#BDS Major trade union backs boycott of Israel

Via Electronic Intifada:

One of the world’s largest cross-border trade union groups has declared its support for the campaign to boycott Israeli goods and institutions.
Meeting in Durban, South Africa last week, Public Services International (PSI) also pledged to participate in Israel Apartheid Week, an annual series of events designed to raise awareness about the discrimination and human rights abuses faced by Palestinians. PSI represents 20 million workers throughout the globe.
A resolution urging support for the Palestinian-led mobilisation for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel was proposed to the PSI congress by the South African Municipal Workers Union. Approved by a large majority, the resolution stated:
“We will continue working with our partners in the trade union movement to ensure that worker solidarity is maximized locally and internationally. The slogan of the trade union movement — ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ — rings true for the people of Palestine. The injustices and human rights abuses towards Palestinians, while living under the rule of apartheid Israel, affects us all and we will continue to mobilize for a just resolution with urgency.”
The PSI binds together some 500 public-sector unions, who deliver vital services in 150 countries. Among the major concerns of PSI are bringing union solidarity to migrating workers; violence against women; and improving infrastructures in the areas of road-building, water and sanitation, energy, and waste. The PSI has also called on the US and its allies to cease providing weapons to Israel. And it pledged to develop campaigns aimed at persuading companies who are complicit in the occupation to withdraw from any economic activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Welcoming the PSI vote, Muhammed Desai from the organization BDS South Africa said: “Public tenders, municipal contracts and other services must now be scrutinized by shop stewards and trade unionists to ensure that our public services are not in any way connected to Israel. There should be no normal relations with an abnormal state.”  Source.

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#BDS: Premier League footballers condemn attack on Gaza, boosting pressure on #UEFA to pull 2013 U21 from Israel #fuckIsrael

"A call by 62 top football players, many from English Premier League and first division teams in Europe, condemning Israel’s recent attack on Gaza and the decision byUEFA, the European football federation, to hold its 2013 Under 21 tournament in Israel, has received wide and favorable coverage.

This takes the Palestinian campaign for the boycott of Israel, especially the sporting boycott, to new levels of international mainstream prominence and legitimacy."

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#BDS: Ann Arbor Transportation still won't allow ati-Israel ads #fuckIsrael

"The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority's board of directors held a special meeting Thursday to revise the agency's advertising policy after a federal judge declared parts of it unconstitutional.

But the agency maintains an anti-Israel advertisement calling for a boycott of Israel — what originally prompted a legal debate over the agency's policy — still won't be allowed on its buses."

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#BDS Victory: Stevie Wonder pulls out of IDF fundraiser after BDS activists wage campaign #fuckIsrael

"World famous singer Stevie Wonder has reportedly pulled out of performing at a fundraiser for the Israeli army that was scheduled to take place December 6, according to one anonymous source who spoke with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency."

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#BDS: Palestinian sports community appeal to #UEFA - #RedCardIsrael #fuckIsrael

"We, Palestinian footballers, athletes and sporting organizations and officials, are dismayed that Israel has been rewarded for its continued impunity and violent oppression of our people with the honour of hosting the UEFA Under-21 tournament in 2013. This decision is a drastic reversal of your brave stand just last year against Israeli attacks on Palestinian sport and its persistent violations of universal principles of human rights. You said: “We accepted them in Europe and furnished them 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”. We write today to remind you of the facts that no doubt informed this brave stance and to urge you to take steps to ensure that the 2013 tournament does not take place in Israel."

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#BDS Peition: Stevie Wonder: Don't Be a Part-Time Lover of Justice! #fuckIsrael

"On November 25, 2012, YNet announced that musical legend and civil rights advocate Stevie Wonder would be performing for Israeli soldiers and major donors at the annual gala of the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Stevie Wonderstood against Apartheid in South Africa and has been an outspoken supporter of racial justice and civil rights in the United States. Please join us in saying to Stevie Wonder: "We Just Called to Say, Don't Entertain Apartheid!" 

Read the petition and sign it here 

#BDS: Nobel peace laureates call for #Israel military boycott over #Gaza assault #fuckIsrael

"A group of Nobel peace prize-winners, prominent artists and activists have issued a call for an international military boycott of Israel following its assault on the Gaza Strip this month.

The letter also denounces the US, EU and several developing countries for what it describes as their "complicity" through weapons sales and other military support in the attack that killed 160 Palestinians, many of them civilians, including about 35 children.

The 52 signatories include the Nobel peace laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; the film directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach; the author Alice Walker; the US academic Noam Chomsky; Roger Waters of Pink Floyd; and Stéphane Hessel, a former French diplomat and Holocaust survivor who was co-author of the universal declaration of human rights."

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#BDS: #Gaza students launch "boycott Israel" campaign #fuckIsrael

"Malaka Mohammed, an English literature student at the Islamic University of Gaza(IUG), is the president of the university’s English Language Club for female students. Under her leadership, the club of 15 members has embarked this fall on the Gaza Strip’s first campus-based boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel. “After knowing that there was something called BDS, I made up my mind to do something,” Mohammed said. “So when we had our first meeting, I proposed that we boycott Israeli goods at IUG.”

Student BDS activism in the Gaza Strip began with the January 2009 launch of thePalestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI), part of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). For nearly four years, the student campaign has organized at campuses across the coastal territory, mostly in support of the academic and cultural boycott of Israel."

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#BDS G4S blockaded in Oslo over support for Israeli apartheid

Early this morning, a group of activists from the Palestine Committee of Norway blocked the entrance to the offices of the security firm G4S in Oslo. The activists demanded that G4S stop all activities that contribute to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The blockade adds weight to a petition — signed by 21 Norwegian organizations — which was presented to G4S management last week.

The Palestine Committee writes in a press release:

“G4S is contributing to human rights violations against the Palestinians. This is ethically unacceptable,” says one of the activists, Vanja Alling.

G4S has, since 2002, promised to end its contracts with the Israeli military, police and illegal settlements in the West Bank, but this has proven not to be carried out in practise. Here are some of the revelations from [the Danish investigative group] Danwatch in 2011, showing that G4S is still involved in the occupation of Palestine:

• G4S provides equipment and services to the separation wall in the West Bank and military checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza;
• G4S delivers safety equipment  and services to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank;
• G4S provides equipment and services to Israeli prisons in which Palestinians, among them children, are held in violation of the Geneva conventions. According to Israeli human rights organizations, Palestinians face torture in these prisons.

“Most Norwegian companies and individuals do not want to be associated with the brutal repression of the Palestinians. We know that several Norwegian companies and organizations are considering terminating their contracts with G4S due to their involvement in the occupation. The campaign against G4S will continue until the company no longer participate in the Israeli occupation,” says Vanja Alling.

The blockade lasted an hour and the activists promised to be back again soon.

“Withdraw now”

On 1 November, G4S management in Norway received a petition titled G4S contributes to the occupation of Palestine, signed by 21 groups, including  trade unions, political parties, Palestine solidarity organizations, funding organizations, Amnesty International, and YMCA-YWCA. The signatories stated: ”G4S must immediately withdraw from all activities on occupied Palestinian land and halt all deliveries to Israeli prisons in which Palestinian prisoners are imprisoned in violation of the Geneva conventions.”

Here’s the full text of the petition:

G4S CONTRIBUTES TO THE OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE

In October 2011 the Danish research center Danwatch revealed that G4S is still involved in the Israeli occupation industry by supplying equipment and services to the Israeli military, prisons and illegal settlements in the West Bank. This has happened although the company has repeatedly said that it will stop these activities based on ethical considerations.

In April 2012, G4S decided to exit from their contracts with military checkpoints, one Israeli prison and one police station in the West Bank, when the contract terms expire. However, G4S has stated it will continue to provide security and alarm services for banks and supermarkets in Israeli settlements. In addition, G4S will continue to supply equipment and services to Israeli prisons. In these prisons West Bank Palestinians are detained in violation of the Geneva conventions. According to the Norwegian People’s Aid and Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees’ report “Dangerous Connections” from 2012, Palestinian prisoners are routinely subjected to torture in these centers. Israeli human rights organizations also claim that Palestinian children are being held there.

At the same time as the situation for Palestinians is becoming increasingly desperate as a result of the Israeli occupation, G4S chooses to participate in activities that directly contribute to maintaining illegal settlements and military repression. Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank violates international law and is condemned by the international community. Despite this, new settlements are being built and existing settlements expanded. Palestinian land and limited water resources are confiscated, and the possibilities for free movement for Palestinians are further tightened. Expansion of Israeli settlements has led to widespread destruction of Palestinian homes and forcible transferring of Palestinians. The Israeli settlement policy violates Palestinians’ rights to self-determination, equality, property, decent living conditions and freedom of movement.

The signed organizations believe that G4S’ deliveries to settlements, Israeli military, prisons and police are unethical, as this is a part of maintaining the occupation of Palestinian territories. G4S must immediately withdraw from all activities on occupied Palestinian land and halt all deliveries to Israeli prisons in which Palestinian prisoners are imprisoned in violation of the Geneva conventions.

Sincerely

Amnesty International Norway
AUF Oslo (Workers’ Youth League - Oslo)
EL&IT forbundet (Electricians and information technology workers union)
Fagforbundet (Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees)
Fagforbundet i Oslo (Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees - Oslo)
Fellesforbundet avd 023 Raufoss Jern og Metall (Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions - iron and metalworkers)
Fellesforbundet avd 850 Oslo Grafiske Fagforening (Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions -  Oslo graphic workers union)
Fellesorganisasjonen (Norwegian Union of Social Educators and Social Workers)
Fellesutvalget for Palestina (Association of Norwegian NGOs for Palestine)
Handel og kontor i Norge (Union of Employees in Commerce and Offices)
Industri Energi (Industry Energy workers union)
KFUK-KFUM Globals Midtøsten-komité (YWCA-YMCA Global Middle East comittee)
LO i Oslo (Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions - Oslo)
Norsk Folkehjelp (Norwegian People’s Aid)
Norsk Transportarbeiderforbund (Norwegian Transport Workers’ Union)
Palestinakomiteen i Norge (Palestine Committee of Norway)
Palestine Network Norway
Rødt (Red Party)
Sosiale institusjoners forening (Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees-branch 701 social workers union)
Sosialistisk Ungdom (Socialist Youth League of Norway)
Sosialistisk Venstreparti (Socialist Left Party of Norway)

SOURCE 

#BDS campaign is essential for effective pressure on Israel, Abir Kopty

Boycott campaign is essential for effective pressure on Israel, Abir Kopty

The Palestinian cause is not a charity. The international community, however, has often failed to grasp the nature of the struggle for justice, preferring to channel funds to Palestinian "development" projects to compensate for the lack of will to put serious pressure on Israel. That mentality has been challenged by two recent reports that suggest that lip service to justice for Palestinians could be transformed into critical action.

link to www.thenational.ae

#BDS South Africans to protest toy store supporting ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians

South Africans to protest toy store supporting ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians
Report by "Stop The JNF-South Africa" - "It is unconscionable that while hundreds of Palestinian children are held in Israeli prisons, a toy shop that purportedly celebrates children, is knowingly supporting an Israeli para-statal complicit in gross human rights violations." Read more: link to www.labournet.net

Protest against Wadi Araba treaty near Israel's embassy in Amman

Massive protest against Wadi Araba treaty near Israel's embassy in Amman
Hundreds of Jordanians attended the popular sit-in that was staged on Friday in the courtyard of Kaloti Mosque near the Israeli embassy in Amman to protest Wadi Araba peace agreement. Read more: link to www.palestine-info.co.uk

#BDS: EU urged to re-think trade deals with Israeli settlements in West Bank #fuckIsrael

"The European Union imports around 15 times more produce from Israeli settlements in the West Bank than Palestinian products, despite its consistent condemnation of Israel's settlement policy as illegal under international law, according to a report.

Based on figures supplied by Israel to the World Bank, the estimated value of settlement imports to the EU is $300m (£187m) a year. The comparative figure for Palestinian produce is less than $20m. "With more than 4 million Palestinians and over 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the occupied territory, this means the EU imports over 100 times more per settler than per Palestinian," says Trading Away Peace: How EuropeHelps Sustain Illegal Israeli Settlements, published by a consortium of 22 organisations across Europe."

Read more

#BDS: Pro-Palestine campaigners celebrate #Veolia’s loss of £40million contract in Canterbury #UK #fuckIsrael

"Veolia Environment has failed in its bid to secure an 8-year, £40 million contract with Canterbury City Council in Britain. The council announced today that the current holder, Serco, was the successful bidder. This was despite Veolia’s website headline on November 10, 2010, that it had won a joint contract worth a total of £70 million awarded by Dover District Council, working in partnership with Shepway District Council and Kent County Council.

Veolia has been a target for human rights campaigners due to its involvement in Israeli projects in East Jerusalem and the West Bank which negatively impact on Palestinian human rights, including a transport infrastructure to illegal settlements and Israeli army bases in the West Bank."

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#BDS: Open Letter to Alanis Morissette: You oughta know it’s apartheid, don’t play Israel. #fuckIsrael

"Dear Alanis Morissette,

We are writing to you to ask that you not cross the Palestinian picket line by playing in Israel in December. As we write, the people of Gaza, who live in the world’s largest open-air prison,  are being subjected to nightly airstrikes by Israel, a few miles from where you would be playing to a segregated audience. Last week, humanitarian activists trying to break the illegal, immoral siege of Gaza were kidnapped in international waters, tasered and imprisoned in Israel. Their crime? Showing solidarity to the Palestinian people.

Last month the United Nations issued a report: “Gaza in 2020, a Liveable Place?” [1] focusing on Gaza’s precarious situation, particularly regarding power supply, water, education and employment. Gaza’s 1.6 million people, most of them refugees and over half of them children, are held in a tiny piece of land with their movements controlled by Israel and their basic human rights denied, they are also terrorised by drone planes and military incursions regularly. Can you imagine that human beings are being treated like this? Can you imagine playing for the state that does this? Amnesty International, an organisation that you have supported, has documented Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, as have many other NGOs. [2]"

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#BDS Victory: ANC backs Israel boycott #fuckIsrael

"An African National Congress (ANC) International Solidarity Conference has backed the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel.

The support for BDS follows an international statement presented by Dutch former anti-apartheid activist Adri Nieuwhof signed by 35 organisations from 19 countries.

In the statement, Ms Nieuwhof called for BDS against Israel as an expression of solidarity with Palestine’s “fight for freedom, justice and equality”.

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#BDS: U.N. Human Rights Council Calls for Boycott of U.S. Companies that do business in Israel #fuckIsrael

"A report soon to be released by the United Nations that calls for an international campaign of legal attacks and economic warfare on a group of American companies that do business in Israel, including Hewlett-Packard, Caterpillar Inc., and Motorola Solutions Inc.

The report attempts to instigate a campaign of boycott, divestment, sanctions, and legal action against a litany of international companies doing business in Israel. In addition to American companies, the U.N. targets include major European firms such as Veolia Environnement, Group 4 Security, the Dexia Group, the Volvo Group."

Read the full report here

A #BDS Movement That Works #fuckIsrael

"IN 2005, 173 Palestinian civil society organizations and 71 members of parliament, political parties, and unions in Jordan united to issue a powerful nongovernmental call for global nonviolent resistance to occupation through acts of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.(1) They had three goals: an end to occupation and return to the pre-1967 Green Line, equality for Palestinian citizens of Israel, and recognition of the Palestinian right of return.

The strongly united 2005 Palestinian civil society call for BDS electrified progressives around the world. European activists responded strongly, but in the United States, where the mainstream news media have tended to voluntarily censor undistorted news reports about Israel’s ever-widening theft of Palestinian lands, public consciousness was generally absent, while sympathy for the Jewish legacy of trauma from the Holocaust remained the dominant theme.

It’s time to reassess: Where is the U.S. BDS movement now? The answer is that, while it still lags behind the BDS movements in Europe, Australia and elsewhere, it’s catching up fast, on campuses across the country and in local communities, as a genuinely grassroots movement led by focused, smart, strategic young Arab Americans — with the generous, if unintended assistance of Bibi Netanyahu, whose unashamed racism and crudeness has stunned the world, leaving Israel’s defenders without a credible spin on his words and actions."

Read mohttp://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/3720re

#BDS SA Welcomes ANC's Adoption of Israel Boycott #fuckIsrael

"Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions SA (BDS) welcomed the position adopted on Sunday by the ANC's International Solidarity Conference to support the international boycott against Israel.

There had been widespread support for the position from international delegates, with the exception of a delegate from Germany, who argued that Israel could not be compared to apartheid South Africa, BDS said.

"The ANC chairperson, Baleka Mbete, strongly responded, saying that she has been to Palestine herself and that the Israeli regime is not only comparable but 'far worse than apartheid South Africa'," BDS said."

Read more

#BDS: Shaming the Natural History Museum About Its Choice of Veolia As Support #UK #fuckIsrael

"Today from 12 to 2 pm about 10  Palestine Solidarity Campaigners joined together in our weekly campaign against Veolia outside London’s Natural History Museum. We were not alone with our message of solidarity with Palestine. During the action, we reached out to more than 1,000 visitors and we were supported by literally hundreds of them.

Furthermore, we managed to gather more than 100 signatures for our petition against the Museum’s partnerships with Veolia."

Read more

#BDS: Protests drive #Ahava out of Covent Garden #UK #fuckIsrael

"The UK branch of Israeli cosmetics store, Ahava, is moving from its central London shop after years of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Protesters claim that the products sold in the store are manufactured in a factory in Israeli settlement, Mitzpe Shalom in the West Bank but are "misleadingly" labelled as produced in Israel.

The owner of the shop, currently in Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, is looking for other sites after owners of neighbouring stores complained to the landlord following protests.

Supporters claim it has been "chased out" of its location by regular "noisy and intimidating" demonstrations."

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#BDS: Prominent #Bahrain Activist @MARYAMALKHAWAJA withdraws from UNESCO conference which is honouring Israeli President #fuckIsrael

"Maryam AlKhawaja has withdrawn from a UNESCO conference on human rights. In an open letter to the organisers, written in a personal capacity, Maryam explains that whilst she was "honoured" to be invited to participate in an event which will honour her father, Abdulhadi AlKhawaja, she is "utterly disappointed" that he is to be honoured alongside Shimon Peres. The letter, which has been reprinted on Electronic Intifada, also contains a list of human rights violations which Peres is allegedly responsible for."

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#BDS: #AHAVA expanding to 7 more countries #fuckIsrael

"Dead Sea products to be sold in Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Korea, Greece, Denmark and Cambodia. Company CEO expects 10% growth in sales in coming year

AHAVA Dead Sea Laboratories is expanding its international activity and has recently entered seven new markets: Poland, Italy, Switzerland, Korea, Greece, Denmark and Cambodia.

The company's activity currently spans over 35 countries through franchises, distributors and stores (in Berlin and Budapest)."

Read more

#BDS Victory: Brighton Batsheva show cancelled to delight of Israel boycotters #fuckIsrael

"A performance by an Israeli dance group in Brighton next month has been cancelled amid security concerns, in a decision that anti-Israel campaigners are hailing as a victory.

The Batsheva Ensemble, the youth company of the internationally acclaimed Batsheva Dance Company, has been invited to perform Deca Dance in Bradford, Salford, Birmingham, Brighton, Plymouth, Leicester and London in a tour organised by Dance Consortium."

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#BDS: يسقط الإخوان عملاء الأمريكان #fuckIsrael

رسالة مرسي لرئيس إسرائيل تبدأ بـ«عزيزي بيريز» وتنتهي بـ«صديقكم الوفي»

سلم السفير المصري الجديد في تل أبيب، عاطف سالم، رسالة رسمية من الرئيس محمد مرسي إلى «صاحب الفخامة السيد شيمون بيريز رئيس دولة إسرائيل»، في المراسم الرسمية لقبوله سفيرًا لدى إسرائيل، الأربعاء، وتحمل الرسالة، التي استهلها مرسي بعبارة «عزيزي وصديقي العظيم»، توقيع الرئيس مرسي تحت عبارة «صديقكم الوفي»، وكذلك توقيعات رئيس ديوان رئيس الجمهورية ووزير الخارجية محمد كامل عمرو، بالإضافة إلى خاتم شعار الجمهورية بارزًا.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Minnesota basketball team urged to boycott #Israel #fuckIsrael

"Over 100 organizations sent an open letter to the Minnesota Timberwolves basketball team Saturday, requesting that it boycott an exhibition game against the Israeli team Maccabi-Haifa scheduled to be played next Tuesday at the Target Center.

The organizations also signed onto a worldwide sports and cultural boycott of Israel, saying that efforts to present Israel as a normal' society should be banned until Israel complies with international law and ends its human rights abuses against Palestinians."

Source

#BDS: Baltzer: BDS Movement Strategic, Flexible, Diverse and Inclusive

"Has Norman Finkelstein, long reviled in the Jewish community as a vitriolic hater of the Jewish state, morphed into a defender of Israel’s legitimacy? And what does Finkelstein’s newfound “moderation” say about the current state of the anti-Israel left, exemplified by the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement?

Over the course of three decades, Finkelstein achieved superstar status on the anti-Zionist left by writing a myriad of books and articles in which he declared Israel to be “an insane state” and charged Elie Wiesel and other pro-Zionist Jews with exploiting the memory of the Holocaust as an “ideological weapon” in support of Israel."

Read more and check video of the event here

#BDS: G4S Securing Israeli Apartheid #fuckIsrael

Photo taken in London

#BDS: BIN UK Workshop: Rising to the Challenge of ‘Brand Israel’ #fuckIsrael

"Boycott Israel Network workshop: Rising to the Challenge of ‘Brand Israel

Location: Leicester
Date: Saturday November 17, 2012
Facebook: Event Page

G4S, Veolia, agricultural trade, culture and sport, armaments, diamonds, Eden Springs . . . . There is no shortage of targets for BDS action but if we are to be effective and build on our recent successes including: Habima, The Co-op, G4S & here and Batsheva, we need clear objectives, carefully considered priorities and a strategic plan to take us forward into the coming year."

Read more

#BDS Video: Activists disrupt JNF fundraiser in Berlin, protest Israel’s “ethnic cleansing” #fuckIsrael

A group called Direct Action Berlin disrupted a fundraising event for the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in the German capital Berlin on 4 October, leading to scuffles with some of the attendees in the hall.

A video posted on YouTube shows the activists entering the hall where the fundraiser was taking place, shouting slogans, throwing leaflets and carrying banners condemning JNF complicity in “ethnic cleansing.”

One banner read “Stand with al-Araqib,” a reference to the Bedouin village whose land is being taken with the complicity of the JNF.

The video shows some attendees scuffling with protestors and knocking at least one to the ground.  Read more. 

#BDS Egypt media collective Mosireen boycotts Creative Time Summit 2012 over Israel partnership #fuckIsrael

Mosireen, an Egyptian media collective, has rejected an invitation to participate in the Creative Time Summit 2012, because of the summit’s “in-depth” partnership with an institution funded by the Israeli government.

On its website, Mosireen describes itself as a “non-profit media collective in Downtown Cairo born out of the explosion of citizen media and cultural activism in Egypt during the revolution.” The name Mosireen means “we are determined” in Arabic.

The Creative Time Summit, a festival of public art, speeches and forums, which runs on 12-13 October in New York City, lists numerous partners around the world, however, the Israeli Center for Digital Arts is only one of a handful of “in-depth partners” that includes the California College of Arts and the Rhode Island School of Design.

Among the Creative Time Summit’s funders are the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the state of New York, the Ford Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies.  Read more here. 

#BDS: World Social Forum “Free Palestine” 2012 #fuckIsrael

From November 28 to December 1 2012 the World Social Forum “Free Palestine” will be held in Porto Alegre (Brazil). This is a historic event that brings together solidarity, human rights and social justice movements and organizations from across the globe to develop and debate ideas, share experiences, network and plan strategies and campaigns to advance solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation.  (For more information and the full call for the WSF “Free Palestine” see: www.wsfpalestine.net 

With only 4 months to go…the countdown is running. An enormous amount of efforts have already been undertaken to lay the basis for a powerful and effective WSF Free Palestine event. We ask you now to work together with us to step up mobilization!

1)     We ask you to build and strengthen regional and national task forces and/or join one of the sector groups that are formed to allow global coordination!

2)     In order to broaden the reach of the WSF Free Palestine and to deepen the discussion on a number of aspects, the mobilizing commission is facilitating the creation of "self-organizing spaces" of activists from different sectors or around different themes. 

We ask you to register in one of the self-organizing spaces (see below) and to reach out to your contacts that might be interested joining a sector group. Please mail us at: mobilizing@wsfpalestine.net (Deadline: September 10!)

Call for national and regional WSF Free Palestine task forces:

Many people have built plans, initiatives or task forces to mobilize and formulate and coordinate your contribution on the WSF Free Palestine. We ask you to join these efforts in your country or stimulate such a process in order to:

a) promote the WSF Free Palestine among activists and the wider public (maybe through public debates to promote the WSF Free Palestine and the issues you want bring on the agenda and discuss)

b) develop strategy discussions to define your activities at the WSF Free Palestine (registration for your events will open soon!)

c) organize delegation to the WSF Free Palestine in Porto Alegre.

Don’t forget to send us information about your discussions and events so that we can share this with other participants and can help you linking up globally.

Join the sector working groups:

In order to ensure that we reach out to a large spectrum of civil society around the globe and in order to facilitate discussions and coordination across the globe, the mobilizing commission has initiated and coordinated with working groups that are developing mobilization and contributions for the WSF Free Palestine in their specific self-organizing spaces within different sector groups or around specific themes.

If you want to build or suggest a new self-organizing space, please contact the Mobilizing Commission at: mobilizing@wsfpalestine.net

Please see below the list of existing self-organizing spaces and the contact details:

Academics:  academics@wsfpalestine.net

Anti-militarization: militaryembargo@wsfpalestine.net 

Christian faith-based groups: faithbased@wsfpalestine.net

Development NGOs devngos@wsfpalestine.net 

Economic studies:   economics@wsfpalestine.net

Environmental activists: environment@wsfpalestine.net

Hip Hop: hiphop@wsfpalestine.net

HR and legal organizations: HR@wsfpalestine.net

Indigenous movements: indigenous@wsfpalestine.net

Palestinian diaspora: diaspora@wsfpalestine.net

Political forces: politicalforces@wsfpalestine.net  

Queers: queers@wsfpalestine.net .

Social Justice movements: socialmovements@wsfpalestine.net

Sports: sports@wsfpalestine.net

Trade Unions: tu@wsfpalestine.net

Youth/Students: youth@wsfpalestine.net

#BDS campaigners meet in Adelaide for national conference #Australia #fuckIsrael

"The third Australia-wide gathering of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigners took place in Adelaide from September 21 to 23. The Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) hosted the weekend of events.

A highlight of the three days was the appearance by London-based Israeli academic Ilan Pappe, who spoke twice. He spoke to 600 people at the annual Edward Said Memorial lecture, which is named for the late Palestinian academic."

Read more

#BDS: New California legislation targets BDS movement as “anti-Semitic” #fuckIsrael

"The California State Assembly has passed a resolution declaring criticism of Israel to be anti-Semitic—in a clear attack on the boycott, divestment and sanction (BDS) movement.

Passed by a bipartisan majority of Democrats and Republicans, the resolution—known as HR 35—specifically defines as anti-Semitic any speaker, film and event that describes Israel as “guilty of heinous crimes against humanity such as ethnic cleansing and genocide,” as well as “student- and faculty-sponsored boycott, divestment, and sanction campaigns against Israel.”

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Bringing #BDS to #Egypt #fuckIsrael

"

"CAIRO HELD its first official boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) event in Egypt at the independent media center Mosireen on August 27, a critical first step in challenging the government's continuing economic relations with Israel and building solidarity with Palestine.

BDS campaigns in Europe and the U.S. have grown considerably over the past seven years, but such campaigns have been slow to take off in the Arab world, where governments and the economic elite also profit from relations with Israel. Although popular hostility toward Israel is widespread among Egyptians, the Egyptian government is one of only two Arab countries, alongside Jordan, to maintain official trade relations with Israel."

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#BDS: Indonesian Foreign Minister Calls for the Boycott of Israel #fuckIsrael

"

Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa is calling for nations to consider reviewing diplomatic ties with Israel and boycotting its products in solidarity with Palestine.

Marty acknowledged that the situation in the occupied territories had grown unfavorable following unilateral Israeli moves. 

“There is an unbalanced situation and Israel should bear responsibility for the failure of peace negotiations,” Marty said on the sidelines of the 67th UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

The foreign minister was commenting on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s pessimistic assessment of the peace process. “The door may be closing, for good, on a two-state solution,” Ban said in his speech to the assembly.

“We must break this dangerous impasse,” Ban added."

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#BDS Video: A message from Palestinian children to @FCBarcelona #fuckIsrael

#BDS: Palestinian groups back Mahmoud Sarsak, tell @FCBarcelona to reject "complicity with Israeli crimes" #fuckIsrael

"Palestinians have offered strong support to Palestine footballer and ex-prisonerMahmoud Sarsak in his refusal of an invitation by FC Barcelona to attend a match at the same time as an Israeli soldier.

In addition, a prisoners’ support group in Gaza has strongly condemned Palestinian Authority officials for accepting the invitation in the first place."

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#BDS Norway: Organizations supporting settlements no longer tax-deductible #fuckIsrael

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Donations to a Norwegian organization that funds illegal Israeli settlements will no longer be tax-deductible following a decision by the Norwegian government.

The Norwegian Ministry of Finance announced the decision to remove Karmel-instituttet from the list of organizations eligible for tax-deductible donations on Thursday under pressure from Norwegian People's Aid and the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees, NPA said in a statement. 

"We are very pleased that the Ministry of Finance has made this decision, based on the fact that Karmel provides funds to the illegal Israeli settlements," said Liv Tørres, the secretary-general of NPA.

The Norwegian Ministry of Finance said they intended to ensure the system of tax deductions did not benefit organizations that actively support or contribute to acts that are in contravention of international law, NPA added.

According to the groups, Karmel-instittuttet had funded three study centers and around half the homes in the illegal Alonei Shilo settlement.

That settlement is illegal under both international and Israeli law. Source.

#BDS Quakers divest from HP and Veolia Environment #fuckIsrael

The Palestine Israel Action Group, a subcommittee of the Peace and Social Concerns Committee of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, issued the following press release:

September 24, 2012, Ann Arbor. Friends Fiduciary Corporation, the socially responsible investment firm serving over 300 Quaker institutions in the United States, has dropped its holdings in Hewlett Packard and Veolia Environment, multinational corporations that support Israel’s Occupation of the Palestinian Territories.
Hewlett Packard was removed from Friends Fiduciary’s investments because they provide information technology consulting services to the Israeli Navy, said Jeffery W. Perkins, the Executive Director of Friends Fiduciary. Veolia Environment, the world’s largest water privatization company, was removed because of “environmental and social concerns.” According to Global Exchange, Veolia provides segregated water services to Israeli settlers in the Palestinian Territories and runs a large landfill in the occupied Jordan River valley.
Friends’ Fiduciary’s decision to drop Hewlett Packard and Veolia follows on the heels of another important action, says Anne Remley of the Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, which initiated the divestment requests. In April, 2012, Friends Fiduciary’s removed Caterpillar Corporation from their list of socially responsible corporations based on the 360-year old Quaker Peace Testimony, which disavows support for war.
Friends were concerned that Caterpillar sells bulldozers to the Israeli army to be weaponized and used in the systematic demolition of Palestinian homes and civilian infrastructure. When this concern was brought to Friends Fiduciary, says Perkins, [Caterpillar] “would neither confirm nor deny the extent or type of modifications to the equipment sold to the Israeli military.”
The action of Friends Fiduciary in dropping these three firms marks a major breakthrough in the global campaign to hold corporations accountable for profiting from Israel’s human rights and international law violations in the Palestinian Territories.

Source. 

#BDS: Has the @BDSMovement endorsed the two-state solution?

Without any prior notice to its endorsers, the BDS Movement has amended its statement from "end of occupation and colonization of all Arab lands" [http://www.bdsmovement.net/call#.UGClKpEaySN] to "end of occupation and colonization of all Arab lands occupied in June 1967" [http://www.bdsmovement.net/bdsintro#.UGClR5EaySN].

Has the BDS Movement officially endorsed the two-state solution? YAN demands clarification.

YAN is a BDS group that supports the full liberation of Palestine and the dismantlement of the Zionist entity. We support the one-state solution.

#BDS Alert: Call on @FCBarcelona to withdraw invitation to occupation soldier Gilat Shalit to the next clásico in Barcelona (7/Oct) #Clasico

More details soon.

#BDS: PACBI Thank You Letter to @mashrou3leila #fuckIsrael

" Dear Mashrou3 Leila,

 

We, at the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) wish to salute you for your principled decision not to perform with RHCP, a band that insists on entertaining apartheid and violating the cultural boycott of Israel. 

 

You have set a precedent and set the bar high for others to follow, and you have sent a message that bands who play in Israel should not be allowed to benefit from our markets.  Today you prioritized your principles and commitment to human rights over immediate personal gains for your band.  It is indeed rare to see this kind of altruistic commitment, and we thank you for it."  

 

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#BDS: Los Angeles activists put #Veolia’s complicity with Israel’s human rights violations in the spotlight #fuckIsrael

"Last week, activists with various Palestine solidarity and BDS groups under the umbrella of the Dump Veolia coalition came together in protest of the city of Los Angeles’ efforts to renew contracts worth $160 million with Veolia, a French multinational urban transportation and systems corporation, for the city’s transportation needs.

Because of its involvement in contracting with Israel to build a light rail system that will connect West Jerusalem with settlement colonies in East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, Veolia has been a longtime target of BDS campaigns, especially in Europe and Australia. The corporation has lost billions of dollars worth of contracts as a result of sustained pressure on local councils by boycott activists since 2008."

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#BDS Video: #Gaza, #Palestine youth send a message to student BDS activists #fuckIsrael

#BDS: Pro-Israel lobby in South Africa outplayed by BDS campaign #fuckIsrael

" The well-organized, well-funded anti-Israel lobby in South Africa, which presses primarily for boycott, disinvestment and sanctions (BDS ) is overpowering the local pro-Israel lobby, a veteran analyst of Israel-South African relations told Haaretz.

"The BDS campaign is very well run and seems to be well-funded. Maybe local Jewish leaders have relied for too long on their relations with ANC leaders who have in case moved on now - such as former president Nelson Mandela - and it's time for the Jewish leadership to do some hard strategizing," said attorney Howard Sackstein, founder and vice-chairman of Jews for Social Justice, the Jewish Anti-Apartheid movement."

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#BDS activists inject Middle East debate into L.A. bus contract discussion #fuckIsrael

"A group of activists affiliated with the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions, or B.D.S. movement, which seeks to pressure Israel in various ways, publicly opposed the renewal of a bus contract between the city of Los Angeles and a company whose corporate parent does business in the West Bank.

At a meeting of the Los Angeles City Council transportation committee on Sept. 12, members of the Dump Veolia LA Coalition urged the committee members to oppose renewal of a contract with Veolia Transportation to operate DASH shuttle bus services in the Downtown and Mid-City areas."

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