Ingrid Jaradat’s legacy, in particular her revolutionary and influential critical approach to international law in the service of the Palestinian liberation struggle, lives on to guide and nourish many aspects of the BDS movement. Ingrid’s untimely departure was exactly one year ago, weeks into the unleashing of Israel’s unspeakable genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip.
To commemorate Ingrid’s unique contribution to the movement, which she co-founded in 2005, the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition of Palestinian entities in historic Palestine and in exile that is leading the global BDS movement, is launching the Ingrid Jaradat Award (IJA) for the most inspiring BDS initiatives.
The award is in the spirit of the text engraved on Ingrid’s tombstone near Bethlehem which says:
We promise you to smile whenever we can, like you did; to keep on going no matter what, struggling, reflecting, defending hope despite the pain, falling, standing up again, modifying the path, resuming the struggle, and ultimately winning our liberation!
The symbolic IJA is a “basket” of Palestinian fair-trade products (olivewood, olive oil, olive oil soap, zaatar, freekeh, etc.) for the winning groups to enjoy in community. The olive oil is donated by Ingrid’s life partner, Muhammad Jaradat, and it is all from olive trees that they both planted and nourished for many years.
Objectives:
Aside from the main objective of commemorating Ingrid’s legacy, the IJA aims to raise awareness among many new activists worldwide about not just the BDS movement’s principles and overall impact, but also the nuts and bolts of waging effective, strategic, goal-oriented and ethically-consistent BDS campaigns.
The IJA will also help educate many about how the BDS movement, as an integral part of the Palestinian liberation struggle and the most effective form of international solidarity with the Palestinian people, strives to end the complicity of states, corporations and institutions with Israel’s decades-old regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid and military occupation. Ending this complicity is indispensable in the struggle to achieve our inalienable and inherent rights as an Indigenous people, particularly the right of Palestinian refugees to return and receive reparations–a cause on which Ingrid has left an unmistakable mark.
Selection Criteria:
The award will be granted annually to three BDS-related initiatives that are able to inspire and grow the global BDS movement as they reflect in a unique manner the above spirit, balancing ethical principles with strategic effectiveness, adhering to the BDS movement’s guidelines (anti-racism, intersectionality, etc.), and showing potential for significant impact in our collective pursuit of Palestinian freedom, justice and equality.
Submissions will be accepted from groups organizing BDS-related initiatives across the world that are in harmony with the BDS movement’s criteria and operational principles below:
I. Target-selection criteria:
Level of complicity (well-researched, convincing and clear narrative of how the target enables Israeli apartheid) )
Intersectionality (cross-movement relevance of the target)
Brand recognition and media appeal (helps reaching a wider audience)
Potential for success
II. Operational principles:
Gradualness (incrementalism in building power to achieve the ultimate goals)
Sustainability (sustaining victories and building on them to move forward)
Context-sensitivity (adapting tactics to optimally suit the political-cultural context)
Jury:
The IJA jury will include better known supporters of the movement; two distinguished younger activists; Ingrid’s lifetime partner, Muhammad Jaradat; and a representative of the BNC. No member of the jury can have any direct or indirect involvement with the groups submitting their BDS initiatives for this award.
*** More information on submission and deadlines will be announced soon.