Financial warfare against Israel can take many forms . Some people refuse to buy any Israeli products . Others will not buy anything produced in Israeli settlements on the West Bank . A particularly popular weapon is divestment from companies seen as benefiting from Israel ’ s occupation of the West Bank : students campaign to convince their universities to divest from these companies , citizens lobby their governments to ensure that pension funds are not invested in Israel , and shareholders pressure corporations to cease doing business with Israeli companies . In practice , these actions hurt Palestinians , since those employed in Israel or in Israeli settlements make far more money than they would in similar jobs in Palestinian-controlled territory and they spend that money in Palestinian cities and villages , providing a much-needed stimulus for the Palestinian economy . The twin Israeli and Palestinian economies are too intertwined for BDS to target Israel without also harming Palestinians .
Boycott activists claim the moral high ground in the hope of attracting church groups and religious leaders to their cause . Presbyterian Church ( U . S . A .) and United Church of Christ , for example , supported by a small cadre of radical anti-Zionist Jews , have voted to endorse BDS policies even as they claim to remain committed to interfaith dialogue . These religious groups see themselves as pursuing peace . But peacemakers don ’ t make one-sided judgments .
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