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[Originally published in the February Issue, 18th of February 2026]
The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) is a global, Palestinian led campaign to end international support of Israeli apartheid and colonialism. Inspired by the South African apartheid struggle, BDS uses public pressure to demand justice.
The Boycott campaign calls for individuals and community members to engage in consumer boycotts of Israeli products, services, institutions, and international services that operate in or profit from Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. Some of the largest boycott targets include McDonald’s, Caltex, HP, Starbucks, among others. The No Thanks app is helpful for identifying which consumer products are on the boycott list and which are safe to buy. BDS National also includes a list of targeted boycott campaigns.
The Divestment campaign is the public demand for companies, institutions, pension funds, and organisations to withdraw investments from companies that are complicit in the occupation or that violate Palestinian human rights. Within UQ, students ask for divestment away from Lockheed Martin, Boeing Centre, Bookings.com, and AirBNB.
Finally, the Sanctions campaign is the push and demand of Governments to hold Israel accountable by ending military trade and free-trade agreements, as well as suspending and banning business with illegal Israeli settlements.
Onto what BDS looks like on campus. Students call for the University of Queensland Administration to uphold the Student Union’s demands to uphold the BDS framework on campus. This includes the permanent closure of the Boeing centre on campus, and complete divestment from the apartheid state through economic, weaponry, and monetary means.
For more information about the BDS movement and other helpful links, please click here to visit the BDS Youth Magandjin website.
This article was written with the help of BDS Youth Magandjin member, Malaak Seleem.
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