The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS Movement) is a global campaign targeting the nation of Israel through attempting to increase political and economic pressure on Israel in an effort to force the country’s leaders to comply with certain stated goals. These goals include ending Israeli occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, colonization of Palestinian land, full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and respect and compliance with the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
The BDS Movement was founded in 2005 by the Palestinian civil society in 2005 and is operated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee which was established in 2007.
Here is a brief outline of each of the aspects of the BDS Movement (from http://bdsmovement.net/):
Boycotts: target products and companies (Israeli and international) that profit from the violation of Palestinian rights, as well as Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions. Anyone can boycott Israeli goods, simply by making sure that they don’t buy produce made in Israel or by Israeli companies. Campaigners and groups call on consumers not to buy Israeli goods and on businesses not to buy or sell them.
Divestment: means targeting corporations complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights and ensuring that the likes of university investment portfolios and pension funds are not used to finance such companies. These efforts raise awareness about the reality of Israel’s policies and encourage companies to use their economic influence to pressure Israel to end its systematic denial of Palestinian rights.
Sanctions: are an essential part of demonstrating disapproval for a country’s actions. Israel’s membership of various diplomatic and economic forums provides both an unmerited veneer of respectability and material support for its crimes. By calling for sanctions against Israel, campaigners educate society about violations of international law and seek to end the complicity of other nations in these violations.
Sources:
"Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions," Wikipedia, last modified February 21, 2016, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boycott,_Divestment_and_Sanctions.
“Introducing the BDS Movement,” BDS Movement, accessed February 22, 2016,
http://bdsmovement.net/bdsintro.