BDS Movement: Updated Criteria for Boycotting Israel

After three years of continuous work, the Palestinian National Committee to Boycott “Israel” unveiled the updated boycott and anti-normalization standards. These criteria are based on the document “Defining Normalization” that was approved in 2007 at the first conference of the BDS movement and agreed by the largest Palestinian coalition that included the majority of political forces, trade unions and other civil frameworks, popular unions, refugee rights networks and others. Most important in the updated standards is the Accountability Standard for Standardization, which addresses the question that has buzzed the general Arab public: How do we handle the product / activity of the figures who embarked on standardization and didn’t back down? ?

These standards also included anti-media norms, which took into account international boycott standards and discussions in Palestinian society, as well as within the General Authority of the National Committee for the Boycott of Israel, in addition to the opinions of specialists. These discussions concluded with the adoption of the identity of the audience and the language of broadcasting as two pillars in the formulation of any media standard, with the need to take into account the principle of benefit and harm to the Palestinian cause from each appearance or media debate. The criteria were divided into basic axes: Arab media that host Israeli figures and the position on the appearance of the Arab guest in them, Arab participation in any media meeting, confrontation or debate with Israeli parties through the Arabic-speaking media, and Arab participation in any media debate related to the Palestinian issue with any An Israeli party through non-Arab media. This is in addition to Arab interaction with the Zionist media.
In a related context, the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” movement issued a statement in response to statements by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in which he recently declared that BDS is an “anti-Semitic” organization. BDS said that the administration of US President Donald Trump “is trying to discredit the movement,” emphasizing its principled rejection of all forms of racism, including racism against Jews. And he continued: “They will not criminalize us … the Trump-Netanyahu alliance, which is extremist in its racism and hostility towards the Palestinian people, deliberately confuses the rejection of the occupation regime, colonialism and Israeli apartheid against the Palestinians.” At the same time, he noted that Pompeo’s statement aims to “suppress and silence calls and movements in support of Palestinian rights under international law.” (Click to view the full updated county standards)

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