Sabine Sterk: What BDS Really Stands For and Who It Hurts Most
The Cost of Boycotts: What BDS Really Stands For and Who It Hurts Most
In recent years, the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has presented itself as a moral campaign for “justice” and “human rights.” It markets itself as a peaceful grassroots effort to pressure Israel. But when you look closer at its origins, its actions, and its outcomes a very different picture emerges. BDS is not a movement for coexistence or peace. It is a political weapon designed to isolate Israel, even at the expense of the very Palestinians it claims to defend.
Who Founded BDS and Why Does It Matter?
The BDS movement was formally launched in 2005, led by Omar Barghouti, a long-time anti-normalization activist. Barghouti is not a neutral human rights advocate; he openly rejects the existence of the Jewish state under any borders. His stated goal is not peace, compromise, or a two-state solution. He has said repeatedly that he opposes Israel “as a Jewish state,” even while choosing to live and study inside Israel.
BDS was built on a political ideology, not humanitarian concern. Its founders never hid the intention: to delegitimize Israel until it disappears as a Jewish nation-state. Everything else, the slogans, the campaigns, the boycotts, is a strategy toward that end.
Selective Outrage: Why Only Israel?
One of the biggest red flags in the BDS movement is its selective outrage.
There are over 70 ongoing territorial disputes around the world, but not a single global boycott campaign targets any of them.
Some regimes systematically jail dissidents, silence journalists, repress women, and persecute minorities.
Yet Israel, the only democracy in the region, the only place where women, Arabs, LGBTQ citizens, Christians, and Jews have equal rights, is singled out for boycotts, sanctions, and international pressure.
This double standard is not a coincidence. It is political. Israel is judged by rules not applied to any other nation. That is not human rights advocacy; it is discrimination.
The Human Cost: How BDS Hurts Palestinians First
BDS often claims to act “in solidarity with Palestinians,” but its track record shows the opposite.
When international companies face boycott pressure, they leave. And the first people to lose their jobs are local Palestinian workers.
The clearest example is SodaStream.
The company employed both Israelis and Palestinians side by side, a model of coexistence and shared economic benefit. Under intense BDS pressure, the factory was moved from the West Bank to southern Israel. More than 500 Palestinian workers immediately lost their jobs and stable incomes. Many described SodaStream as one of the best jobs they had ever had, with fair pay and shared workspaces that built relationships rather than destroyed them.
BDS leaders called this outcome a “victory.”
Workers called it devastating.
This is not an isolated case. Every time BDS targets an Israeli business that employs Palestinians, whether in agriculture, manufacturing, construction, or logistics, it is Palestinian families who lose stability first.
Boycotts don’t build futures.
They take them away.
Why Does BDS Push Boycotts That Also Hurt Arabs?
Because BDS is not a movement centered on people’s lives, it is centered on political pressure.
Its priority is to weaken Israel, no matter the collateral damage.
The movement openly rejects cooperation programs, joint economic zones, academic exchanges, shared business ventures, and civil society partnerships, all the things proven to reduce tensions and create opportunities for Palestinian advancement.
BDS leaders call cooperation “normalization.”
But normalization is exactly what peace requires: working together, benefiting together, building trust together.
The Economic Reality: Boycotts Don’t Bring Peace
Israel’s economy is resilient, innovative, and global. Most BDS campaigns have minimal impact on overall Israeli growth but they do damage specific industries, especially those integrated with Palestinian labor.
The result?
- Israeli companies relocate.
- Palestinian jobs disappear.
- Mutual trust erodes.
Instead of building bridges, BDS burns them.
Peace has never been built by boycotts, hatred, or walls between people. Peace is built by cooperation, by creating opportunities where Israelis and Palestinians work, live, trade, and innovate together.
A Better Path Forward
It is time to replace boycott activism with reality-based advocacy:
- Encourage joint industrial zones.
- Empower Palestinian workers through stable employment.
- Promote dialogue, not division.
- Support initiatives where Israelis and Arabs partner as equals.
If the goal is a future where both people thrive, then the answer was never boycotts. It is cooperation.
Boycotts don’t build peace. Cooperation does.
The BDS movement hurts the very people it claims to help. It’s time to stand up for truth, for coexistence, and for a future built on partnership and not destruction.
About Time To Stand Up for Israel
Time To Stand Up for Israel is an independent foundation dedicated to fighting misinformation, countering antisemitism, and providing clear, fact-based education about Israel. We do not engage in internal Israeli politics. We stand on two core principles: Israel has the right to exist. Israel has the duty to defend itself. Support our work: Donate and/or subscribe at: www.timetostandupforisrael.com
