10 Reasons Why Boycotting Israeli Products Won't Work

Boycotts have a long history. Union members refuse to purchase Hormell products. Jews avoid buying German cars. Homophobes say no to visiting Disney. The boycott is widely understood to be a form of economic pressure that forces the target to change behavior or suffer pain.

Of course, some things never get boycotted. For example, the environmental movement hasn't called on anyone to boycott coal power. Peta doesn't go after products from country X because they harm animals. (France - geese, Spain - bulls, etc.) For a boycott to be effective, the sponsor of the boycott needs a constituency large enough to make an impact, and be able to do so. When it comes to boycotting Israel though - the logic seems to fail. Here are ten concise reasons why boycotting Israel won't work.

1. Israel does not export a great deal of clearly labeled consumer goods you can avoid buying.
2. A boycott that appears to be working would generate a rise in purchases from supporters of Israel.
3. Local struggles to boycott Israeli products have a history of failure when it comes time to vote.
4. There isn't enough public sympathy with the Palestinian cause for a boycott to have an impact.
5. The boycott movement has no serious celebrity spokespeople - and never will.
6. The Palestinian Authority is not supporting a boycott. If the Palestinian government doesn't think this is important, can international activists say they know better?
7. The purchasing power of progressives only works to promote, not to harm. Stick with fair trade people.
8. The kinds of exports that really matter to Israel are in military defense, technology and business-to-business areas. These will never be affected by a consumer boycott.
9. The boycott is too blunt a tool. Even people who support applying pressure on Israel for or against a specific action are often opposed to boycotting a country. It feels anti-Israel instead of pro-Palestinian.
10. The language of the boycott campaign is almost entirely internal. A dialogue within the pro-Palestinian camp. There is no evidence that when faced with a choice, a significant community from the public at large while adhere to a boycott against Israel.

Note that this post is specifically about the boycott - not divestment or sanctions.

Of course, there are strategies for pressuring Israel or supporting Palestinians that DO have a track record of success. The problem is (for some) is that they focus on specific Israel behaviors, instead of carrying the subtext of being opposed to Israel's very existence. But that's for another post.

PS: I'm inviting anyone who wants to write a rebuttal to do so, on these pages. Tell us in ten brief points why you think a boycott will work (as opposed to why you think its the right thing to do) and it will come up as a guest post. If you don't see it - it means no one has bothered to write it.