click for explanation of what the four categories are
We must strategically focus on a relatively smaller number of carefully selected companies and products for maximum impact.
Many of the prohibitively long lists going viral on social media do the exact opposite of this strategic and impactful approach.
We have split these targets into four sections:
1. Consumer boycott targets - The BDS movement calls for a complete boycott of these brands carefully selected due to the company’s proven record of complicity in Israeli apartheid.
2. Divestment and exclusion targets - The BDS movement works to pressure governments, institutions, investment funds, city councils, etc. to exclude from procurement contracts and investments and to divest from, as the case may be, as many complicit companies as practical, especially arms companies and banks. We rely on the following authoritative sources:
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AFSC list of companies that have provided Israel with weapons and other military equipment used in its #GazaGenocide.
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AFSC Investigate database of companies enabling the occupation.
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UN database of businesses involved in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.
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WhoProfits database of Israeli and international corporations profiting from the ongoing Israeli occupation.
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Don’t Buy Into Occupation list of businesses involved in the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise in the OPT in which European financial institutions have investments.
3. Pressure targets - The BDS movement actively calls for pressure campaigns against these targets. This includes boycotts when reasonable alternatives exist, as well as lobbying, peaceful disruptions, and social media pressure.
4. Organic boycott targets - The BDS movement did not initiate these grassroots boycott campaigns but supports them due to these brands’ complicity in Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.
Are these companies doing something specifically to help the Isreali military, or is it just that they operate in large part in Isreal? (and therefore give money through taxes)
In some cases it seems a bit inconsistent, like Siemens is on the list because they’re working to build an undersea cable to allow Israel to integrate with the European electrical grid. Regardless of whether the land is called Israel or Palestine, it helps everyone to reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
Their linked sources talk about Siemens providing traffic infrastructure for Isreali-only roads through the West Bank and transit lines that pass through parts of the West Bank.
Honestly it seems like their sources have put in a lot more effort than they have, they sometimes mention the most trivial things when obviously bad (and internationally illegal) things are simultaneously being done that these companies support they don’t even mention.
the organization hosting the site from my understanding is nonprofit and likely depends on a lot of volunteer work. i think it wouldn’t hurt to send any unclear information or corrections to them so those changes can be made.
read through the linked article; they have individual summaries of each company as well as further sources
Disappointed to see both Alstom and Siemens on the list, I guess I’ll have to get my trains from Stadler from now on.
On an unrelated note, it seems Intel is only on the list because they operate in large part there and are making a new fab (with some support from government grants), but it’s inside the area that Isreal has had internationally recognized as its territory since 1949. Honestly I’m surprised that was all they could find on them - Isreal is known for its computerized surveillance systems and I’m sure a lot of it is powered (or has been in the past) by Intel CPUs.