans were expelled from Eastern Europe, and over 14 million Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims were displaced during the partition of India and Pakistan. In these and countless other cases, refugee populations were integrated into new societies rather than being indefinitely preserved as refugees. The expectation that Israel should absorb millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants is unprecedented and ignores how nearly all other refugee crises have been resolved.

israel refuses to negotiate peace with the palestinians

“Israel consistently blocks peace efforts and refuses to engage in meaningful negotiations”

  • Historical Record: Israel accepted the Peel Commission, the Partition Plan, and has participated in numerous peace negotiations, including the Camp David Summit (2000), The Olmert Peace Plan in 2008, and multiple rounds mediated by the U.S. Each time, significant territorial compromises were offered, but agreements fell through due to issues like Palestinian rejection of terms or internal political divisions.

  • Unilateral Withdrawals: Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005, dismantling settlements and military presence. Rather than fostering peace, this led to increased rocket attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza.

  • For peace to succeed, there must be willingness from both sides to negotiate and commit to a lasting solution. While some point to increased Israeli skepticism toward negotiations, this is largely a response to decades of terrorism, incitement, and repeated rejections of peace offers. Palestinian terrorism—including attacks by Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Fatah-linked groups—has eroded trust and made Israeli leaders more cautious about concessions.

  • Moving forward, the focus should be on creating an environment that fosters trust, rather than emboldening bad actors. Rewarding groups that engage in violence, the way BDS does, only discourages compromise, while pressuring both sides to engage in good-faith negotiations is the only viable path toward peace.

ISRAEL enforces a blockade on gaza, causing poverty and suffering

“The blockade deprives Gaza of essential resources and economic opportunities”

  • Dual Blockade: Egypt also enforces a blockade on Gaza, driven by similar security concerns regarding Hamas.

  • Permitted Aid: Israel facilitates significant humanitarian aid, allowing food, medicine, and fuel into Gaza. Restrictions are specific to materials that can be used for weapons or tunnels.

  • Before Hamas declared war by massacring Israeli civilians on October 7th, 2023, Israel was delivering thousands of tons of food, medical supplies, and other aid to Gaza every single week. Israel has also allowed tens of thousands of Gazans to travel to Israeli hospitals for medical care and given more water than required under international agreements. Furthermore, Israel was providing 50% of Gaza's electricity for free, according to Professor Elai Rettig [9], Head of the Energy Division at the Begin-Sadat Center. The rest was generated locally in Gaza.  

  • Israeli deliveries of water represent a very small portion of Gaza's total water supply [10], according to the NGO EcoPeace Middle East. However, Gaza's water infrastructure has been harmed by Hamas mismanagement, their endless war against Israel, and their terrorists digging up water pipes and using them to build rockets. [11]

  • Palestinian civilians in Gaza still suffer tremendous hardships due to hostilities between Hamas and Israel. However, blaming Israel and failing to hold Hamas accountable only fuels more suffering, instead of helping to end it.

israel exploits palestinian natural resources

“Israel controls Palestinian water, land, and other resources, depriving them of economic independence”

  • Shared Management Agreements: Water resources are managed under the Oslo Accords, with allocations agreed upon by both parties. Israel supplies more water to Palestinians than the agreement mandates.

  • Economic Challenges: Resource disputes are tied to broader political issues. Efforts to improve Palestinian economic autonomy often face setbacks from corruption and governance challenges within the Palestinian Authority and Hamas in Gaza.