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Join StandWithUs In The Fight Against BDS

The BDS campaign is working hard to brand Israel. We must now work to brand the BDS movement as deceptive and destructive. StandWithUs is dedicated to fighting the war of words, images, and actions launched against Israel.

This year, we will need to be stronger and more proactive than ever before to counter the hateful campaigns that we know are already being launched against Israel.

As part of our campus response, we are creating a Web site with best practices for students who might face divestment on their campuses. The Web site will include ways to educate campus communities in advance of anti-Israel campaigns.

GIG
"BIG" Campaign: Buy Israeli Goods - This campaign's strategy is to build a large community of shoppers who will request and purchase Israeli goods and services from retail establishments.

soldiers
Israeli Soldiers Speaking Tour - The goal is to dispel anti-Israel stereotypes. There is nothing more powerful than real-life stories told by Israeli soldiers who were on the battlefield. Our speakers include some of Israel's best, brightest, and most articulate voices, selected and trained through our StandWithUs Israel Fellowship.

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Counter the BDS Educational Campaign - We will select and train volunteer speakers to address unions, churches, teachers, and students all over the country. Training will be done on the Internet in order to exponentially increase the number of members in our speakers bureau. StandWithUs set up a separate department for this purpose so we can promote this on a mass scale. If you are interested in becoming a speaker click here

Materials - We continue to develop educational materials to teach about Hamas and apartheid in Arab countries, proactively dispelling the misinformation about issues like Israel's security needs, accurate history, geography, culture, and Israel's gifts to the world.

campus
Campus Divestment Campaigns - StandWithUs helped empower the students at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego when their student senates were suddenly presented with divestment bills in the spring of 2010. StandWithUs has been on the front lines at North American college campuses for nine years, countering misinformation about Israel. StandWithUs is currently working on best practices for future struggles with divestment on college campuses so that students will have the tools they need to deal with anti-Israel campaigns.

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Online Social Media Projects - StandWithUs has launched numerous online social media projects that are helping us fight the tide of condemnations used to justify boycott campaigns against Israel. Some projects include: FlotillaFacts.com and Israeli Soldiers Speak Out.

Since the anti-Israel movement is working to persuade others to boycott Israel, the pro-Israel community must create a countermovement that will help educate people before they are poisoned by the BDS movement. The BDS movement is well funded and increasingly well organized. We are dedicated to countering it.

To counter the BDS movement, we need a large cadre of volunteers who are willing to speak to their local churches, unions, high schools, etc. StandWithUs is working on a mass training project that involves video training and resources that can be downloaded from password-protected sites. To volunteer as a speaker, click here.

Register To Become A Speaker
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About BDS
(Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions)

In the past, Israel's fight for survival was on conventional battlefields in the Middle East. Today, the war against Israel has mutated into a global campaign to poison hearts and minds against the Jewish state. Israel is being demonized and isolated by organized movements like BDS: Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions.

How BDS Works To Delegitimize Israel

The call to "boycott, divest, and sanction Israel" (BDS) is the newest weapon in the ongoing effort to destroy Israel. Using words, images, and actions to spread misinformation and lies, boycott activists try to delegitimize and demonize Israel and brand it as the pariah of the international community. They call for boycotts to promote their views and to isolate and cripple the Jewish state.

The boycott movement is well funded and well organized and operates on college campuses and in churches, organizations, businesses, and communities around the world. We dare not ignore how this creeping movement endangers the well-being and survival of Israel and future support for the Jewish state, especially among the younger generation.

StandWithUs is dedicated to act against this newest threat to Israel. This coming year, StandWithUs plans to tackle the assault with powerful messaging and campaigns.

Consider the inroads the boycott movement has already made this year.

Cultural Boycotts: Popular performers like Elvis Costello and the Pixies have canceled their scheduled concerts in Israel. As we write this, boycotters are actively lobbying other performers to cancel their tours. When Israeli musical groups travel abroad, they meet hostility, demonstrations, and aggressive efforts to cancel their performances.

Economic Boycotts: Economic boycott campaigns take two forms. One urges companies to stop doing business with Israel. Boycott activists typically call, write, and picket corporate offices with anti-Israel slogans, such as those accusing companies of aiding "Israeli baby killers." Boycotters also attended this year's annual meeting of TIAA-CREF, the largest retirement fund in the world, urging it to divest from companies that do business with Israel. Boycotters continue to urge Caterpillar Corporation management to stop selling products to Israel.

The second type of economic boycott urges retailers to stop stocking Israeli goods. In Washington State, after boycotters intensively lobbied the Olympia Food Co-op, the co-op's board voted to stop carrying Israeli products. As we write this letter, boycotters continue to lobby retailers like Trader Joe's, Costco, Starbucks, H&M, Seattle's Madison Market, and others to join the boycott.

Union Boycotts: On June 20, anti-Israel demonstrators tried to prevent longshoremen in Oakland, California, from unloading an Israeli cargo ship. The Longshoremen's Union Local 10 in San Francisco seriously considered an anti-Israel resolution, while some Belgian and Basque trade unions approved the boycotting of Israel.

Church Boycotts: This summer, the Presbyterian Church again debated resolutions to divest from companies doing business with Israel. Thankfully, the anti-Israel forces within the Presbyterian Church did not succeed. Divestment activists also constantly lobby other churches.

Political Boycotts: The boycott activists are working hard on all levels to undermine American support for Israel. They accuse pro-Israel lobbyists of controlling American foreign policy. They work to reduce or end loan guarantees and military aid to Israel. At the local level, a group of boycott activists is strategizing to put a divestment proposition on the upcoming California ballot. In Washington State, a similar bill (I-97) was introduced in 2008.

Travel/Diplomatic Boycotts: In European countries, boycott activists are charging Israeli officials with war crimes and having arrest warrants issued against them. Prominent Israeli officials, including Tzipi Livni, have canceled trips to the UK for fear of arrest.

Sports Boycotts: Israeli athletes have either been excluded from international competitions or forced to play their final matches without fans present because of "security concerns," as happened during the Davis Cup finals in Sweden last year.

Academic Boycotts: Boycott activists have targeted university faculty unions around the world to prevent Israeli professors from participating in academic and scientific conferences, contributing to research journals, and acting as visiting professors. Last fall, a group of Ariel University students, one of ten finalist groups in an international competition to build energy-efficient housing, was suddenly expelled from the competition. In another incident, Israeli experts were suddenly uninvited from an international breast cancer research symposium in Cairo.

Boycotts on College Campuses:

Divestment Campaigns: Last spring, bills to divest from companies connected to Israel were suddenly introduced to the student governments at UC Berkeley and UC San Diego.

Boycotts of Pro-Israel Speakers: Anti-Israel activists have tried to portray pro-Israel speakers as so reprehensible they should not be allowed to lecture. Muslim Student Unions around the country are trying to use their own free speech rights to prevent the free speech of those they oppose. In February 2010, members of UC Irvine's Muslim Student Union orchestrated an effort to silence Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. After every few sentences of the ambassador's speech, they shouted and jeered, drowning out his voice. A video of this incident that StandWithUs posted online was viewed by more than 700,000 people. Watch the video

The toxic boycott campaign threatens to embolden anti-Israel forces everywhere, especially on our college campuses. Students will continue to face a growing barrage of anti-Israel defamations on far too many campuses. Many will see displays that depict the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as inhumane brutes and that show the Israeli flag dripping with red paint to symbolize blood. They will hear Israel's self-defense policies equated with the 20th century's ugliest crimes, from Nazism to apartheid.

Current Member Organizations Of The BDS National Committee:

Groups Around The Globe That Are In Solidarity With The BDS Movement:

International Coordination Network for Palestine
www.icnpalestine.net
Corporate Accountability:
Who Profits (Coalition of Women for Peace)
Corporate Watch

Australia:

Belgium: Canada: Catalunya: Denmark: France: Egypt: Greece: Iceland: Ireland: Italy: Malaysia: Netherlands: Norway: Scotland: South Africa: Spain: Sweden: Switzerland: United Kingdom: United States:

So You Want to Boycott Israel

So You Want to Boycott Israel.

Terrorism in their
back yard

Terrorism in their back yard.

SAY NO TO BDS

Everything you need to know
about the BDS movement.

Fight BDS With StandWithUs Materials

6 reasons why you should oppose boycotts against Israel





boycotts, divestment, sanctions

boycotts, divestment, sanctions

boycotts, divestment, sanctions

boycotts, divestment, sanctions

boycotts, divestment, sanctions

boycotts, divestment, sanctions

Two-Sided Postcard

boycotts, divestment, sanctions

boycotts, divestment, sanctions

Divest From Terror

Divest from terror

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