Behind the Boycott | Page 4

forego the products of the Jewish state , this boycott seeks to choke off Israel ’ s economy — one of the great success stories of the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty .
Boycotts of Israel are not a new phenomenon . Indeed , the Arab League imposed a boycott of Jews in Mandatory Palestine as far back as 1945 — three years before the establishment of the State of Israel . That boycott , which lasted decades , had largely failed by 2005 , when a web of Palestinian NGOs came together to issue the manifesto that created the BDS movement .
The campaign has three objectives : ( 1 ) “ Ending the occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the wall ” ( i . e ., the security barrier that Israel constructed during the Second Intifada to curb the influx of suicide bombers into Israel ); ( 2 ) “ Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab- Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality ;” and ( 3 ) “ Respecting , protecting , and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes .”
While seemingly nobly intentioned , each of these objectives is flawed in a crucial way . The first is insufficiently defined . Which lands are the “ Arab
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