#BDS: Israeli former IDF soldier and tennis player in Dubai

"Shahar Peer, who is being kept away from her rivals at the Dubai Championships in a heavily-guarded compound for the second year in a row, said she was feeling under even more pressure to succeed this time round.

Two years ago the tournament received a record $300,000 fine from the WTA and was threatened with removal from the tour after the Israeli was refused a visa to compete.

Dubai is part of the United Arab Emirates which, like most Arab countries, has no diplomatic ties with the Jewish state and Israelis are routinely denied entry.

Peer was granted entry in 2010 and reached the semi-finals before losing to Venus Williams. The security conditions she encountered last year exist again this week but she said that was not the reason she felt extra pressure to perform."

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#BDS: Bryan Ferry coming to Israel

"Roxy Music lead vocalist to perform in Tel Aviv on April 19, just five days after teen idol Justin Bieber

Ferry was considered one of the biggest music stars in the 1970s and 1980s, with dozens of hit singles both with the Roxy Music band and as part of his solo career.

Ferry formed Roxy Music in 1970 together with saxophonist Andy Mackay, Phil Manzanera, Paul Thompson and Brian Eno – who is today one of the most important music producers in the world."

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#BDS: Resisting Pinkwashing: Queers Won’t Hide Israel’s Dirty Laundry

"Recently a pro-gay ad from Israel popped up on my Facebook feed. It used the metaphor of the closet to push Israeli parents to accept and support their queer kids. I’m queer. I’m Jewish. And I care deeply about queer issues. So why didn’t the ad spark even an ounce of excitement in me? Because I am wary of my queerness being used by Israel. For some time now, Israel has been promoting gay rights to “pinkwash” its image in an attempt to divert attention away from its treatment of Palestinians.

Why Brand Israel? Why Make It Gay?

As Israel’s reputation becomes more and more unpopular around the world because of its increasingly publicized violations of Palestinian human rights, the Foreign Ministry and other Israel advocacy organizations have been attempting to bolster its image with a “Brand Israel” campaign that promotes Israel’s innovation, culture, and tourism. In the last few years, this effort has started including Israel’s support for gay rights as part of its “cosmopolitan” culture.

While emphasizing the thriving gay community in cities such as Tel Aviv in order to portray Israel as an oasis of gay freedom and democracy in the Middle East, Israel advocacy groups use colonialist language to suggest that Israel is surrounded by “backwards” homophobic, uncivilized Arabs, including Palestinians. Blaming “fundamentalist Islamic beliefs,” groups such as Stand With Us (SWU), a Right Wing Israeli advocacy organization highlights the violence that gay Palestinians face from their families and authorities in Palestine. Of course, they never mention the violence allPalestinians, whatever their sexual orientation, face from the Israeli government."

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#BDS: Hamas prohibits import of Israeli-manufactured clothing

"GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- A new set of restrictions on importing Israeli-manufactured goods into Gaza, were anounced by Gaza's Ministry of the National Economy Sunday.

The ministry statement included a ban on clothing manufactured in Israel. Merchants would have to apply to the ministry for permission to sell several other items, the statement said.

Ma'an obtained a copy of the list of restricted items manufactured in Israel, including the following:

Require approval

- Home and office furniture
- Plastic products
- Tissues, toilet paper
- Hoses
- Juices, soft drinks
- Chemical products
- Canned beans
- Biscuits, candies
- Packaging materials"

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#BDS: AHAVA: STOP BREAKING PALESTINIAN HEARTS!

"On Saturday 12 February, boycott campaigners staged a Valentine’s Day picket outside Ahava. Shop staff quickly called the police and displayed a closed sign thus even further discouraging custom during the time we were there.

Many people were attracted to our brightly coloured broken heart-shaped signs that read “Ahava: Stop Breaking Palestinian Hearts”, “Settlements are Heartless”, “Apartheid is Heartless” and ”Occupation is Heartless”.  

The picket not just attracted attention to the boycott of plundered goods that Ahava sells and the crimes that are being perpetrated continuously upon Palestinians by the Israeli government, but also our presence recalled the murder of Jawaher Abu Rahmah of the Palestinian village of Bil’in by the Israeli army of occupation who died on 31 December after succumbing to fatal injuries after inhaling tear gas, fired by the Israeli military during one of the village’s weekly protests against the apartheid wall and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine.

Jawaher was the sister of Bassem Abu Rahmah, also killed in Bil’in in 2009 when an American-made, high velocity tear gas projectile was fired directly at his chest by an Israeli soldier."

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#BDS #JAN25: Oil and Gas Workers on Strike إضراب عمال البترول والغاز

Courtesy of 3arabawy: