#BDS: The First BDS victory in Japan: MUJI declared cancellation of Israeli shop plan!

Today, December 1st, MUJI declared cancellation of the plan to have a
shop in Israel on its website (Japanese):
http://ryohin-keikaku.jp/news/2010_1201.html

It says:
RYOUHIN KEIKAKU Co. Ltd. decided to cancel the plan to have a shop in Israel, which we announced in our news release in April 12, 2010.
We decided the cancellation of the plan because of economical reason
as a result of the concrete research which had been done after the
news release.

In the past seven months after the announcement of the plan,
MUJI had been getting strong pressures from grassroots civil
society in Japan and other countries including Korea.
Although MUJI says their decision was taken on economic grounds,
MUJI had been answering to our recent email and telephone inquiry
that they were reconsidering the plan because of the opinions
against it.

This is the first BDS victory in Japan!!

Yoshi
Palestine Forum Japan

#BDS: IWW (Industrial Workers of the World) supports Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in support of Palestinian rights

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or Wobblies) has officially voted to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in support of Palestinian rights. The “Resolution in Support of the Workers of Palestine/Israel” was adopted in an overwhelming vote both at the IWW’s convention in Minneapolis and by the membership via referendum. This vote makes the IWW the first union in the US and the third union in Canada to officially support the Palestinian United Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions.

Inspired by the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, the BDS movement calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until such time as fundamental Palestinian rights are recognized. The BDS call is supported by a broad cross-section of Palestinian society, including Palestinian unions.

The resolution to support the BDS campaign comes out of the work of the IWW’s International Solidarity Commission and the IWW Friends of Palestinian Workers Group, a grassroots network of Wobblies supportive of the Palestinian, Israeli and international struggle against Israeli apartheid. Support for the BDS campaign was also stressed by all the Palestinian workers who met with members of the IWW on the IWW delegation to Palestine, particularly the Independent Workers Federation of Palestine, with whom the IWW shares a close bond of solidarity.

#BDS: Polish activists force Israeli General onto the Defensive

Today the Polish Solidarity Campaign with Palestine (Kampania Palestyna)

and the Polish Stop the War Initiative protested the invitation of

General Eitan Dangot, Israel’s Military Co-ordinator of Government

Activities in the (occupied) Territories to present at the Polish

Institute of International Affairs.

The Institute is a government think-tank providing platforms for experts

to inform government policy on international relations. The meeting was

jointly organised and sponsored by the Israeli government through the

Israeli Embassy in Warsaw.

Major General Dangot’s lecture was shut down to the public by the

Institute in response to Kampania Palestyna and Stop the War’s protest.

A few hours beforehand, another group of human rights activists had

graffitied the exterior of the building with slogans of solidarity with

the occupied Palestinian people.

#BDS: Students Protest IDF Soldiers Campus Visit, University of Michigan

#BDS: No to JNF’s Pinkwashing of Israeli Apartheid

Statement of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)

As lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and straight activists and scholars, we condemn the Jewish National Fund’s launch of a new LGBT committee in New York City on December 9, 2010, for what it is: an attempt to "pinkwash" the JNF's central role in acquiring Palestinian land on which to build the Israeli apartheid state.

Most immediately, this campaign is designed to cover up the ugly fact that Palestinians, with few exceptions, are effectively barred from living on 93 % of land in 1948 Palestine ("Israel"). That 93% is land controlled by the Israel Land Authority – a government body in turn controlled by a council on which the JNF holds just under half of the seats. The JNF's LGBT committee is also part of a well-orchestrated campaign to deflect growing international outrage over Israel's six decade-long occupation of Palestine, including its continued denial of basic human rights to the indigenous population, the brutal siege of Gaza, and the recent massacre of humanitarian aid activists on the Gaza Freedom flotilla.

This campaign is the latest addition to the Israeli state’s concerted efforts to portray Israel as a gay tourist destination based on its tolerance for diversity – despite the entire Israeli social fabric being woven to exclude and erase Palestinian culture, livelihood and lives. This includes the culture and history of LGBT Palestinians – who often face increased harassment at checkpoints from Israeli soldiers, due to their sexual identity. Clearly, any gains made by Jewish LGBT Israelis are not shared by Palestinians.

We stand in support of both LGBT rights and an end to Israeli apartheid. We therefore condemn the JNF’s tokenizing of the long fought for rights of LGBT communities for the purposes of erasing the ongoing struggle for the rights of Palestinians.

Click here to sign the petition

#BDS: CALIFORNIA DIVESTMENT INITIATIVE

California Attorney General Issues Title and Summary for Divest from Israel Initiative

The Israel Divestment Campaign (IDC) is the first citizens' effort in the country to appeal directly to voters to hold Israel accountable for violations of international law and human rights.

Following the September 1st official assignment of a Title and Summary by the Attorney General, the IDC launched the signature gathering process. At least 434,000 registered California voters must sign the official petition by January 31, 2011.

Only 52 days left until the end of signature gathering!

If successful, the measure will appear on the next statewide ballot after March 2011.Then, if approved by a majority of voters, it will become California law. This means that the two public retirement systems, the Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and the State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), would be required to engage in a divestment process with corporations providing equipment and services to Israel that are used in the violation of human rights and international law, including but not limited to the building of the "Separation Wall" and settlements.

If you share our concern for a just peace, we hope that you will join the campaign and help us gather signatures in your community. Please click onPetition Resources to find out how you can participate.

#BDS: South African Artists Against Apartheid

As South African Artists and Cultural Workers who have lived under, survived, and in many cases resisted apartheid, we acknowledge the value of international solidarity in our own struggle. It is in this context that we respond to the call by Palestinians, and their Israeli allies, for such solidarity.

As artists of conscience we say no to apartheid – anywhere. We respond to the call for international solidarity and undertake not to avail any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel. Nor will we accept funding from institutions linked to the government of Israel. This is our position until such time as Israel, in the least, complies with international law and universal principles of human rights. Until then, we too unite with international colleagues under the banner of “Artists Against Apartheid.”

#BDS: Deux Trifluviens au coeur de la Palestine

Appel au boycott

MM. Dumas et Landry lancent un appel au boycott des produits provenant d’Israël afin de soutenir le peuple palestinien via le mouvement BDS.

BDS pour «boycott, désinvestissement, sanctions». Le mouvement demande la fin de l’occupation et de la colonisation illégales et violentes des territoires palestiniens par Israël, le respect du droit de retour des réfugiés palestiniens ainsi que l’égalité des droits pour les citoyens palestiniens d’Israël (20% de la population).

La population trifluvienne peut suivre le mouvement en s’abstenant notamment d’acheter les produits dont le code barre début par «729» (Israël), le produits de beauté Ahava et les vins en provenance du plateau du Golan.

#BDS: Calls to boycott Israel-linked security firm in Denmark

G4S, which supplies equipment to Israeli checkpoints and guards to settlements in the occupied West Bank is also used by the University of Copenhagen. Organisation calls for a boycott

The world's largest security company, the Danish / British G4S, has returned to the West Bank after withdrawing in 2002 following criticism from experts and the former Danish foreign minister Per Stig Moeller.

At the time, G4S declared that they did not want to breach international law and conventions by supplying armed guards to Israeli settlements in the occupied area.

This week however, the independent research centre DanWatch and Danish newspaper Berlingske revealed that G4S is back in the region. Lobbyists like the organization Responsible UniversityAnsvarligt Universitet now call on the University of Copenhagen to reconsider its use of the security company.

#BDS: اللجنة الوطنية لمقاطعة إسرائيل تجمد عضوية اتحاد نقابات عمال فلسطين

بيت لحم - معا - قررت الهيئة العامة "للجنة الوطنية لمقاطعة اسرائيل وسحب الاستثمارات منها وفرض العقوبات عليها" تجميد عضوية الاتحاد العام لنقابات عمال فلسطين في اللجنة حتى يتراجع عن جميع المشاريع "التطبيعية" التي تربطه بـ"الهستدروت" ويصدر موقفاً واضحاً (بالعربية والإنجليزية) يعيد التأكيد على تبنيه للمقاطعة ويطالب النقابات العالمية بتأييد نداء المقاطعة (BDS).

وقالت الهيئة في بيان صادر عنها تلقت "معا" نسخة منه "فوجئت اللجنة الوطنية لمقاطعة إسرائيل وسحب الإستثمارات منها وفرض العقوبات عليها بأخبار صادرة بتاريخ 20/10/2010 في بعض وسائل الإعلام الاسرائيلية تشير إلى أن الاتحاد العام لنقابات عمال فلسطين (PGFTU)، برئاسة أمينه العام شاهر سعد، سيعقد إجتماعات مشتركة وصفت بالتاريخية مع الهستدروت لمدة أربعة أيام في برلين في بداية كانون الأول".

وذكر المقال على لسان الأمين العام للهستدروت عوفر عيني بأن هذه الإجتماعات ستساهم في "تعزيز التعاون بين النقابات الفلسطينية والإسرائيلية" من خلال مشاريع مشتركة سيتفق عليها خلال إجتماعات برلين وأن هذه الإجتماعات ستكون "بمثابة الرد على النقابات في جميع أنحاء العالم التي تروج لمقاطعة إسرائيل".