Since the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war on 2.3 million Palestinians in the occupied and besieged Gaza Strip, the impact of the BDS movement has grown substantially across the globe and has begun to influence some states’ policies.
In the second half of 2024, BDS campaigns and analyses experienced unprecedented growth in popularity and in terms of measurable impact. The movement, with its many global partners, has been intensifying pressure on policymakers to end the complicity of states and corporations in Israel’s war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide through mainstreaming its now widely accepted analysis of Israel as an apartheid state. The BDS movement has also played an indispensable role in mainstreaming targeted, lawful sanctions against Israel, particularly a comprehensive, two-way arms embargo, as a fulfillment of legal obligations under international law.
This impact has been accentuated in the second half of 2024 by the historic ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which found Israel guilty of apartheid against Palestinians and its military occupation and annexation of Palestinian Territory as illegal. The legal ramifications of this ruling were succinctly summarized by former senior UN human rights official Craig Mokhiber: “The ICJ’s authoritative ruling on the Israeli occupation makes clear that boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against Israeli occupation, colonization, and apartheid are not only a moral imperative but also a legal obligation.”
In September, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted for sanctions on Israel for the first time in 42 years. Now it is up to people across the world to pressure their governments to walk their talk and cut military ties, impose an energy embargo, and impose meaningful targeted sanctions on Israel to end its genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and its underlying regime of settler-colonialism, illegal military occupation, and apartheid.
In December, an extensive study by Amnesty International, the largest international human rights organization, found that Israel is indeed committing genocide in Gaza.
While other influencing factors were also present in most of the developments below, BDS has played an unmistakable role in realizing them. For BDS impacts covering the first half of 2024, please click here.
INDICATORS OF IMPACT (a representative sampling of many similar developments):
(1) UN, International and Regional Organizations:
In the context of Israel’s ongoing genocide, the analysis of Israel’s regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid, and military occupation and the obligation to impose lawful sanctions on it, both championed by the BDS movement for almost two decades, have spread like never before:
In July 2024, over 30 UN human rights experts called on states to respect the ICJ ruling that Israel’s occupation is illegal by imposing sanctions and a military embargo on Israel.
In September, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted for imposing sanctions on Israel for the first time in 42 years.
Also, in September, Israel's membership in the International Federation of Medical Students was suspended for two years. The suspension, in response to a request from the Brazilian Medical Students Association, was due to Israel’s “war on Gaza, accusations of genocide, and the lack of morals and human values.”
In November, the joint summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the League of Arab States adopted an initiative calling for a military embargo of Israel. The OIC (in addition to South Africa and Belize, among others) called for the reconstitution of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid, which has been a demand of the BDS movement and Palestinian civil society at large since 2020.
In November, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, in response to BDS calls, adopted the first resolution on Palestine in 24 years, calling on African states to end complicity and ensure accountability.
Following pressure campaigns, Israel was not invited to the Nobel ceremony in Stockholm on 10 December.
(2) States & Local Governments:
Since the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the impact of the BDS movement on the policies of governments (including local governments) has grown at an unprecedented rate:
In November, at the initiative of Turkey, 52 states called for a military embargo on Israel. Also, following tireless campaigning by BDS Turkey, by September, six municipalities in Turkey had ended the sister city protocol with genocidal Israel: Adana, Antalya, Kadıköy, Edirne and İzmir, and Marmaris.
In the US, Alameda County (California) divested from Caterpillar in December and voted to adopt an ethical investment policy. In November, Belfast (Maine) decided to divest from companies enabling Israel’s illegal occupation. Lucas County and Summit County (Ohio) pledged in September and June, respectively, not to renew their Israel Bonds as part of a statewide Israel Bonds boycott campaign. In July, Alameda, California, banned all investments in weapons companies and fossil fuels. The city of Portland (Maine) also voted in September to divest from companies complicit in Israel’s regime of oppression.
In November, in a further step towards implementing its pledge to stop all military ties with Israel, Colombia decided to replace Israeli-made military aircraft.
In October, Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez called on the EU member states to implement a military embargo on Israel. In November, BDS activists once again were able to pressure the Spanish government to deny port to vessels carrying military supplies to Israel. Following research released by the Palestinian Youth Movement and Progressive International on the complicity of the Danish shipping company Maersk, and following pressure from Spanish civil society, the Spanish government denied entry to a Maersk ship believed to be carrying military supplies to Israel.
In August, the BDS movement discovered that the MV Kathrin was traveling from Vietnam with 8 containers of explosives destined for use by Israel in its genocide against Palestinians. The #BlockTheBoat campaign, part of our global military embargo campaign, mobilized international solidarity groups from Malaysia to Slovenia and ensured significant delays for the shipment as the Kathrin could not dock anywhere for over two months. States from Namibia and Angola to Montenegro and Malta refused to be complicit. The Kathrin eventually had to abandon the Portuguese flag. The inspiring efforts of UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese played an important role. This was just the beginning of a campaign that continues to target the maritime military and energy transfers to genocidal Israel.
Also, in August, the government of Scotland suspended meetings with Israeli diplomats until “real progress has been made towards peace.” In September, in the face of protests and sit-ins, British civil servants warned their government that processing arms exports to Israel could be illegal. Over 600 legal experts had in April urged the government to stop supplying arms to Israel. The British government finally agreed to suspend 30 arms export permits to Israel - a tiny part of its overall arms sales to Israel. In July, the local council of Ilsington (UK) voted to divest its pension fund from a list of companies involved in the arms trade with Israel. In July, Waltham Forest Pension Committee (UK) announced it would update its ethical investment policy “so that we can divest our pension funds from companies involved in the arms trade.” This decision came after a vigorous campaign led by the local coalition Waltham Forest for Palestine. In September, Lewisham Council’s (UK) Pensions Investment Committee passed a motion to divest from companies involved in the arms trade, the abuse of human rights, and those that “operate within an area considered occupied territory under international law.”
In April, Brazil was poised to purchase artillery from Israel’s Elbit Systems. After powerful popular pressure, by October, it became evident that the contract was frozen because of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In December, Chile announced the end of a multi-million dollar satellite dual with Israel’s ImageSat International after the company failed to meet its contractual obligations. The Israeli company complained that relations soured due to “anti-Israel positions” in Chile.
In October, the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee, one of Northern Ireland's largest public sector pension schemes, announced its divestment from Israel Bonds.
In November, Canada cancelled 30 export permits for weapons to Israel. Canadian authorities have also stripped the Jewish National Fund, a colonial and anti-Palestinian racist organisation, of its charitable status due to its funding of Israel’s military. This followed a campaign led by the BDS partner group, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV).
Australia announced in November that it was “reviewing” its arms exports to Israel, amending or ending 16 arms export licenses already. In December, it also restricted visas to Israelis suspected of war crimes. The Australian City of Canterbury-Bankstown Council passed a BDS resolution in July, and the Inner West Council, Sydney passed a motion on procurement to comply with BDS in August.
In September, the Belgian municipality of Ixelles decided to suspend its twinning agreement with the Israeli Regional Council of Megiddo.
In December, Nelson City, Aotearoa (New Zealand) became the 4th in the country to end its ties with illegal Israeli settlements.
In October, France banned Israeli companies from a naval arms fair, a decision later overturned by a French court.
(3) Corporations & Financial institutions:
Complicit corporations and financial institutions are feeling the BDS heat more than ever, canceling or suspending projects that enable and benefit from Israel’s regime of occupation, apartheid, and genocide:
Affirming the role the BDS movement has played in the Israeli economy’s “spiral of collapse,” as 130 leading Israeli economists describe it, in September, the Chairman of the Israeli Export Institute said: “BDS and boycotts have changed Israel’s global trade landscape.” He added, “Economic boycotts and BDS organizations present major challenges, and in some countries, we are forced to operate under the radar.” Israel’s projected annual GDP growth rate for 2024 is 0%, according to leading credit rating agency S&P, and some 60,000 Israeli businesses are projected to have shut down during this year of ongoing genocide.
In December, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, sold all of its shares in Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecoms company, due to its “services to the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.” In October, Storebrand, among the Nordic region's most prominent investors, sold its holdings in Palantir Technologies because of concerns that its “work for Israel might put the asset manager at risk of violating international humanitarian law and human rights.” Palantir is accused of knowingly enabling Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.
Global sales of McDonald’s, a prime BDS target, “fell by 1.5% between July and September, the biggest decline in four years, more than twice the size forecast by analysts. It followed a 1% drop in the April to June period.” “McDonald’s has faced boycotts and protests over its perceived pro-Israeli stance and alleged financial ties to the country.”
In October, fossil fuel giant Chevron, a priority target of the BDS movement, halted a $429 million expansion of an Israeli-claimed fossil gas field amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and its brutal bombings in Lebanon, Syria, and beyond. In September, BDS activists and allies globally, particularly from the climate justice and Indigenous justice movement, organized a week of action against the company, attracting support from Greta Thunberg and Naomi Klein.
In August, USS, the UK’s biggest private pension fund, divested over $100 million of Israeli assets, including Israel Bonds, following sustained pressure from its members and the academic union, UCU.
In August, in a significant BDS win, French insurer AXA was forced to sell its investments in all major Israeli banks.
In November, Carrefour closed all branches in Jordan due to BDS pressure. Carrefour’s partner in most of the Arab World, the Majid Al Futtaim Group, reacted to BDS Jordan’s boycott pressure by ending all business with the French retailer in Jordan.
7-Eleven reportedly shut down all eight of its stores in Israel in November, another indication of the flight of capital and businesses away from the gradually “collapsing” economy.
After protests led by BDS partners in Japan, including in the exhibition hall, Elbit Systems, the most prominent Israeli private arms manufacturer, closed its pavilion at the 2024 Japan International Aerospace Show in October.
In November, the Boycott PUMA campaign confirmed that, following relentless BDS campaigns worldwide, the German company had ended its complicity with Israel’s apartheid regime and in its #GazaGenocide.
Ben & Jerry's sued its parent company, Unilever, in December for silencing its support for Palestinian rights. This marked one of the first instances of a major consumer company calling for policy action against the U.S.’s shameful bankrolling of Israel’s genocide.
In December, the Strauss Group, a complicit Israeli multinational food and beverage corporation, was forced, due to an effective BDS campaign, to sell off its shares in the US-based company, Sabra, which mass produces the culturally-appropriated popular Arab dip, hummus.
(4) Institutions (trade unions, faith, academic, cultural, sports) & Political Parties:
Academic:
The academic boycott has continued to grow at an inspiring rate, with dozens of universities, educational associations, and faculty unions taking measures to end complicity in Israel’s Gaza genocide and underlying regime of settler-colonial apartheid:
The College of Mexico in November severed its links with the Hebrew University in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
In December, the Canadian Association of University Teachers, representing 72,000 faculty members and academic staff, upheld the right to criticize Israel’s crimes against Palestinians and to call for “boycott and/or divestment and/or sanctions of the State of Israel.” 18 Canadian faculty associations have passed boycott /divestment motions.
In July, Israeli universities admitted declines of up to 60% in international PhD and postdoc student enrollment at complicit Israeli universities over Israel’s #GazaGenocide and BDS pressure.
In September, the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing shut down UIBE-Israel, China’s only campus in Israel. Earlier this year, a campaign by UIBE graduates called for the closure of UIBE-Israel and the reevaluation of current and future exchange or other academic programs with complicit Israeli institutions.
In September, the International Olympiad in Informatics voted by more than 67% not to recognize future Israeli delegations.
Following a student encampment, the University of Windsor (Canada) agreed in July to have no institutional ties with Israeli universities “until the right of Palestinian self-determination has been realized.”
In August, National Tertiary Education Union branches at the University of New South Wales and Melbourne University in Australia passed motions by a landslide calling to end ties with complicit Israeli universities and to divest from weapons companies as called for by Palestinians.
In the Netherlands, FNV, the union representing many University of Amsterdam (UvA) staff, waged a historic 4-day strike in December after the university's Executive Board failed to respond to their demands to suspend ties with complicit Israeli institutions. The strike, supported by 84% of staff union members, marks the first formal union strike for the academic boycott of Israel.
In July, UvA’s Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis pledged to have no ties with Israeli academic or other institutions complicit in Israel’s genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity against Palestinians and no procurement from complicit companies.
The Advisory Committee of another Dutch university, Tilburg, recommended in December suspending ties with Israeli universities over their complicity in Israel’s “gross and systematic violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms” of Palestinians.
Following student and staff mobilizations, the Academic Board of the University College London voted overwhelmingly in July to review ties with “arms companies … involved in providing weapons to states under investigation for genocide or crimes against humanity.” It also voted to cut ties with or invest in corporations that “actively support or facilitate human rights violations abroad, especially those engaged in the destruction of academic institutions.”
In September, the American Sociological Association, the largest US professional organization of sociologists, decided to divest from weapons companies, publish its investment policies, and develop a process for reviewing other investments.
In October, the National Tertiary Education Union, representing 27K university workers in Australia, voted to support the boycott of complicit Israeli universities.
The Italian Society for Middle Eastern Studies (SeSaMO) committed almost unanimously to refrain from having ties with Israeli academic institutions complicit in Israel's crimes against Palestinians.
The scholarly organization Coalition of Women in Germany, has announced support for the Palestinian call to boycott complicit Israeli institutions. It states it stands in solidarity “with Palestine and Palestinian academics by adopting a resolution in support of Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) and committing as an organization to the academic boycott of Israeli institutions.”
Eight former Modern Language Association (MLA) presidents, including Judith Butler, urged MLA, one of the largest US scholarly organizations in the humanities, to allow members to debate and vote on a BDS motion.
In December, Portsmouth University and College Union (UCU) voted for BDS and called on the university to divest from corporations implicated in war crimes and genocide, such as BAE Systems and Caterpillar.
Following a student encampment, the University of Liège commits to have no ties with Israeli universities or any partner complicit in Israel’s #GazaGenocide and its violations of international law and Palestinian rights.
In December, Yale students voted by 76% in favor of divestment of the university's $41 billion endowment from military weapons manufacturers, “including those arming Israel.” Fifty-six student organizations endorsed the referendum.
MIT Grad Student Council voted in December in favor of a resolution calling on MIT “to take immediate steps to end all research funding sponsorships by the Israeli military.”
Daystar University in Kenya rescinded an agreement signed with the Israeli Embassy to establish a green space on campus following a huge public outcry over the deal amidst Israel's Gaza genocide.
Faith:
In the second half of 2024, faith institutions continued to play a significant role in ending complicity in Israel’s regime of oppression:
In July, the Presbyterian Church USA divested from Israel Bonds.
In November, the United Church of Canada, the second largest Christian denomination across Canada, recommended that its national office and local congregations adopt BDS strategies and “join in the consensus of the international human rights communities in recognizing and rejecting Israel’s apartheid system.”
Cultural:
Since the beginning of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, our movement’s cultural boycott impact has grown exponentially:
Over 1,000 book industry figures, including Sally Rooney, Rachel Kushner, and Arundhati Roy, pledged not to work with publishers, festivals, or publications “complicit in violating Palestinian rights,” later joined by over 7,000 writers.
More than 150 Scottish arts organisations, collectives, community groups, magazines, festivals, venues, and other cultural initiatives have endorsed the boycott of Israel’s cultural sector that is complicit in genocide and apartheid. In August, with 91% of the vote, Scottish Artist Union members endorsed the call of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
In August, India's leading film industry development institution canceled an Israeli film festival scheduled to be held at the National Museum of Indian Film.
In September, culture workers in Canada's film, nightlife, music, art, design, poetry, and literature stood in solidarity with Palestine. Twenty-two organizations endorsed or reaffirmed their commitment to the PACBI call. In December, 20 Canadian authors boycotted the Giller Prize because of sponsor Scotiabank’s $250 million investment in the Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit.
Under BDS pressure, Marvel and parent company Disney omitted key details of the “Israeli superhero” character’s backstory from the upcoming Captain America film. However, until the character is entirely dropped, the BDS movement calls for boycotting Disney+, Marvel merchandise, and Captain America: Brave New World screenings.
By September, 17 US theater and performance organizations had endorsed the PACBI Call. In October, 6 more endorsed it, for a total of 23 in the past month.
In October, Barclays announced that after hundreds of artists and music industry professionals took collective action in solidarity with Palestine this year, Barclays is no longer affiliated with The Great Escape Festival and will not be a partner of The Great Escape 2025.
On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29, Artists pour la Palestine (France) and Art Workers for Palestine Belgium each published petitions, endorsed by hundreds of leading artists, pledging to boycott complicit Israeli cultural institutions.
In August, Irish band Fontaines DC canceled a concert in Istanbul’s Zorlu PSM venue in solidarity with Palestinians. The band cited the call from the BDS movement for artists to refuse to play at the venue, as Zorlu Energy part-owns a plant that supplies 5-8% of Israel’s energy.
In September, Germany's Pop-Kultur Berlin festival bowed to BDS pressure. The German festival conclusively dropped its years-long partnership with genocidal Israel after at least 20 artists boycotted, starting in 2017. BDS pressure has also caused damage to anti-Palestinian racist German nightclubs. About Blank in Berlin, for instance, is “uncertain” about survival until 2030. BDS is also seriously damaging” Conne Island in Leipzig, “causing financial difficulties.”
In October, the Wanderlust/All Passports exhibition in Greece responded to the boycott call and excluded the Israeli embassy from the list of sponsors.
Trade Unions:
Throughout the second half of 2024, trade unions continued to answer the BDS call and played a crucial role in supporting our movement (some indicators of BDS impact among trade unions are mentioned in the above sections):
In July, seven major US labor unions representing 6 million workers called on the Biden administration to halt all military funding to Israel. Also in July, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) announced its complete divestment from Israel Bonds.
In July, OPSEU SEFPO, representing 180,000 workers in Ontario, Canada, adopted a resolution supporting BDS.
In October, as part of the #BlockTheBoat campaign, Greek dock workers and trade unionists at the Piraeus port in Athens stopped a container suspected of carrying bullets for Israel’s use in its genocide from being loaded onto the MV Marla Bull. The vessel was forced to leave without the cargo. In November, Moroccan dockworkers refused to load a Maersk ship with military cargo for Israel’s genocide.
In December, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) called on the South African government to go beyond statements of solidarity with Palestinians and take concrete action by severing diplomatic ties with Israel and imposing sanctions on it.
Also in December, the Swedish dockworkers’ union, Svenska hamnarbetarförbundet, voted in favour of a “blockade against handling war material to and from Israel’s apartheid and genocidal regime.” This decision will impact Swedish’s import of weapons from Israeli companies such as Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit Systems.
Sports:
The campaign to Ban Israel from Sports has reached new heights:
In July, lively protests, including in the television coverage, followed the Israeli government-sponsored cycling team along the routes of the Tour de France, the Klasikoa in the Basque Country, the Vuelta de España, and the Tour of Britain in England and Scotland.
In July, an Algerian judo player refused to compete against a representative of Israel’s genocidal regime during the Paris Olympics. Tajik Judoka refused to shake hands with another Israeli representative.
The Paris Olympics became known as the Genocide Games, with banners in stadiums, flags rappelling down buildings, protests at races, banner drops, posters and stickers plastered around the city, and graffiti along the Seine river where the opening ceremony took place in July, despite heavy police repression.
In September, Norwegian top-tier player Ole Sæter rejected an "insanely lucrative" Maccabi Haifa offer over Israel’s #GazaGenocide, saying, “It's unacceptable that Palestinians are unsafe in their own homes. It is simply out of the question to play in a country that does what Israel is doing.”
Al Amerat SC (Oman) withdrew, and Qadsia SC (Kuwait) refused to play against a team representing genocidal Israel at the 2024 Beach Soccer World Winners Cup in Italy in September.
In October, 3,000 marched in Udine during the Italy vs Israel Nations League match, calling on FIFA to ban Israel. Only around 40% of the tickets for the game were sold.
In November, Paris Saint-Germain fans unfurled a huge 50x20 meter Free Palestine banner at a UEFA Champions League match. Feeling the rising solidarity with Palestine among European fans, UEFA refused calls for disciplinary action, saying the banner was not “provocative or insulting.”
Anti-pinkwashing:
Anti-pinkwashing activists and groups continued to push Palestinian rights to the forefront of Pride events across the world:
In October, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Intersex Association (IGLA), a federation of 1,900 LGBTQIA+ organizations in 160 countries and territories, removed a bid to host its next world conference in apartheid Tel Aviv and suspended the membership of complicit Israeli org Aguda.
In August, Capital Pride in Ottawa, Canada, recognized that Israel is perpetrating genocide in Gaza and committed to reviewing corporate sponsors based on the BDS movement’s boycott priorities.
Also in August, Austin Pride in Texas committed to evaluating its commercial sponsors "based on BDS criteria” going forward.
Political Parties:
The Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, DiEM 25, endorsed the BDS movement.
Thank you for taking action and for continuing to stand in solidarity with our nonviolent struggle against Israel’s genocide and underlying regime of apartheid, settler colonialism, and military occupation and for the Palestinian people’s freedom, justice, and equality!