Transnational Activism and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

This book examines the polarization of positions surrounding the transnational boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement aimed at ending the Israeli occupation. The vast discrepancy in portrayals of the movement - framed alternately as a nonviolent movement for freedom and human rights and as a form of war by other means - is intriguing, and the passion on both sides of the issue suggests the tactic is powerful and resonates deeply. Drawing on first-hand interviews with activists and opponents, press coverage, and organizational materials, this book systematically compares four cases of BDS activism in the United States, using an analytical framework that draws from the literature of social movements, nonviolent resistance, discourse analysis, and contentious politics. It will be of interest to students, scholars, policy makers, and activists.

This book examines the polarization of positions surrounding the transnational boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement aimed at ending the Israeli occupation. The author compares four US-based case studies in which activists for and against BDS struggle over issues of identity, morality, legitimacy, and conceptions of "peace."

Maia Carter Hallward is Associate Professor of Middle East Politics jointly appointed with the PhD program in International Conflict Management at Kennesaw State University, USA. She spent three years teaching and doing research in Ramallah and Amman before pursuing her PhD in International Relations from American University's School of International Service, USA. She is the author of Struggling for a Just Peace: Israeli and Palestinian Activism in the Second Intifada (2011) and co-editor of Nonviolent Resistance in the Second Intifada: Activism and Advocacy (2011). She also serves as associate editor for the Journal of Peacebuilding and Development.

1. The History and Theory of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions
2. Explaining the Contentiousness of BDS: Rival Framings of Identity, Peace, and Power
3. Chapter Three: CodePink's 'Stolen Beauty' campaign: Creativity in Action
4. UC Berkeley's Student Government Divestment Bill: Power, Identity, and Fear
5. The Olympia Food Co-op Boycott: Brokerage, Networks and Local Culture
6. The Presbyterian Church USA: Institutions, Justice and History
7. Conclusion