Apr 3, 2011
#BDS: BDS and Beyond
"Thirty five years ago today, a peaceful general strike by Israeli-Palestinians was met with bullets. Six people were killed and hundreds of others injured or arrested in what became known as Land Day. Two and a half months later, the Soweto uprisingbegan in South Africa, claiming far more lives, but laying down a marker in the struggle against apartheid. The timing of the two revolts melded the stirrings of solidarity consciousness with the Palestinians to apartheid comparisons with South Africa.
Three years before, in 1973, the UN General Assembly had adopted the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid. Its definition of apartheid applied to “inhuman acts committed for the purpose of establishing and maintaining domination by one racial group of persons over any other racial group of persons and systematically oppressing them.”
The question of whether Palestinians and Jews actually constitute distinct and separate racial groups is moot, but Israel’s domination and systematic oppression of Palestinians within and without the 1949 armistice line is well documented. The clear and accurate comparisons made by Bishop Desmond Tutu, the UN’s special rapporteurs John Dugard and Richard Falk, Uri Davis, and many others are not easily dispatched. But questions of terminology are political, as well as legal."
Read more
#BDS: Boycott Max Brenner Chocolates
"Max Brenner Chocolates is a 100% Israeli-owned company belonging to the Strauss Group, the second largest Israeli food and beverage company. On the “corporate responsibility” section of its website, the Strauss Group emphasizes the support it gives to the Israeli army.
Highlighting that it wants to “sweeten their special moment” the Strauss group touts that, for more than 30 years, it has supported the Golani reconnaissance platoon renowned for its murderous assaults on Palestinian civilians and its involvement in the 2006 invasion of Lebanon."
Read more
#BDS: WHY MOTOROLA
"Since the founding of Israel in 1948, Motorola has been involved in assisting the state in carrying out its repressive policies towards Palestinians. Motorola established Motorola Israel as its first wholly owned subsidiary outside of the United States in 1964.
Motorola Israel profits handsomely from Israel's militarism and ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands, earning over $1 billion in annual revenues in 2007. As Motorola's chief operating officer Mike Zafirovski put it: “Our investment in Israel is one of the most successful we have made”.
Motorola today enables Israeli apartheid as Motorola South Africa once enabled South African apartheid. Forty percent owned by its American parent, Motorola South Africa supplied mobile radio transmitters to the South African police.These radio transmitters helped police suppress protest against white rule. Motorola’s dealings with the apartheid regime came to an end in 1985, when Motorola sold its South African operations to South African electronic company Allied Technologies Ltd. (Altech) on the condition that the latter cease equipment sales to South African agencies. The agreement was a win for US anti-apartheid activists, who had pressured Motorola to break its ties with the South African regime and had helped to pass municipal laws, in New York and elsewhere that prohibited city governments from doing business with companies supplying equipment used to enforce apartheid in South Africa."
Read more
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)