Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza has thrust the plight of the Palestinian people into the global spotlight. For more than two years, the world has watched Israel inflict mass killings, disease and starvation on the enclave.

Faced with a sense of helplessness, calls are growing for boycotts of Israeli goods, for companies to divest from Israel or its settlements in the occupied West Bank, and for politicians to expand sanctions that some have already imposed on Israeli ministers.

However, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement faces the challenge of a continued focus on Gaza and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, as other world events such as the war in Ukraine and the U.S.-Iran standoff dominate much of the world’s headlines.

Achievements

The war in Gaza has led to Israel facing unprecedented condemnation from around the world.

Israel has launched attacks not only in Gaza, killing more than 70,000 Palestinians, but also in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East, pushing it to near pariah status.

The country’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yove Galant now face the International Criminal Court war crimes warrant.

Domestically, at least two far-right Israeli government ministers, Finance Minister Bezarel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, were also sanctioned. government worldwide.

hanging on top judge The International Court of Justice said in January 2024 that the State of Israel may be involved in genocide in a case brought by South Africa.

Criticism of Israel has also entered mainstream culture in Western countries, especially among young people shocked by the deaths in Gaza.

Importantly, this had economic consequences for Israel and some who did business in Israel – echoing the boycott movement against apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s.

French supermarket chains and other companies Carrefour The company has been forced to close some of its outlets in the Middle East amid public outrage over its links to Israeli companies operating in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Other companies linked to Israeli actions include Airbnb, which allows Israelis in illegal settlements to rent out their properties, and MicrosoftIts Azure cloud services support the Israeli military, but both have faced internal dissent and reputational damage due to their ties to the Israeli government.

Pension funds around the world, including Spain, Norway, Denmark, France and Ireland, have dived from settlement-related Israeli assets or withdrawn investments in Israeli-related companies due to public pressure.

“BDS and boycotts have changed Israel’s global trade landscape,” Avi Balashnikov, chairman of the Israel Export Institute, admitted in September 2024.

“We fight every day, every moment, for Israeli industry abroad,” he added. “The economic boycott and BeiDou organization pose significant challenges and in some countries we are forced to operate under the radar.”

Moving spotlight

Despite U.S. mediation “ceasefireSince the agreement was reached in October, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed more than 500 people, including At least 31 Saturday. The fact that Israel continues to massacre Palestinians while much of the world turns a blind eye highlights the difficulties the BDS movement currently faces and whether it can sustain the energy it has gained.

Nick Cull, a historian at the University of Southern California and an authority on cultural boycotts, told Al Jazeera: “It is not uncommon for boycott compliance to vary depending on the prominence of the issue and the success of specific campaigns designed to raise awareness or promote compliance with the boycott.”

“I think the power of resistance is cumulative,” Carr continued. “Just as advertising associates a brand with good emotions and positive experiences – think of how Coca-Cola has linked their drinks to the idea of ​​friendship for decades – as part of a ‘buy me’ message, the boycott’s ‘don’t buy’ message also becomes a form of negative branding, associating the product and its country of origin with negative emotions: training an aversion impulse rather than engaging in a logical internal debate on the merits of a particular case.”

“Since the ceasefire, a less visible form of genocide has been taking place,” Saleh Hijazi, policy coordinator for the BDS movement, told Al Jazeera, pointing to the growing death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza and the restrictions it has imposed on access to food and medicine.

“Israel and the United States are official partners in this genocide, using the so-called ceasefire to save apartheid Israel from a downward spiral, cleanse its global image and quell international outrage. It is intended to keep the Palestinians out of the headlines, weaken calls for boycotts and sanctions, and make our struggle appear less urgent,” Hijazi said.

lasting damage

However, while media attention may no longer be focused on Gaza, the reputational damage to companies that trade with Israel is growing due to the genocide and new efforts to culturally isolate Israel.

“I still wonder about the brands and artists who violated the boycott during apartheid[South Africa]who were demonized,” Carr added, emphasizing the lasting damage boycotts can do to reputations. “This training of people to respond negatively is what makes the boycott so powerful.”

More initiatives are now underway to try to build on the cultural isolation that many Israelis feel.

one, game over for israelThe group, led by political strategist Ashish Prashar, aims to exclude Israel from European football.

“On September 16, the same day as the United Nations (Commission of Inquiry), we put up a huge billboard in Times Square and launched a campaign to kick Israel out of football. Report The rhetoric about genocide came out,” Prashar said.

“The idea is to appeal to what they call ‘the integrity of the game,'” he said, explaining that the event will continue despite the “ceasefire.” “We are campaigning in the same way as our election strategy. Our next target is to go after UEFA (European football’s governing body) in Switzerland.”

“Ninety percent of the games in Israel are through UEFA,” Prashar said. “Suspending games could help a lot of clubs, their towns and their fans. Just the cost of maintaining an Israeli game… costs a fortune. Most councils can’t afford it. Other stadiums are closed, meaning fans can’t go, clubs lose ticket money, or they get moved, meaning no one makes any money.”

“This has nothing to do with football,” he said. “The problem is not accepting Israel’s normalization. What’s scary is the institutional resistance to it. This shouldn’t be the responsibility of an individual or a small group of activists. This should be the responsibility of the government.”