Three Years of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Against Israeli Apartheid

Three years ago today, Palestinian civil society issued a call for the rest of the world to support them by boycotting, divesting from, and sanctioning Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights. This call for campaigns of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) was issued on the one-year anniversary of the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion ruling Israel 's apartheid wall illegal.

The US Campaign is proud to say that we've answered this call for BDS. In addition to our ongoing work to stop Caterpillar from selling the D-9 bulldozers to the Israeli military, we've launched a corporate accountability campaign focused on Motorola.

Last year, at our national conference, US Campaign member groups voted to launch our Hang Up on Motorola project to boycott Motorola, as it profits from Israeli occupation and human rights abuses by:

* Selling Israel fuses for aerial munitions such as the kind of bombs dropped in its 2006 war with Lebanon .
* Providing the "Mountain Rose" communication system that the Israeli military uses in the Occupied Territories .
* Providing surveillance systems at 47 illegal Israeli settlements as well as along the illegal apartheid wall

Since our last conference the US Campaign, working with faith and corporate social responsibility groups, has begun a dialogue with Motorola. Click here to read our initial letter to Motorola CEO Greg Brown, Motorola's less-than-impressive response, and our rejoinder. Click here to send your own letter demanding accountability from Motorola!

We've also produced a factsheet that can be used to inform others about Motorola's support for Israeli apartheid. Click here to download a PDF of our Motorola factsheet.

Join us at this year's national conference as we lay the groundwork to escalate our Hang Up on Motorola project from polite corporate engagement to an all-out public boycott.

You can also get involved in our growing campaign to pressure our government to sanction Israel by cutting off aid for the human rights abuses it commits with our tax dollars. To learn more about our campaign to challenge U.S. military aid to Israel and get involved, please click here.

The US Campaign is excited to take part in the international response to Palestinian civil society's call for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions. As these tactics helped push South Africa to abandon apartheid, our hope is that they will do the same in Israel/Palestine.