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Q: Does divestment single out Israel unfairly?
A: Divestment singles out Israel as much as US foreign policy does. Israel is the number one recipient of US aid -- to the tune
of billions of dollars a year. It is granted unique political protection from the US in the United Nations. Special tax privileges are
given to Americans with dual citizenship, and to those donating money to Israel's quasi-governmental land-governing bodies
(which incidentally accomplished the de-Arabization of historic Palestine). The divestment movement is founded on the view
that Americans must be especially scrupulous of those our government takes as special allies.
Critics of divestment prefer we target countries the government is already against!
Given the centrality of the Israel-Palestinian conflict in global affairs, a point even the Bush administration acknowledges, Israel
and the Palestinians deserve special attention. Given that this conflict is located in the land holy to three major religions and
attracts pilgrims of every faith, how can divestment critics be surprised that Israel's policies fall under special scrutiny?
Ironically, well before divestment did any singling out, Israel's officials and supporters singled out Israel regularly. They call it
"the only democracy in the region"; consider it a light among nations; and talk of its special relationship with the United States.
Divestment activists appear to be singling out Israel, but the reality is, the US foreign policy establishment and Israel's
supporters elevated Israel to special status first.
see: Israel's Singles Night Out
Community-based Divestment FAQ
Q: What is divestment?
A: Divestment, in short, is a tactic which seeks to pressure a community to withhold or remove its investments from
corporations or institutions involved in a morally or socially objectionable action. In the case of South African Apartheid,
students and community activists pressured their universities, city councils, churches etc. to divest from corporations, such as
Coca-Cola, who had significant dealings with the practice of Apartheid. Divestment from South Africa, along with boycotts and
sanctions, led to an isolation of the Apartheid regime in the international community, a significant rise in public awareness of
Apartheid, and contributed significantly to its demise.
Q: What is community based divestment?
A: Community-based divestment is a broad term referring to divestment initiatives that originate from any community outside of
college campuses, religious institutions, municipalities, and corporations. Community-based divestment therefore includes
everything else, i.e. unions, non-govermental organizations (NGOs), local businesses, community-based organizations
(CBOs), sports teams, clubs, street festivals, associations, cooperatives, and households.
Q: Why should communities divest from Israel?
A: Palestine Solidarity activists have clearly hit a brick wall with lobbying their political representatives. Because the United
States, and the world for that matter, is deeply influenced by corporations and economic pressures, Divestment has emerged
as a proven alternative strategy to affect foreign policy. Rather than a single focus on a national government, often the logical
target to pressure in cases of national or international policy, divestment demonstrates that there are an infinite number of sub-
state targets that can be influenced. The basic strategy of divestment, as opposed to lobbying a national government where
the winner takes all, is to gain many smaller victories that create an avalanche of popular dissent to the national government's
policy, eventually forcing policy to change on a national and international level.
Q: How is community-based divestment different than boycott?
A: In the United States, boycott is typically formulated as a tactic used to challenge Corporations. Used by groups and
movements with a variety of political agendas, there have been many instances where it has been very successful in
accomplishing this goal. One of the most notable Boycott campaigns was that coordinated in support of the United Farm
workers (UFW) in Central California.
Q: What are other communities doing?
A: While the United States movement in Support of Palestinian Rights has focused its Corporate strategy on Divestment, the
European Community has been focusing on Boycott. This is largely due to the fact that more Israeli products reach the EU
because of its proximity. The biggest target of EU boycott campaigns has been Israeli fruit imports, and in particular the 'Jaffa
Orange.' Other boycott attempts have been cultural, calling for their particular local or national Futbol team to cancel matches
with Israeli teams.
Q: Should my community divest or boycott?
A: While the U.S. and the EU have adopted slightly differing approaches, these approaches do not have to be mutually
exclusive. Using the widely known campaign of corporate pressure that was part of the Anti-Apartheid movement as an
example, we see that both strategies were harmonized. The most important example of this was the campaign against Coca-
Cola where students and community A. boycotted Coca-Cola individually, B. engaged in campaigns to get institutions to
boycott Coca-Cola C. encouraged their institutions to divest their holdings in Coca-Cola and D. pressured Pepsi to support
their campaign against Coca-Cola.
Q: How do I start a community-based divestment campaign?
A: The key to community-based divestment or boycott is to assess your standing in the community, memberships and
affiliations, access to resources and connections, and use that position to find places where you can conceivably affect an
entity to divest themselves from Israel. These entities can have no investments whatsoever, or billions invested, and can
range from community organizations, to local businesses, pension funds, unions, cities, companies and states. The basic
idea is to isolate the objectionable practice morally, politically and economically.
Next should also decide the demands of your campaign, be it an end to the occupation, ensuring human rights, ending Israeli
Apartheid, smashing Zionism, whatever you are comfortable doing as a group and a community. This is a source of conflict in
the movement, so try to assess the groups political common ground before any campaign is launched so that this does not
emerge as a source of dispute as the campaign unfolds.
Finally, choose a target or targets based on your assessments of community position and political demands. You should
choose a target that is conceivably winnable, and, if possible, symbolic of your community’s ties to Israel. Develop a strategy
with tactics appropriate for influencing that target and remember that the Anti-Apartheid movement did not see much success
for 10 years after the initial calls for divestment, so be prepared to sustain your campaign for as long as it takes. Frequently
assess your actions and be flexible with your eyes on victory at all times. Good luck, and remember that the Divestment
Support Committee is here to help you with any questions or ideas.
at a public university
at a private university
in my organization
in my community
in my religious institution
-Is divestment pro-peace?
-Is divestment doomed to fail?
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-Does divestment single out Israel unfairly?
-Is divestment Anti-Semitic?
-Is divestment from Israel illegal?
-Do divestment activists promote terrorism?
-Is divestment a failure?
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OTHER DIVESTMENT FAQ's
-Global Exchange
-MIFTAH
