#BDS: US fashion chain features Israel in campaign

"Urban Outfitters fashion chain chooses Jewish state as backdrop for its spring catalog, bringing convoy of models to Holy Land

The American fashion chain Urban Outfitters had decided to feature the Israeli sun in its spring marketing campaign: The popular brand, which has outlets around the world, chose Israelas the destination for a week-long photo shoot.

The team of American models was accompanied by fashion photographer Marlene Marion. Photographs documenting their experience in the holy land are on display on the brand's blog. The Dead Sea, the Judean Desert, Jaffa and the Tel Aviv coast are among the sites that were shown in the spring catalog, whose designers apparently got their inspiration from Israeli tourism posters from the 1960s and 1970s."

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#BDS: Activists highlight links between Ben Gurion, military

"Activists campaigning for the University of Johannesburg (UJ) to cut ties with Israel's Ben Gurion University have compiled a report on the latter's links with the Israeli military claiming that it gave scholarships and extra tuition to students who served in Operation Cast Lead, the controversial 2008 invasion of Gaza. 

On Wednesday next week the UJ senate meets to decide whether to sever all ties with Ben Gurion, ending decades of research collaboration.

In September, the senate listed a number of conditions that Ben Gurion would have to meet within six months or face the cutting of ties. The probationary period closes at the end of this month."

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#BDS: الاتحاد العام للكتاب يدعو لمقاطعة إمبرتو إيكو وماك ايوان

بعد تكريمهما على هامش معرض الكتاب بالقدس الاتحاد العام للكتّاب والأدباء الفلسطينيين يدعو إلى مقاطعة إمبرتو إيكو وإيان إيوان

رام الله - معا- على هامش المعرض الدولي الخامس والعشرين للكتاب في القدس المحتلة، الذي نظمته بلدية القدس الاحتلالية الشهر الماضي، منحت جائزة القدس للكاتب البريطاني إيان ماك إيوان، واحتفلت بالروائي الإيطالي إمبرتو إيكو بترجمة روايته الأخيرة التي تستوحي "برتوكولات حكماء صهيون" إلى العبرية. وإيكو الذي آمن بدور مساهمة الثقافة العربية والإسلامية في الثقافة العالمية عاد وتخاذل ونافق عندما واجه الاستحقاق السياسي والإنسانيّ أمام إغراء التكريم. كما جاء في قرار لجنة التحكيم أن ماك إيوان "عكس في كتاباته كفاح أبطاله من أجل حقّهم في التعبير الفردي عن مثلهم وعن حقّهم في العيش بمقتضاها في واقع يتّسم بالتقلبات السياسية والاجتماعية السريعة، الأمر الذي جعله واحداً من أكثر الأدباء الأجانب شعبية في إسرائيل".

إنّ الاتحاد العام للكتّاب والأدباء الفلسطينيين يعبر بوضوح عن إدانته واستنكاره ورفضه لهذه المشاركة التي تمسح الدم عن يد الجلاد والقاتل الاحتلالي بدلاً من الانحياز إلى الضحية، ويرى أن تملّق الاحتلال ومؤسسته الاستيطانية المتمثّلة ببلدية القدس، يأتي على حساب الشعب الفلسطيني وحقّه في أرضه ومقدساته.

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#BDS: Israel uses academia to whitewash its crimes: Cypriot Institute and Tel Aviv University Agreement Strengthens Relations

"A cooperation agreement between the Cypriot Institute and theUniversity of Tel Aviv were signed on Monday (14/3). Cyprus President Demetris Christofias signed 3 other Cyprus-Israel agreements during Monday’s visit, and also visited the tomb of Yasser Arafat.

An agreement between the Cypriot Institute and the University of Tel Aviv was signed on Monday, (14/3) during a visit by Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and a large delegation of Cypriots.

Following the signing of the academic agreement, Institute President Professor Costas N. Papanicolas stated that “regional partnerships with institutions of high international standing such as Tel-Aviv University are outstanding assets for enhancing the role of our Institute on the international scientific scene and fostering the role of Cyprus as a gateway between Europe and the Middle-East for research, education and the knowledge economy.”

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#BDS: Holding our universities accountable: The case for divestment

"On Monday, March 7 and Thursday, March 10 Students Against Israeli Apartheid(SAIA) -- heeding the call from Palestinian civil society for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) -- launched campaigns demanding that York University and the University of Toronto (UT) divest from companies which violate international law and perpetuate an illegal apartheid regime. SAIA's investigations have revealed that our universities, through their pension and endowment funds, have millions of dollars invested in BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Hewlett Packard and Lockheed Martin, all corporations that profit from heinous human rights violations. These companies are actively involved in significant breaches of international law in Palestine, and York and UT's holdings in these companies also make them complicit in the commission of these crimes.

BAE Systems is a global defence, security and aerospace company, and currently the world's third-largest weapons manufacturer. It produced weaponry, including F-16 combat aircrafts, cluster bombs and weapon components, used in Israel's 2008/09 assault on Gaza. The Report of the United Nations Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict (commonly known as the "Goldstone Report") concluded that Israel committed actions amounting to war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity. BAE Systems -- in which York holds $2,286,486 and UT $1,746,000 worth of shares -- contributed to the weaponry that Israel used in these internationally condemned crimes against Palestinian civilians."

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#BDS: LU kicks off Israeli Apartheid Week

"An international boycott of businesses that support the Israeli government through sales of arms and security products is slowly taking root in the global community, says a Toronto filmmaker.
"We are not there yet," said John Greyson at a press confer-e nce Monday at Laurentian University, where the start of Israeli Apartheid Week activities was announced. "There is still much work to be done ...(But) I think the momentum is unstoppable. It's exciting. It's very difficult. Those of us who stand up and speak out about apartheid and solidarity for Palestine tend to get called a lot of names like Holocaust denier.
"I think that speaks to the importance of the issue, the difficulty of the issue, and also the very dynamics and difficult politics this issue represents."
An associate professor in film at York University, Greyson was visiting Laurentian to host two talks and video screenings Monday on the first day of Israeli Apartheid Week."
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