BDS on steroids

When navigating to www.bdsguide.com, I’m immediately confronted with a clenched fist on a red banner against a crisp white background, and the matter-of-fact wording that I’m viewing the site in the Safari browser on Mac OS X. As an Apple product, my computer has been provided to me under the direction of CEO Tim Cook, who has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a trip to Israel for the inauguration of one of the company’s offices in the Jewish state. 

“Please uninstall Safari,” the notice warns me. 

I’m also told that Apple recently acquired an Israeli chip manufacturer, Anobit, and opened a third research and development center in Israel. So I should definitely “uninstall OSX.”

Continuing to browse the website, I discover an extensive and evolving list of companies and individuals that support Israel. At a time when the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is working hard to make the case for taking a stand against Israel, the research accumulated in this guide could seemingly serve the boycotters well. 

But there’s more to this than meets the eye.

“If you really want to hurt the Israeli government because of the policies you disagree with, I don’t think that’s a valid thing, but…you should probably go after the things that bring the most tax revenue to allow Israel to carry on its policies,” says Avi, an information technology worker and staunch Zionist who launched the pro-Israel website in disguise with his co-founder, Daniel. Both Avi and Daniel have chosen not to reveal their last names due to concerns of being personally targeted by BDS activists.

BDSguide.com, Avi explains, provides “an ever-growing list—certainly not a complete list, but the most complete I’ve seen—of what you would actually have to boycott if you’re going to boycott Israel. And it’s a very, very long list.”

Launched in January, this platform is hardly the first pro-Israel website on the block. But what makes it unique is two-fold. First, Avi cites the website’s “innovative” facet of analyzing its own users.