#BDS: #Gaza2 Campaign

Dear friends,

Palestine suffers injustice, and oppression, and apartheid more than ever before. Torn into pieces, settlements scattering it all, the Holy Land is assaulted and its people massacred and discriminated while the whole political world is watching, turning blind to Israel’s violations of human rights and international laws toward the Palestinians.

As you all know, we are approaching the 2nd anniversary of the offensive on Gaza by the Israeli Occupation Forces, a massacre among others perpetrated against the Palestinian people. During 22 days in 2008-2009, more than 1,400 Palestinians were slaughtered, over a third of them were children and women.

Many initiatives aimed to break the siege imposed by Israel since Hamas took over the Strip in 2006, one of which resulted in the assassination of 9 peace activists in international waters on last May, when Israeli Navy assaulted the Mavi Marmara. Since then, a blockade ease has been demanded by the international community, in vain, as Gaza still lacks medicines, basic food and electricity, and is daily bombed by Israeli F16s.

We, citizens of the world, demand more than just an ease. We, citizens of the world, demand freedom for all Gazans, freedom of movement, freedom of exportation and importation, we demand the complete lift of that inhuman siege, claiming more lives day after day. Till when will the Palestinians of Gaza suffer power shortage? Till when will the patients bear the lack of medicines? Till when will the children of Gaza wake up and sleep to the sound of aircrafts? When will the Strip live on its own agriculture, and stop being dependent from the humanitarian convoys?

There is a real awakening, we can all feel it from the multiplication of convoys and flotillas, from the wave of recognition of Palestine as a State by other countries, from the NGOs’ calls denouncing the misery Israel keeps Gaza in. And this is because the information is being spread better and better.

Hence, we decided to launch an online campaign officially starting onDecember, 27th 2010 to raise awareness and mark the massacre’s 2nd anniversary. 

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#BDS: Celebrity posse to escort Depp to Israel

Johnny Depp, Vanessa Paradis will not be alone on trip to Holy Land this February: Karl Lagerfeld, several other celebrities expected to be among couple's glittering entourage

Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis announced their upcomingvisit to Israel months ago, but what was expected to be a quiet family trip has since turned into a convoy of celebrities set to arrive together in the Holy Land this February.

French singer Paradis, who will perform at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center on February 10, plans to arrive two days earlier with boyfriend Depp, the couple's two children and a glittering entourage; German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld is rumored to be accompanying them, along with French actress Isabelle Adjani, French singer and actress Bambou (best known for being Serge Gainsburg's last girlfriend), and several other French and American VIPs.

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#BDS: MNA Amir Khadir unapologetic for picketing store that sells Israeli-made shoes

Québec solidaire leader Amir Khadir is making no apologies for asking clients to boycott a family-owned shoe store in his own riding because it sells shoes made in Israel.

"Just because a business is in my riding, I am not going to abandon my principles," Khadir, member of the National Assembly for Mercier, told The Gazette on Friday.

Khadir participated in a demonstration last Saturday in front of Le Marcheur shoe store on St. Denis St. at Duluth Ave., handing out flyers asking customers to boycott the store until it stopped selling Israeli-made shoes.

The demonstration was organized by Palestinian and Jewish Unity, a Montreal-based human rights group that advocates for the right of Palestinians to live in safety.

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#BDS: Join us December 27: Remember Gaza

Please come join us in a walking vigil to remember the ongoing siege and attacks on Gaza.

Dec 27 will be two years from the day when Israel launched its three week attack on the captive population Gaza, killing 1400 people including 400 children. Israel continues frequent attacks and has maintained its illegal siege and blockade, restricting food, medical supplies and other necessities, as well as preventing reconstruction. After two years, the situation in Gaza is still desperate. And Israel continues driving out Palestinians in the West Bank to make room for Jewish-only settlements.

On Monday Dec 27, Palestine Solidarity Committee will hold a silent walking vigil in downtown Seattle. We'll meet at 5:00 pm at the south end of Westlake Plaza, near the trees and benches. We will dress in black and some people will wear kufiyehs and the tears-of-blood masks we have used many times before. We will walk in procession on sidewalks around the downtown area, with colleagues to hand out leaflets about the situation in Gaza. It will be a simple small mobile action and will be finished before 7:00. (Stores stay open later in this shopping season, and we'll be stopping at some boycott target locations.) We will do it rain or snow or clear sky.

If you would like to join us, come to the south end of Westlake Plaza by 5:00. Please wear black or dark colors (and dress warmly). If you have your own kufiyeh, bring it. We will have some signs to carry.

BRING CANDLES or lanterns if you can. It will be dark by that time of day, and though there will be streetlights, candles will still show up.

Monday December 27, 2010

5:00 pm

Westlake Plaza, 4th & Pine -- south end near benches and trees.

#BDS: Israeli arms firm to benefit from EU-funded research

BRUSSELS (IPS) - Arms traders are seeking to convince the European Union that publicly-funded scientific research grants should help develop weapons for future wars.

In a series of secret discussions, Brussels officials and representatives of the arms industry are examining if the EU's multi-billion euro "framework program" for research can be used for projects of a military nature.

Since the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, senior policy-makers in the European Commission, the EU's executive wing, have been eager to ensure a greater involvement of arms manufacturers in the program. Yet because of the reluctance of some EU governments to give the commission a greater say in military matters, the scope of "security research" has so far been limited to projects that, according to EU officials, can be categorized as "civilian" and "non-lethal."



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#BDS: ويكيليكس wikileaks :المخرج الامريكي سيبلبرغ تبرع لإسرائيل، ومصر والاردن رفضت مقاطعه افلامه

امريكا – نيويورك يتابع موقع ويكيليكس نشر الوثائق السرية والتي كان اخرها عندما كشفالنقاب عن مقاطعة جامعة الدول العربية افلام المخرج الامريكي ستيفن سيبلبرغ لدعمة لاسرائيل اذاء حرب لبنان الثانية عام 2006 الا ان الدول العربية لم تنفذ القرار باستثناء سوريا ولبنان رغم مصادقة 14 دولة عربية عليه.

ووفقا لمعلومات نقلتها صحيفة يديعوت احرونوت العبرية عن ويكيليكس دخل المخرج ستيفن القائمة السوداء للجنة المقاطعة العربية التابعه لجامعة الدول عندما تبرع بمليون دولار لصالحاسرائيل خلال حرب لبنان وجاء في برقية بعثت بها سفارة الولايات المتحدة في دمشق لواشنطن أن سوريا ولبنان هما الدولتان العربيتان اللتان التزمتا بقرار مقاطعة افلام المخرج سبيلبرغ وذلك بسبب الصندوق الذي انشأه عام 1994 في اعقاب صدور فيلمه ” قائمة شندلر” لتقديم الدعم المادي اللازم للكيان الصهيوني ” ايباك” بالولايات المتحدة .

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: مظاهرات فى الضفة لمقاطعة المنتجات الإسرائيلية

تظاهر المئات من الفلسطينيين بمدينة طولكرم شمال الضفة الغربية، رافعين الرايات الفلسطينية، لمقاطعة منتجات المستوطنات الإسرائيلية، وقادت المظاهرة منظمة "الإغاثة الزراعية الفلسطينية".

ونقلت جريدة "القدس"الفلسطينية عن مسئول العمل الجماهيرى فى منظمة الإغاثة "خالد منصور" مطالبته بضرورة مقاطعة البضائع الإسرائيلية، والاستمرار فى مراقبة المنتجات التى تصل إلى الأسواق الفلسطينية، والاهتمام بهذا الأمر حتى تختفى المنتجات الإسرائلية من أسواقهم.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Major success for the anti-settlements campaign: Multilock to close West Bank factory

Maariv and the financial paper The Marker report that the Israeli company Multilock is leaving the West Bank because of human rights organizations’ pressure. The locks company will move from the Barkan industrial zone, located on the road to Ariel, to a site in the town of Yavne.

This is from Maariv (translation by Israel News Today):

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