#BDS Alert: Richard Clayderman returning to #Israel

French pianist Richard Clayderman will return to Israel for three concerts in March following the great success of his performances in the Holy Land four years ago and in the 1980s.
 
He will be accompanied by musicians from the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra.
 
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#BDS: جمعة تونسية للمطالبة بتجريم التطبيع مع إسرائيل #Tunis #Israel

تشهد العاصمة التونسية يوم غد الجمعة تجمعاً جديداً للمطالبة بمناهضة التطبيع مع إسرائيل، تحت شعار: «تجريم التطبيع مسؤولية الجميع».

وذكرت الرابطة التونسية للتسامح أن عدداً من الجمعيات والمنظمات قرر التجمع أمام مقر المجلس الوطني التأسيسي بباردو، بهدف تنظيم وقفة كبرى بمناسبة اليوم الوطني لتجريم التطبيع مع إسرائيل، ودعوة نواب المجلس إلى تطبيق قانون تجريم التطبيع.

وأشارت الرابطة إلى أن الوقفة سترفع شعار «تجريم التطبيع مسؤولية الجميع»، لافتةً إلى أن من بين الجمعيات المشاركة: الهيئة الوطنية لدعم المقاومة، والجمعية التونسية لدعم فلسطين، وجمعية تونس صوت الإسلام والعروبة، وجمعية سلام الثقافية، وجمعية نادي حقوق الإنسان في قبليو، وجمعية صاحب الطابع للثقافة الإسلامية، واللجنة الجهوية لمناهضة الصهيونية في صفاقس، وجمعية البر الخيريّة في جندوبة، والجمعية التونسية للأطباء الشبان، والرابطة الدولية للدفاع عن الشعب العربي، وجمعية عرب بلا حدود.

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#BDS: راقصة اسرائيلية في ذكرى مجزرة غزة! #Gaza #Israel

تمر هذه الأيام الذكرى السنوية الثالثة للمجزرة البشعة التي ارتكبتها قوات الاحتلال الاسرائيلي ضد سكان قطاع غزة, و التي أدت لاستشهاد أكثر من 1440 مواطن, بما فيهم 443 طفل, و جرح أكثر من 5500 ما زال كثير منهم يبحث عن علاج مناسب تكفل الحصار الخانق بتغييبه, و تدمير هائل للبنية التحتية بشكل غير مسبوق في تطبيق لما اصطلح على تسميته (بعقيدة الضاحية!)

و بهذه المناسبة الأليمة تصر اسرائيل على تذكيرنا بوجودها المقيت في فلسطين بشكل عام, و في غزة بشكل خاص, من خلال غارات متواصلة يوميا تقريبا, و تهديدات كان أخرها يوم 27.12.2012 من تهديد بحرب ستكون (أشد قسوة) من سابقتها!

و من ناحية أخرى و في نفس المناسبة قامت قطاعات عريضة من المجتمع المدني الغزي من طلاب, فنانين, محامين, شباب, أكاديميين, و عمال بارسال رسالة و اضحة عبر بيان باللغة الأنجليزية الى المجتمع الدولي معنونة (العدالة أو لا شيء!) تحث فيها على محاسبة المعتدي الاسرائيلي على جرائم الحرب البشعة التي ارتكبها ضد المدنيين العزل من خلال تعزيز حملة المقاطعة وعدم الاستثمار و فرض عقوبات (بي دي اس) المتنامية بشكل هائل, و بالذات بعد المجزرة المروعة. كذلك يحتوي النداء بشكل واضح على مطالب بعزل اسرائيل بشكل كامل و العمل على جعل عام 2012 عام الحرية لفلسطين, بالضبط كما كان عام 1994 عام جنوب أفريقيا, حيث ساهمت حملة المقاطعة الدولية بشكل كبير ,مع الكفاح الشعبي, بارسال نظام الأبارتهيد العنصري البغيض الى مزابل التاريخ و بلا عودة.

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#BDS Action Alert: Boycott Armin Van Buuren's concert in #Lebanon

The Boycott Campaign in Lebanon is organizing a protest against Armin Van Buuren's performance in Israel on Friday December 30, 2011 at 9.30 pm at Biel's main entrance.

RSVP here

#BDS: ياسمن الجيوشى: فصلونى من قناة “25″ لرفضى التطبيع مع إسرائيل

خرجت المذيعة والصحفية ياسمين الجيوشي عن صمتها مؤخراً بعد صدور قرار بفصلها من قناة “25” منذ يومين حسبما أكد البيان الذى تداوله الكثيرون على صفحات الفيسبوك وأكدت من خلاله أن كل ماتداولته المحطة من أحاديث حول انقطاعها عن العمل وعدم التزامها به غير صحيح ،وأن فصلها من القناة كان سببه رفضها لكل محاولات التطبيع الاسرائيلي التى كانت تجرى هناك على أرض القناة في محاولة لاستغلال الوجه المشرف لثورة يناير وبث أفكار معينة ضد الثوابت المصرية وذلك حسب ما جاء في بيانها.

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#BDS: المؤتمر الوطني الثالث لمقاطعة إسرائيل يدعو إلى نشر ثقافة المقاطعة

طالب المشاركون في المؤتمر الثالث لمقاطعة إسرائيل، الذي دعت اليه "اللجنة الوطنية لمقاطعة إسرائيل وسحب الإستثمارت منها وفرض العقوبات عليها(BDS)"، بتبني المجتمع الفلسطيني للمقاطعة الفعلية لإسرائيل وسحب الاستثمارات منها، وإتخاذها إستراتيجية مقاومة مدنية وشعبية فعالة. ونشر ثقافة المقاطعة.
 
ودعا المشاركون في المؤتمر الذي عقد في الخليل السبت الماضي إلى تشجيع المنتج الفلسطيني وسن قوانين تحميه وتشجيع الإستثمار في السوق الفلسطيني، إلى جانب مقاطعة إسرائيل ومنتجاتها، وتحرير الإقتصاد الفلسطيني من التبعية لدولة الإحتلال. وطالب المشاركون في المؤتمر بمقاطعة المؤسسات والأجسام المطبعة مع دولة الإحتلال، وإيقاف المشاريع التطبيعية في الجامعات، وإعادة الثقة في المجتمع المحلي، إضافة إلى وضع خطة إعلامية لتوحيد جهود المقاطعة.

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Rachel Corrie Foundation proudly supports the growing #BDS Movement

"The Rachel Corrie Foundation proudly supports the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. BDS seeks to hold Israeli companies, institutions, and their international collaborators accountable for human rights abuses committed against Palestinians under illegal Israeli occupation.

We celebrate several successes within the last year, including the National Building Museum’s cancellation of an award ceremony honoring Caterpillar Inc. Caterpillar supplies heavy equipment used to demolish Palestinian homes and infrastructure and is the focus of a long term education and boycott-divestment campaign by RCF, Evergreen State College students seeking to make their campus “Caterpillar free,” and other organizations nationwide. In September, the Corries delivered a petition to the museum – with thousands of signatures and 150 organizational sponsors – to rescind Caterpillar’s award."

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#BDS Boycott Campaigners Claim Credit For Denial Of London Contract To Company Invested In Settlements

A French transportation company, Veolia, that has been the target of a campaign by human rights groups around the world for its investment in Israeli settlements, has been denied a contract in West London – leading supporters of the boycott campaign to claim credit.  Read more here. 

#BDS Protests held at Lacoste stores across France against "racism" and censorship of Palestinian artist

Palestine solidarity activists staged protests on Christmas Eve at Lacoste clothing stores in several French cities to protest the censorship and expulsion of Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour from a prestigious art competition sponsored by the French luxury clothing firm.

The scandal led last week to the cancelation of the 2011 Lacoste Elysée Prize by the Musée de L’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland.

At actions in Paris, Lyon, Lille and Bordeaux, activists picketed stores, handed out flyers and told Christmas shoppers about Lacoste’s censorship, calling on them to boycott the company. Protestors held signs and prints of Sansour’s censored work and called out slogans condemning Lacoste’s “racism” against Palestinians.

The protests against Lacoste come just days after 12 French activists were acquitted of “inciting hate and discrimination” by a French court for having staged protests at Carrefour supermarkets calling on shoppers to boycott Israeli goods.

The photos and images were first posted by the activist grouping CAPJPO-EuroPalestine.  

For more info and to watch videos, click here. 

#BDS comes to Pennsylvania

"The past few years have seen the BDS movement electrify campus activism – a bright spot on the landscape of Palestine advocacy. The movement has enabled students around the country to engage constructively with the big moral question of our era – apartheid in Palestine. Thanks to BDS, thousand-mile expanses no longer stand in the way of direct non-violent action.

Still, the movement has some way to go before it can boast the levels of support that the South African call once enjoyed. That’s part of the reason that students at the University of Pennsylvania are organizing an on-campus BDS conference there. The two-day event will take place on the weekend of February 4th and 5th and will examine ways to strengthen campus-based activism."

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#BDS: Add Forever 21 to your Boycott Lists

"Thousands of people have stormed American fashion chain Forever 21's first store in Israel since its official opening several days ago, leaving behind piles of clothes, shoes and even beverage cans scattered all over.
 
The chaos reached its peak on Wednesday afternoon, but even in the evening hours the two-floor store at Tel Aviv's Azrieli Mall was still crowded with customers tossing clothing items everywhere."

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#BDS victory: #Veolia loses huge waste-treatment contract in London boroughs

"Human rights campaigners are celebrating after the West London Waste Authority ('WLWA') excluded French multinational Veolia from a £485 million contract covering 1.4 million inhabitants of the London boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow and Richmond-upon-Thames, for treatment of residual domestic waste.

The reasons behind the decision by the WLWA to exclude Veolia are commercially confidential but the impact of human rights campaigners should not be under-estimated."

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#BDS: #Ireland funds cultural boycott of #Israel

"Dozens of Irish artists who have signed petition urging boycott against Jewish state are financed by government bodies, Foreign Ministry report reveals

The Irish government has been funding 34 local artists who signed a petition calling for a cultural boycott against Israel, a classified Foreign Ministry report reveals.
 
These artists make up one-fifth of all performers receiving public funding in Ireland."

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#BDS: Egyptian TV presenter fired after refusing interview with Israeli Embassy

"Cairo - Yasmine Geoushi, an Egyptian TV presenter and journalist for Al-Tahrir newspaper, was shocked when she was informed by the owner of the Egyptian January 25 TV, Mohammad Jawhar, that she had lost her job.

Geoushi believes her "position on the subject of establishing natural relations with the Zionist state" is the main reason behind her firing. Last August, Geoushi refused to host the Israeli foreign affairs spokesperson during the channel's coverage of the events at the Israeli Embassy in Cairo.

"The last Friday of Ramadan, I was approached by the channel's chief editor and asked to prepare an episode in front of the Israeli Embassy," Geoushi said. "I later discovered that I was supposed to interview and receive an on-air statement from the Israeli official and, of course, I refused."

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#BDS: Swiss museum suspends Elysée Prize to protest #Lacoste’s exclusion of Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour

"The Musée de L’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland has suspended the 2011 Lacoste Elysée Prize, a presitigious international photography contest, over the sponsor’s decision to expel Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour. The following press release was issued by the museum."

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#BDS Victory: Thank you #Joker for not playing with Israeli Apartheid

"Joker (Dubstep) was due to play in Tel Aviv for Hanukkah celebrations on 20th December 2011. He was contacted by fans on Facebook asking him to cancel his performance and not support Israeli Apartheid. Joker aksed his fans what he should do and after understanding their replies drew his own decision on the matter."

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#BDS: In blow to #Israel, French BDS activists acquitted of crime in calling for boycott

"Twelve French activists from a group called Boycott 68 have been acquitted on charges of “inciting discrimination and racial hatred” for calling on French shoppers to boycott Israeli goods.

The court judgment in the eastern city of Mulhouse deals a blow to efforts by French prosecutors and Zionist groups to outlaw the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The acquittal received wide coverage in French media."

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#BDS: رسالة مفتوحة إلى آرمن فان بيورن

فنحن لبنانيين وفلسطينيين، ولبنانيّات وفلسطينيّات، ننتمي إلى مشاربَ واتجاهاتٍ عدةٍ يَجْمعها رفضُ الصهيونيّة العنصريّة، والانتصارُ لتحرير فلسطين وكلِّ المناطق العربيّة التي احتلّتها «إسرائيلُ» منذ تأسيسها، ولعودة الفلسطينيين إلى ديارهم كافّةً.
نحن في العادة نتوق كثيراً إلى الترحيب بالفنّانين العالميين في ربوع لبنان. وقد علمنا أنّك ستُحْيي حفلاً في بيروت في 30/12/2011. غير أنّك كنتَ، ويا للأسف، قد اخترتَ، في 30 حزيران من العام الجاري، أن تُحْيي حفلاً في إيلات، الواقعة في الكيان الصهيونيّ الذي يَفرض التمييزَ العنصريّ والاحتلالَ، ويستخفّ بالقوانين الدوليّة. نعم، لقد آثرتَ يا فان بيورن أن تُحْيي حفلك في «إسرائيل» حتى بعدما تلقّيتَ مناشداتٍ من ناشطين عالميين معادين للتمييز العنصريّ، بل من مواطنين إسرائيليين أيضاً (رسالتهم مؤرّخة في 21 حزيران)، يدعونك إلى إلغائه. وقد اخترتَ أن تُحْيي حفلك هناك على الرغم من معرفتك بأنّ «إسرائيل تَستخدم النشاطاتِ الثقافيّة العالميّة لإضفاء وَهْمِ الطبيعيّة [الوضع الطبيعيّ] على واقع حصار مليون وستمئة ألف فلسطينيّ في غزّة (44 % منهم أطفالٌ دون الرابعة عشرة)، وعلى واقع فرضِ أحكامٍ عرفيّةٍ في حقّ مليونين ونصف المليون من الفلسطينيّين في الضفّة الغربيّة بلا حقوقٍ مدنيّة، وعلى واقع خضوع ملايين آخرين لقوانين تمييزيّةٍ عنصريّةٍ داخل إسرائيل [فلسطين 1948] نفسها».

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#BDS: #Lacoste: NO ROOM FOR PALESTINIAN ARTISTS

"The prestigious €25,000 Lacoste Elysée Prize is awarded by the Swiss Musée de l’Elysée with sponsorship from Lacoste, the clothing brand. Larissa Sansour was among the eight artists shortlisted for the 2011 prize. In December 2011, Lacoste demanded that her nomination be revoked. Lacoste stated their refusal to support Sansour’s work, labelling it ‘too pro-Palestinian’. A special jury will convene in January 2012 to select the winner.

As a nominee, Sansour was awarded a bursary of €4,000 and given carte blanche to produce a portfolio of images for the final judging. In November 2011, three photos for Sansour’s Nation Estate project were accepted, and she was congratulated by the prize administrators on her work and professionalism. Sansour’s name was included on all the literature relating to the prize and on the website as an official nominee. Her name has since been removed, just as her project has been withdrawn from an upcoming issue of contemporary art magazine ArtReview introducing the nominated artists."

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An Israeli Preaching to Palestinians: Amira Hass on #BDS: “Don’t make it into a religion”

(...)

"You mustn’t make the means of the struggle into a religion. Palestinians used to believe in the armed struggle as a kind of religion. Now they do not. The use of weapons in the second intifada excluded the majority and actually made the occupation worse.
The problem is that Israelis have come to accept the dual life of occupation. They can have parties and gallery openings in Tel Aviv while a few minutes’ drive away water cisterns are destroyed, houses are destroyed, you need a permit to plant a tree, and so on.
Does boycott help? Well, $10 billion of Israeli military expertise (which Israel exports annually) will not be affected by BDS. Campaigns against Ahava, Elbit & Veolia were successful. The campaign against Caterpillar failed.

Boycott also raises the question of hypocrisy. Should we boycott Canada because of what it did to the First Nations *? Do not think of activism as a cult. Think. Ask questions. And by the way, not all Palestinians support BDS. As someone who grew up in a Marxist environment, I say, ‘don’t make a religion of it.’"

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#BDS: تظاهرات في مينيسوتا الأميركية تطالب بوقف الاستثمارات الإسرائيلية فيها

رام الله 15-12-2011 وفا- طالب متظاهرون اعتصموا أمام مجلس الاستثمار في ولاية مينيسوتا الأميركية بوقف الاستثمارات الإسرائيلية في هذه الولاية؛ احتجاجا على استخدام عائداتها في بناء المستوطنات وجدار الضم والتوسع العنصري.

وأكدت الناشطة في حملة مينسوتا بيث آتِم، في حديث لصوت فلسطين، رفع دعوى ضد المجلس أمام محكمة الولاية لأن قبوله بهذا النوع من الاستثمارات يخالف تشريعات الولاية التي تحظر استخدام عائدات الاستثمارات المقامة على أرضها في مشاريع استيطانية.


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#BDS: الاتحاد العام للعمال يطالب النقابات البرازيلية بتفعيل مقاطعة المنتجات الاسرائيلية

رام الله - الحياة الاقتصادية- طالب الاتحاد العام لعمال فلسطين الاتحادات النقابية البرازيلية بتفعيل مقاطعة المنتجات الاسرائيلية. جاء ذلك خلال لقاء وفد من الأمانة العامة للاتحاد برئاسة الأمين العام حيدر إبراهيم مع رئيس اتحاد المعادن والصناعات الثقيلة البرازيلي الذي يعتبر عضوا في اتحاد CUT البرازيلي وبمشاركة أعضاء سكرتاريا اللجنة الوطنية للمقاطعة عمر البرغوثي وهند عوّاد وبمشاركة نائب الأمين العام محمد العرقاوي حيث قدم الأمين العام حيدر إبراهيم شرحا مفصلا عن أوضاع العمال الفلسطينيين وواقع الحركة النقابية الفلسطينية في ظل أوضاع الإغلاق المفروض من قبل الاحتلال والتي نتج عنها ارتفاع واضح في نسبة البطالة والفقر وانعدام الحماية والأمن الاجتماعي للعمال.
وأشار إبراهيم إلى استخدام إسرائيل لمختلف وسائل البطش والتمييز والظلم ضد العمال الفلسطينيين ومنعهم من الدخول إلى سوق العمل سواء الوطني أو داخل « الخط الأخضر « مما يدمر البنية الحياتية للعمال.
ونوه أمين عام الاتحاد العام لعمال فلسطين بالعلاقات التاريخية مع نقاباتC U T البرازيلي وطالب بتعزيز هذه العلاقة وتمتينها وتعزيز آليات التواصل المشتركة.

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#BDS: National Lawyers Guild supports Minnesota lawsuit to divest from #Israel Bonds

"On behalf of the National Lawyers Guild, we write in support of the lawsuit filed on November 29, 2011, against the Minnesota State Board of Investment (SBI) which seeks a judgment directing the SBI to divest from Israel Bonds.

The complaint against the SBI makes pointed reference to Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which both the United States and Israel are parties. Article 49 specifically prohibits an occupying power from transferring (settling) parts of its own civilian population into territory it occupies. Article 49's anti-colonization provisions are jus cogens, which means that they are mandatory norms of international law. Jus cogens violations are not political questions."

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#BDS: Boycott de produits israéliens à Mulhouse : les 12 prévenus relaxés

"Le tribunal correctionnel de Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin) a relaxé jeudi les 12 militants du collectif Boycott 68 qui avaient été jugés mi-novembre pour avoir appelé au boycott de produits israéliens lors de deux rassemblements dans un supermarché du département.
Le procureur de la République avait requis 500 euros d’amende contre chacun des prévenus, poursuivis pour "provocation à la discrimination, à la haine ou à la violence".

Continuer à lire

#BDS: Dis-Chem nails its colors to the Israeli Mast

"Pro-Palestinian activists are up in arms after a major South African pharmacy chain harshly rebuffed calls by a consumer to remove Israeli goods from its shelves. The retailer, Dis-Chem, which boasts scores of stores across South Africa also stands accused of defending controversial Israeli occupation and military policies.

The fracas began when Fatima Moosa, a health enthusiast, raised an objection to the company’s stocking of Israeli products at a branch in Durban. In an online submission to the Dis-Chem website, she expressed her dissapointment that the store imported products from a country whose human rights violations she described as “replicating Hitler’s Nazism.” She further appealed to the company to consider removing Israeli products from its shelves."

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#BDS: L-3 teams with Israeli firm in bid for military projects

"L-3 Electronic Systems has teamed up with Elbit Systems Land in a bid to bring portions of two large military projects to Nova Scotia.

L-3, which has about 170 employees in this province, could add another 30 people to the roster at its Enfield plant if it is successful in its bid to help put together and maintain the army’s new tactical armoured patrol vehicles.

"We’re in the hundreds of millions of dollars for the total contract of dual (remote weapons systems)," Gerry Morey, a former air force officer who now works for L-3 in Nova Scotia, said Wednesday."

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#BDS: Jane Birkin: No Balance with Apartheid!

"Dear Jane Birkin,

 
Back in 2003, when you sang in Tel Aviv and the occupied Palestinian territory, many considered your project progressive, even daring, despite presenting both oppressors and oppressed as if they were symmetric. Today, seven years after the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) [1] was launched with overwhelming support from Palestinian artists and cultural centers [2], your upcoming performance in Tel Aviv would undermine our boycott against Israel's cultural institutions and provide Israel with a valuable cover of normalcy to divert attention from its system of occupation, colonialism and apartheid [3] against the Palestinian people."

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#BDS: Bethlehem mayor: Boycott #Israel until we get state

"The mayor of Bethlehem said Thursday after his annual Christmas address that the international community should boycott Israel until it accepts Palestinian aspirations for independence. 

"We have a right to self-determination," Victor Batarseh told reporters in Bethlehem. "

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#BDS: #Apple in talks to buy Israeli Anobit

"Apple Inc is in talks to buy Israel's Anobit, a maker of flash storage technology, for as much as $500 million, according to a report published on Tuesday.

The Calcalist financial daily said Apple is in advanced negotiations to buy Anobit for $400 million to $500 million."

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#BDS: Solidarity with #Palestine: International Days of Action Against the Wall, Vigil of Women in Black, Vienna

November 4, 2011 (Vienna) - Vigil of Women in Black held a vigil yesterday for two hours, dedicated to the Protest against the Wall and in support of the recognition of the State of Palestine. There was enormous interest from passers-by and the reaction of many people, actually many tourists, on the street was positive towards solidarity with Palestine, evidence that things are changing regarding public opinion!

Below are a few photographs. Fifteen people, some handing out flyers, some holding posters, two at the information table were involved in organizing the activity. A film on Bil'in will be screened on the upcoming Wednesday as part of our support.

Several years ago Vigil of Women in Black carried out a signature campaign against the Wall, which was then given to the officials of the Foreign Ministry. They have taken part almost every year in a protest, at least once a year, against the Wall in Palestine. View pictures here.

#BDS: Israeli democracy watch: new bill to force companies to invest in West Bank

On Wednesday, December 7, 2011, Chairman of the National Union party, Knesset Member Yaakov Katz, proposed a bill calling for the dismantling of Israeli companies that boycott certain areas, such as the the illegally occupied West Bank, or that do not supply goods and services to those places.
link to www.alternativenews.org

#BDS: Israeli Blood Diamonds Campaign Conference Call, December 18th, 9am PST

Join US Campaign member group Palestine Action Group- Corvallis for a conference call about the Boycott Israeli Blood Diamonds Campaign, this Sunday, December 18 with Sean Clinton from Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

link to blog.endtheoccupation.org

#BDS: #IsraelKills: Activists take to Twitter to protest Tamimi death

Yesterday morning from 11 to noon, Jerusalem time, activists launched a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #Israelkills. The campaign, started by a small group of anonymous Palestinian activists and journalists, called on activists across the world to participate by tweeting the #IsraelKills hashtag. The response was impressive, with over 5,000 tweets in under 24 hours. Read more here.

#BDS: Activists shut down normalization conference in Jerusalem

Jerusalem activists successfully had the Ambassador Hotel cancel their hosting of events in the planned Israeli Palestinian Confederation Conference on Tuesday, 13 December. The conference, organized by Jerusalem University director Dr. Sari Nsaibeh and former Israeli foreign affairs minister Shlomo Bena’mi, was to see the election for the parliament and a chairman for the so-called Israeli- Palestinian Confederation. Protesters gathered outside the hotel to condemn the process of normalization of the occupation promoted by the conference, amidst the collapse of the peace process, continuing settlement construction and the confiscation of Palestinian land. Conference events taking place in Beit Jalah and Haifa over the next few days have promoted a false illusion of Palestine already being liberated and contributed to the normalization of the Israeli occupation. One demonstrator commented that “how would such a confederation even be possible under the occupation?” The management of the Ambassador Hotel announced their decision to cancel the conference events in a printed statement posted at the hotel’s entrance. A hotel manager stated that “we have been manipulated by the conference organizers, who did not reveal to us its real purposes. We refuse to take part in their attempts to veil the reality of Palestinian suffering.” Read more here.

#BDS Solidarity with #Palestine: Photos: Palestine solidarity at Occupy Montreal

On 13/11 in Montreal people gathered at Occupy Montreal/Occupons Montréal to protest the Israeli military raid on the Freedom Waves flotilla action that challenged the Israeli military blockade on Gaza via the Mediterranean sea.
This action took place at Occupy Montreal/Occupons Montréal to highlight the connection between struggles for social & economics justice in Quebec and the Palestinian struggle for freedom. In North America politicians who are moving to enforce socially violent austerity economics, like the Conservative government in Canada, are the very same policy makers and politicians who continue to back the illegal Israeli military siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza. For more info, click here.

#BDS: Bring Down the Walls Week in the US: November 14 - 18

From the iconic sites of the Israeli wall and the US/Mexico border, we are witnessing a world-wide proliferation of walls and reinforcement of borders. These not only delimitate the nation state but proliferate in its interior, reproducing social divisions along lines of race, class and gender, and reflecting and reinforcing existing power relations.
From November 14th till November 18th, Students for Justice in Palestine, Mechxa and the Bring Down the Walls DeCal organized a week of public events to analyse, discuss and deconstruct the ideological, political and economic infrastructure which allows walls to exist.

Schedule

Mural Painting on Sproul Plaza!
Performances and speakers
Teach-ins:
Bringing down the walls from theory to action!
Ramon Quintero & Ilaria Giglioli, co-facilitators of the Bring down the Walls! DeCal
Keith Fieldman, professor in Ethnic Studies
Maria Lewis, activist with Students for Justice in Palestine
From Berkeley to Palestine - the right to education
Mira Nabulsi, Palestinian Researcher and Graduate of An-Najah National University, Nablus- Palestine.
MEChxA members
Emiliano Huet-Vaughn, Students for Justice in Palestine & Budget Cuts activist
Beyond the walls of prisons
Hatem Bazian, professor in Ethnic Studies
Alejandro Garcia, graduate student in History
Borders, militarism and the environment
Rodrigo Sierra, graduate student at UNAM Ecology Institute
Irene Bonilla, environmental activist
Ziad Abbas, Middle Eastern Children’s Alliance
Nancy Hernandez, Water Writes Mural Project Manager at The Estria Foundation
Film Screening of Salt of the Sea

#BDS: Solidarity with #Palestine: NYC and Boston Screening: Hip Hop Is Bigger Than The Occupation & Concert for WAAW

Existence is Resistance and Hunter Students for Justice in Palestine presented a live show featuring Palestinian Rap Trio DAM, Palestinian Female MC and Songstress Shadia Mansour alongside M1 of Dead Prez.
The show was held at the Shrine Live Music Venue in Harlem. And at Occupy Boston on November 13, 2011. More info here.

#BDS Information about the Wall Released in Greek for Week Against the Apartheid Wall

Find in the link below an updated leaflet about the Apartheid Wall, in Greek, released and distributed on the occasion of the Week Against the Apartheid Wall 2011. For more info, click here.

#BDS: Bahrain: Washington Conference with Zionist Participation Takes Opposition by Surprise

"A planned conference in support of the Bahraini uprising caused a stir among opposition activists after it was revealed that prominent pro-Israeli figures were invited to attend.

“Americans for Democracy and Human rights in Bahrain,” a conference organized by the Institute for Gulf Affairs, was supposed to be held in Washington Wednesday.

An informed opposition source said that the conference has been postponed but didn’t disclose the reasons behind the change of plans.

The goal of the conference was to shed light on the ongoing human rights violations occurring in Bahrain, especially as they are receiving very little media attention in the Arab world.

According to the Institute for Gulf Affairs website, the event was intended to be a follow up to a previous conference held in Beirut last summer.

However, a closer look at the names of the participants raised questions about how far the opposition was willing to go in order to be heard?

Among those invited by the organizers to attend, for example, are Elliot Abrams, US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and Simon Henderson from the Washington Institute for Near East Affairs, all of whom are well-known for their unswerving support for Israel."

Read more

#BDS: Osez le boycott - NON à la colonisation sous mon sapin

"Nous vous invitons à vous joindre à nous le 17 Décembre, à 14h00, devant diverses grandes surfaces et centres commerciaux de Bruxelles et de Wallonie.
En cette période de préparation des fêtes de fin d’année, nous ciblerons les cosmétiques AHAVA (www.ahava.be) et les appareils électroménagers SODASTREAM (Sodaclub) (www.sodastream.be), tous deux fabriqués dans des colonies de Cisjordanie. Les produits SODASTREAM (Sodaclub) sont distribués par les enseignes Krëfel, Media Markt, Van Den Borre, Carrefour et Makro…
Tout comme le 22 Octobre, nous souhaitons démultiplier nos lieux de diffusion, vous trouverez ci-après les zones géographiques envisagées (Bruxelles et Brabant Wallon, Luxembourg, Liège, Mons-Borinage, Wallonie-Picarde, Charleroi, Namur). N’hésitez pas à proposer une localisation supplémentaire que vous jugeriez pertinente."

Continuer à lire

#BDS: Boycott SodaStream - toujours en vente dans les magasins

"Maale Adumin colonie israélienne en territoire palestinienL’entreprise Israélienne Soda Stream (ex Soda Club) est installée dans la colonie illégale de Ma’ale Adumin à Jérusalem-Est, en territoire palestinien occupé.

Les magasins lyonnais qui vendent les produits fabriqués dans les colonies en toute connaissance de cause soutiennent la colonisation israélienne de la Palestine qui est illégale et constitue un obstacle à la paix, comme le rappellent l’ONU, l’Union Européenne, la Cour de Justice Internationale, la Cour Européenne de Justice.

Poursuivons la lutte pour les droits des Palestiniens ! Poursuivons la campagne de boycott !

Participons aux actions pour faire retirer les produit Soda-stream des rayons !"

Continuer à lire

#BDS: Israeli #SodaStream: Maybe Green, Definitely Not Clean

"It seems like a great idea – to buy a counter top device that converts tap water into sparkling fizzy water. Add a line of 100 flavours of sweet syrups; in the words of the sales clerk I spoke to, 'it’s a fun thing.'

SodaStream (sometimes marketed as Soda Club) is sold around the world including in my city, often by big chain stores like Costco, Kmart and Amazon (USA); Sears, The Bay, and Home Outfitters (Canada); Tesco, Asda and Argos (UK); Migros (a large coop network in Switzerland); Carrefour (France & other countries); Edeka, Adler, and Karstadt, (in Germany where it is distributed by Brita, the international water filter company. Brita products are sold in Israel by SodaStream.)

The world’s largest producer of home carbonation systems, sold in 41 countries, SodaStream claims to be environmentally friendly because it uses its own reusable bottles, saving the production and transport of millions of disposable plastic containers and saving money and time for consumers .As some of the syrups use natural products, while others use sugar and artificial sweeteners, it is promoted also as “healthy” in natural food, eco-friendly, green and biological shops.

It sounds too good to be true – and so it is."

Read more

Uncovered: #Israel’s role in planned #US lawsuit to fight #BDS

"A group of pro-Israel activists, backed by StandWithUs, a national US pro-Israel US organization, is planning to take legal action to force the Olympia Food Co-op to rescind its historic decision to boycott Israeli products.

The Electronic Intifada has obtained a copy of a 31 May 2011 letter sent to the Board of Directors of the Olympia Food Co-op in Olympia, Washington, threatening “expensive” legal action if the pro-Israel activists’ “demands” to end the boycott of Israeli products are not met.

Other documents, supported by interviews, confirm that the Israeli government has taken part in discussions about, and been given advance knowledge of, the planned lawsuit and another planned action against Evergreen State College in Olympia in response to Palestine solidarity activism by students."

Read more

#BDS Petition: Republic of Korea President: Cancel the sale of the T-50 Jets to #Israel

"In recent years South Korea has dramatically increased its military relationship with Israel. On average, it imports $280 million US of Israeli-manufactured defense products per-year. In accordance with Palestinian Civil Society's call for a military embargo on Israel, we call on the South Korean Government to cancel the sale of its T-50 Golden Eagle Jet and cut all defense ties with Israel until it demonstrates the will to abide by the principles of International Humanitarian Law. We urgently ask you to join us in petitioning this request to the South Korean Government."

Sign petition here

#BDS: #CSU debates whether to resume study abroad in #Israel

"Eighty-one California State University faculty, staff and administrators, and 46 students and alumni, have signed an open letter opposing the reinstatement of study abroad programming in Israel. The letter, sent Friday to Cal State’s chancellor, Charles B. Reed, outlines six concerns, among them threats to student safety and the possibility that students of Middle Eastern origin would face discriminatory treatment in entering and moving around Israel. The letter asserts that it would be "one-sided" to restart the study abroad program in Israel without establishing similar programs in cooperation with Palestinian universities, and states that "CSU participation with the government of Israel in the proposed study abroad program could be interpreted as an endorsement of the international crime of apartheid."

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#BDS Call: Israeli 'leftists', rabbis and Arabs discuss Israeli book that incites to kill Arabs

(...)

"He noted that lecturers with a broad spectrum of opinions have been invited to the discussion.

“We have been able to bring to the discussion people from all sides,” he said. “We brought Professor Rachel Elior, who is a leftist and who once headed the Department of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, as well as Dr. Eli Hadad who is an expert on halakha and democracy. We’ve also invited Dr. Mustafa Abu Sway from the Department of Philosophy and Islam at Al Quds University to represent the Muslim world, and Rabbi Yisrael Ariel from the Yitzhar yeshiva. We wanted the author of the book, Rabbi Yitzchak Shapira, to come as well but he will be marrying off his daughter that evening so he will be unable to attend.”

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#BDS Call: Cancel International Society for Justice Research Conference in Israel

"The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) is deeply disturbed by the decision of the International Society for Justice Research (ISJR) to hold its 14th Biennial Conference at the College of Management Academic Studies (COMAS) in Israel in September 2012. We urge the ISJR to relocate this conference to another country that does not embody injustice through maintaining a regime of occupation, colonialism and apartheid[1], as Israel does. We also appeal to all members of ISJR to refrain from participating in the conference if it is convened in Israel."

Read more

#BDS: BDS update: BDS unites East and West

"As people of conscience around the world marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, ever new actions help bring Palestinians closer to achieving a state of dignity, says Eric Walberg

Just in case there was an iota of doubt left in your mind, Israel was officially declared an apartheid state during a session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in Cape Town on 7 November.

Among depositions, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights in Gaza cited the Fourth Geneva Convention and the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which prohibits “the transfer, directly or indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.”

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#BDS Ads calling for end to aid to Israel return to Bay Area subways, buses

The solidarity activists who have been challenging public-transportation riders in the Bay Area to take a new look at the Israel-Palestine issue are at it again.

Ads calling for "peace with justice and equality" and an end to the U.S. aid to Israel went up last week in a prominent location in the Civic Center station in San Francisco as well as on 15 AC Transit buses servicing the East Bay area. Over the last year the sponsors, led by the Northern California Friends of Sabeel, have paid for similar ads at major stations on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Muni subway systems as well as on other buses and cable cars. The local effort is part of acampaign that began in Chicago and has since spread to New York City; Washington. DC; Portland, OR; Albuquerque, NM; and Arizona State University. Read more here.

#BDS: Israeli author kicked off literary panel after request by Palestinian colleague

"In the previous two years the conference had been held in Marseilles, Palestinian writers had refused to come because there were Israeli participants.

There was a stir at a conference of Mediterranean writers in Marseilles yesterday when Israeli author Moshe Sakal was booted from a panel discussion at the request of Palestinian poet Najwan Darwish.

The director of the conference, French-Jewish author Pierre Assouline, said Sakal's participation in the panel, which was on the Arab Spring, "was not crucial."

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#BDS: وزير خارجية الدنمارك يرفض لقاء السفير الاسرائيلي

القدس/PNN/ قالت صحيفة "يديعوت احرونوت" الاسرائيلية اليوم ان وزير الخارجية الدنماركي الجديد ديلي سونديل الذي دعا بالماضي الى فرض مقاطعة على اسرائيل، يرفض منذ شهرين عقد لقاء مع سفير اسرائيل في كوبنهاغن آرثر أبنون، تحت سلسلة من الذرائع، والتقى ممثلي منظمات حقوق انسان تعمل في المناطق المحتلة منها "الحق" و"بتسيلم".

وكان أمنون قد قدم طلباً رسمياً لعقد لقاء مع وزير الخارجية على خلفية عدة تصريحات ادلى بها مؤخراً مناهضة لاسرائيل. وأتى الجواب ان "سونديل لا فراغ في جدوله يمكنه من عقد لقاء مع السفير الاسرائيلي خلال فترة قريبة، لكننا سجلنا هذا الطلب".

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Boycott Product List in the #US

Click here for a list of Israeli products to boycott and their locations in the Bay Area.

#BDS: رفضاً لصهر الوعي الشبابي، رفضاً لمؤتمرات تحالف السلام الفلسطيني والتطبيع

يعقد تحالف السلام غداً السبت مؤتمرا للشباب الفلسطيني، ونحن نعتبر أن الأجندات التي يمررها تحالف السلام لعقول الشباب الفلسطيني أجندات مشبوهة تطبيعية، بعيدة عن واقع الشعب الفلسطيني الذي يتعرض لانتهاكات يومية من الاحتلال الصهيوني منتهكاً بذلك كل قوانين حقوق الانسان والقوانين الدولية.
ونقول لتحالف السلام أن الربيع الفلسطيني يكون بالثورة على الاحتلال ولا يكون عبر تمرير ثقافة التعايش والسلام مع العدو بعيداً عن الحديث عن عدالة حقوق الشعبي الفلسطيني الذي يعيش تحت الاحتلال منذ أكثر من 60 عاماً
أمام فندق الروكي، المصيون،رام الله 

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: LEVIEV UNDER FIRE FOR BUILDING SETTLEMENT HOMES. #Israel

"Daphne Guinness and the Fashion Institute of Technology have been asked to end Leviev Extraordinary Diamonds’ sponsorship of the exhibition about the heiress fashion icon that is now on at the school’s museum. The human rights group Adalah-NY takes issue with the company’s owner, Lev Leviev, who has other holdings, for his West Bank ties. His Leader Management and Development company is now building settlement homes in violation of international law, according to Adalah-NY member Pat Connors.

FIT, which first received the request Nov. 21, needs some time to make a decision and is pursuing the matter very actively, a spokeswoman said Monday. Guinness was unavailable to comment at press time, according to her spokeswoman. Leviev Diamonds’ spokeswoman did not respond by press time Monday."

Read more

#BDS: British students reject twinning with #Israel University. #UK

"Student leaders pointed out that the relatively high turnout of voters reflected the importance of the issue to the students.

Students at Britain's University of York have rejected a proposal to twin the institution with the Hebrew University in occupied Jerusalem. The vote on the issue was carried out by York University's Student Union.

According to newspaper reports, York student Jacob Campbell proposed the twinning agreement in order to defend Israel and curb what he described as "anti-Semitic" activities in British universities.
York University's Student Union asked its members to vote for or against the proposal, which sought to build links between the student unions of the two universities prior to a full twinning agreement with the Israeli university."

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#BDS: احتجاج في "الأونروا" على تعاقد الوكالة مع شركة إسرائيلية

شهدت وكالة الأمم المتحدة لإغاثة وتشغيل اللاجئين الفلسطينيين "الأونروا" بالاردن مؤخراً، موجة احتجاج عاملين لديها مرشحة للتصعيد، بسبب ما وصفوه بـ"تعاقد الوكالة مع شركة إسرائيلية لشراء أجهزة رقابة وتطوير الأنظمة والبرامج ذات العلاقة بنظام النقل لديها".

وقال عاملون في الوكالة بالاردن لـصحيفة "الغد" إنهم "رفضوا" في نهاية الأسبوع الماضي استخدام وسائل النقل التابعة للوكالة، من باصات وحافلات نقل صغيرة، بسبب ما اكتشفوه من "قيام الأونروا بشراء أنظمة الرقابة والتقنيات والأجهزة الرقابية الحديثة من شركة إسرائيلية".

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: SOUTH AFRICAN ACTIVIST: “PALESTINE CASTS LIGHT ON OUR OWN HISTORY”

"Israel was declared an apartheid state during a session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in Cape Town on 7 November.

Among those following the tribunal’s deliberations was a group of young South Africans, including Mbuyiseni Ndlozi of BDS South Africa, a group campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, and Joni Barnard of Artists Against Apartheid. While travelling by train from Johannesburg to Cape Town, these activists recorded a short video, titled “Shout Out to the Russell Tribunal on Palestine: Live from the Shosholoza Meyl.”

Mbuyiseni states in the video: “I can confidently say that the verdict is that Israel is guilty of apartheid.”

Read more

#BDS: Home Depot encourages Israel’s colonial expansion

"What is Home Depot’s involvement in Israel?
Since its foundation in 1979 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank, Home Depot has become a huge player in the North American home improvement market.1 With over 2000 stores across Canada, the US, Mexico, and China, Home Depot‟s business decisions hold a great deal of economic weight worldwide. Currently, Israeli companies such as Keter Plastic, Smart Storage and Zag supply more than $150 million worth of Home Depot‟s products.2
How is Home Depot encouraging Israel’s colonial expansion?

Home Depot continues to encourage Israeli colonial expansion by selling a large array of products from the Israeli company Keter Plastic and its subsidiaries (e.g. Keter-Black and Decker, Lotemplast bath mats, and Workforce.) Keter Plastic owns and operates two plants in illegal Israeli colonies established within the occupied West Bank: one in the Barkan Industrial Zone, and another in Oranit.
The Barkan industrial Zone is the second largest industrial zone in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, and is home to a myriad of businesses and factories,3 many of which have been under international political pressure to relocate due to the illegality of the Barkan colony.4 The Oranit colony, along with three other Israeli colonies in the West Bank, was approved for expansion by former Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz in 2006.5 Home Depot has recently awarded Keter Plastic a $150 million contract which will last for at least three years."

Read more

#BDS No military aid to Israel

Help us continue to shape the political landscape to end U.S. military aid to Israel by signing up today to educate and organize people in your community. When you do so, you'll join more than 2,000 people in 49 states and more than 900 cities who have received an organizing packet with fact sheets, flyers, petitions, stickers, and more--everything you'll need to spark conversations in your community and identify more people who agree with us that we should be funding community needs, not Israel's misdeeds against the Palestinian people. Read more here.

#BDS "This Is Apartheid" Poster Contest

Art has always been an important part of liberation struggles. It can inspire and convey concepts beyond words.Itisapartheid.org and its primary partner, Lajee Center, are sponsoring a competition for artists and graphic designers who are invited to submit posters on the theme of “Israeli Apartheid.” These posters should reflect the nature, realities, and/or consequences of apartheid policies in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Posters will be judged by a panel of distinguished activists and artists. The winning entries will be featured in an online poster gallery and disseminated widely on the internet and various other venues. Youth from refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank will participate in the contest. Read more here.

#BDS British students reject twinning with Israel's Hebrew University

Students at Britain's University of York have rejected a proposal to twin the institution with the Hebrew University in occupied Jerusalem. The vote on the issue was carried out by York University's Student Union. According to newspaper reports, York student Jacob Campbell proposed the twinning agreement in order to defend Israel and curb what he described as "anti-Semitic" activities in British universities. York University's Student Union asked its members to vote for or against the proposal, which sought to build links between the student unions of the two universities prior to a full twinning agreement with the Israeli university. The result was that 891 students voted against the twinning proposal, with 144 in favour; there were 127 abstentions. Student leaders said that the quorum for the vote to be carried was at least 5% of the total membership, equivalent to 784 participants. They pointed out that the relatively high turnout of voters reflected the importance of the issue to the students. Read more here.

Commemorating the anniversary of the First Intifada in the no go zone

Twenty four years ago, on December 9, 2011 a revolution began. The revolution began in Gaza, it was the First Intifada. After twenty years of Israeli occupation Palestinian resistance exploded in full force. Boycotts, demonstrations, tax refusal, all of these were the strategies of the Intifada. Over one thousand Palestinians would be killed by Israel during the Intifada;over one hundred thousand Palestinians would go to prison during the course of the Intifada. For six years the Intifada burned, Palestinians were united in a massive nationwide campaign of popular resistance.

Read more here.

On International Solidarity Day with Palestine, Israeli Repression Continues

Coinciding with the international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the weekly protests against the apartheid wall and settlements was suppressed by the occupation forces, who shot protesters with live bullets and metal bullets covered with rubber. The loud shooting, sound bombs, and tear gas bombs caused injuries to protesters and dozens of suffocation cases. Two journalists were arrested and three international human rights defenders. Read more here.

#BDS Activists Call on Fashion Icon to Sever Ties with Lev Leviev

In November, US Campaign coalition member groups Adalah-NY, CODEPINK, and Jewish Voice for Peace, along with human rights organizations in the UK, called on fashion icon Daphne Guinness and Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to sever ties with Israeli settlement builder and conflict diamond purveyor Lev Leviev. Leviev is a principal sponsor of Ms. Guinness’s current fashion exhibition at FIT.

In an open letter to Guinness and FIT, the groups detailed Leviev’s sordid complicity in a multitude of human rights abuses that have led a number organizations and governments to distance themselves from Leviev’s companies. Citing Guinness’s own humanitarian work, the groups implored Guinness to sever all ties with Leviev:

We recognize your strong commitment to supporting women’s rights around the world, to countering AIDS in Africa and to helping the needy in places like Haiti. Therefore, like the organizations, governments and individuals who have sought distance from Leviev, we feel confident that you do not wish to tarnish your name and good works by associating yourself with Leviev’s companies’ human rights violations and questionable business practices. Leviev’s companies undermine the very rights and humanitarian causes that you support. Therefore, we call on you to act swiftly to sever all ties between the exhibit at FIT that bears your name, and Lev Leviev.

Representatives of Guinness and FIT have responded by saying they are taking the groups’ concerns into account, but have thus far failed to elaborate a further course of action. The petition calling on Guinness and FIT to sever ties with Leviev has generated a fair amount of negative publicity for all involved. Online stories detailing Leviev’s sponsorship of the exhibition have been featured on prominent sites like New York magazine, Vogue UK, and Jezebel, the influential feminist blog. The exhibition runs through January 17th, 2012.

#BDS ‘We refuse to be complicit’: Over 150 Swiss artists call to boycott Israeli art fest

The Swiss BDS Group has announced a statement signed by over 150 Swiss artists calling on artists, cultural institutions and the public to boycott the Culturescapes Israel festival and a "Swiss Season" program which hosts Swiss artists in Israel.

Among the signatories are the internationally acclaimed filmmakers Claude Goretta and Alain Tanner, the theater directors François Rochaix and Jean Grädel, as well as the actor Jean-Luc Bideau. A Swiss BDS Group press release says Culturescapes Israel festival and "Swiss Season" programs represent "the largest Israeli propaganda effort ever launched in Switzerland through the domain of culture." Read more here.

#BDS Students stage dramatic walkout on Avigdor Lieberman mouthpiece in Michigan

Bilal Baydoun, a senior at the University of Michigan, writes: Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor recently staged a walkout on Israeli Bedouin diplomat and Ministry of Foreign Affairs apologist Ishmael Khaldi। He came to our campus at the invitation of Israel lobby group CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) to whitewash the marginalization of minorities in Israel. I've included a video of our walkout. Via Mondoweiss

#BDS: Declaration of Swiss Artists Responding to the Palestinian Appeal for Solidarity

"When Israel, through the Culturescapes festival, conducts a wide public relations campaign in Switzerland, when the program Swiss Season invites Swiss artists to present their works in prestigious venues in Israel, the undersigned artists and cultural actors hereby express their rejection of the politics of the Israeli state, policies which, for over 60 years, violate the rights of the Palestinian people.

The flattering image that Israel seeks to present, an image of a country in which creativity blooms in freedom, clashes with the reality that the Palestinian people endures. The refugees are still refused their right to return, Palestinians citizens of Israel are subject to legal and cultural segregation, the Gaza Strip is still under siege, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem remain under military occupation. In contempt of the law and public protestations, Israel continues the colonization and the construction of the separation wall in the West Bank and Jerusalem. We recognize in these politics the traits of an apartheid regime, as defined by international law."

Read more

#BDS: Arch Enemy: Stand with Revolution not Apartheid

"It is with great disappointment that the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has learned of your scheduled performance in Israel set for January 24, 2012 [1].  Given that Israel is involved in grave violations of international law and human rights we urge you to cancel this gig until the time comes when Israel is in compliance with its obligations under international law and fully respects Palestinian rights."

Read more

#BDS: Time for outrage against academic support for Israel

"The EU is not only refusing to take action against Israel, it is busily conniving in Israel's crimes.

Persistent campaigning by the Palestine solidarity movement has turned Veolia into something of a toxic brand. From Manchester to Melbourne, local authorities have been quizzed about their dealings with the French corporate giant because of its role in constructing a light rail system for illegal Israeli settlements in Jerusalem.

The controversy has affected Veolia's bottom line, resulting in the loss of contracts worth €10 billion (£8.6 billion) over the past six years. So it recently turned to the Brussels bureaucracy for moral - or, perhaps more accurately, immoral - support.

On 31 October, Antonio Tajani, vice-president of the European Commission, opened the "Go4 Europe" business conference in Tel Aviv. On promotional material that Tajani and his aides almost certainly read, Veolia was listed as one of the event's four "platinum sponsors". As Tajani used the occasion to  laud  Israel's "business-friendly environment" (his words), he gave his tacit blessing to companies such as Veolia that have seized the opportunities presented by an apartheid state."

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#BDS: OUMOU SANGARÉ ANNULE SON CONCERT EN #ISRAËL

"Merci à la grande chanteuse malienne Oumou Sangaré d’avoir décidé d’annuler son concert à L’opéra de Tel Aviv, programmé pour le 9 décembre prochain !

Outre ses superbes talents de chanteuse qui ont fait d’elle une star mondiale à l’âge de 21 ans, Oumou Sangaré est une personne engagée. Elle défend notamment la cause des femmes et il aurait été dommage qu’elle aille soutenir, par sa présence un Etat qui pratique l’apartheid et le nettoyage ethnique de tout un peuple."

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#BDs Call: Red Hot Chili Peppers to perform in #Israel

"A decade after they canceled their plans to perform for fans in Tel Aviv, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be performing in Israel.

In 2001, in the wake of the release of the band’s successful album “Californication,” 20,000 tickets were sold for a concert featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park. After a wave of attacks, however, the band canceled their visit to Israel."

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#BDS: NUS calls to end Ahava and King's College project

"Ahava's shop in Covent Garden closed following protests
The National Union of Students executive has unanimously voted to condemn King’s College London and demand that it ceases participation in a research project with Israeli cosmetics company Ahava.
King’s College Palestine Campaign organised a petition with 1,000 signatures, included Noam Chomsky and pro-Palestinian campaigner Omar Barghouti.
Support was pledged by the Universities and Colleges Union representative at King’s College.
This week the NUS National Executive Council passed a motion demanding “the immediate end of the university’s involvement in the project, and the rejection of the financial grant King’s has received for its participation.”

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#BDS: European Bank Pulls Out Of Israel After Pressure From Boycott Campaign

"The French bank, BNP Paribas, has decided to cease operations inside Israel, after the bank was targeted by the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which aims to use economic pressure to get Israel to adhere to its obligations and abide by international law.

Although the bank stated that its withdrawal from Israel was not due to the pressure campaign, but instead due to heavy losses sustained during the Greek financial crisis, Israeli officials and bankers have stated that they believe the bank gave in to pressure from European human rights groups to pull out of Israel.

BNB Paribas will close its offices and lay off sixty employees in Israel, and will end its financing of projects in the Jewish state.

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#BDS: مقابلة مع إسرائيليين على «الجديد» تثير لغطاً وأسئلة

أن تشاهد مقابلة تلفزيونية مع الإسرائيلي كمال شوفانية من قيادة وحدة الإطفاء، وأخرى مع حاييم لادزير من سكان المنطقة التي أصيبت أمس الأول بصوارخ الكاتيوشا الموجهة من لبنان، عبر قناة «الجديد»، ضمن تقرير إخباري «خاص» من شمال فلسطين المحتلة، فذلك ليس أمرا اعتياديا، بل إنه أثار لغطا والتباسا لدى بعض متابعي القناة، ممن يعتبرون أنها قناة ملتزمة بعدم التطبيع الإعلامي مع اسرائيل، وطليعية في الوقوف الى جانب خيار المقاومة في مواجهة الاحتلال والعدوان كما حصل في حرب تموز.
انطلاقا من هذه الصورة المرسومة للقناة، فوجئ البعض بما شاهدوه وسمعوه في النشرة الإخبارية أمس الأول، ما أوحى بأن هناك تغييرا في سياسة «الجديد» الإعلامية وتراجعا عن ثوابتها المعروفة.
وسعيا الى تبيان خلفيات ما ظهر على شاشة القناة، حاورت «السفير» مديرة قسم الأخبار في «الجديد» مريم البسام، التي حاولت الجمع في أجوبتها بين المقتضيات المهنية والموقف المبدئي ضد اسرائيل ورفض التطبيع الإعلامي معها. وفي ما يلي نص الحوار:
÷ هل بدأت «الجديد» عهدا جديدا تجري من خلاله مقابلات مع الإسرائيلي؟

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Video: French #BDS activists de-shelve huge amounts of #Israeli produce at #Carrefour

Activists de-shelved huge amounts of Israeli avocados and oranges during a protest action in Montpellier in the south of France on 26 November. For more than one and a half hours, the activists from the Comité BDSFrance34 – a group in the French region of Hérault – removed the produce from shelves of a Carrefour mega-store and marched through the aisles shouting "Boycott Israel," "Israel is criminal, Carrefour is an accomplice," and other Palestine solidarity slogans. Read more here.

#BDS: The Cultural Boycott Israel vs. South Africa

"Since the great majority of Palestinian civil society issued its call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel in July 2005 to compel it to fulfil its obligations under international law, there has never been a period with as many BDS achievements as that following the Israeli massacre in Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009 and the bloodbath on the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla in May 2010. People of conscience around the world seem to have crossed a threshold in challenging Israel’s impunity through effective pressure, not appeasement or “constructive engagement.” This has been most pronounced in the cultural field, where support for the 2004 call by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)2 has witnessed spectacular growth."

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#BDS: مخاوف إسرائيلية من إقرار البرلمان التونسي الجديد قانون "مقاطعة إسرائيل

 ذكرت صحيفة "إسرائيل اليوم" أن المستوى السياسي في إسرائيل يراقب بقلق التطورات في العالم العربي, وهم يحذرون منذ أسابيع من احتمالات تحول الربيع العربي إلى واقع كئيب بالنسبة لإسرائيل.

وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أن أول ثمار الربيع العربي تأتي من تونس حيث يعتزم البرلمان التونسي الجديد إقرار قانون "معارضة الصهيونية ومقاطعة إسرائيل", وهو بند يحظى بدعم من الحزبين الأكبر في البلاد "النهضة الإسلامي", و"التجمع الديمقراطي" بعد إبعاد زين العابدين بن علي .

وأعربت وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية عن مخاوفها من تفشي عدوى عداء إسرائيل في دول أخرى في الشرق الأوسط, الأمر الذي سيضع الاستقرار بالمنطقة في خطر.

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#BDS: الاتحاد الإماراتي للسباحة ينفي التطبيع... والإسرائيلي يؤكّده

هللت الدولة العبرية واتحاد السباحة لديها للدعوة التي تلقتها من الاتحاد الإماراتي للسباحة، للمشاركة في لقاء دولي للفئات العمرية للسباحة في شباط المقبل، إلا أن هذه الدعوة لاقت شجباً وإدانة واسعة من منظمات «مقاطعة إسرائيل» والمجتمع المدني الفلسطيني، ومنها «اللجنة الدولية لمقاطعة إسرائيل وسحب الاستثمارات منها وفرض العقوبات عليها»، والتي تختصر بـ BDS وتنضوي تحت لوائها منظمات فلسطينية ونقابات عمالية واتحادات شبابية وكشفية رياضية. وأرسلت هذه اللجنة رسالة مفتوحة إلى الاتحاد الإماراتي للسباحة بشخص رئيسه أحمد الفلاسي، حيث عدّت الدعوة الإماراتية شكلاً من أشكال التطبيع مع الدولة الصهيونية. وجاء في سياق الرسالة: «تستنكر BDS بشدة ما أوردته وسائل الإعلام حول قرار الاتحاد الإماراتي للسباحة توجيه دعوة إلى الاتحاد الإسرائيلي للسباحة للمشاركة في مباراة دولية ستقام في دبي، إن صح الخبر، فإن هذه الدعوة تمثّل تطبيعاً خطيراً مع دولة الاحتلال والتمييز العنصري، يأتي في وقت نحن في أمس الحاجة فيه إلى الدعم والتضامن العربي والعالمي في ظل استشراس الاحتلال الإسرائيلي للأراضي الفلسطينية والعربية...». وأضافت الرسالة: «نذكّر الاتحاد الإماراتي كذلك بأن عدم وجود علاقات دبلوماسية بين الإمارات وإسرائيل يعفي الأولى من واجب دعوة أي فريق أو وفد إسرائيلي، إلى أنشطة تقام في الإمارات».

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Punks Against Apartheid officially launches website, #BDS network

“Stumbling onto the scene” with a demand for legendary punk rocker and social justice activist Jello Biafra and his band, the Guantanamo School of Medicine, to cancel a performance in Tel Aviv last June — which Biafra eventually did — activists with theboycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) group Punks Against Apartheid (PAA) have announced their official launch as a website and activism network.

PAA was the major driving force behind the appeal to Biafra to cancel his gig, and was formed quickly and with large support by artists, musicians and solidarity activists worldwide who signed onto an online statement that was sent directly to Biafra. Immediately following the show’s cancellation, PAA didn’t stop there — they were motivated to engage with and expand the growing BDS movement, and continued to call on Biafra to look deeper into his political analysis to understand the situation for Palestinians under Israel’s apartheid system. Read more here.

#BDS Boycott #Israel campaign grows among UK unions, despite Zionist backlash

Over the last few years, UK trade unions have expressed solidarity with Palestine more and more explicitly. Union after union has overturned a previous orthodoxy of balance between “two sides” when it comes to policy on Israel and the Palestinians. So many unions have now passed motions in support of the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that even the often conservative Trades Union Congress (TUC) has been compelled to change policy. Read more here.

#BDS #Israel fears boycott law in #Tunisia

Sources in Israel have expressed deep concern about the possibility of Tunisia adopting what is being called the "Opposition to Zionism and Boycott of Israel" law. According to the Hebrew language media, the political community in Tel Aviv is taking this seriously as the proposed law is being supported by the two largest political parties in the country, Al-Nahda and Democratic Rally. Read more here.

#BDS Student tells EI about #Sabra hummus boycott victory at her high school

Today Nadine Darwish, a sophomore at Lincoln-Way High School in the Chicago suburbs,tweeted the news that her school will no longer serve Sabra brand hummus.

Chicago’s DePaul University recently decided to provide an alternative to Sabra hummus after a campaign by the Students for Justice in Palestine.

Darwish had been working on an article for her school paper urging other students to call for the boycott of Sabra at their school. But she reported on Twitter that a brief conversation with the cafeteria’s lunch lady achieved the desired outcome — the school cafeteria will no longer sell Sabra hummus.

This afternoon she told me more about what happened, and that others concerned with human rights shouldn’t be intimidated from speaking up. Read more here. And follow Nadine on twitter here: @earthtonadine

BDS: Law suit filed after 'Boycott Israel' ads blocked in Michigan

"The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against an Ann Arbor bus agency after it refused to allow an ad that says, "Boycott Israel."

The lawsuit filed today in federal court in Detroit claims the Ann Arbor Transportation Authority is violating the free-speech rights of Blaine Coleman, who wants to put the ad on buses near the University of Michigan.

The lawsuit says the bus agency's board met Nov. 17 and rejected the ad, claiming it violates a policy against ads that ridicule people or groups."

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