Sep 27, 2012

#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.

Sep 25, 2012

#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. 

Sep 24, 2012

#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.

Sep 19, 2012

#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."
Read more

Sep 18, 2012

#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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#BDS Song: Ode to Boycott #fuckIsrael


#BDS: Berlin Jewish Museum event calls for Israel boycott #fuckIsrael

"The internationally renowned Jewish Museum in Berlin hosted a podium discussion on Saturday with US academic Judith Butler, who renewed her calls to boycott Israel. It appears to be the first anti-Israel event held in the Jewish museum since its opening in 2001 with the aim of exhibiting the 2,000- year history of Germany’s Jews. At least 700 people attended the event.

The German taxpayer-funded museum’s decision to showcase a speaker in the capital city, which during the Nazi period served as the launching pad for a boycott movement against German-Jewish businesses, has raised eyebrows about the management’s direction of the museum."
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Sep 15, 2012

#BDS: تضامناً مع جوديث بتلر المثقفة العادلة #fuckIsrael

أصدرت «الحملة الفلسطينية للمقاطعة الأكاديمية والثقافية لإسرائيل» (PACBI) واتحاد نقابات أساتذة وموظفي الجامعات الفلسطينية، و«الاتحاد العام للكتاب والأدباء الفلسطينيين»، و«جمعية أساتذة الجامعات ـ غزة» بياناً نددوا فيه بالحملة الاسرائيلية على جوديث بتلر التي تسلّمت يوم الثلاثاء الماضي جائزة «أدورنو» في فرانكفورت، هي المعروفة بنقدها الشرس لاسرائيل ودعمها لـ«حركة مقاطعة إسرائيل وسحب الاستثمارات منها وفرض العقوبات عليها» (BDS).
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#BDS: معرض «بلاد العجائب» جمع فنانين فلسطينيين واسرائيليين #fuckIsrael

صفعة قوية تلقتها الحملات الفلسطينية والعالمية الهادفة إلى مقاطعة إسرائيل في المجالين الثقافي والأكاديمي. معرض «بلاد العجائب» جمع فنانين فلسطينيين واسرائيليين بمبادرة من «بلدية حيفا» التي لا يختلف أحد على عنصريتها الممنهجة بحق أهل المدينة الباقين في أرضهم


حيفا | في أول مشروع كبير يكسر حالة الإجماع على مقاطعة المؤسسة الاسرائيلية والأنشطة التي تصب في خدمتها، افتتح رئيس «بلدية حيفا» الاحتلالية يونا ياهف، وعضو البرلمان الألماني وولفغانغ غيركي، وشخصيات إسرائيلية وألمانية حكومية، معرضاً فنياً أول من أمس الثلاثاء يحمل عنوان «بلاد العجائب ــ فنانون اسرائيليون وفلسطينيون: الصراع السياسي في الفن». يقام المعرض في كل من «بيت الفنانين» التابع لـ«رابطة الفنانين والنحاتين الإسرائيليين» و«الغاليري الجديد للفن المعاصر» في حيفا. ويشارك فيه حوالي 16 فناناً فلسطينياً إلى جانب أكثر من 20 فناناً إسرائيلياً، بالإضافة إلى مشاركة كاتبين هما الاسرائيلي تسفيكا شطرنفيلد وعلاء حليحل محرر موقع «قديتا» الالكتروني.
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#BDS: Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions [ICAHD] endorses one-state solution #fuckIsrael

"Over the past 15 years, ICAHD has actively resisted the Israeli Occupation. For almost that long we have argued that the two-state solution is dead and gone, based on our intimate knowledge both of Israeli politics and the massive “facts” that Israel has imposed on the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), and constantly expands. However, ICAHD has refrained from advocating for any particular solution to the conflict, believing that is the Palestinians’ prerogative. We do not rule out the two-state solution in principle (although it is not fair or just), especially if the Palestinians nevertheless decide to go that way. ICAHD supports any solution – be it two-state, one-state or regional – which offers a just and inclusive peace and is acceptable to our Palestinian partners. In fact, because a workable resolution of the conflict must involve the entire region, we have long proposed a Middle East economic confederation including, at a minimum, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. From that perspective, the creation of a single state in Palestine/Israel may represent only a stage, albeit an unavoidable stage, towards a more comprehensive solution."

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#BDS: Why a boycott of Israeli academics is fully justified by @benabyad #fuckIsrael

"Steve Caplan believes that calls for the academic boycott of Israel, part of the wider Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) campaign, are hypocritical and counterproductive. Leaving aside his Israel advocacy "talking points" version of history, Caplan's argument has three significant flaws.

First, his only really substantive case against the boycott as a tactic is the claim that it is "aimed at the very segment of the population" – those in academia – who back Palestinian statehood and "compromise".
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Sep 14, 2012

#BDS Earlham College drops Sabra hummus over involvement in Israeli human rights violations #fuckIsrael

In Response to Student and Faculty Concerns, Earlham College’s Dining Services Decides to Stop Selling Sabra Products

On the 5th of September, Earlham College’s dining service agreed to have Sabra Hummus removed from the coffee shop after being informed of the involvement in Israeli human rights violations in Palestine by Strauss Group Ltd., of which Sabra Dipping Company, LLC is a subsidiary. The decision comes after a group of concerned students and faculty approached Earlham’s dining services requesting the removal of the product from the college’s facilities.
Strauss Group Ltd. provides financial support and supplies to the Golani and Givati brigades of the Israeli army, which is responsible for enforcing Israel’s illegal, 45-year-old military occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands, and other grave and systematic human rights abuses.
“We applaud Earlham College’s dining service for taking this principled stand and refusing to do business with Sabra Dipping Company,” said Basil Farraj, of BDS Earlham. “Earlham students will no longer be unwittingly supporting Israeli abuses of Palestinian human rights when they purchase hummus and other products on campus.”
Earlham College’s dining services has promised to provide an alternative for the removed product, and were quick to note that they take student concerns seriously and follow through with immediate action.
Two years ago students launched a campaign calling on Earlham College to divest from Motorola Solutions, Caterpillar, and Hewlett Packard, companies that profit from and enable Israeli violations of international law. Last semester students with BDS Earlham also launched a “Dorm Storm” that has continued into the current school year, visiting all dorms and houses on campus and engaging in discussions with students to educate them about Earlham BDS and the larger global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which was launched by Palestinian civil society in 2005.  Source
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Sep 12, 2012

#BDS Report: South Korea complicit in Israel occupation #fuckIsrael

seoul-palestine

"Palestine Peace & Solidarity in South Korea (PPS), a Seoul-based group part of the global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, launched a report denouncing South Korea's complicity with Israel's regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid against the Palestinian people. The report details Korea's ties with Israel at the military, economic, academic and cultural levels. This relationship, the report contends, has contributed to Israel's impunity and lack of accountability. "

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#BDS: The Baramki House: The Absent / Present #fuckIsrael


"In 1932, the prominent Palestinian architect, Andoni Baramki, built his own breathtaking house in Jerusalem. He dedicated it to his wife, Eveline. In 1948, during the Zionist ethnic cleansing campaign, or Nakba, the Baramki family, like hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, were uprooted and ended up briefly in Gaza, and then in Ramallah. The Baramki House was transformed into a military outpost: the Turjeman Post. The building stood on the seam line between what became Israel and what became the West Bank, across from Mandelbaum Gate, the only crossing point between the two sides of the divided city of Jerusalem.

After the 1967 war, Israel occupied the rest of historic Palestine and put the West Bank and Gaza Strip under its military control.  The Mandelbaum Gate was abolished and the military outpost was abandoned. Since Andoni and Eveline Baramki were residents in the now occupied East Jerusalem, they were issued Israeli identity cards from the Israeli authorities. The Israeli army had no more need for the house as a post, so the Baramki family felt their quest to reclaim the House could finally come to fruition. Alas, the family’s request was denied by the Israeli authorities under the racist Absentees’ Property Law of 1950, which was used to pillage the property of Palestinians ethnically cleansed during the Nakba and even those who were internally displaced and declared as “present absentees.”(1) This infamous law recognizes the presence of internally displaced Palestinians as “residents or “citizens” of the state of Israel, but “absent” as far as their own individual property is concerned."

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#BDS: Palestinian civil society denounces Bashar Masri’s normalization with #Israel #fuckIsrael

"The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition in Palestinian civil society that includes Palestinian political parties, unions, NGOs and grassroots organisations and leads the global BDS movement, strongly condemns the participation of Palestinian businessman Bashar Masri in the Israeli High Tech Industry Association (HTIA) annual conference taking place between the 10th and 12th of September in Haifa and Jerusalem.[1] Other speakers to the conference include Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Nir Barakat, the Israeli mayor of occupied Jerusalem. Masri will be speaking at a panel with Israeli businessman in a conference that is supported by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among other Israeli state bodies. Masri’s participation in this conference constitutes an act of normalization with Israel that helps it whitewash its ongoing occupation, colonization and apartheid against the Palestinian people and that undermines the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and self determination."

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#BDS: Growing out of the fringe

"The Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement is putting an increasing amount of pressure on Israel, thus providing a potential alternative to stagnant negotiations.

Seven years ago, Palestinian civil society let out a call for nonviolent resistance through Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against the Israeli state. Signed by 108 organizations and bodies, it represented the largest consensus within Palestinian civil society in recent history. This year, on the movement’s seventh birthday, it can no longer be considered a “fringe” movement. While backs have been turned, this grassroots initiative seems to be the only movement garnering support amongst international activists on university campuses worldwide."

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#BDS: أوروبا تقرر مقاطعة منتجات المستوطنات الشهر المقبل #fuckIsrael

قال دبلوماسي يوناني كبير بان الاتحاد الأوروبي يدرس مقاطعة منتجات المستوطنات الصهيونية في الضفة الغربية. وقال المندوب اليوناني بان اليونان هي إحدى الدول الصديقة جدا لـ "اسرائيل" ولكن الآن هناك لجنة تابعة للاتحاد الأوروبي شكلت لبحث مقاطعة بضائع المستوطنات في أوروبا، موضحاً  أنه سيتم رفع توصيات اللجنة الشهر القادم لاتخاذ قرار في ممثلية الاتحاد الأوروبي.


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#BDS roundup: Full cultural and academic boycott of Israel adopted at South African University #fuckIsrael

"On this week’s roundup of news from the global boycott, divestment and sanctionsmovement: A South African university adopts a full academic and cultural boycott of Israel; A new Sodastream store will be protested every week in Brighton; Protesters disrupt the Israeli Batsheva Dance Company’s performance in Edinburgh; Protests in Hyderabad, India against Israeli participation in education summit; and Palestinian civil society and academic groups applaud Judith Butler being awarded the Adorno prize."

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#BDS Video: Boycott against #Israel at the University of Michigan #fuckIsrael



Sep 8, 2012

EU considering ban on settlement trade, Israeli media reports #BDS #fuckIsrael


Norweigan foriegn minister Jonas Gahr Store has hinted that the Norwegian government is considering action against produce from illegal Israeli settlements
 (Policy Network)
In the latest sign that some European governments are starting to realize that they must do more that merely condemn Israel’s colonization of Palestinian land, comments by a Greek diplomat and the Norwegian foreign minister suggest that European governments are discussing taking action against settlement produce. 
Israeli media reports are claiming that a Greek diplomat told reporters that the EU is considering a ban on importing settlement produce. An article in the The Jerusalem Poststates: 
The European Union is considering instituting a ban on imports of products made in Israeli settlements, a Greek Foreign Ministry official was quoted as saying to a group of Israeli and Palestinian journalists in Athens on Friday.
According to multiple Israeli media reports, the Greek diplomat, speaking to reporters during a Geneva Initiative seminar in the Greek capital, said that EU nations were currently holding discussions on the issue. Among moves being considered were a total import ban on settlement goods or the implementation of special labels for goods made in communities beyond the Green Line, such as South Africa adopted last month.
Channel 10 quoted the official as saying the EU Executive Commission would likely make a decision on the issue next month.
Meanwhile, Norway’s foreign minister Jonas Gahr Store hinted that his country is also considering taking action against trade in settlement goods. Haaretz reported(subscription required): 
The international community must consider how to relate to the import of goods that are produced in the settlements, “which we consider illegal according to international law,” the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Jonas Gahr Store told Haaretzon the eve of his visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah.
Store, head of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee - a donor support group to the Palestinian Authority - said that Norway would “consider various options to demonstrate its policy in regard to the expansion of the settlements.”

Settlement products are illegal

One commentary interpreted Store’s comments to mean that the Norwegian government believes settlement products are illegal, a view shared by two recent publications from Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq
A legal memorandum entitled “State Responsibility in Connection with Israel’s Illegal Settlement Enterprise in the Occupied Palestinian Territory” released in July and endorsed by legal experts including Professor John Dugard, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, made clear that states have a responsibility to end all forms of support or recognition for Israel’s settlement enterprise, including by preventing the trade in settlement goods. 
On 3 September, Al-Haq published a report on Ahava, the Israeli cosmetics firm that operates in an illegal settlement, in which it called for “restrictive measures” on the import of Israeli products from Israeli settlements, “because of the serious violations of peremptory norms of international law that settlements and their related infrastructure entail, such as the violation of Palestinian right to self-determination.” 
The report explained that EU member states — and, by implication, all other states that allow imports of settlement goods — are violating their own legal obligations by allowing the trade in settlement goods to continue: 
On the one hand, by allowing the entering of such products in their internal market, the EU and its national authorities are in breach of their duty of non-recognition of Israel’s unlawful conduct in the OPT [occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip]. On the other hand, by trading goods coming from Israeli settlements, the member States of the EU are actively cooperating and supporting the maintenance of the illegal situation created by the Israeli authorities in the occupied territory, in clear violation of their legal obligations under international law.

Time to end trade with companies operating in settlements

These latest comments from European officials follow recent decisions by the Danish andSouth African governments to join the UK in issuing guidance that settlement products should be labeled in a way that distinguishes them from other Israeli exports. 
Irish foreign minister Eamon Gilmore has stated that Ireland supports an EU ban on settlement trade. In May, a UK foreign minister appeared to hint that the UK government is considering further action on settlement products. Campaigners from several other European countries have reported that foreign ministries have become much more open to calls for action on settlement products in recent months. 
This gradual but significant change in attitude by major governments should be viewed as a response, at least partially, to succesful campaigning by the movement for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. 
Agrexco, formerly Israel’s largest exporter of agricultural produce, entered into administration in September 2011 following a campaign that took place in more than 15 countries and played a major role in the company’s collapse. Building on this success, campaigners in the UK successfully persuaded the Cooperative Group, one of the UK’s biggest retailers, to end trade with companies like Mehadrin that export from Israel’s illegal settlements. 
In a statement celebrating the Cooperative Group’s decision, agricultural organizations in Palestine explained their support for a focus on complicit companies rather than just settlement produce itself: 
Agricultural export companies routinely mislabel their produce and are known to market settlement produce as originating from inside Israel. More importantly, agricultural companies as a whole are accountable for their conduct, and any trade with companies that export — even if partially — from settlements or participate in other Israeli violations of international law only serves to encourage further Israeli violations of international law and is inherently unethical.
Further campaigning against trade that supports settlement expansion is expected to take place over the coming months and can start to generate the public pressure that will be necessary to force governements and more big retailers to take comprehensive action.  Source

Sep 7, 2012

#BDS Victory: Renowned director Peter Brook cancels #Israel performance #fuckIsrael

"The renowned theatre director Peter Brook, whose Bouffes du Nord theatre troop was supposed to appear in Israel later this year, announced on Tuesday the cancellation of his visit. This is yet another success for the 2005 Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel until the latter complies with international law."

Read more

Sep 6, 2012

#BDS: Shop for #Palestine Items Online #fuckIsrael

You can shop for Palestinian items at the Palestine Online Store or the Middle East Children's Alliance MECA's new online store.

#BDS; حملة المقاطعة في #لبنان: تعالوا إلى قانا #fuckIsrael

هل كان رودجر ووترز، أحدُ أبرز أعضاء فريق بينك فلويد، يشوّه رسالة الفنّ حين قرّر أن يَجْهر بتأييده لحركة مقاطعة إسرائيل وسحْب الاستثمارات منها وفرْضِ العقوبات عليها (بي. دي. أس)، أو حين أعاد غناءَ نشيد حركة الحقوق المدنيّة الأفريقيّة ـ الأميركيّة ("سننتصر") من أجل إنهاء حصار غزّة؟
هل كان ألفيس كوستيلّو، المغنّي البريطانيّ الحائزُ جائزةَ غرامي، متعدّياً على حرمة الفنّ حين صرّح بأنّ "ضميره لا يسمح له بالغناء في إسرائيل" بعد مجزرة أسطول الحريّة ربيع العام 2010؟
هل كان إلغاءُ فريقيْ كلاكسونز، وغوريلاز ساوند سيستيمز، عروضَهما في "إسرائيل" استنكاراً لتلك المجزرة إقحامًا للسياسة في الفن؟

مناسبةُ هذه الأسئلة قرارُ ردْ هوت تشيلي بيبرز إحياءَ حفل في تل أبيب (10 أيلول) بعد بيروت (اليوم). ورسالتنا اليوم موجّهة إلى الفرقة نفسها، والمنظّمين اللبنانيين، والجمهور اللبنانيّ، بعدما انسحب "مشروع ليلى" الذي كان يُفترض أن يفتتح عرضَ الفرقة الأميركيّة. وحسنًا فعل؛ فتقديمه لها لم يكن سيُعتبر من متطلبات "الفنّ البديل" وإنما مشاركةً في تعقيم الاحتلال في الأذهان، وتجاهلاً لمئات الرسائل التي ناشدته الامتناعَ عن تسهيل التطبيع، ومن أهمّها رسالةُ "الحملة الفلسطينيّة للمقاطعة الأكاديميّة والثقافيّة لإسرائيل".
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#BDS: Boycott "Israel" protest at the University of Michigan #fuckIsrael

On Septenber 4, 2012, a group of University of Michigan alumni, staff and community members peacefully demonstrated for a University boycott against Israel, in front of the Michigan Union. 

Then they proceeded to the University's Central Student Government (CSG) meeting on the third floor of the Union. The demonstrators asked the CSG to approve a resolution for a University boycott against Israel.
 
"They plan on doing the same on Tuesday, September 11, 2012, at 6:30 PM, in front of the Michigan Union. All who agree are welcome to join them."










#BDS: «مشروع ليلى»: الخيار الصعب والمشرّف! #fuckIsrael

محبّو «مشروع ليلى» تنفّسوا الصعداء بعد إعلان الخبر أمس: الفرقة المميّزة لن تكون مساء غد الخميس على خشبة «مسرح الواجهة البحريّة» في وسط بيروت، حيث كان يفترض أن تحيي الجزء الأوّل من حفلة Red Hot Chili Peppers. الحفلة التاريخيّة، والمثيرة للجدل في آن واحد، التي لنا عودة إليها، كانت تشكّل فرصة ثمينة لفرقة البوب اللبنانيّة الماضية في طريقها إلى النضج والانتشار والعالميّة: مواجهة جمهور محلّي وإقليمي وعالمي ضخم، جاء لمشاهدة فرقة الروك الأميركيّة الشهيرة، في أوّل وقفة لها على أرض عربيّة منذ انطلاقتها قبل ثلاثين عاماً. لكن أفراد المجموعة فضّلوا التضحية بهذه الفرصة، على أن يقترن اسمهم من قريب أو بعيد بأي عمليّة «تطبيع» غير مباشر مع إسرائيل، تتنافى مع خياراتهم الانسانيّة والوطنيّة. فالمحطّة الثالثة لـ«ريد هوت تشيلي بيبرز» بعد بيروت (6/ 9)، واسطنبول (8/ 9) ستكون… تل أبيب (10/ 9)، الأمر الذي لم يكن يعرفه حامد سنّو وهايغ بابازيان وفراس أبو فخر وأندريه شديد وأمية ملاعب وابراهيم بدر وكارل جرجس، حين عرضت عليهم المشاركة. ثم اشتعلت المواقع الاجتماعيّة بالاحتجاجات والنداءات والانتقادات الغاضبة والاتهامات الجائرة، قبل أن يجدوا الوقت الكافي ليفهموا ما يدور حولهم. اجتمعوا كعادتهم، وتناقشوا طويلاً واتخذوا القرار الصعب الذي يسجّل لهم.

إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS: Students at South African university boycott #Israel #fuckIsrael

"Students at South Africa’s University of the Witwatersrand say they are adopting an academic and cultural boycott of Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

A statement Monday says the school’s student representative council is calling for an immediate investigation into any academic, financial and cultural relations with Israeli institutions.
The University of Johannesburg last year became the world’s first to impose an academic boycott on Israel, ending its relationship with Ben-Gurion University."
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#BDS: شركة استيطانية تنهب موارد البحر الميت في الضفة الغربية #Ahava #fuckIsrael

أفاد تقرير صادر عن مؤسسة «الحق» الفلسطينية لحقوق الإنسان بأن الاحتلال ومستوطنيه ينهبون موارد البحر الميت الطبيعية في الضفة الغربية، وخصوصاً مختبرات «أهافا» الاستيطانية لمستحضرات التجميل. 
وأوضح التقرير أن مختبرات «أهافا» الواقعة في مستوطنة «ميتزبي شالم» في الضفة تستغل الموارد الطبيعية في المنطقة بتراخيص من حكومة الاحتلال، وهي مملوكة لمستوطني «ميتزبي شالم»، و«كاليا». وقد وصلت أرباحها منذ إنشائها في العام 1988 إلى 150 مليون دولار. 
وأشار التقرير إلى أن «استيلاء واستغلال الأراضي والموارد الطبيعية الفلسطينية في منطقة البحر الميت المحتلة من قبل المستوطنين والشركات الصناعية يعد في الحقيقة بمثابة جريمة حرب عبر النهب»، مضيفاً أن القيود التي فرضتها إسرائيل على التخطيط والتنقل في البحر الميت أعاقت قدرة الفلسطينيين على استخدام ودخول أراضيهم والانتفاع من الموارد الطبيعية في المنطقة، فضلاً عن وجود المستوطنين الذي ساهم في تفاقم الوضع على نحو أدى إلى الاستغلال الزائد للموارد، الأمر الذي ألحق أضراراً جسيمة بالبيئة. 

إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS: Latest Normalization Project: Seas of Peace #fuckIsrael

"In 2012, Seas of Peace will bring together 18 teenagers from Israel, Palestine and the United States. The first nine days of the program will be spent beginning the leadership dialogue course and learning to sail small boats in Portland, Maine. The remainder of the program will be spent living aboard a traditional, 125 ft (38 m) schooner, Spirit of Massachusetts, run by Ocean Classroom Foundation. While aboard Spirit of Massachusetts, participants will learn to sail  and navigate this larger vessel, stand watch, care for and maintain the vessel, and eventually take command of the vessel. Departing Portland aboard Spirit of Massachusetts, participants will sail to New York City before turning around and ending the voyage in Boston, Massachusetts. During both parts of the program, students will engage each other about who they are and where they come from, undergo leadership training, and discuss how to continue working for peace back home. Most importantly, the participants will teach each other what it means to grow up in someone else’s shoes."

Learn more

Sep 5, 2012

#BDS: الفنان البريطاني بيتر بروك يلغي مشاركته في المهرجان الدولي لمسرح الكاميري في إسرائيل #fuckisrael

أعلن الفنان البريطاني بيتر بروك، يوم الثلثاء 4 أيلول/سبتمبر 2012، إلغاء مشاركة فرقته "Bouffes Du Nordخلال شهر كانون الاول/ديسمبر المقبل في المهرجان الدولي لمسرح الكامري بمسرحية "البذلة". وأعلن بروك قراره بصورة مفاجئة بعد ضغوط عدة مورست عليه من قبل ناشطين مؤيدين للقضية الفلسطينية طالبوه بإلغاء العرض احتجاجاً على الاحتلال.
وكتب بروك في الرسالة التي وجهها مع فرقته الى مسرح الكامري: "في الشهر الأخير خضنا عملية عميقة من البحث، الحقيقة هي أن مسرح الكامري اختار تأييد عملية الاستعمار الوحشية من خلال تقديمه عروضاً في مستوطنة "آرئيل أنار" ونحسّ بأن مجيئنا الى مسرحكم سيعتبر تأييداً لهذا العمل الاستعماري". وختمت الرسالة: "نحن نعلم أن الكثيرين بينكم ومن سكان دولتكم يؤيدون وجهة نظرنا، ونحن نطالب بدعمهم وأيضاً دعم الشعب الفلسطيني".


إقرأ\ي المزيد

Sep 4, 2012

Lebanon’s Mashrou’ Leila cancels on Chili Peppers after latter refuses Israel #BDS call #fuckIsrael

Read more at the Electronic Intifada, here.

#BDS Victory: @mashrou3leila won't be opening for RHCP! #Lebanon #fuckIsrael

we will not be opening for the red hot chili peppers on september 6 in beirut"

#BDS: Write on @mashrou3leila's fb page urging them not to open to RHCP

Leave your comment here

#BDS: فندق "بالاس هوتل" الإماراتي الفخم يستضيف ادوات المائدة الذهبية بتصميم اسرائيلي. #UAE #fuckIsrael

ولكن شهرة المصمم الإسرائيلي تذيع سريعا، وقد وصلت حتى إلى إمارة أبو ظبي، حيث تتألق أدوات المائدة الباهظة الثمن التي صممها في فندق "بالاس هوتل" الإماراتي الفخم. وتنتشر محلات دورون ميردنغر في الشوارع الرئيسية لجميع المدن الكبيرة في العالم، من جادة ماديسون في حي مانهاتن النيويوركي حتى جادة بتروفسكي في موسكو وشارع "بوند" اللندني. 

إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS: Why I think a boycott of #Batsheva would be right. #fuckIsrael

"As an arts lover, I am an instinctive supporter of the right to freedom of expression.

However, I do not uphold that right above all other rights. For instance, I would not, in the 1980s, have agreed to review the work of South African companies funded by the apartheid state. In my opinion, the rights of the oppressed black South African majority would have superseded the supposed "rights" of arts companies to attempt to promote and normalise apartheid South Africa.
The issue with Israeli dance company Batsheva is, in its essence, identical. The call for a boycott of Israel is not simply a protest over policy (as one might protest against the US/British invasion of Iraq, or Russia's wars against Chechnya). Rather, it is a challenge to the fundamental basis of an ethnically-defined state which is built upon ethnic cleansing and the wholesale dispossession, and continuous oppression, of the Palestinian Arab population."
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#BDS: New report documents ‘war crime of pillage’ by BDS target #Ahava #fuckIsrael

"new report by Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq accuses Israel of “encouraging and facilitating the exploitation of Palestinian natural resources and actively assisting their pillaging by private actors” in the Dead Sea region of the occupied West Bank.

By financially subsidizing the Mitzpe Shalem settlement and permitting the extraction of Dead Sea mud by Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories Ltd., Israel enables these “primary perpetrators of the war crime of pillage,” placing it “openly in violation of its obligations as an Occupying Power in the OPT,” the document says."

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Sep 3, 2012

#BDS in #Egypt #fuckIsrael

"Last night Israeli Occupation Forces pounded the Gaza strip, which is (yes still!) under the ongoing illegal, Israeli imposed, Egyptian upheld siege, as a UN report broke the news that Gaza will be unlivable in 2020 (though it’s evident to many that Gaza it is unlivable now). Meanwhile, highlighting the importance of such an event, Cairo held its first public boycott divestment & sanctions (or BDS in Arabic & English) event in Egypt at Mosireen, which organizers hope is the first step in breaking down the government’s imposed barriers with their Palestinian neighbors. While boycott and divestment campaigns in Europe and the U.S. have grown considerably over the past 7 years, the Arab world’s longstanding boycott of Israel is constantly and increasingly being undermined by governments and business men across the Arab world.  Although public support of Israel by the Egyptian people is practically nonexistent, the Egyptian and Jordanian government are the only two Arab countries to have official trade relations with Israel – and since the revolution in Egypt, revenues are said to have increased by at least 40%."

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#BDS: @mashrou3leila -قاطعوا من لا يقاطع #fuckIsrael

يتحضر المئات من فلسطينيين ال 48 لحضور عرضكم المرتقب في عمان، وانا واحدة منهم، حصلنا على البطاقات وحجزنا الفندق ونتحدث بانفعال عن الحفلة، فعمان القريبة منا، والمسموح لنا دخولها، وكذا القاهرة، باتتا نافذتنا الوحيدة للتواصل مع حيزنا العربي، ثقافتنا وحضارتنا، التي عزلنا عنها من قبل “اسرائيل” ومن قبل الانظمة العربية.
تفاجأنا بالامس، باعلانكم عن نيتكم افتتاح عرض فرقة “ريد تشيلي بيبرز” الأمريكية في بيروت في السادس من ايلول، وتسائلنا كيف لكم أن تتجاهلوا الحملة الكبيرة التي يعمل عليها فلسطينون في جميع انحاء العالم ومناصرين لقضيتهم، لحث فرقة “ريد تشيلي بيبرز” على الغاء عرضها في تل ابيب في العاشر من ايلول، وكذلك الحملة الفلسطينية واللبنانية لحث اللبنانيين على مقاطعة حفل الفرقة في بيروت في حال لم تلغي عرضها في تل ابيب.
إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS: تظاهرة في بيونس آيرس احتجاجا على التعاقد مع شركة 'ميكوروت' الإسرائيلية #fuckIsrael


جرت في محافظة بيونس آيرس بالأرجنتين، تظاهره كبيرة، أمام مقر حاكم الولاية، دانييل زيولي الذي زار إسرائيل في الآونة الأخيرة، ووقع على تعاقد مع شركه ميكوروت الإسرائيلية للمياه التي اقترفت وتقترف جرائم حرب ضد شعبنا في سرقة مياهه وحرمانه من أن يروي حقوله ويتمتع بثرواته الطبيعية.
ونظم التظاهرة جمعية التضامن الأرجنتينية واتحاد الفيدرالية الفلسطينية هناك، ترافقهم عده تنظيمات نقابية وطلابية وبرلمانية أرجنتينية
إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS: @mashrou3leila - Boycott Those Who Refuse To Boycott #fuckisrael

"Hundreds of ’48 Palestinians are getting ready to attend your upcoming show in Amman, I’m one of them, we’ve bought the tickets and booked the hotel rooms and we are enthusiastically talking about the concert. Amman is close to us and we are allowed entry into it just as we are allowed into Cairo, they have become our only windows of communication into our Arab being, culture and civilization that Israel and Arab regimes have isolated us from.


We were surprised to hear of your announcement of opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert that will take place in Beirut, Lebanon on the 6th of September, we will bewildered as to how you can ignore the overwhelming campaign that Palestinians worldwide and Palestinian supporters have been working on to urge Red Hot Chili Peppers to cancel their upcoming show in Tel Aviv (September 10th) , as well as the joint Palestinian-Lebanese campaign to urge the Lebanese people to boycott the concert in Beirut if Red Hot Chili Peppers doesn’t cancel their Tel Aviv concert."
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#BDS: Actress Shannen Doherty Headed to Holy Land Despite Anti-Israel Protest #fuckIsrael

"Actress Shannen Doherty is coming to Israel, as she revealed via Twitter yesterday. This is set to be a personal visit to the holy land for the recent newlywed. But while the 41 year old “Beverly Hills 90210″ alum shared her excitement on social media, she received online negative feedback from anti-Israel organizations calling on her to cancel the trip."

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