How I became pro BDS

Events have a far reaching impact.
People share them on social media, writers and journalists report and
visualise them, historians contextualise them, social scientists analyse them
and philosophers and intellectuals interpret them.

Recently, Israeli and international agencies extensively reported on the BDS (Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions) movement against the Israeli occupation. Back in 2005, BDS was founded
by Palestinians to pressure Israel to end the occupation, adopting non-violent
means. At the time negligible, if any, concern was paid to BDS and
Israeli officials claimed
it would not work.

Nowadays, the Israeli far right and
Zionists view BDS as an existential
threat to Israel, calling for war against the movement and its activists. The
main goal of BDS is to end Israel’s occupation and colonisation of Arab land;
dismantle the Wall, recognise the fundamental rights of Arab-Palestinian
citizens in Israel; and respect, protect and promote the right of Palestinian
refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in the UN
resolution 194.

The idea of BDS is admirable as a
non-violent campaign, and the disappointment that motivated the call for BDS is
clear. After more than fifteen years of negotiations, uninterrupted settlement
expansion, increasing segregation and growing racism against the Palestinian
citizens of Israel, there was a need for a new strategy that held Israel
accountable for its actions, and pushed for a peaceful settlement between
Israel and Palestine.

I was extremely skeptical about the BDS movement’s
agenda for a very long time. I was against boycotting Israeli products and
academics, due to lack of official support from western governments and
civil society organisations. Besides, my fear was that the aim was to engage
Palestinians in collaborations with Israelis who reject the basic rights of Palestinian
refugees in the diaspora, by seeking alternative and secondary solutions to prevent
their right of return.

Moreover, the ambiguity of BDS’ goals suggested
that it was a weak initiative, in my opinion. However, after many years, I now
see how effective it can be, as it engages those who support a one-state
solution, like myself, as well as those who are in favor of a two-state
solution.

I do not define myself as a pro-Palestinian
activist; rather, as a person who is Palestinian born to Palestinian parents,
and who has inherited the legacy, culture and suffrage of Palestinians.
Moreover, I adopt the notion of ‘Palestinianism’ where free men and women
defend and stand by the oppressed against the violation of human rights everywhere.

My views shifted last March, when I went,
as a Swedish-Palestinian academic born in the Gaza Strip, on a visit to the Middle East. Our goal was to build cooperation networks
with academic institutions in the region, which included Egypt, Jordan and
Palestine.

After prosperous meetings in both Egypt
and Jordan, I traveled over Allenby Bridge to the West Bank (the only connection
it has to the outside world) to meet scholars, independent researchers and
professors at the three main universities in the West Bank.

When I arrived at the bridge, I was
supposed to cross the border with no restrictions. Even though I am a Swedish citizen, the Israeli army, intelligence and security agencies showed me how dreadful is to wait, be interrogated, yelled at, and
inhumanly treated.

What I witnessed at the hands of the Israeli
authorities was horrifying, unbearable and unacceptable harassment. I was held for more than seven hours in a room where I was interrogated
by the Shabak, Shin Beit, Israeli army and border control about myself, my
family, my childhood, the purpose of the visit and how I got out of
Sweden.

They denied my entry into the West Bank
under the pretext of “prevention of illegal immigration”. Seriously? And the
second reason was my "security and public safety" threat.

Do they really think that an academic could possibly be harmful and/or threatening?
Is my pen dangerous? Or my Palestinian roots?

This is one of the reasons I now support
BDS. The other is Israel’s recent elections. By voting for
Netanyahu’s radical far-right coalition, Israeli society is sending a clear
message that they support racism, discrimination, and the occupation.

But why I do believe that BDS may
actually work?

Durable and just peace and coexistence
cannot be achieved by arbitrary and discriminatory policies, but by allowing
dialogue through various channels. By denying Palestinian academics and
students the right to travel to different parts of the world to pursue their
academic journeys, Israel incites more violence and increases frustration among
Palestinians.

International political pressure on the
Israeli government has not achieved anything. Non-violent pressure will affect every
voter in Israel. They will only start to react to their government’s policies
as soon as they themselves are affected by their own government’s policies and
discriminations.

When an Israeli academic is not invited
to participate in a conference, denied opportunity to publish in academic
journals under the name of an Israeli institution, then he/she will feel what it
is like to be deprived of your basic rights. The same applies to businessmen
who invest in the occupied territories, then sell their products as Israeli in
Europe or the USA.

BDS is the only option left for the
Palestinians, their supporters and the international activists that defend a
peaceful solution to these major human rights violations. We must expand BDS
activities to engage as many people and sectors as possible. This message needs
to be sent to every Israeli: they are paying the price for what they do to
Palestinians.

Yes, it may take ten or twenty years to
achieve something tangible, but more than twenty years were lost as the
Palestinians tried to negotiate their portion of the pizza—the West Bank.

For real change to take place, every
Israeli must feel the effects of the BDS movement, as peace is not achievable
with a state that considers itself above international law.