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John Collins

Overview

John Collins has written multiple articles attacking Israel and has described the life of Palestinians as the “micro-economy of apartheid.” He is a supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and authored a book that attempts to depict Israel as a “settler-colonialist project.” 

Collins is a professor of Global Studies at St. Lawrence University (St. Lawrence). 

Accusation of Settler-Colonialism

On August 8, 2016, Collins published an interview on his blog in which he discussed the “state of Israel’s settler-colonial project.”

Collin expounded upon this view in his 2012 book, Global Palestine, in which he claimed that “contemporary Palestine is the site of an ongoing project of settler colonization.”

In 2010, Collins published an article in which he outlined the various tactics through which he alleged Israel has created and implemented a “Settler-Colonialist State.”

In the spring of 2005, Collins published an article in the Journal of Palestinian Studies in which he claimed that Israel’s establishment followed the “total ethnic cleansing of the Arab population.”

Demonizing Israel

In the fall of 2008, Collins published an article, in which he described the life of Palestinians as “subject to irregular and sudden periods of hyper-accelerated terror”

On February 16, 2005 Collins published an article on Electronic Intifada, where he described images of Palestinians as “the micro-economy of apartheid.”

In an article published by Collins on December 20, 2004, he demonized the relationship between America and Israel, stating that, “what we are witnessing in the U.S.-Israeli relationship is a kind of state terroristic feedback loop.”

Support For BDS

On December 11, 2015, Collins published on his blog an interview with Ilana Feldman, one of the leaders of the American Anthropological Association’s (AAA) resolution to boycott Israel. 

In an article published on May 31, 2015, Collins praised the activism of students at Wesleyan College for their work to promote BDS, describing their efforts as an “inspiring example of student activism” and the students as “standing on the right side of history.”

In the article, Collins recalled, “I was involved in student efforts to raise awareness on campus about the injustices faced every day by Palestinians living under Israeli occupation. The group I co-founded (Two Peoples, One Land) organized a wide range of events and actions during the first Palestinian intifada, including a debate about divestment from Israel.”In the same article, Collins went on to write that “I’m also on record now as supporting the academic boycott of Israel.”  

BDS

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement was founded by Omar Barghouti in 2005 to challenge “international support for Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism.” BDS is an allegedly “Palestinian-led movement,” although leading BDS activists have admitted [00:01:01] this is not true. 

One of the demands of BDS includes [point 3] what is generally known as the “right of return,” a demand discredited as a way to eliminate Israel. Barghouti said the “right of return” is a means to “end Israel’s existence as a Jewish state.”  

Barghouti has said that BDS “aims to turn Israel into a pariah state, as South Africa once was.”

In his activism, Barghouti has also said [00:05:55] regarding Israel: “Definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No…rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept a Jewish state in Palestine.”

The movement has been linked to numerous terrorist organizations and received a public endorsement from Hamas in 2017.

BDS initiatives include calling on institutions and individuals to divest from Israeli-affiliated companies, promoting academic and cultural boycotts of Israel, and organizing anti-Israel rallies, protests and campaigns.

The movement’s most notable achievement has been the infiltration of university campuses through lobbying for “BDS resolutions.” In these cases, student governments and student groups, backed by their own anti-Israel members and affiliates, have proposed resolutions on some form of boycott of, or divestment from, Israel and Israeli-affiliated entities.

Boycott resolutions, although non-binding, have been passed by student governments on numerous North American campuses.


BDS activity is often aggressive and disruptive. It has been noted that universities that pass BDS resolutions see a marked increase in anti-Semitic incidents on campus. On one campus, when the student government debated a BDS resolution, reports emerged of violent threats against those opposing it.



Social Media and Weblinks

University Website: https://www.stlawu.edu/people/john-collins
John Collins
Status:
Professor
University:
Saint-Lawrence
Organizations:
BDS

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Last Modified:
05/04/2026

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