BDS as the baseline of solidarity: toward a model of co-struggling with Palestinians in their movement for justice and liberation

Abstract

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has made enormous gains for the Palestine solidarity movement by raising political consciousness about Palestine, shifting the public discourse and debate, as well as making inroads into municipal and federal advocacy. BDS has popularized solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for justice and self-determination by offering a means of taking action through a coherent set of tactics and demands and by articulating the movement in universally understood framework of human rights and international law. Whereas BDS has been the dominant strategy for supporting the Palestinian struggle for justice and liberation, it is one method of solidarity among others aimed at growing the abilities of Palestinians to be their own protagonists in the fight for their rights, national aspirations, and return to their homeland. This article argues that to address the conditions subduing Palestinian self-organizing, BDS efforts must be paralleled by additional strategies to bolster Palestinian movement-building and restore broad, participatory Palestinian leadership. Drawing from these experiences and the multiple spaces grappling with this question, the author offers four key ways that Palestine solidarity efforts can further shift from a model of solidarity to a model of co-struggling with Palestinians globally. In doing so, advocates for Palestinian freedoms can more effectively link anti-colonial modes of resistance—those intended to apply pressure to and weaken the colonial regime—with a decolonial praxis that enables Palestinians to cultivate their own methods toward rebuilding their society. Building on BDS as the baseline for solidarity, the author argues that solidarity activists can further strengthen the Palestinian liberation movement by working to reverse the conditions imposed by the Oslo Accords through understanding and confronting Zionism; centering Palestinian political prisoners and refugees in our work; endorsing alternative and independent funding models; and supporting Palestinian community organizing.