BDS: Failing for 13 years.

Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) have been a failing tactic since it was first introduced at Durban in 2001. By any objective measure, the economy of Israel is booming.  Investment in Israel flourishes. Israeli bond ratings remain high   A-list entertainers have continued to visit Israel,  both for personal travel and to perform before appreciative crowds.

If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.  Israel has consistently built a better mousetrap, and innovations in water saving technology,  defense technology, medicine and cyber-security  will keep the Israeli economy robust for years to come.

"Then why", the BDs'ers ask, "Why do you fight us if we are not a threat?"

I'd answer simply, in the words of  Thomas Paine's "It is an  affront to truth to treat falsehood with complaisance"

But our friends at Divest this! have a much better answer. In the comments section of the post  the Israeli Economy-Security Dialectic , the blogger is also asked (Why) " If BDS is almost constantly failing, that we should therefore concern ourselves with it?"

The response  nails it:

You’re not the first person to ask why we should concerns ourselves with BDS given that, as you point out, I spend so much time documenting is failures. To which I’ve responded: 

(1) BDS (as we’ve seen) can make progress if enough good people don’t stand up to fight against it (which is why I spend time helping those engaged with this fight);

(2) The goal of the BDS propaganda campaign is to convince others that the Israel = Apartheid propaganda message is embraced by broad swaths of society (especially progressive society) rather than being the opinion of a tiny, unrepresentative fringe. So, by that very formula, highlighting when they get rejected by progressive individuals and organizations diminishes their message and effectiveness; and

(3) Of all the de-legitimization activity going on in the world, BDS is one of the few areas we civilians can have an impact. Most of us are not in the position to affect how nation states or international organizations behave (even if we can communicate their failings). But we can protect the civil society in which we live from being infected by the BDS virus. And any failure BDS experiences rebounds against the anti-Israel de-legitimization project as a whole.