Free Palestine Resources

Written By Shelby Duncan

Take Action

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS)

Boycotting for Palestine

In a capitalist society, one of the most impactful ways we can call for change is through how we store and spend our capital. Boycotting is an incredibly powerful tool and where I am choosing to focus the core of my energy at this time.

For each of the consumer boycott targets, there are key steps we can take:

  1. Do not purchase directly from these brands. If you happen to own one of the brands or products, transition away and discover alternatives

  2. Campaign for Divestment - review your investment portfolio, sell any individual stocks of these brands. Research your index fund, mutual fund, or 401k fund investments to see if these companies (or divestment targets) are within the fund. Sell accordingly.

  3. Follow actions as requested on the BDS website. You can campaign at your school, workplace, or against other institutions to have them divest from using the goods or services for boycott targets.

BDS Consumer Boycott Targets

  1. Hewlett Packard (HP) - comprised of two entities (HP Inc. for consumer goods and HP-E for enterprise)

    1. The Palestinian BDS National Committee is calling for an individual and institutional boycott of all HP consumer products including laptops, printers and printer ink.

    2. HPE is a part of the S&P 500

    3. The Top ETFs holding HPE include: VTI, VOO, VO, SPY, IVV, VTV, VOE, VGT, XLK, and RSP

  2. SIEMENS AG - has hundreds of subsidiaries nested under six lines of business, details can be found here

  3. Chevron - avoid purchasing gas from Chevron, Texaco, and Caltex

    1. The Top ETFs holding Chevron include: XYLD, XYLG, XRMI, XYLE, XTR

  4. AXA

    1.  Boycott/cancel AXA insurance policies. If you are willing to cancel your insurance policy with AXA due to its investments in Israeli apartheid, please let BDS know.

    2. Top ETF holding AXAHY is DIVD

  5. Puma - is owned by Artémis Group - Puma owns three brands: PUMA, Cobra Golf and stichd all of which you can boycott

    1. Sign the petition

    2. Take the Boycott Pledge

  6. Sodastream and Sabra Hummus - Parent Company is PepsiCo (PEP)

    1. PEP is on the Nasdaq

    2. There are 320 ETFs that hold PEP, the top 10 are: IYK, XLP, VDC, FTXG, FSTA, UGE, PBJ, KXI, MBCC, ESGS

  7. Ahava is owned by Chinese conglomerate Fosun International

  8. Israeli Fruits and Vegetables

Organic Boycott Targets

The following boycott targets have risen organically. To participate in boycotting these brands, do not spend money at their stores. If you have an account with the brand, ask for the account to be deleted. If you have funds with the company (like Starbucks), request that you are cashed out.

  1. Starbucks (note, Starbucks is a bank and not a coffee chain. It is imperative you delete your Starbucks account and take your current funds as cash, not a giftcard)

  2. Domino’s Pizza

  3. McDonalds

  4. Papa Johns

  5. Burger King

  6. Pizza Hut

  7. Wix

Contact your Representatives

Call, email, fax and/or send physical mail to your representatives daily urging for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Palestine. You may also consider addressing and/or asking that they not support funding Israel, sending weapons to Israel, or do not vote in favor of upcoming bills supporting Israel (you can track that information here).

To Call your Representatives

I like using the 5 Calls App each morning to reach out to my representatives. Below, find written instructions and a video on how to use the app.

  1. Download the 5 Calls App on your mobile phone (Apple App Store, Google Play Store)

  2. Upon opening the app, you will be prompted to input your full address, do so!

  3. Next you will need to choose a topic, in this case, pick “Call for De-escalation and Ceasefire in Israel and Occupied Palestine”

  4. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page, and click on your first representative

  5. Call them by clicking the red phone number in the upper left hand corner (you can use the script provided below or not)

  6. When the call is complete, mark what happened by pressing the corresponding blue button - you will automatically be moved to your next representative

Pro Tip: Don’t forget to call the local numbers, found under the photo of the representative in the upper right hand corner.

Prefer video instructions, check out the video below.

To Email your Representatives

This is the process I use to reach out to my representatives by email:

  1. Find out who your representatives are (using the 5 Calls App above is super helpful).

  2. Open a browser with Google and type in “email + representative name”, this will likely lead you to a link with a form. Fill out the relevant information

  3. When it is time to submit your writing, you can write your own message, or, if you need some help, I have a resource available here

  4. Hit send and repeat the next day!

Educate Yourself

It is imperative that we all develop a political education and identity that we then illustrate through praxis. Below, I am sharing some of the books I am reading and finding helpful to learn about Palestine, specifically.

Free Reads on Haymarket.com

Haymarket Books is providing three, free ebooks online, all of which are imperative to read:

  1. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions

  2. Light in Gaza

  3. Palestine: A Socialist Introduction

Additional Books (Check with your local library, first)

  1. On Palestine

  2. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

  3. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine

Shelby Duncan