#BDS: A French MP prosecuted

Dear Friends,

The repression against BDS activists in France is reaching a new scale with the prosecution of a French MP, Alima Boumediene-Thiery (member of the French Senate) who has participated in a BDS action in the Paris region one year ago and who is a supporter of the BDS campaign. Her trial is due to take place in Pontoise (North of Paris) on Thursday October 14. She is accused (like all the other French BDS activists prosecuted) of “incitation to racial hatred” and “discrimination against the Israeli nation”.

The same zionist lobbyist, Sammy Ghozlan is the plaintiff and he is supported by our government that has asked all French judges to condemn the BDS militants. We have exposed this man boasting that he has filed more than 80 complaints as a racist, a fanatic who writes insanities on Israeli settler websites not only against Palestinians but also against Richard Goldstone (“scum” and bastard” according to him) and even against Obama (compared to Pharaon who “transformed the Jewish people into slaves”) because he asked for Israelis to freeze the settlements. For those who can read French you will find interesting and incredible texts he wrote on our website : http://www.europalestine.com/spip.php?article5404

This trial involving a member of parliament who can loose the right to be reelected in Parliament if she is condemned is a test, as you can understand. And many people would be happy to get rid of her because she is very active on many various “disturbing” fronts, such as immigrants, islamophobia, the situation in the prisons, and all kind of discriminations and repressive laws. She is also the one who succeeded, when she was a member of the EuroPean Parliament in 2002, in having a vote in favor of the suspension of the commercial agreement between Europe and Israel (giving enormous taxes privileges to Israel) that our governments ignored though it was voted by a majority of the European MPs. She went for missions in Gaza and the Westbank on several occasions and made alarming reports.

In spite of this clearly crucial challenge, we find it very hard right now to mobilize the rest of the BDS movement in France for a real great counter offensive. Most of them keep silent, even many of those who participated in the BDS action with her and who should say “I did it too, sue me !”. We hope this will change and we are calling for protest actions to take place in the whole country before October 14, and for a huge meeting in front of the court the day itself.

We need your help ! Would it be possible for you to organize protests in your respective countries, for example in front of the French Tourist Offices and to send us messages and pictures of support for her. We can send you pictures of Alima Boumedien-Thiery and any other details. (Article in French and photo of Alima on http://www.europalestine.com/spip.php?article5410 )
Are there any Israeli militants who could come and testify in French courts that the BDS campaign not antisemitic ?

Another trial to take place against us though involving all member organisations of the BDS France Campaign:
I have received summons to appear on 29 October before the court in Paris, for having posted on our website www.europalestine.com a video showing the BDS action carried out on 4 July 2009 in the Carrefour supermarket in Evry; this is considered as an offence “provoking discrimination, hate or violence towards a group of people belonging to the Israeli nation”.

This video, which can also be viewed on www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWFlRDfcxYQ
indicates, at the end of the video, that it was a collective action organised by the BDS France Campaign, having been endorsed by several organisations: Génération Palestine, CCIPPP, NPA, IJAN, the Palestine Committee of Montreuil, CAPJPO-Europalestine, the Villeneuve Collective, and Respaix.

The statements made – which were “criminal”, according to the plaintiff (once again the famous Sammy Ghozlan of the National Bureau of Vigilance against Antisemitism) – were in fact made by persons not members of our association (it was the day after the rampage of our bookstore Resistances by the zionist thugs and we were busy elsewhere) , one of them being the mayor of the village of Al-Masaara in the West Bank, who participated in the action while on a visit in France (his identity is indicated in the video).

It seems clear that the time has come to organize a united and large-scale response to this latest attack. First of all, because the action being targeted is an emblematic action of the BDS campaign in France and is shown to be such: it is indicated in the video that the Carrefour supermarket in question was not selected by chance but because it is in Evry, the home of the headquarters of Carrefour.

And as you may know, this chain of stores :
- puts on sale products with no traceability;
- practises deceit regarding the products’ source (we have proof of that);
- encourages colonisation by selling Soda-Club machines produced in the Maale Adunim colony in the Palestinian territories;
- and files complaints against activists (as in Bordeaux and Mulhouse) who stand up for the rule of law.

Secondly, because it is high time to unite to put an end to these attacks, which:
- hijack the law on discrimination in order to favour war criminals;
- are a grave attack on the freedom of expression;
- and scandalously dare to accuse us of “discrimination” when there is no worse discrimination than that imposed for decades upon the Palestinian people!

We therefore ask all organisations taking part in the BDS campaign (to start with those who organized this action ) :
(1) post the video on their sites. Here are the necessary codes:(you will get them on youtube)

(2) write to the state prosecutor: Monsieur le Procureur de la République près du Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris : Palais de Justice 14, quai des Orfèvres. 75001 Paris, asking to be also judged for this joint action and for publishing the video on the website of each association or party involved, because we are proud of our actions and take responsibility for them.
(3) organise without delay a wide mobilisation to protest against these intolerable measures of repression aimed at those throughout the country who rise up to say NO to the strangulation of a people, NO to the denial of freedom, NO to war crimes, NO to the siege of Gaza.

Not only will this repression not silence us, it will instead generate an increased mobilisation, to bring shame on a government attempting to gag those who do not share its distorted conception of human rights and international law. If we are united, we can make our political leaders regret having chosen the camp of the occupier!

Best regards,
Olivia
CAPJPO-EuroPalestine