C anada abstained when the United Nations general assembly (UNGA) overwhelmingly adopted a resolution calling for sanctions on Israel on 18 September 2024, objecting that the resolution “aligns with boycott, divestment, sanctions, which Canada firmly opposes”. This formulation, hypocrisy aside , actually turns the truth on its head. Launched in 2005, the non-violent, anti-racist BDS movement, inspired by the South African anti-apartheid struggle and the US civil rights movement, has consistently advocated for Palestinian rights in alignment with international law.
BDS calls for ending Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid and upholding the right of Palestinian refugees to return and receive reparations. It is the UN general assembly that is finally beginning to “align” itself with the urgent task of applying international law consistently, even to Israel. As Craig Mokhiber, a former senior UN human rights official, puts it, the international court of justice (ICJ) ruling makes BDS “not only a moral imperative and constitutional and human right, but also an international legal obligation”.
Far from being yet another UN vote, this is historic . It is the first time ever that the UNGA has called out Israel’s apartheid regime and the first time in 42 years that it has called for sanctions to end its illegal occupation, as determined by the ICJ in July. Many Palestinians and solidarity activists remain skeptical, however.
Almost one year into Israel’s genocid.