Power of BDS

The power of BDS: Our impact so far in 2026

Despite the continuing unspeakable grief over the ongoing genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, the seeds of our collective struggle are bearing fruit. The Palestinian people's miraculous sumud and popular resistance, combined with your sustained solidarity, has pushed Israel's settler-colonial apartheid regime into the deepest isolation of its 78-year history. 

We are witnessing tangible proof that BDS is working—our movement, active in some 130 countries, is effectively changing policies, making complicit corporations pay a dear price, and building the international pressure that will ultimately bring justice.

The recent wave of sanctions, divestments, and boycott impacts demonstrates what happens when people of conscience refuse to be complicit in genocide. From Spain and Belgium to Indonesia and California, from academic halls to cultural institutions, from trade unions to city councils and beyond — we can see the concrete results of our pressure. 

Below is just a sampling of the remarkable BDS impacts achieved in the first half of 2026 — proof that organizing strategically and acting collectively can bring us closer to ending Israel's genocide and dismantling its regime of settler-colonial apartheid.

(1) UN, International and Regional Organizations:

  • Speaking to tens of thousands of people at the massive Uno Maggio festival in Taranto (Italy), UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese called BDS “the emblem of a nonviolent movement,” led by the Palestinian people, who “refuse to be reduced to victims,” inviting people around the world to join us in the struggle to end all complicity with Israel’s atrocity crimes. 
  • The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Sofía Monsalve Suárez, called for an investigation into the World Food Programme’s collaboration with Palantir in the High-Level Forum “Harnessing Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization and Data Governance for Food Security and Nutrition,” due to the company's role in “armed conflicts.”
  • The BNC held a side event co-sponsored by the Colombian government at the Arms Trade Treaty Working Group meetings in Geneva, and gave crucial input in the working groups to state representatives from the global south and north, in the first time that the BNC was present at the ATT meetings.

(2) States & Local Governments:

  • Belgium imposed a partial military embargo against Israel. Following the lead of the Spanish State and Slovenia, the Belgian federal government has passed a Royal-Decree Law implementing partial military-trade sanctions against Israel, citing the provisional measures and the “serious risk of genocide” indicated by the International Court of Justice.
  • 34 Apartheid Free Zones were announced at a press conference held at Plaza Palestina Libre. The AFZ’s are located mainly in Mexico City and other territories of the country. 
  • Mayor of New York City Zohran Mamdani scrapped an anti-BDS order and the city’s IHRA policy, a significant step in countering the Palestine exception to free speech and civic rights in the US.
  • Anderlecht, Ixelles, and Jette municipalities in the Brussels Capital region (Belgium) passed a motion to adopt Ethical Procurement Policies (EPP).
  • The Rhondda Cynon Taf Council in Wales (UK) passed a motion stating that pension fund investments must not “fund war crimes, human rights violations, or the potential breaking of international law,” calling on the Wales Pension Partnership to “quickly complete the formulation and implementation of an exclusion policy.”
  • Spain’s National Court ordered a search and raid of Sidenor’s facilities as part of the investigation into the company’s sale of steel to Israel’s genocidal military. 
  • Intense BDS pressure from activists stopped the procurement of Israeli drones by Japan’s Ministry of Defense. Actions taken by activists included in-person protests and a 10 day hunger strike. 
  • Spain withdrew its ambassador from Israel. The Spanish government took a bold and principled step to protest Israel’s massive violations of international law against Palestinians. 
  • Indonesia postponed discussions on Trump’s so-called “Board of Peace” as grassroots pressure led by civil society coalitions that include BDS Indonesia grows.
  • Washington State became the first US state to divest its own funds from corporations complicit in Israel’s crimes, after the Office of the State Treasurer sold its Caterpillar bonds, worth over $53 million. 
  • The city council of Richmond, California (US) passed a resolution explicitly calling for an arms embargo on Israel, “including an end to US military assistance and transfers of weapons and military cargo.” 
  • As part of its campaign to block South Africa’s coal exports to genocidal Israel, BDS South Africa launched a major report setting out the legal basis for ending this complicity.
  • Investigations and collaborative work on US-imposed Venezuelan oil indirect exports to Israel drew major attention to the BDS movement’s “might-makes-right” narrative, connecting the dots between Venezuela, Palestine and oil wars. 
  • The Brussels Appeal Court ruled in favor of several pro-Palestinian NGOs and individuals who sued the Belgian state for inaction regarding Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The court found the Belgian state at fault, noting it failed to take all reasonable measures in a timely manner to prevent and stop crimes committed by Israel especially after the ICJ in January 2024 had established the risk of genocide.
  • The Dutch government agreed to ban the importation and trade of goods from the Israeli-occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories. The Dutch PM stated: “The Netherlands will continue to speak out against infringements of international law.” 
  • Belgian regional authorities ordered the inspection of cargo sent with UPS and discovered two packages of military materiel destined for Israel. 
  • New Zealand’s High Court ruled against the state's Superannuation Fund (NZ Super) over its investments in companies implicated in Israel’s human rights violations - setting a precedent for sovereign and pension fund investments across the world.
  • After 2 years of civil society and activists' pressure, including by BDS Bologna, the Municipality of Bologna in Italy has finally approved a policy to include ethical clauses in its procurement. 
  • City of Pasadena in California (US) divested from weapons companies, fossil fuels and private prisons.
  • Following pressure from human rights advocates and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) UK, London Mayor Sadiq Khan blocked a £50 million ($66.4 million) contract between the Metropolitan Police and Palantir, saying it represented a "clear and serious breach" of procurement rules.
  • Palestinian human rights groups secured a significant legal victory in Australia, forcing the Minister of Defense to provide access to information related to arms exports to genocidal Israel, including components for F-35 fighter jets.  
  • After months of community pressure, testimony, organizing, and principled demands for divestment, Sacramento, California, (US) divested from Lockheed Martin and adopted socially responsible investment policy language that commits the city to divesting from companies tied to severe human rights violations, weapons manufacturing, among other issues. 
  • The city of Urbana, Illinois (US) adopted an ethical investment policy, which stipulates that the city will not invest in any companies complicit in Israel’s genocide. 
  • The Municipality of Amsterdam passed a motion to adopt an Ethical Procurement Policy (EPP).
  • The Green Party in Finland declared itself an Apartheid Free Zone. Following the Left Alliance, this is Finland’s second parliamentary party to commit to the principles of the Palestinian-led BDS movement. 
  • Setting a new global precedent, 27 containers of military-grade steel destined for Israel have been blocked by Italian authorities. Thanks to research by the No Harbour for Genocide and pressure from the BDS movement and its allies, the containers have been detained at the ports of Gioia Tauro and Cagliari, pending investigation—a groundbreaking achievement in the maritime transfers campaign that saw an international response from BDS partners all over the Mediterranean Sea. To date, none of the containers have reached Israel. This shows how, despite ongoing support at government level, grassroots mobilisation can block Israel's supply chain.
  • The Danish-flagged vessel Danica Violet, carrying tonnes of military materiel for Israel’s largest arms producer, Elbit Systems, was forced to re-route from Cape Verde, after reporting by The Ditch, news outlets in Cape Verde, and BDS mobilization.
  • The first Apartheid Free Zones were declared in the Dominican Republic.
  • In Brazil, the campaign for ethical tourism was launched and movements in Bahia received media attention and a big mobilization in the city of Itacaré. Visa measures and investigation for war criminals are under discussion by parliamentarians. 
  • Together with the European Legal Support Center (ELSC) we launched two new toolkits on Ethical Procurement Policy: An Operational Guide and a Campaign Guide. These toolkits are being used in municipal campaigns across Europe and beyond. 
  • The BDS movement expanded its reach in some 130 countries with new BDS groups in the Caribbean, El Salvador, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, Croatia, Latvia, and Serbia to name just a few. 

(3) Corporations & Financial institutions:

  • In a major BDS victory, Italian energy giant Eni announced its withdrawal from illegal Israeli offshore operations. This was a major vote of no confidence in Israel’s economy and security and sets a precedent for the energy sector and helps to show Israel’s decline.
  • After Eni's withdrawal, Dana and Ratio's consortium designed to aid Israel in pillaging Palestinian natural resources once again failed to announce a new partner and is crumbling with repeated delays.    
  • BDS partner groups took Basque train manufacturer CAF to court in Spain. 
  • Barclays Bank stopped underwriting Israeli government bonds under pressure from BDS partners. Data shows that Barclays has not underwritten any Israeli government bonds since January 2024, previously it underwrote $500 million from Oct 2023 - Jan 2024. Barclays continues to buy Israel’s bonds, and remains listed as a “primary dealer” for Israel’s Ministry of Finance. 
  • Pre-tax profits plunged at the top McDonald’s operators in the north of Ireland. 
  • Israel’s water company Mekorot withdrew from Chile after pressure from civil society, BDS activists and legal irregularities. 
  • The Park Slope Food Coop in Brooklyn, NY (US) voted to boycott Israeli products.
  • 1,350 Google workers signed a petition against the tech giant's collusion with Trump and ICE’s horrific detention-deportation machine.
  • Following years of sustained BDS worker organzing, whistle blowers revealed that Google has knowingly supplied its most advanced Gemini AI to enable Israel’s genocide in Gaza since 2024. 
  • US legal organizations the Abolitionist Law Center, Center for Constitutional Rights, and Tech Justice Law notifed Google’s leadership in a historic move of legal accountability: “Google’s aiding of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians exposes company and its leadership to potential legal liability.”
  • All Will Rise Indie game developer, Speculative Agency, heeded Palestinian calls to boycott Microsoft’s Xbox and returned funding it had received from Microsoft, which powers Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians. 
  • Following sustained pressure from BDS partners as well as immigrant rights activists, healthcare workers, and trade unions, New York City Health and Hospitals committed not to renew a Palantir contract after activists had raised concerns over Palantir’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinains and ICE violence. NYC Health and Hospitals is the largest public hospital system in the US and is the first major hospital network to cut ties with the genocidal tech company. 
  • The BDS campaign against Palantir was launched in Brazil through the formation of a coalition that has since started an administrative procedure to question Palantir’s contracts with Brazil’s ministries of health and education.
  • Following civil society pressure in Belgium, Argenta bank completely divested from Palantir, while KBC and Degroof Petercam partially divested. 
  • BDS activists around the world took part in the FANUC Global Day of Action. From the US to Japan, from Ireland to Germany activists ramped up public pressure worldwide on FANUC to stop supplying Israel’s Elbit Systems with robots — and end its complicity in genocide.
  • The BDS movement launched two new tools for ethical tourism. So far over 2,900 tourists officially pledged to boycott Airbnb and Bookin.com and scores of accommodation hosts signed the Sanctuaries of Peace pledge.  
  • Activists in more than 10 cities around the world participated in a global Anti Chevron Week of Action leading up to Chevron’s annual shareholder meeting, organizing protests, educational events, and banner drops to expose Chevron’s role in fueling climate destruction and Israeli apartheid and genocide.
  • The first ever Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) was held in Germany. In April, student, academic and Palestine solidarity collectives at universities across Germany organised IAW events, exposing Israel’s regime of apartheid and the deep complicity of German universities in genocide and occupation. 
  • The BDS movement called for a global week of action in June against Basque train manufacturer CAF. In the Spanish state, protests and peaceful blockades hit CAF worksites in Zaragoza, Barcelona, Castejón, and Linares — and 160 organizations signed a joint condemnation. In France, activists disrupted business at CAF's own factories. In Mexico City, the campaign took to the streets. From Switzerland to the United States to Canada, callers flooded CAF’s phone lines and inboxes — reaching the company’s own employees. And at CAF's headquarters in Beasain, a mass blockade met its annual shareholders’ meeting head-on.
  • The BDS movement called for a global week of action against Elbit in April. From the UK to Romania, from the US to Mexico, civil society groups and activists answered the call and led coordinated, strategic, and peaceful disruptions of this central pillar of Israel’s military-industrial complex. 

(4) Institutions (trade unions, faith, academic, cultural, sports):

Cultural:

  • The world’s largest live music event, Eurovision Song Contest lost 35 million viewers after a multi-year boycott campaign, led by PACBI and its partners. Ahead of the event 2,100+ musicians and cultural workers called on artists, broadcasters and fans to join five national broadcasters of Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain  boycotting Eurovision until genocidal Israel is banned. Eurovision also cancelled its official live tour amidst boycotts of the contest from the five European broadcasters, supported by former contestants and winners, national selection finalists in many countries, and fans.
  • Just 100 days before Viña Rock, the largest music gathering in Spain that once attracted over 200,000 attendees, almost 25% of bands cancelled and many members of the public demanded ticket refunds. The deeply complicit KKR private equity firm bought Viña Rock’s then-owner Superstruct Entertainment in 2024, which owns more than thirty Spanish music festivals.
  • Staunch Zionist Zubin Mehta cancelled his 2026 Israel concerts over Netanyahu’s policies against Palestinians. 
  • In Australia, Adelaide Writers Week 2026 collapsed following the anti-Palestinian racist removal of Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah, a Palestinian-Australian author, over “sensitivity concerns.” More than 180 scheduled speakers–including Indigenous writers, novelist Zadie Smith and former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern–pulled out of the program, and the director and the entire board resigned over Abdel-Fattah’s exclusion. 
  • Over 100 Senegalese cultural workers, including leading figures, signed an open letter calling on Senegal’s President to join other world leaders in sanctioning genocidal Israel over “the horror unfolding in Gaza.”
  • Arundhati Roy withdrew from the Berlinale film festival (Germany) over jury’s “unconscionable” refusal to stand in solidarity with Palestinians facing genocide in Gaza; leading Hollywood stars call on it to end its ongoing anti-Palestinian censorship.
  • 850+ Swedish cultural workers pledged to boycott complicit Israeli institutions. 
  • PACBI endorsed the growing consumer boycott of Spotify, which profits from artist exploitation, systems of mass deportation, as well as Israel’s apartheid and genocide. 
  • Scotiabank (Canada) divested from Elbit after writers’ boycotts of its sponsored events and other grassroots pressure.
  • In response to Spyglass Media firing actor Melissa Barrera from Scream 7 for speaking out against Israel’s genocide, over 35 arts and advocacy organizations called on global audiences to boycott the film and stand in meaningful solidarity with Palestinians. 
  • More than 120 musicians and music institutions from Montreal (Canada) joined the cultural boycott of apartheid Israel, including Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Société de arts technologiques (SAT), and Big Brave.
  • Chevron was dropped as partner from the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans (US), following pressure by a coalition supporting the Boycott Chevron campaign. Chevron has been targeted by the Palestinian-led BDS movement since 2022 due to its role as the main energy supplier for genocidal apartheid Israel. 
  • 182 participants in the Venice Biennale called on the world's largest art exhibition to drop Israel over its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.They include national pavilion artists and curators from at least 35 countries, artists invited to the main exhibition, and biennale workers. During the Biennale’s opening week, thousands of protestors gathered to demand Israel’s exclusion. The pressure from the campaign and this powerful show of solidarity forced Israel’s pavilion to close. The Biennale jury refused to consider Israel, later resigning.
  • For the third consecutive year, the Seret Israeli Film Festival was once again left without a cinema in Barcelona thanks to popular pressure and boycotts.
  • Following a fan-led boycott campaign, Scream 7’s second weekend box office dropped 74% - the worst of the franchise by a wide margin.
  • Celebrated author Sally Rooney explained her support of the cultural boycott of Israel in a public talk at the People’s Congress for the Hague Group in Amsterdam.
  • When the Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) censored Indigenous actor and filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers’ pro-Palestine acceptance speech, 16 of the association’s 46 members resigned and the TFCA’s president.
  • Javier Bardem, one of more than 5,000 film workers refusing to work with complicit Israeli film institutions and companies, called for a free Palestine from the Oscars stage.
  • After Artists for Palestine UK exposed Bloomberg Philanthropies’ complicity in Israel’s system of settler-colonial apartheid and military occupation, more than 250 artists demanded that British theatres end ties with the complicit foundation. 
  • More than 200 cultural figures condemned the British Museum for removing mentions of Palestine from historical exhibits as an “act of historical revision and potential erasure.”
  • After a multi-year grassroots campaign, the Giller Prize—a Canadian literary award—dropped complicit sponsors Scotiabank, Azrieli Foundation, and Indigo. 
  • Mubi’s streaming service lost over 200,000 subscribers after a filmmaker-led pressure campaign targeted the film company for accepting $100M from complicit firm Sequoia Capital. The campaign also led to Mubi creating an ethical investment and sponsorship policy.  
  • South African writer and Nobel laureate J. M. Coetzee withdrew from the International Jerusalem Writers’ Festival, citing the complicity of Israel's "intellectual and artistic communities" in the genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza.
  • Seven more theater companies in New York City have adopted PACBI guidelines. These companies join over a thousand other arts institutions that have joined the cultural boycott worldwide.
  • The New Media Week festival in Poland announced it is boycotting projects representing Israel. 
  • Vivid Sydney festival dropped Airbnb as a sponsor for 2026. 
  • Following two years of BDS pressure, led by Flow Strike, Flow Festival in Helsinki (Finland) announced it supports the call by Palestinian civil society to refrain from cultural cooperation linked to the Israeli state’s “hybrid influence operations” and will uphold the BDS movement’s priority targets when considering partnerships. Flow Strike was the first BDS campaign launched against Superstruct and its complicit owner KKR in summer 2024. 

Academic:

  • The American Association of Geographers (AAG) took significant first steps toward divesting its funds from companies complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide and moving toward an ethical “International Partnership Framework.”
  • A new network of universities for Palestine was established in Senegal, calling on the Senegalese government to sever all ties with genocidal Israel.
  • The American Psychological Association (APA) passed a resolution rejecting the discredited International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) “definition of antisemitism.” 
  • The European Society of Criminology (ESC) voted by a large majority (62% of those expressing an opinion) in favor of requiring scholars from illegal Israeli settlement institutions to indicate their affiliations in accordance with international law.
  • The membership of the American Historical Association (AHA) and the Modern Language Association (MLA) voted by 79% in favor of a joint resolution condemning repression in the US and the silencing of academic dissent against the ongoing “US-sponsored Israeli genocide in Gaza.” 
  • Following BDS pressure from students and lecturers, the National School of Anthropology and History (ENAH), one of Mexico’s largest educational institutions, declared itself an Apartheid Free Zone and pledged to have no ties with Israeli institutions.
  • Members of the American Historical Association (AHA), the largest membership association of historians in the world, voted overwhelmingly to condemn scholasticide in Gaza and to uphold core principles of academic freedom.
  • The UK Defence Ministry-owned Royal College of Defence Studies banned Israeli participation in the upcoming academic year over Israel’s Gaza genocide. The UK continues to criminally and hypocritically provide military-intelligence support for Israel’s genocide.
  • The Europeana Initiative, composed of the Europeana Aggregators’ Forum, the Europeana Network Association and the Europeana Foundation cultural heritage organizations, declared it will immediately abstain from ties with heritage entities supported by or directly linked to the government of Israel over its genocide in Gaza. 
  • The Association of Social Anthropologists (ASA) of the UK voted overwhelmingly (78%) to support the Palestinian call to boycott complicit Israeli academic and cultural institutions.
  • 1400+ scientists called on the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) to end collaboration with Israeli entities that “contribute - directly or indirectly - to the unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territory or to the commission of other serious violations of international law, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.”
  • Dozens of student and academic groups across Germany launched the Academic Boycott Campaign Germany (ABC DE) during the Academic Boycott Now! conference in Berlin, establishing a coordinated campaign for an academic boycott of complicit Israeli institutions.
  • The academic boycott campaign has achieved such tremendous growth that the Israeli Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology has announced research grants to try to understand the massive growth of BDS impact on campuses worldwide.
  • Following intense pressure, the Israeli ambassador to Greece was removed from the program of the AgriBusiness Forum 2026 in Athens. 
  • The Academic Senate of the Gran Sasso Science Institute (GSSI) in L’Aquila, Italy, voted in favor of a motion pledging no institutional ties with Israeli institutions “directly or indirectly involved in the violence and occupation to the detriment of the civilian populations of Gaza and the West Bank.”
  • The University of Ghent (Belgium) officially left the Osteonet Project Consortium with Tel Aviv University.
  • The Associated Students of Madison (US) voted in favour of anti-discrimination divestment legislation calling for divestment from BlackRock index funds containing holdings in companies that manufacture weapons for Israel’s military operations on the basis of reports of genocide in Gaza and Sudan and abuse perpetuated by ICE.
  • The Socialist Students and Workers Network announced the latest Apartheid Free Zone in Ghana adding to the 1000+ strong global network of AFZ’s. 

Sports:

  • Following a massive outcry from Celtic FC (Scotland) fans and from Palestinians, the club announced it would not go through with a transfer deal with complicit Israeli club Maccabi Netanya, which has ties to an Israeli drone company making a “killing” from Israel’s genocide. Maccabi Netanya is owned by Aliya Capital Partners, which has invested $30 million in Israeli drone company XTEND.
  • Swedish football icon Hedvig Lindalh refused a FIFA invitation to join the FIFA Legends team for the Women’s World Cup, citing Palestinian athletes killed by Israel’s Gaza genocide and FIFA’s “Peace Prize” to Donald Trump.
  • American football player Azeez Al-Shaair, who plays for the Houston Texans, wore a "Stop the Genocide" message at matches against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots.
  • A poll by the Professional Footballers Association of Ireland showed that its members are overwhelmingly opposed to the Men’s National Team playing Nations League fixtures against Israel, with 66% in favor of boycotting the matches should they go ahead and 79% specifying it was for moral reasons.
  • Le Camp de Base, a climbing gym in Brussels (Belgium), withdrew as host of World Climbing Europe competition over participation of the complicit Israeli team. The climbing gym refused to host the Youth Series competition following the Israeli team's refusal to compete under a neutral flag. 
  • Calls to exclude genocidal Israel from World Climbing reached new heights. Climbers for Palestine Spain and other supporters dropped a huge banner in Madrid calling for representatives of apartheid Israel to be excluded from the World Climbing Series, 28-31 May in Alcobendas (Madrid). More than 120 organizations across the Spanish state are calling for Israel to be excluded from international climbing competitions. 
  • Top league Polish football club Pogoń Szczecin refused a business offer from complicit Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv over Gaza genocide. Maccabi Tel Aviv FC has repeatedly sent “care packages” to Israeli soldiers committing genocide in Gaza and organized videos of its employees serving as soldiers in Gaza as “motivation” ahead of matches. 
  • The Obstacle Course Race (OCR) European Championships decided not to allow athletes to represent genocidal Israel. 

Trade unions:

  • The Irish Congress of Trade Unions, representing 800,000 members across the island of Ireland, declared itself an Apartheid Free Zone.
  • The BC Teachers Federation (Canada), a province wide labor union representing over 40,000 teachers, passed a resolution in support of BDS - making it the first province-wide motion to support BDS in the province of British Columbia.
  • Dockworkers in over 20 Mediterranean ports launched strikes and protests against war and rearmament. From Turkey to France, workers sent a message against Israel’s genocide, and in solidarity with the Palestinian people by refusing to be complicit in the shipment of weapons, energy and other materials that enable Israel’s crimes. Vessels operated by ZIM, apartheid Israel’s flagship shipping company, were reportedly left unable to dock in Italian ports for some time, due to the workers’ actions. 
  • The National Farmers Union of Canada (NFU) called on the Canadian government to take immediate action against Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people by suspending the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement and enacting a comprehensive two-way arms embargo against Israel.
  • Workers in Belgium went on a spontaneous strike protesting a visit by an Israeli military official. Around 650 workers at the factory of Belgian firearms manufacturer FN Herstal in Liege, downed tools for two days to protest a visit to their premises by the Israeli military attaché to Belgium, Moshe Tetro. 
  • Investigations, collaborations and targeted actions by trade unions and BDS partners severely impacted attempts by shipping giant MSC to transfer steel for arms to Israel. Italian authorities detained three shipments at two separate ports for investigation, Spain refused to allow one vessel to dock, Greek dockworkers refused to unload one of the shipments and a Portuguese MP raised a question in the Portuguese parliament. As MSC rerouted and changed vessels in the face of such actions, BDS expanded efforts to Turkiye, Egypt and Malta, with effective coordination maximising pressure across the attempted transfer route.
  • The Irish Congress of Trade Unions and Fórsa Trade Union became the first union bodies in Europe to pass Ethical Procurement Policies (EPP). 
  • Under the banner of “Workplace Day of Action for Palestine,” three major trade union federations representing over 80 trade union affiliates across the islands of Ireland and Britain announced support for workplace actions, coinciding with the 78th anniversary of Nakba.  
  • Dockworkers’ unions from more than 35 ports signed a joint declaration calling for an end to Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians and for a day of international struggle of dockworkers in October. 
  • A BDS Motion passed by the Swedish Construction Union. 
  • Delegates at the 39th United Auto Workers (UAW) Constitutional Convention voted to divest from Israel bonds in June 2026, making it the first major US labor union to do so. They voted for full divestment from Israel bonds by adding language in Article 7, Section 2 of their constitution that states “No UAW funds shall be invested in Israel bonds.”
  • The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Canada’s central trade union body representing 3.3 million workers, voted overwhelmingly to cut ties with Histadrut, apartheid Israel’s trade union federation. The resolution also calls on the Canadian government to implement a two-way military embargo on Israel. 

Anti-pinkwashing:

  • Pittsburgh Pride (US) officially dropped Howmet Aerospace as a pride sponsor. Howmet Aerospace makes specialty titanium parts and sells them to weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Lockheed uses those parts to build F-35 fighter jets, which are sold to Israel and used against Palestinians and in Lebanon and beyond.
  • Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (Australia) cancelled its flagship pride event after growing criticism of the event's ties to BDS pressure target Live Nation Entertainment. 

Faith:

  • The 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) unanimously committed to divest from Palantir Technologies and GE Aerospace. The denomination is the first institution to successfully target these companies for divestment.