Mar 16, 2011

#BDS: Please Send Letters of support for BDS at KPFT Houston to the Pacifica National Board

"Please address your emails to: pnb [at] pacifica.org and remember to add your name and information at the bottom. You may also, of course, write your own letter or edit and add in your own thoughts to this letter. 

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Pacifica National Board,

Starting on Dec. 14, KPFT 90.1fm began airing during the Open Journal time slot, a regular bi-weekly program called "Voice of Peace," produced by the Israeli Consulate of Houston. The name was taken from a pirate radio show created by an Israeli dissident who opposed settlements and occupation, and was himself oppressed by the Israeli government. KPFT management's decision to give this show free reign for a half an hour every two weeks on KPFT assisted the Israeli Consulate in a co-optation of this legacy.

Peace and justice activists in Houston were shocked and deeply concerned. Many began organizing, emailing, circulating petitions, calling the station, and meeting with management to insist that KPFT must not give open airtime to an official voice of the Israeli government under the auspices of the far-right Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Avigdor Lieberman, especially during a time of an active illegal military occupation and bombing. One of the groups that responded began organizing for KPFT to sign on to the BDS campaign, so that situations like this would not occur in the future. The group drafted a BDS statement as follows:

In light of the escalation of human rights violations in the Occupied Territories of Palestine, and until the end of the Israeli military occupation, Palestinians achieve the right of return, and equal rights are achieved for all Israeli Arabs, Pacifica agrees to support the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions put forth by Palestinian academics and intellectuals by refraining from partnerships with Israeli institutions unless they are specifically anti-occupation. "

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