For almost 11 years, a broad alliance of the Palestinian civil society has called for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, similar to what the Anti-Apartheid movement did in relation to South Africa.
The BDS Movement aims to build up pressure on companies, institutions and states in order to achieve sanctions and embargos against Israel, as well as publicly denounce international and Israeli corporations, which participate in the violation of International Law by Israel. The Palestinian-led BDS Movement also invites Israelis to support the BDS call, for the sake of peace based on justice.
We want address how the BDS Movement is perceived in Israel and Germany. Because of this, we have invited Ronnie Barkan, a co-founder of the Israeli group “Boycott!! Supporting the BDS Call from Within”, to discuss the BDS Campaign with its critics.
During the preparation of this year’s “Revolutionary May 1st Demonstration”, representatives of the Ecological left (Ökologische Linke) and the ÖkoLinX-ARL called the international BDS-Kampagne and BDS Berlin anti-Semitic and called for the exclusion from the coalition. While the majority of the present groups have rejected the motion, others have abstained from voting.
We want to take the occasion to lead a long overdue discussion on the international BDS Campaign, which is perceived outside of Germany as a self-evident, integral part of emancipatory movements. For this, an open panel discussion will take place, to which we explicitly also invite BDS critics and skeptics. We wish for an open and respectful discussion with each other. This should allow a discourse, in which the various positions and their implications become clear.
BDS Berlin, kontakt@bdsberlin.org
The event will be held in English and German.