#bds

#bds

The first order prohibits city agency heads and staff from engaging in any policy that discriminates against the state of Israel, Israeli citizens based on their national origin, or individuals or entities based on their association with Israel. It also prohibits officials overseeing the city pension system from making decisions in line with the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which Mamdani has said he supports.

The nonbinding ballot initiative instructs the mayor and all other elected officials "to end all current city business and prohibit future city investments and contracts with companies as long as such companies engage in business that sustains Israel's apartheid, genocide, and illegal occupation of Palestine." It marks the first time voters in the U.S. have had the opportunity to directly declare their support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement through a ballot initiative.

Absolutely not. I wouldn't want to be 5,000 miles anywhere near the Netanyahu regime, he told the Sunday Times magazine, referring to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. The interview with members of the British band whose UK No 1 albums include OK Computer and Kid A took place before this month's ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. The band kick off their first tour in seven years next month, playing 20 shows in five European cities.

The BDS movement was officially founded in 2005 by Omar Barghouti. Just as it is factual to say that Israel is currently committing war crimes in Gaza, it is also factual to say that by any objective measure BDS has failed. Over the last 20 years international pressure has successfully stifled Israeli exports, but during that period the government of Israel has become more isolated and authoritarian, as conditions in Palestine have deteriorated, first slowly, and then with horrifying speed.

An organisation of pro-Israel lawyers in the UK is under investigation after a complaint that it threatened people with legal action to suppress support for Palestine. UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has been accused of sending eight letters to individuals and organisations between January 2022 and May 2025 that demonstrate a seeming pattern of vexatious and legally baseless correspondence aimed at silencing and intimidating Palestine solidarity efforts, according to the complainants.

"FEMA grants remain governed by existing law and policy and not political litmus tests. DHS will enforce all anti-discrimination laws and policies, including as it relates to the BDS movement, which is expressly grounded in antisemitism."

"If you knowingly build systems that can enable war crimes, you inevitably become complicit in those crimes," wrote Eno.