Summary
The global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign, modelled on the South African anti-apartheid movement, which Makdisi’s Coda presents as ordinary citizens’ answer to the test John Dugard poses and his Epilogue presents as the alternative Palestinian leadership emerging in response to Palestinian civil society’s coordinated call (Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, PDF p.364, p.384-386).
Details
- Tutu and Urbina, quoted in the Coda: “Divestment from apartheid South Africa was fought by ordinary people at the grassroots,” through faith leaders, unions, consumers and students; “Eventually, institutions pulled the financial plug, and the South African government thought twice about its policies.”; “If apartheid ended, so can the occupation,” “but the moral force and international pressure will have to be just as determined” (PDF p.364).
- In the Epilogue, an alternative leadership “has emerged in the rapidly growing BDS (boycott/divestment/sanctions) movement, which is unfolding globally in response to a carefully coordinated call for action issued by Palestinian civil society” (PDF p.384).
- Ending apartheid is not only morally right; international law imposes an obligation on the whole international community to take measures against such violations (PDF p.385).
- White South Africans abandoned apartheid through nonviolent international isolation rather than armed resistance; boycotts record “one success after another”, most visibly the Israel–Sweden Davis Cup match in Malmö in March 2009, played in an empty stadium after spectators were banned in anticipation of anti-Israel protests (PDF p.385-386).
Related pages
Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, Apartheid, One-state solution, Bantustans