Arguing BDS in the Undergraduate Seminar

Abstract

Why teach Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) today? Founded by Palestinian NGOs in 2005, BDS aims through peaceful means to pressure Israel to comply with international law and end the occupation of Palestinian land. Arguably, no issue has roiled Middle East studies as much in recent years. The call to support BDS continues to face charges of antisemitism as well as challenges to its claims to be both Palestinian-led and a “movement” (although I will call it one here). In some cases, support for BDS has also jeopardized academic careers. Then, too, there is the question of BDS’s efficacy and relevance. Both defenders and supporters acknowledge that the effort to mobilize international pressure on Israel suffered a heavy blow with the 2020 “Abraham Accords,” the Trump administration’s ungainly deal to “normalize” relations between several Arab states and Israel. The impact of this attempted realignment remains unclear, but few dispute it has weakened BDS and further marginalized Palestinians. Given this background, can a course centered on BDS now seem anything other than indulgent? Who cares if BDS is right or wrong if many believe it hasn’t a chance? In 2019 I developed and taught a new, BDS-centered undergraduate political science seminar. Subsequent events may call into question whether this upperlevel elective class should continue to be offered. I believed then that, while teaching about BDS is intellectually, ethically, and even professionally fraught, so is ignoring it because BDS shapes political behavior. Indeed, since that time the Biden campaign’s 2020 promise to defeat BDS has only echoed Trump-era