Campaign: Campaigns categories

The economic boycott of Israel aims to put pressure on Israel to comply with international law and to persuade private companies to end their participation in Israel’s crimes. The Israeli economy is particularly dependent on international trade and investment, making it especially susceptible to international economic boycotts. Many global companies, such as G4S and HP, profit from helping Israel maintain its system of apartheid and settler colonialism. Campaigns against and divestment from international companies increase the pressure on them to end their complicity with Israel’s oppression of Palestinians.

Greenwashing is a marketing tactic used by countries and corporations to deceptively promote themselves as climate-friendly and conceal the fact that their policies and practices actually cause substantial environmental harm. Consequently, greenwashing exacerbates the climate emergency as well as social and ecological injustices.

Local government bodies such as municipal and regional councils play an important role in our political system. Dozens of local authorities across Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, France, the UK, Italy, Belgium and Australia have passed resolutions that support BDS or that pledge not to deal with specific companies targeted by the BDS movement.

Palestinian workers often bear the brunt of Israel’s efforts to undermine the Palestinian economy and its regime of settler colonialism and apartheid. Palestinian trade unions have always played a key role in the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.

Israel systematically and violently denies Palestinian students the right to education. Israel has bombed and raided Palestinians schools and universities. As part of its genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has damaged or destroyed all Palestinian universities in Gaza and destroyed hundreds of schools. Over 90,000 college students in the Gaza Strip have lost access to higher education.

Israel's regime of settler-colonialism and apartheid, which has oppressed Indigenous Palestinians since 1948, prevents Palestinians from practicing their sports. During Israel’s genocidal attacks on Gaza, the Israeli military occupied Al Yarmouk stadium, transforming it into a detention, torture, and interrogation center, before completely destroying it.

Having failed to stop the rise in worldwide support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality, Israel is now launching a desperate and dangerous fight back.

Pinkwashing is an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.  For decades, Israel’s colonial and apartheid regime has robbed, oppressed, ethnically cleansed, impoverished, imprisoned, and killed Palestinians, queer and non-queer alike. As Israel’s far-right government allies itself with homophobic, intolerant, and racist leaders around the world, including Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, and Christians United for Israel (CUFI) leader, pastor John Hagee, who combines antisemitism with Islamophobia, sexism, and homophobia, LGBTQIA+ communities are seeing through the pink smokescreen. There is growing awareness that queer and trans liberation cannot be separated from Palestinian liberation. Anti-pinkwashing activists and groups have pushed Palestinian rights to the forefront of Pride events across the world. More than 100 LGBTQIA+ groups supported the call from Palestinian queers to boycott Eurovision 2019 in apartheid Tel Aviv. Dozens of queer filmmakers have withdrawn or opposed screenings of their films at TLVFest, the Israeli government-sponsored LGBT film festival in Tel Aviv.

Israeli universities are major, willing and persistent accomplices in Israel’s regime of military occupation, settler-colonialism, apartheid, and now genocide.