#BDS: Photo: Notorious Gaza Dr with Ehud Barak back in 2001

In the photo below: The notorious Gaza Dr, Izzeldin Abuelaish, who sold the blood of his three daughters cheap and blamed their murder by Israeli warplanes during the brutal Israeli war on Gaza on 'ignorance', along with war criminal Ehud Barak, Israeli Prime Minister back then. Gaza Dr. unashamedly published this photo in his book "I Shall Not Hate", i.e. he shall not hate the racist occupying Zionist entity called Israel. Gaza Dr. has a long history of normalization and collaboration with Israel; he studied and worked at Israeli hospitals for years.

#BDS: SJP Chicago calls for submition to art-based zine about Palestine entitled "Occupied"

#BDS: Montreal: Israeli Apartheid Week 2011

"A week of conferences, workshops, film screenings, demonstrations, and cultural events to raise awareness around the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid.

some confirmed speakers include

Ali Abunimah founder of Electronic Intifada Clayton Thomas-Muller Indigenous Environmental Network

Once again this year, Montreal will join over 40 cities worldwide to mark the 7th annual Israeli Apartheid Week. The theme of this year’s IAW is “BDS on Campus: From Education to Action”. While the BDS campaign has made incredible strides worldwide since the initial call to action in 2005, it is clear that the road ahead is a long one. Yet the incredible popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt have shown the world that justice and freedom are well within reach if the people will it. As we strive for a free Palestine and social justice for all in the Middle-East, we will evaluate concretely what steps need to be taken to build more solidarity on our campuses.
This year, IAW events will be taking place at McGill, Concordia, UQAM, as well as other locations around the city. The events are open to everyone, and most are free of charge. We look forward to seeing you there!"


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#BDS: Le BDS est aujourd’hui un devoir moral : Une réponse (de Omar Barghouti) à Bernard-Henri Lévy

"Dans son attaque irritée contre le mouvement boycott, désinvestissements et sanctions (BDS) contre Israël, M. Bernard Henri Lévy (La Règle du Jeu, 25 janvier 2011) tente désespérément de salir le mouvement en présentant plusieurs prémisses manifestement fausses, régurgitées et trompeuses, qui conduisent à des conclusions injustifiées, voire illogiques. Ce que M. Lévy cherche particulièrement à cacher ou à obscurcir, ce sont les objectifs réels du mouvement, qui est derrière lui, et les raisons de sa croissance spectaculaire dernièrement, particulièrement en France, aux États Unis et dans d’autres pays occidentaux.
Le fait est que l’appel BDS a été lancé par une grande majorité de la société civile palestinienne le 9 juillet 2005, ce qui constitue une nouvelle phase qualitative de la lutte globale pour la liberté, la justice et l’autodétermination palestiniennes. Plus de 170 partis politiques palestiniens, fédérations syndicales, organisations de femmes, groupes pour les droits des réfugiés, des O.N.G. et des organisations de terrain ont appelé à un boycott contre Israël jusqu’à ce qu’il se conforme à ses obligations selon le droit international. Enracinée dans une histoire de résistance civile et non violente vieille d’un siècle contre le colonialisme de peuplement, l’occupation et les nettoyages ethniques, l’appel rappelle comment les gens de conscience dans la communauté internationale ont « historiquement endossé la responsabilité morale de combattre l’injustice, comme illustré dans la lutte pour abolir l’Apartheid en Afrique du Sud », et appelle les associations de la société civile internationale et les gens de conscience à travers le monde à « imposer de larges boycotts et mettre en application des initiatives de retrait d’investissement contre Israël tels que ceux appliqués à l’Afrique du Sud à l’époque de l’Apartheid. »
Depuis 2008, le mouvement BDS a été dirigé par la plus vaste coalition d’organisations de la société civile palestinienne dans la Palestine historique et en exil, le Comité National BDS (BNC). Ancré dans un profond respect du droit international et des droits humains universels, le mouvement s’est répandu dans le monde. Partout, les militants BDS choisissent leur propre cible et établissent les tactiques les plus créatives et les plus efficaces convenant le mieux à leur environnement politique et culturel. Le fait que le BDS rejette catégoriquement toute forme de racisme, dont l’antisémitisme, a suscité partout un intérêt accru dans les mouvements libéraux et progressistes."
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#BDS: اسرائيل تستعين بشركات علاقات عامة في دول اوروبية لتحسين صورتها دوليا

قرر وزير الخارجية الاسرائيلي افيغدور ليبرمان وجراء تردي مكانة اسرائيل لدى الرأي العام الاوروبي بشكل غير مسبوق القيام بخطوة تعتبر الاولى من نوعها يتم في اطارها استئجار خدمات شبكة مكاتب علاقات عامة في عشر دول اوروبية بهدف تحسين صورة اسرائيل المتزعزعة.

وقالت صحيفة "يديعوت احرونوت" الاسرائيلية امس ان الحملة الدعائية تستهدف تعريف الاوروبيين على اسرائيل بدون الصراع الدائر واظهار اسرائيل كدولة حديثة مزدهرة ذات ابعاد مختلفة: الثقافة والاقتصاد والتاريخ والسياحة والتكنولوجيا المتطورة والموسيقى والرقص الشعبي وما شابه.

وقررت وزارة الخارجية القيام بهذه الحملة في الدول الاكثر اهمية وتأثيراً في اوروبا: بريطانيا وفرنسا وايطاليا واسبانيا وهولندا والدنمارك والسويد والنروج وتشيك. وتقدر تكلفة هذه الحملة بحوالي 12 مليون شيكل سنوياً.

وتجدر الاشارة الى ان هذه هي المرة الاولى التي تستخدم فيها اسرائيل مكاتب العلاقات العامة الاجنبية بهذا الحجم في اوروبا، وذلك باستثناء استئجار اسرائيل خدمات رجل العلاقات العامة هوارد روبينشتاين في الولايات المتحدة خلال اجتياحها الضفة الغربية وقطاع غزة في "عملية السور الواقي" عام 2004، وخلال مداولات محكمة العدل الدولية في لاهاي حول جدار الفصل حصلت اسرائيل على خدمات تطوعية من شركة العلاقات العامة الفرنسية "فوبليسيس" التي ساعدت في الحملة التي قامت اسرائيل.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Boycott Sign in Washington State

Michael Poulin and Marianne Torres paid $800 to have this sign made. The couple own the property where sign is placed.

#BDS: أربعمئة نائب أوروبي في إسرائيل لدعمها وتحسين صورتها

بدأ اكثر من 400 نائب اوروبي أمس، زيارة لاسرائيل تستمر اربعة ايام لتقديم دعمهم للدولة العبرية، كما ذكرت مجموعة «الاصدقاء الاوروبيين لاسرائيل» التي نظمت هذه الرحلة. 

وفي تصريح قال المتحدث باسم مجموعة الضغط هذه افيرام زينو «ننظم للمرة الاولى المؤتمر السنوي للاصدقاء الاوروبيين لاسرائيل في اسرائيل من اجل تعزيز الصلات بين النواب الاوروبيين والاسرائيليين». وسيستقبل الرئيس شمعون بيريز ورئيس الوزراء بنيامين نتنياهو ووزير الخارجية افيغدور ليبرمان، النواب الاوروبيين الذين اتوا من ثلاثين بلدا. وسيشارك هؤلاء النواب خلال زيارتهم في بضع لجان نيابية الاثنين المقبل، وهو اليوم الذي ستكرسه الكنيست لاوروبا. 

وقال زينو «نواجه صعوبات لتقديم صورة جيدة عن بلادنا في اوروبا، وتوفر لنا هذه الرحلة الفرصة لاظهار جوانب جديدة لاسرائيل». ومن المشاركين في هذه الرحلة رؤساء الحكومة السابقون الاسباني خوسيه ماريا اثنار والمجري بيتر مدغيسي والبولندي الكساندر كواسنيفسكي ورئيسة الجمعية الوطنية البلغارية تسيتسكا تساشيفا ونائب رئيس الوزراء السلوفاكي يان فيغل ووزير الدفاع المجري كسابا هيندي ونائب وزير الخارجية اليوناني ميلتياديس فارفيتسيوتيس. 

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: BDS Success: First Ever Knesset Discussion on Combating Cultural Boycott of Israel

"The power of the Palestinian-led movement to boycott, divest and sanction Israel (BDS) has resulted in yet another first – a discussion of the cultural boycott on 1 February by the Education and Culture Committee of the Knesset.

Attended by representatives of the Ministries of Education and Culture, together with Israeli entertainment producers who have been financially harmed by the cultural boycott of Israel, the Education and Culture Committee discussed the topic of the boycott of Israel by international artists.

The chairperson of the committee, MK Alex Miller, of the ultra-right wing Zionist party Yisrael Beitenu, called on the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Culture and Finance to establish an inter-ministerial committee to examine how to protect producers who are harmed by artists who cancel their appearances in Israel for ideological reasons.

The discussion came in response to a wave of artist boycotts in recent months, among them Elvis Costello, Vanessa Paradis, Johnny Depp, Dustin Hoffman, and the Pixies.

The organization Boycott from Within has played a large role in encouraging artists to follow their conscience and not perform in Israel."

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#BDS: Edinburgh students shut down lecture by Israeli diplomat

Edinburgh University Students for Justice in Palestine successfully shut down a lecture last night by Ishmael Khaldi, advisor to Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman. 

The event, hosted by the University's Jewish society and held in Lecture Theatre 1 of Appleton Tower, was re-arranged only the night before after the International Relations society refused to host Khaldi, due to the fact that Palestinian were living under “Apartheid” 

The talk was scheduled to start at 5pm but was delayed until 5.30pm, with the organisers citing 'security concerns'. When it did eventually get under way, one SJP member interrupted immediately shouting “Where is the freedom of speech for the 1,500 massacred in Gaza? Where is the freedom of speech for the Palestinian students in Israeli dungeons?”

The protesters - approximately 50 people - were the majority of the audience and compromised of students activists, members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and members of the local Palestinian community. The demonstrators proceeded to occupy the platform of the lecture theatre and chanted slogans such “From Cairo to Ramallah, globalise the Intifada”, “Boycott Israel” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. 

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#BDS: Faithless Boycotts Israel and Preaches Gospel of Humanity

“Okay. We’ve been asked to do some shows this summer in your country and, with the heaviest of hearts, I have regretfully declined the invitation.”

It was 2005 when the high priest of house sent his uncluttered note to the Faithless fans in Israel.

“It’s fair to say that for 14 years we’ve been promoting goodwill, trust ad harmony all around the world in our small (but very loud) way.

“While human beings are being wilfully denied not just their rights but their needs for their children and grandparents and themselves, I feel deeply that I should not be sending even tacit signals that this is either normal okay. Its neither and I cannot support it.

“It grieves me that it has come to this and I pray every day for human beings to begin caring for each other, firm in the wisdom that we are all we have.”

His sign-off was customary. Beautiful. “One love. Maxi.”

Six years later- after Faithless had turned down that invitation to tour Israel for a third time- his voice is unimaginably familiar on the other side of the phone, so the heart pounds. In the background, the TV is on and from kilometers away, the world is quietly watching a revolution being unleashed in Egypt. The original frontiers are being challenged. King Abdullah has dissolved his parliament in Jordan.

Tunisia has been on the burn. And for two of the gods of Faithless- Maxi Jazz and the guitarist Dave Randall- these are events that are more fundamental to their music than many fans will realise."

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#BDS: 20 years ago i would not have played in apartheid South Africa; Today i refuse to play in Israel

#BDS: Commemorate Land Day by Joining the Global BDS Day of Action 30 March

"The BDS National Committee (BNC) is calling on you to unite in your different capacities and struggles to join the Global BDS Day of Action on Land Day, 30 March 2011, in solidarity with the Palestinian people's right to self determination on their ancestral land.

Inspired and buoyed by the popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia and their unique manifestation of courage, dignity, civility and determination, we stand resolutely with worldwide struggles for self determination, freedom, democracy, social justice and equality, and we call for intensifying BDS actions globally as the main form of solidarity with Palestinian rights.

The Palestinian Land Day commemorates the day in 1976 when Israeli military forces shot and killed six young Palestinian citizens of Israel. These brave youth were among thousands protesting the Israeli government’s expropriation of Palestinian land to build new Jewish-only colonies and expand existing ones. Today, Land Day symbolizes Palestinian resistance to Israel’s ongoing land expropriation, colonization, occupation and apartheid. We salute and stand with the similarly popular and determined Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, confirming that struggles for freedom, justice and equal rights everywhere are one. To the people of Tunisia and Egypt we say: "Your struggle is ours, as ours is yours. Your freedom is ours, as ours is yours."

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#BDS: WHO’S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD BOYCOTT?

"The day after the American pop star Macy Gray announced controversial plans to perform in Tel Aviv in March, we sat down for a drink at Pua, a bar nestled in the heart of one of Jaffa’s most gentrified neighborhoods. When the waitress, a sociable 20-something resident of the city’s burgeoning young Jewish community informed us of a new brand of beer the restaurant was carrying, we wondered based on rumors we had heard if it was brewed in a settlement in the Golan Heights. The waitress, who was clearly offended, vehemently denied that it was “a settlement beer.” She reassured us that the owner of the restaurant was “a real Tel Aviv type guy,” and as such, “would not carry such a product.”

We were confused. “What exactly is a Tel Aviv type guy?” we asked her. When she returned to our table with two European beers, we asked for more information about the owner and a conversation began. She informed us that the owner of the bar ‘just keeps to himself and his friends in Tel Aviv’. She told us that he was not interested in politics and just wanted to live his life. We asked about her ideas on politics and the occupation. “I am a photographer. I used to go to Bil’in but it is violent.” She continued, “Now I just spend time with my friends and try to be a good person. I can’t take trying to change anything anymore.”

When asked for her opinion on BDS, her response was short and quick: “You can’t fight evil with evil.” She insisted that every boycott in history was wrong. We pressed her gently on the issue of boycotts (what about MLK’s Montgomery Bus Boycott, or the boycott of apartheid South Africa?) but it was clear that she was unwilling to go deep into the issue. She knew about the Occupation, the settlements, the racism that was rising like a tidal wave all around her, but she had deliberately cloistered herself inside a quaint European-style bar and Tel Aviv’s cosmopolitan lifestyle. Perhaps she could have contributed to the fight for a real democracy in Israel and justice for Palestinians living under occupation, but she had surrendered to the culture of apathy sanctioned by an entitled elite."

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#BDS: Palestinians speak on growing boycott of Israel

In 2005, more than 170 Palestinian civil society organisations issued an international call for the boycott of Israel. Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign is conducted in the framework of international solidarity and resistance to injustice and oppression. It calls for non-violent punitive measures to be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognise the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with international law. Over the past five years, the BDS campaign has gone from strength to strength internationally, with trade unions, student groups and other sectors announcing support. Kim Bullimore spoke with Omar Barghouti and Hind Awwad in Ramallah about the growing international campaign. Barghouti is a Palestinian political and cultural analyst and a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). Awwad is the national coordinator of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC).

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“After five years of BDS, we feel that we have reached our ‘South Africa moment’”, Omar Barghouti told Direct Action. “We are on the offensive, and Zionist and anti-BDS groups are definitely on the defensive everywhere.”

Barghouti notes: “A few years ago we would have looked at where we are now as a dream that cannot come true except after many, many years. But after five years we have campaigns which are advocating BDS [and] working on BDS from the US to Australia, from Norway to South Africa, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Argentina and so on. So now we have very successful campaigns in corporate responsibility, divestment campaigns.”

According to Barghouti, who is one of the founders of the PACBI, since Israel’s all-out assault on the Gaza Strip in 2008-09, the BDS campaign, particularly the academic and cultural boycott, has grown by leaps and bounds. “Since Gaza and especially after the flotilla attack, academic and cultural boycott campaigns have spread throughout the world. Big performers, major artists like the Pixies, [Elvis] Costello, Gill Scott Heron and others have cancelled performances in Israel. We are getting more and more and the list of groups is growing; every month we are getting new performers that are cancelling.”

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#BDS: World to observe Israeli Apartheid Week

"Activists across the world are preparing to hold “Israeli Apartheid Week” (IAW) next month, amid growing international outrage against Israeli actions.


IAW organizers plan to hold the event in support of Palestinian Civil Society's call for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

Due to the popularity of IAW, which is held for the seventh consecutive year this year, organizers have extended its duration to allow the participants from different regions with different schedules to take part.

The occasion will be held from March 7 through March 20 across the world and March 21 through March 26 in Britain, the IAW website reported.

Israel is expected to face a barrage of international criticism prior to and during the occasion.

The aim of IAW is to underline the apartheid and racist nature of the Israeli regime. "

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#BDS: Action Alert: Contact BART for Approving Anti-Palestine Ads

BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) Has Approved New StandWithUs Poster For Six Locations.  Contact BART here. "BART has approved a new StandWithUs ad to replace the poster they had originally approved, which was taken down last week in response  to a few complaints from people who did not want to see the photo of the Palestinian terrorist that was shown as part of the ad. They felt that the photo of the terrorist was tainting all ordinary Palestinians. States Roz Rothstein, StandWithUs co-founder and CEO, "This would be the same as saying that all Iranians are tainted when Ahmadinejad is depicted as the tyrant that he  is. That being said, the second approved ad imparts the same  message that we originally intended—that for there to be peace in the Middle East, peace must be taught, and the greatest impediment to peace for the people in the Middle East is hate training and violence promoted by Palestinian leadership such as Hamas, which anyone can confirm at any time just by looking on the Internet." The new ad, attached, will be up in all locations by Monday and for the same four-week duration as the original ad was meant to be displayed.  The StandWithUs ad was produced to counter an anti-Israel ad that calls for ending U.S. aid to Israel, which ended its four-week run two weeks ago. The StandWithUs ad will be displayed at the same locations as the anti-Israel ad—Berkeley, Oakland-12th Street  and SF-Civic Center—as well as three additional locations: Embarcadero, Balboa, and MacArthur. The ad also directs viewers to the new Web site www.sayyestopeace.org, which explains the real impediments to peace." Read more

#BDS: أساتذة فرنسيون يدينون إلغاء ندوة لمفكر فرنسى عن فلسطين فى باريس

تصاعدت حدة الجدل فى فرنسا بعد قرار عميدة كلية دار المعلمين الفرنسية بإلغاء حلقة نقاشية كان من المقرر أن يعقدها المفكر والكاتب الفرنسى ستيفان هيسيل بحضور سفيرة السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية فى الاتحاد الأوروبى ليلى شهيد فى الكلية. 

ومن جانبه نفى المجلس التمثيلى للمؤسسات اليهودية الفرنسية أن يكون هو المسئول عن قرار عميدة كلية دار المعلمين مونيك كانتو سبيربر بإلغاء الحلقة النقاشية فى وقت صرحت فيه مونيك بأنها قررت إلغاء الحلقة النقاشية بعد أن علمت بأنها ستخصص لتأييد حملة لمقاطعة إسرائيل بعد أن كانت تعتقد أنها ستكون حلقة للنقاش 

بين المفكر هيسيل ومجموعة من طلبة الكلية عن كتابه الأخير.

وقد أثار قرار مونيك بإلغاء ندوة المفكر هيسيل استياء شديدا فى كلية دار المعلمين لدرجة أن 7 من أقدم أساتذة الدار نشروا مقالا انتقدوا فيه بشدة قرار الإلغاء ووصفوه بأنه رقابة مرعبة لحرية التعبير و القوا بمسئوليته على الضغوط التى مارسها المجلس التمثيلى للمؤسسات اليهودية الفرنسية على عميدة الكلية و طالبوا باستقالتها من منصبها .كما أدان العديد من طلبة الدار قرار الإلغاء ووصفوه بأنه يثير الاشمئزاز ويجلب الخزى والعار لدار المعلمين المنوط به تعزيز ثقافة احترام حرية الفكر والتعبير فى فرنسا.

ومن جانبه نفى المجلس التمثيلى ممارسة أية جهود على عميدة كلية دار المعلمين مشيرا إلى أنه أشاد فقط بالقرار بعد أن علم بأن الحلقة النقاشية كانت تستهدف الترويج لمقاطعة إسرائيل لا سيما مقاطعة المنتجات الإسرائيلية فى أسواق الإتحاد الأوروبى.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Boycott vote in Sydney suburb sparks media furor, death threats

"On 15 December 2010, the councilors of Marrickville, a suburb of Sydney, Australia voted by a 10-2 majority to support the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). A month later, they have belatedly become the subjects of vilification in the press owned by international media proprietor Rupert Murdoch and death threats from Australia's lunatic fringe.

"What does the desert theocracy of Saudi Arabia have in common with Marrickville Council in Sydney's Inner West?" howls an article in Murdoch'sTelegraph, under a headline comparing the local authority to North Korea. The piece -- which manages to be factually inaccurate on subjects as diverse as kosher food laws and Palestine Liberation Organization factions -- goes on to hail Israel as "one of the most innovative and entrepreneurial countries in the world. Its products and inventions find their way into computers, mobile phones and medicines." The online version of the article seeks to demonstrate Israel's virtues by illustrating it with both a photo gallery of Israeli swimsuit model Bar Refaeli and a video of her writhing in the sand on a photo shoot.

"This is what passes for 'journalism' and commentary over Israel/Palestine in Australia," laments Antony Loewenstein, the Sydney-based author of Australian best-seller My Israel Question and co-founder of Independent Australian Jewish Voices. His blog also points out the inconsistencies and omissions in recent coverage of the incident by The Australian, supposedly a more serious paper than the Telegraph. The Australian quotes Anthony Albanese, a member of the Australian federal parliament whose constituency covers Marrickville council's turf. Albanese claims that "Foreign policy is a fair way outside the parameters of the role of Marrickville Council" and suggests that the local authority stick to "local" issues."

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#BDS: BDS Criticizes McEwan for Israeli Prize

"

Next week writer Ian McEwan is to receive the Jerusalem Prize,

Israel's top literature award for foreign writers at the International Book Fair in the city.

The biennial award, along with $10,000, is given to writers whose work according to the Israelis "best expresses and promotes the idea of freedom of the individual in society" in an environment of "political and social turmoil."

In response to the criticism from groups such as British Writers in Support of Palestine (BWISP) that his acceptance flouts the cultural boycott of Israel, McEwan said his decision is based on the belief that art can have a "longer reach" than politics.

In further self-justification, he pointed to previous recipients of the prize as including luminaries like Bertrand Russell and Simone de Beauvoir.

It's hard to conceive that either of these two would accept the Jerusalem Prize today, particularly de Beauvoir - a militant opponent of French colonial crimes in Algeria."

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#BDS: يديعوت أحرنوت: مصر استعانت بتقنية "إسرائيلية" لتعطيل الإنترنت

كشفت صحيفة يديعوت أحرنوت الإسرائيلية أن النظام المصرى استخدم تقنيات إسرائيلية حديثة للغاية، مكنته من تعطيل شبكة الإنترنت فى جميع أنحاء جمهورية مصر العربية، وجعلت المصريين عاجزين على تصفح الإنترنت طوال الأسبوع الأول الذى اندلعت فيه ثورة التحرير الذى شهدها أشهر ميادين مصر فى 25 يناير. 

وذكرت الصحيفة الإسرائيلية فى ملحقها الاقتصادى، أن النظام الحاكم فى مصر اضطر إلى الاستعانة بطاقم من خبراء إسرائيل التقنيين لحجب شبكة الإنترنت فى مصر، وذلك بهدف تهدئة ثورة آلاف المتظاهرين الذى خرجوا بميدان التحرير آواخر الشهر الماضى، مطالبين بالتغيير والحرية ومحاربة الفساد والبطالة، إلى أن امتدت مطالبهم بإسقاط النظام، ورحيل الرئيس مبارك.

ونقلت يديعوت أحرنوت تصريحات مصدر إسرائيلى كبير بمجال الاتصالات، قال إن شركة "نايروس" الإسرائيلية للبرمجيات، صممت برنامج متطور للغاية استخدم لشل الإنترنت فى مصر، وأشارت الصحيفة إلى أن هذه الشركة الإسرائيلية تتعامل مع أكبر شركة حكومية مصرية لخدمات الاتصالات والإنترنت، منذ وقت طويل وتزودها بتقنيات خاصة.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Why Is BDS a Moral Duty Today? A Response to Bernard-Henri Levy

"In his angry attack on the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, Mr. Bernard-Henri Levy desperately attempts to smear the movement by presenting a number of patently false, regurgitated, and misleading premises and reaching, as a result, unwarranted, even illogical, conclusions. What Mr. Levy peculiarly tries to hide or obscure are the real objectives of the movement, who stands behind it, and the reasons behind its spectacular rate of growth lately, especially in France and other Western countries.

The fact is the BDS Call was launched by a great majority in Palestinian civil society on July 9, 2005, as a qualitatively new phase in the global struggle for Palestinian freedom, justice, and self-determination. More than 170 leading Palestinian political parties, trade union federations, women's unions, refugee rights groups, NGOs, and grassroots organizations called for a boycott against Israel until it fully complies with its obligations under international law. Rooted in a century-old history of civil, nonviolent resistance against settler colonialism, occupation and ethnic cleansing, the effort recalls how people of conscience in the international community have "historically shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in the struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa," calling upon international civil society organizations and people of conscience all over the world to "impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era."

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#BDS: Video: Bieber Don't Go

#BDS: US Students Face Criminal Charges for "Heckling" Israeli Speaker

"Eleven California students are facing criminal charges for harassing Israeli ambassador to the United States Michael Oren last year. The eleven shouted insults at Oren during a scheduled address and prevented him from speaking for 20 minutes.


Among other things, the students called Oren a “war criminal” and shouted, “How many Palestinians did you kill?” Oren was shouted down at least ten times by the protesters, who were eventually removed from the hall.


The Orange County district attorney's office has announced that, in a rare move, the students will be charged with misdemeanor crimes – one count each of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and disturbance of a meeting."


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#BDS: Anti-Israel protesters target UK water company Veolia

"The campaign to boycott Israel spilled on to the streets of London last night as protesters targeted the UK's leading water supplier over its sister company's work in East Jerusalem.

Veolia Environmental Services is the British-based sister firm of Veolia Transport, which is constructing a 250 million pound high-speed rail network in East Jerusalem. The company also operates the Paris Metro. It is currently part of a conglomerate bidding for the North London Waste Authority's (NLWA) waste and energy management contract in 2014.

Wednesday afternoon's protest outside Camden Town Hall, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), was held to coincide with a NLWA meeting. Demonstrators called for Veolia ES to be barred from NWLA's shortlist when members discuss the tender in April."

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#BDS: There Ain't Nothing Precious About Bloody Diamonds

"Every year, consumers the world over unwittingly spend billions of dollars on diamonds crafted in Israel, thereby helping to fund one of the world's most protracted and contentious conflicts. Most people are unaware that Israel is one of the world's leading producers of cut and polished diamonds. As diamonds are normally not hallmarked, consumers cannot distinguish an Israeli diamond from one crafted in India, Belgium, South Africa or elsewhere. The global diamond industry and aligned governments, including the EU, have hoodwinked consumers into believing the diamond trade has been cleansed of diamonds that fund human rights abuses, but the facts are startlingly different.

Israel -- which stands accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, genocide, the crime of apartheid, extrajudicial executions within and outside the territory it controls and persistent serious breaches of the Geneva Conventions -- is the world's leading exporter of diamonds (see Figure 1 below). Israeli companies import rough diamonds for cutting and polishing, adding significantly to their value, and export them globally via distribution hubs in Antwerp, London, Hong Kong, New York and Mumbai."

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#BDS: Edinburgh University Students Protest Hosting of Israeli diplomat

                             Ishmael Khaldi (centre, blue shirt) is     surrounded by shouting pro-Palestinian activists in Edinburgh

"A university has pledged to take action after the Israeli Foreign Ministry's most senior Muslim diplomat faced a student mob which shouted him down and called him a Nazi.

Ishmael Khaldi had to be surrounded by security guards as he began to speak at Edinburgh University last week.

Protesters marched towards him screaming "Viva, Viva Palestina" and "boycott Israel" as they unfurled Palestinian flags.

At one stage the mic was ripped from his lectern and a demonstrator shouted: "We don't discuss with the Ku Klux Klan, why should we discuss with this thug?"

Mr Khaldi, a Galilee Bedouin who serves as an adviser to Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, was back in Israel this week. He did not want to discuss the incident in detail, but said: "There's no other humiliating, insulting and hurtful experience like this."

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#BDS: Why Should We Boycott Veolia

"Veolia, a large French multinational, is helping to build and operate a tramway linking illegal settlements in East Jerusalem with Israel. Not only do the settlements contravene article 49 of the 4th Geneva Convention forbidding an occupier transferring its own civilians into the territory it occupies, but in most cases the establishment of the Israeli settlements involved war crimes too. The tramway tightens Israel’s hold on occupied East Jerusalem, ties the settlements more firmly into Israel and undermines chances of a just peace for the Palestinian people.

Veolia also operates bus services for Israeli settlers, running them between the illegal settlements and Israel. The buses travel on settler roads, which have decimated Palestinian towns and villages by stealing their land for construction, and cut them off from each other. Palestinians were, until recently, forbidden from using these settler-only apartheid roads.

Through its subsidiary, TMM, Veolia also collects refuse from illegal settlements at the Tovlan landfill site in the occupied Jordan Valley.

Veolia must be made to halt these activities which enable Israel to maintain and tighten its grip on the occupation. Until then, we encourage a boycott of Veolia – a firm complicit in the ongoing occupation and dispossession of the Palestinian people."

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#BDS: ActionAlert + Open Letter to UEFA on Israel hosting the U21 football championship 2013

"Israel has been chosen to host the next UEFA U21 Football Championship. 

Hosting an international sporting competiton is an honour which should not be given to a country that defies international law and bars Palestinians from taking part in international sporting competitions.

Below is the open letter from the PSC to the President of UEFA, Michel Platini.

We urge you to also write to Mr. Platini, for UEFA to reverse their decision. Click here to use the PSC's easy to use e-tool.

Dear Michel Platini,

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) urges the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) not to hold the UEFA U21 Championship 2013 in Israel.

In October 2010 not only did UEFA renew its commitment to anti-racism, you Mr. Platini, earned international recognition, when stating that "We accepted them in Europe and furnished them with the conditions for membership and they must respect the letter of the laws and international regulations otherwise there is no justification for them to remain in Europe....Israel must choose between allowing Palestinian sport to continue and prosper or be forced to face the consequences for their behaviour." Since this time the actions of Israel have not changed, therefore the global Palestine solidarity movement is baffled, that despite your previous stance, you are now rewarding Israel's atrocities by granting them the privileged of hosting the U21 championship.

The Palestinian people have experienced decades of military occupation. Israel operates an entrenched system of racial Apartheid against its own non-Jewish inhabitants and is illegally occupying Palestinian land in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. It has sought to further annex these lands and has systematically transferred its own civilian population into these occupied territories. Israel's occupation is illegal under international law, including UN Resolution 242 which demands Israel's withdrawal from the occupied territories. Additionally, UN Resolution 446 clearly states that the settlements ‘have no legal validity, and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East'. It is also the European Union's common position that Israel's settlements and occupation are illegal.

Your decision to allow Israel to host the U21 championship is extremely damaging. It sends the message that UEFA has no issue with the illegal and discriminatory treatment of Israel towards the Palestinian people. As an inclusive and anti-racist organization surely UEFA should take a stand instead of being complicit in Israel's actions."

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#BDS: The battle has moved to the US: Battle over Mideast transit ads heating up across U.S.

"NEW YORK (JTA) -- With public bickering over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict already having spilled over into university student senates, corporate pension boards and even local farmers markets, the latest battlefield in the debate over the conflict is municipal transit systems.

In several major U.S. cities, advertisements on public buses and municipal rail stations are designed to galvanize public opinion to end U.S. military aid to Israel or to pressure Palestinians to end anti-Jewish incitement. In some cases, the ads have been deemed so inflammatory that local authorities have tried to restrict or ban them outright, leading to frustration on both sides and, in one case, a federal lawsuit.

A group calling itself the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, with the help of the local American Civil Liberties Union chapter, filed a lawsuit in Seattle last month charging that the group's First Amendment rights were violated when the local transit system reneged on an agreement to carry its ad opposing aid to Israel."

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#BDS: Macy Gray still doesn't get it: PACBI asks Macy Gray not to visit Ramallah

"The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) views with great dismay your upcoming performance in Tel Aviv, despite your acknowledgment that “what the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinians is disgusting” [1]. Furthermore, PACBI has learned that you intend to go one step further in your support of the Israeli state by meeting with members of the Israeli Knesset (parliament) on this trip. In doing so, you would be electing to serve directly the interests of the campaign to Brand Israel [2]. This is a campaign that has been launched by the Israeli government and promoted by institutions throughout the country and abroad in order to whitewash Israel’s violations of international law and project a false image of normalcy. To be sure, you have served this near-ambassadorial position for Israel several times in the past: playing at the opening of the Israeli consulate in Los Angeles in 2008 [3], and most recently visiting the consulate on request of its diplomats and releasing a statement declaring your support for Israel [4].

PACBI has also learned that you intend to visit Ramallah on your tour, a suggestion raised in the past by all those who have tried to appease the occupied Palestinian people while going against our call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). PACBI and the great majority in Palestinian civil society have repeated time and again that such a move would be categorically rejected as a further act of normalizing Israel’s crimes by receiving the blessing of the Palestinians and using it as a fig leaf. The very fact that you had to think of a separate trip to visit the Palestinians is itself an acknowledgement of the existence of the apartheid regime, whereby occupied Palestinians cannot attend your show just minutes away.

What is most distressing is that you can no longer hide behind the idea that you do not know. On top of the numerous blog postings that have popped up over the last month, some of which were quite informative and well reasoned, representatives from PACBI, BOYCOTT! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within (BFW), as well as Israeli activists, have spoken to you privately on several occasions, emailed you extensively, answered your many questions, and provided you with many credible references from UN and respected human rights organizations. Macy Gray, you know about the siege of Gaza, the apartheid wall, the occupation, the laws discriminating against the Palestinian citizens of Israel, the war on Gaza, the Israeli imprisonment of Palestinians and human rights defenders, the colonization of Palestinian land by settlers, and Israel’s refusal to recognize the Palestinian right of return. You know about the South African struggle against apartheid and how central the cultural boycott was to it. And you know Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s position in support of BDS against Israel, including in the cultural field, as a non-violent and most effective form of struggle to end Israel’s own apartheid and colonial rule."

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