Unbreakable Bond Coalition Sets Launch of Anti-BDS Investment Campaign in New York
Muslim, Jewish and interfaith leaders plan to promote investment and economic engagement as an alternative to boycott and isolation
By Mutiu Olawuyi
A coalition of Muslim, Jewish and interfaith leaders is preparing to launch an Anti-BDS Investment Campaign in the Bronx on Wednesday, Sept. 23, calling for economic engagement, investment and people-to-people partnerships as an alternative to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement targeting Israel.
The Unbreakable Bond Coalition says its campaign will officially launch from noon to 8 p.m. at the Dreiser Loop Community Center in Co-op City, with organizers inviting community leaders, students, business representatives, veterans and members of different faith communities to participate.
The coalition’s central message is encapsulated in its stated response to boycott efforts: “If others organize to boycott Israel, we will organize to invest in Israel.”
The initiative builds on a campaign first announced in July that proposed mobilizing supporters to invest in Israeli treasury bonds. Organizers describe the investment strategy as an attempt to replace economic isolation with engagement and to use financial participation as a platform for peacebuilding. The campaign’s earlier plan called for raising at least $500,000 through contributions from 500,000 supporters.
A different response to BDS
The campaign comes amid an ongoing debate over BDS and the role of economic pressure in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Palestinian-led BDS movement says its campaign is intended to pressure Israel over Palestinian rights and identifies three principal objectives: ending Israel’s occupation of territories occupied since 1967, achieving full equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and addressing Palestinian refugees’ right of return. BDS describes boycotts, divestment and sanctions as nonviolent tools of pressure.
The Unbreakable Bond Coalition takes the opposite approach, arguing that economic relationships can create opportunities for cooperation rather than separation.
Anila Ali, president of the American Muslim & Multifaith Women’s Empowerment Council, said her experience bringing Muslims and South Asians to Israel shaped her commitment to people-to-people engagement.
“If others choose boycott, we will choose partnership. If others choose isolation, we will choose investment.”
Ali said the coalition hopes to build relationships across religious and cultural communities rather than allowing disagreement over the conflict to prevent dialogue.
Sheikh Musa Drammeh, a founding member of the coalition, said the campaign represents an effort to translate support for coexistence into an economic strategy.
“Our response to boycott will be investment. Our response to isolation will be partnership.”
Drammeh has previously described the campaign as an effort to encourage people to regard Israeli companies and government bonds as investable assets. The initiative has also received coverage as a Muslim-led effort to counter BDS through investment.
Building relationships beyond political disagreement
Soraya M. Deen, founder of the Muslim Women Speakers Bureau, said her engagement with Palestinians has influenced her opposition to BDS.
“What I hear is simple: they want a future. They want opportunity. They want trade. They want peace.”
She said the coalition should focus on creating avenues through which Israelis and Palestinians can work, trade and build relationships.
Wajid A. Syed, CEO of Abraham Publishing and Research Center, similarly framed economic engagement as a mechanism for maintaining relationships despite political disagreements.
“Engaging with this vibrant market does not require uniform political agreement. Rather, it offers a vital avenue to build relationships, create shared opportunities and prove that meaningful cooperation is possible even amid disagreement.”
Mansoor Laghari, secretary general of the coalition, said the initiative is intended to ask participants to build alternatives rather than merely oppose another movement.
“We are not asking people simply to oppose BDS. We are asking them to build something. Invest. Engage. Create partnerships. Strengthen the bond.”
Investment comes with financial considerations
The proposed campaign also raises an important distinction between political symbolism and financial investment.
Israel Bonds says its securities are investments and directs prospective investors to review the applicable prospectus for terms and risks before purchasing. Its official materials note that bond offerings are subject to availability and that investors should evaluate the specific risks of each issue.
The coalition’s organizers say their broader objective extends beyond financial returns to supporting economic engagement and organizations involved in dialogue and coexistence.
For New York, Wednesday’s event will bring a highly contested international issue into a local setting, but organizers say their emphasis will be on relationships: Muslims and Jews engaging one another, businesses exploring partnerships and community members choosing dialogue over separation.
Whether the campaign can translate that message into substantial investment and durable interfaith partnerships remains to be seen. Its immediate contribution, however, is to place an alternative proposition into the public debate: that economic engagement can itself become a vehicle for relationship-building.
Event: Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026, noon–8 p.m.
Location: Dreiser Loop Community Center, 177 Dreiser Loop, Co-op City, Bronx, NY 10475.
Admission: $35 individual; $50 couple.
Media contact: Sheikh Musa Drammeh, 718-822-5555; unbreakablebondinc@gmail.com.
About The Author
