Bethlehem – Ma’an – The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee will hold its second national conference in Nablus startiong on Monday, and preparations for the event were concluded just days before, organizers said.

The conference follows up on the 2005 call for a Palestinian national boycott and divestment movement supported by some 170 unions, networks and civil society organizations.

“During this relatively short period, the campaign has proven its effectiveness in challenging Israel”s impunity and promoting its accountability before international law,” a statement by organizers said, citing achievements like BDS endorsements of major trade unions in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, Italy, France and other nations, which have supported and observed the boycott of Israeli goods and institutions, and “divestment from companies profiting from Israel”s oppression.”

The conference comes amid a Palestinian Authority sponsored push to boycott goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, a move which has garnered much ire from the Israeli government and media.

In Nablus, the conference aims to “raise local awareness about BDS as an effective civil resistance strategy, to expand the active participation of Palestinian civil society in boycott campaigns, and to advocate BDS worldwide.”