Does a boycott support peace?

On a certain social networking site I've been invited to join a group urging me to support peace by boycotting Israel. I happen to believe that true peace is based on understanding and respect as well as justice and a few other things. I don't think a boycott helps to bring about understanding, so I can't see that it supports peace.

I can understand that people feel so helpless and frustrated that they think a boycott is the only thing likely to 'bring Israel to it's senses'. A boycott is an attempt to force someone to do what you want them to do, so it is a form of violence. It is thought to have brought about an end to apartheid in South Africa and there are similarities with the situation in Israel-Palestine, but things are not exactly the same. More to the point, though, do we subscribe to the ends justifying the means and harming a few for the benefit or the many or are we working for true peace? Shalom, God's peace, is about wholeness and harmony and general well-being. It is a deep peace that informs all that we do. This is the kind of peace I try to support, although being human I still have much to learn and many bad habits to change in the pursuit of Shalom.