Featuring Omar Barghouti, this conference– presented by the Arab American Institute, the Foundation for Middle East Peace, and the John Brademas Center of New York University– discusses the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in support of human rights. The video provides a clear description of the perspective of the BDS movement.
The BDS movement calls for ending the occupation of territory taken in 1967 (including the Syrian Golan, the West Bank, and Gaza), ending the system of racial inequality of Palestinian citizens of present day Israel and, supporting the rights of refugees including the right of return.
When Barghouti was asked if he would support two states, he said the BDS movement does not take a position on whether there should be one state or two but demands justice and equality. He goes on to reiterate his view: “Accepting modern day Jewish Israelis as equal citizens and full partners in building and developing a new shared society — free from all colonial subjugation and discrimination, as called for in the democratic state model — is the most magnanimous, rational offer any oppressed indigenous population can present to its oppressors. So don’t ask for more.”
An excellent description of Barghouti’s view of BDS and of what the future should be is presented in this Mondoweiss article he wrote: https://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/democratic-palestine-promising/
The conference was introduced by James Zogby, author of Palestinians: The Invisible Victims. The conference was moderated by Peter Beinart.
See the conference at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgptuc1ZN10. Video title: NYU DC Conversation: The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement
Created by: New York University
Video length: 01:27:52
Date: April 18, 2019
Caption: The Arab American Institute, Foundation for Middle East Peace, and the John Brademas Center of New York University presented a conversation on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. The conversation engaged Omar Barghouti, Co-Founder, Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement, in a discussion about the official BDS movement and Omar’s role as one of its leaders.
Video link: https://youtu.be/Zgptuc1ZN10