In the newest episode of ‘Unshocked,’ Mehdi and Naomi debunk the myths around the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement – a nonviolent Palestinian-led movement that works to pressure Israel into complying with international law using some of the tactics of the South African ‘Anti-Apartheid Movement’.
“When a call like that is made – especially when the call is to comply with international humanitarian law, the rules that we have all supposedly already agreed to – I think there's a moral responsibility to rise to that call,” Naomi tells Mehdi.
As a part of Climate Week, the BDS Movement is focusing their energy on a target environmental activists like Naomi have been calling out for years: Chevron. The company is Israel’s largest supplier of energy, which not only includes power to the Israeli government, but also to Israeli military bases.
“[Chevron] is entangled with Israel's military machinery. It operates and partially owns Israel's largest gas fields offshore. It's gotten very rich off of these fields… but the Israeli government takes a big piece of that, so gets hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue directly from Chevron,” Naomi explains.
Mehdi and Naomi also get into why the BDS Movement gets so much backlash in the United States; why Israel “gets a special pass” despite the US having a long history of sanctions; and they address the charges of anti-Semitism against BDS. They also discuss recent gains of the movement.
Watch this deep-dive episode above. You can also listen to ‘Unshocked’ wherever you get your podcasts:
‘Unshocked’ is a monthly conversation with acclaimed author and activist Naomi Klein, where she and Mehdi pull viewers ‘out of shock’ through analysis, facts, and history.
Great conversation, as always and very interesting. I don`t know if anyone from the zeteo will read this but if this whole BDS thing will be subject again here, Shir Hever would be a great guest. He is an Israeli citizen and the military embargo coordinator for the Boycot National Committee, the manager of the Aliance for Justice between Israelis and Palestinians (BIP) and an absolute expert when it comes to everything about BDS.
Having him on the broadcast would be very interesting.
He did a great interview on The Electronic Intifada.
Oh yeah, I saw him on their broadcast some weeks, maybe months ago. It was a very interesting conversation and I believe he came back a second time for a shorter interview which was also pretty good. He has great insight on the israeli economy, effects of BDS and all that
BDS is the most peaceful yet probably the most efficient way to rule in the bunch of psychopaths now ruling Israel: Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, etc.
Mehdi, I urge you to be more mindful when you're speaking and never refer to Israel's genocidal onslaught on the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank as a "war". Words are important - and this specific term invariably helps the Zionists and their benefactors frame what is in fact a concerted effort to thin out the population of the besieged strip and make it unlivable for those who survive as a legitimate exercise of the "right to defend itself". Furthermore, the term was mischaracterises "Israel-Hamas" as a conflict amongst equals and obfuscates the stark asymmetry that exists between colonisers and the colonised.
I recognise that your usage of the term wasn't intended to provide further fuel for false Israeli talking points, but both you and I know full well that being precise with our language is vital.
Never stop talking🇵🇸 🤲🏾🤲🏾🤲🏾🤲🏾
Settler colonialism is the racist model of war on defenseless indigenous and concentration camped populations to loot the land, water, resources, and enslaved labor. Settler colonial apartheid is embedded in the US consciousness by the doctrine of discovery to deny sovereignty especially over resources. Fossil fuels since the transition from the wood economy have put settler colonialism on climate chaos steroids by changing the state of water.
A couple of points about the claim that BDS is "anti Semitic" because it singles out Israel and by extension Jewish people.
First, a significant proportion of BDS targets are not Israeli companies at all. BDS targets businesses and organisations complicit in the oppression of Palestinians - for instance, Volvo and JCB whose equipment is used to remove Palestinians from their homes and build settlements, and Hewlett-Packard which provides tech used at Israeli checkpoints. Re/Max and Booking.com are targets for flogging properties in illegal settlements, as is Barclays Bank which owns substantial shares in Israeli weapons companies, and underwrites loans to those companies.
Second, if the campaign were targeting people based on their religious or ethnic identity, there would be no remedy. With BDS there's a simple one: stop colluding in and profiting from the oppression of Palestinians. That's where a boycott would end.
Finally, on whether BDS is effective. I recall a huge, right-hand page article in the front section of the Financial Times a few years back about what a nonstarter BDS is. At the time, it seemed ironic that they'd devote so much prime real estate to what they claimed was an ineffective, fringe movement embraced by Corbynite hairshirts and naively purist college students. Since then 38 states have passed laws against it, the last UK government attempted to deny local councils the right to boycott Israel, and Israel itself created an entire government department to tackle it. That's a lot of energy and effort for an ineffective, fringe tactic that doesn't work.
#FreePalestine #BDS
Coincidentally (?), I saw that Chevron sponsored today's Semafor Principals newsletter. :(
Superb clear discussion about BDS. My family & friends all support BDS proudly in the UK.
❤️
Future interviewee nomination:
Please ask Elena Stein from https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/join-us/
She/they are doing phenomenal work on behalf of the Palestinian and Lebanese people
Only thing capitalism understands is profit loss. Make its current path unprofitable enough, it will look elsewhere
Isn’t that the very sad truth my friend 🇵🇸🕊️🇱🇧
BDS is a lifestyle with purpose. If anything, guaranteed to provide a level of freedom from the never ending cycle of consumerism
rockets are being fired into Israel by HAMAS and by Hezbollah and there is a declaration that Israel must be remove. That is a strategy of war and the result is that Israel fights back, including preemptively.
If one will not settle for peace but insist on fighting, then accept the consequences. Many lives will be saved and great wealth generated if the fighting stopped, but promising to never stop and promising to one day destroy you isn’t a step in the right direction. Israel is believing that HAMAS and Hezbollah mean what they say and not waiting for it.
"Israel fights back... preemptively."
Or in NON-double-speak: ISRAEL INITIATES HOSTILITIES.
Wow! The first troll I've seen here! Poor troll. I think no one will listen to you.
Lol
So far it has become very very painfully clear that a strategy of fighting Israel is causing destruction and death. It would make much more sense to negotiate for peace even if it isn’t the ideal justice. Sue for peace instead of encouraging actions that will get many more killed.
A "strategy of fighting Israel" is not what's causing "destruction and death". Arming Israel is. Sanctions, as in an arms embargo, would certainly curtail Israel's ability to wreak the destruction which our government's complicity enables.
If you want to defend this genocidal regime and pariah State, then do so without beating around the bush. Your settled defense of this regime has not gone unnoticed.
For decades Palestinians tried the peaceful and passive resistance and what did it get them, only more land looted, more kids murdered and more homes destroyed.
As the world had become awaken that there was no appeasement with the Nazi Germany, we need to wake up that there is no appeasement with this Zazi regime.
What it would make sense to awake our own conscience and apply enough pressure on our corrupt politicians to realize genocide and continued OCCUPATION is not in the interest of our nation. Genocide of Palestinians would be NO MORE if America stands against it.
Say no to any/all AIPAC approved candidates
Say no to the lesser of two evils as that is still an evil person.
So how is the strategy of fighting working out for you?
For me?!?!?!?!?
I am far more determined in voicing my disgust and opposition to this OCCUPATION. I am much more aware and informed of the level of barbarism employed by the Zionist Israel. I am far more determined to choose how I spend my money and hold those companies that are helping this Zazi regime accountable. And I am actively vetting every politicians that is on the ballet and up for election, if they are AIPAC approved, they will be rejected by me.
As for Palestinians, they have been paying a heavy price but they were paying that price everyday anyway so at least now they have something to show for it.
1- We know that at least three Western nations have formally recognized Palestine, something that was unheard of. 2- ICC and ICJ have now provided their opinion and now it is a matter of court ruling and not just someone opinion. 3- UN general assembly just voted and gave a deadline for ending this OCCUPATION. 4- Multiple nations have broken their diplomatic relation with the Zazi Israel, again something unthinkable just a year ago. 5- The world citizenry now know much more about the truth and nature of this Zazi regime than it was known just a year ago.
Shall I continue....
Let me now ask you, how is the strategy of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is working out for you?
It is NOT POSSIBLE to "negotiate" with a genocidal serial liar.
Especially one who has a habit of murdering the negotiators.
Jordan and Egypt have peaceful relations.
Jordan and Egypt are not OCCUPIED. End the OCCUPATION of Palestine and Syria and they will have a peaceful relations with these two nations as well.