#BDS: دعوة الى تفعيل حملات المقاطعة الثقافية

رام الله - معا- دعا متحدثون في ختام اعمال مؤتمر، المؤسسة الفلسطينية لدراسة الديمقراطية "مواطن"، في رام الله اليوم، الى تفعيل حملات المقاطعة الثقافية والأكاديمية العربية لاسرائيل ومواجهة محاولات التطبيع قبل انهاء الاحتلال الكامل للاراضي المحتلة وتحقيق تقرير المصير للشعب الفلسطيني وتطبيق قرارات الشرعية الدولية بما فيها حق عودة اللاجئين الفلسطينيين الى ديارهم.

كما طالبوا بالعمل على دعم نوذج المقاطعة كآداة نضالية للحركات الشبابية، وضرورة ملاءمة الوسائل النضالية مع الجو السياسي."

من جهته، تحدث شريف الموسى "وهو استاذ مشارك في دائرة العلوم السياسية في الجامعة الأمريكية-القاهرة-، ويعمل حاليا كزائر في جامعة جورج تاون- قطر- في ورقة تحت عنوان "المقاطعة العربية والتطبيع: بين الرسمي والشعبي"، عن ان المقاطعة العربية يجب ان تكون كاملة ولا تفريق بين الاسرائيلي والاسرائيلي، فكل ما هو اسرائيلي يجب ان يقاطع".

وقال: "ان المقاطعة العربية بدات تتشقق بعد اتفاق السلام الاسرائيلي المصري وتبعه الاتفاق مع الاردن، ولكنه كان يسير ببطئ شديد، الى ان وصلنا الى مرحلة توقيع اتفاقية أوسلو فكان أسرع وتيرة، بحيث بدأت دولة عربية تلو الاخرى بالركض حول التطبيع مع اسرائيل".

واضاف: "ان التطبيع دوما يحدث بعد توقيع اتفاق سلام وليس قبله، كما شهدنا ذلك في مصر والاردن، ولكن الآن الولايات المتحدة واوروبا تطالب العرب بالتطبيع أولاً كون ذلك سيفضي الى تحقيق السلام بشكل كامل".

#BDS: !مقاطعة أكاديمية أم مقاومة التطبيع

طالب اتحاد نقابات أساتذة وموظفي الجامعات الفلسطينية من إدارات الجامعات والأكاديميين عدم التعاون أو الانخراط في أي مشاريع مشتركة مع الجامعات "الإسرائيلية" بشكل مباشر أو غير مباشر، وبشكل فردي أو مؤسساتي. وجاء ذلك تعقيبا على قرار اتخذه مجلس جامعة جوهانسبرغ بعدم الاستمرار في علاقة طويلة الأمد مع جامعة بن غوريون في إسرائيل.

لا شك أن مد جسور التعاون العلمي مع جامعات العدو هو جريمة سياسية يقوم بها مجموعة من الأكاديميين الذين ينتمون لأهل فلسطين، بينما هم في تنافر مع محيطهم الثقافي، وهي جريمة قبل أن تبادر جامعة جوانسبورغ لأي مقاطعة وبعدها. وقد سبق أن قامت جامعات بريطانية قبل عدة سنوات بمبادرة للمقاطعة الأكاديمية مع الباحثين اليهود، عندما بادر أكاديميان بريطانيان خلال اعتداءات صيف عام 2002، إلى نشر رسالة مفتوحة في صحيفة "ذي غارديان" تحمل ما يزيد عن مئة توقيع لأكاديميين بريطانيين تدعو إلى فرض عقوبات على "إسرائيل" ما لم تلتزم قرارات الأمم المتحدة وتبدأ مسعى جديا في المفاوضات السلمية، ومن ثم تصاعدت الحملة البريطانية بدخول الجمعية الوطنية لمؤسسات الدراسات العليا في بريطانيا ومن ثم جمعية أساتذة الجامعات في بريطانيا على خط المقاطعة.

وهذه الخطوة المتجددة من اتحاد نقابات أساتذة وموظفي الجامعات الفلسطينية يجب أن توضع في سياقها السياسي الصحيح من حيث المفهوم ونوع المطالبة السياسية، إذ لا بد من التمييز بين المقاطعة ومقاومة التطبيع، حتى يكون الأكاديميون على بينة من مواقفهم السياسية، وخصوصا أن هنالك خلطا في هذه الأعمال السياسية مع الاختلاف في الغايات، حيث تبدو دعوات المقاطعة وكأنها مقاومة للتطبيع.

#BDS: الشيوخي يكشف عن قيام بعض التجار ببيع خضار وفواكه للمستوطنات

رام الله-معا- حذر رئيس جمعية حماية المستهلك الفلسطيني وامين عام اللجان الشعبية عزمي الشيوخي تجار الجملة من بيع الخضروات والفواكه للمستوطنات وشبكة محلات المستوطن رامي ليفي.

وكشف الشيوخي،انه وبناءا على معلومات حصلت عليها جمعية حماية المستهلك الفلسطيني في محافظة الخليل، النقاب عن ان عددا من تجار الخضار والفواكة الكبار يقومون ببيع هذه الخضار والفواكة للمحلات التجارية داخل المستوطنات وخصوصا شبكة محلات المستوطن رامي ليفي بعد ان يشتروها من المزارعين الفلسطينينين مباشرة.

وأضاف الشيوخي، ان هؤلاء التجار "الجشعين" أصبحوا يمثلون حلقة وصل بين المزارعين والمحلات التجارية في المستوطنات دون علم المزارعين بذلك، مما ادى الى تسريب كميات كبيرة من الخضار والفواكة التي ينتجها مزارعنا للمستوطنات بدلا من السوق المحلي، وهذا مخالف لقانون مقاطعة المستوطنات.

وطالب الشيوخي، جهات الاختصاص بمتابعة هذه الظاهرة الخطيرة التي تسهم في إفشال الحملة الشعبية لمقاطعةبضائع المستوطنات، فهي بذلك تسهم في ارتفاع أسعار الخضار والفواكه في الأسواق الفلسطينية من جهة، و تستخدم من قبل محلات المستوطن "رامي ليفي" كأداة استقطاب للمواطن الفلسطيني من جهة أخرى.

#BDS: Good news for the BDS movement in France

English Translation below.

Les parties civiles et le ministère public qui attaquaient la sénatrice Alima Boumediene-Thiery (Verts) et Omar Slaouti (NPA) pour leur participation à une actin de boycott des produits israéliens dans le magasin Carrefour de Montigny ont été déboutées ce jeudi 14 octobre 2010 par le tribunal de Pontoise.

Après que Me Antoine Comte, avocat de la défense eut fait valoir les nombreuses irrégularités commises par les plaignants dans cette affaire, les juges n'ont même pas estimé nécessaire d'entendre développer les autres arguments sur le fond.

Courageux, mais pas téméraires, ni le colon israélien Sammy Ghozlan, ni son acolyte du CRIF William Goldnadel (également israélien), ne se sont montrés au procès. Ils sont restés chez eux.

En revanche, les militants se sont massivement déplacés pour soutenir Alima et Omar et pour réaffirmer leur détermination à poursuivre et amplifier la campagne de boycott, désinvestissement et de sanctions (BDS) contre Israël. Ils sont venus par centaines malgré les grèves des transports. Ils sont venus de différents coins de France et même de Belgique. Nous sommes, pour beaucoup, allés en cortège de la gare Pontoise jusqu'au tribunal, où les prises de paroles et les slogans ont scandé la totalité de l'après-midi, jusqu'à l'annonce de cette victoire peu avant 18 H.

Un immense merci à tous ceux qui, depuis des mois, se mobilisent pour le droit et la justice. Le combat n'est pas terminé. Le jugement en appel de sakina Arnaud à bordeaux sera rendu le 22 octobre prochain, et le procahin procès BDS sera celui de nos camarades de Mulhouse le 29 novembre.

Mais une manche importante vient d'être gagnée : ne boudons pas notre plaisir !

Amicalement

CAPJPO-EuroPalestine

#BDS: Veolia out of Jerusalem light rail, but still heavily into the occupation

Veolia has signed a principled agreement to sell its shares in the Jerusalem Light Rail to the Israeli transportation cooperative Egged, reports TheMarker today (15 October). This sale marks a substantial victory for the Palestinian-led international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

According to the agreement, Veolia will receive NIS 45 million (approximately EURO 9 million) for its shares, which will be gradually transferred to Egged over a five year period from the first day of the light rail’s operation. This gradual transfer ensures compliance with conditions of the initial tender, which mandate that the light rail operator must have a minimum of five years experience in operations. Egged will also pay increasing percentages of the sale as the light rail becomes increasingly profitable.

The EUR 9 million to be received by Veolia is miniscule compared to the almost EUR 5 billion of contracts that Veolia has lost around the world due to the BDS movement in the past two years, most prominently a EUR 3 billion tender in Sweden.

#BDS: Israeli solar water heater producer enters US market

Rehovot-based company signs multi-million dollar exclusive distribution deal with American solar energy giant; deal worth $50 million over 5 years

Israel is turning into a leading solar water heater supplier in the United States – M.C.O Industries, a Rehovot-based veteran solar water heater manufacturer and one of Israel's top solar panel producers, signed an exclusive distribution deal with Texas-based solar energy company Sun Freedom.

The deal, signed last week, is worth of up to $50 million (about NIS 180 million) over the next five years.

Sun Freedom is owned by two giant Texan construction and installation firms. As part of the deal, the American company will sell M.C.O solar water heaters at an estimated value of $12 million in the first year, and up to $50 million over the five-year exclusivity agreement.

#BDS: IOC president says he'll help Palestinian athletes

International Olympic Committee chief says his organization will peruse right of free travel for Gaza sportsmen

The president of the International Olympic Committee expressed concern last week over "obstacles" facing Palestinian athletes and urged Israel to grant them free movement regardless of politics.

Palestinian officials say Israel routinely hinders the movement of Palestinian athletes, particularly those from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israel denies the accusations.

The president of the International Olympic Committee expressed concern last week over "obstacles" facing Palestinian athletes and urged Israel to grant them free movement regardless of politics.

Palestinian officials say Israel routinely hinders the movement of Palestinian athletes, particularly those from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Israel denies the accusations.

#BDS: German firm helps Israel cement occupation with light rail

Last month, the German company TÜV NORD Group announced that it will test the technical safety of the first line of the controversial Jerusalem light rail project that critics say is being built in violation of Palestinian rights. The light rail project will connect West Jerusalem with several illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and is expected to enter into operation next spring.

The TÜV NORD Group is one of the world's largest technical service providers and employs nearly 10,000 workers in more than seventy countries. In a 15 September press release, the company expressed its enthusiasm about its involvement in the light rail project and that it hopes to test the safety of future lines ("TUeV NORD Group gets Jerusalem's trams on track").

TÜV NORD Group's involvement in the project will likely find it in hot water as has its French counterparts, the construction giants Veolia and Alstom. Activists and human rights observers say that the companies involved in the light rail project are directly implicated in maintaining Israel's occupation of and settlement infrastructure in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Israel's settlements in the occupied West Bank and its annexation of East Jerusalem are illegal under international law. This status has been affirmed by numerous UN resolutions and a 2004 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.

#BDS: An Android application for a boycott of Israeli occupation

Buy No Evil is a new free application for Android developed in Israel that helps to know which products from Israeli settlements in the Palestinian area known as the West Bank, so that users can avoid buying and boycott.

The application has been developed by two Israeli bloggers with the open source project Activism, which has the slogan “open source activism.”

Even in today’s society the results of boycotts to commercial products has been very mixed results, often negative, Buy No Evil is a great chance to achieve their goal. The reason is that is very focused on the jobs of the settlements that a high percentage of Israelis considered illegitimate and counterproductive. Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories produce about 290 million U.S. dollars in agriculture whose vulnerability could be exposed to the campaign.

Itamar Sha’altiel, inventor of the application, stated to the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz , in fact, the software used to upload any type of product list. That is, beyond its political use, this app can be used by consumers to configure their celiac basket of gluten-free or vegetarian to determine what goes or not in your shopping cart.

The fact that the first list of products is focused on the boycott was due to the end of the freeze on construction of new buildings in the area of Palestine. It was created by an Israeli human rights organization.

#BDS: Boycotting apartheid

In July, in Rachel Corrie's hometown of Olympia, Washington state, the popular Food Co-op announced that no Israeli products would be sold at its two grocery stores. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, a principal endorser of this new Israel Divestment Campaign, issued a statement endorsing the boycott. "The Olympia Food Co-op has joined a growing worldwide movement on the part of citizens and the private sector to support by non-violent tangible acts the Palestinian struggle for justice and self-determination."

In a surprise move in August, Harvard University divested itself of all its Israel investments, almost $40 million worth of shares, including Pharmaceutical Industries, NICE Systems, Check Point Software Technologies, Cellcom Israel and Partner Communications. Initially, Harvard gave no explanation for its actions to the SEC. John Longbrake, spokesman for Harvard, maintained that Harvard has not divested from Israel, that these changes were routine and did not represent a change in policy. But was Harvard in fact caving under BDS calls and trying to do so as quietly as possible to avoid a Zionist backlash? In the past, Harvard has divested from companies for purely political reasons, but they did so publicly. For instance, five years ago, Harvard divested from PetroChina in order to protest China's actions in Sudan.

In Vancouver, Canada, port truck traffic slowed to a crawl in late August as a group of about 50 protesters approached drivers with leaflets asking them to observe the world boycott campaign against Israel, and in particular to refuse to unload the Israeli container ship Zim Djibouti, one of the largest in the world, that had landed in Vancouver harbour. "This action was part of the growing international campaign to pressure Israel to comply with international law and stop killing innocent civilians," said Gordon Murray, spokesperson for the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Coalition (BIAC). "Workers in South Africa, Scandinavia, the United States, Turkey and India have already responded to the Palestinian call for action," said BIAC spokesman Mike Krebs. "The international solidarity movement has decided that the best way to change Israel's behaviour is to take actions against Israeli companies and institutions in order to put pressure on the government there."

#BDS: Top German director: No reason to boycott Israeli cinema

Wim Wenders, who directed Buena Vista Social Club, makes comments at press conference in Jerusalem.

World renowned German film director Wim Wenders said in Jerusalem on Monday that there was no need to boycott the Israel film industry, since all such moves inevitably backfire.

Wenders, who has directed dozens of internationally acclaimed films, including "Paris, Texas" and "Buena Vista Social Club," arrived on Sunday as the guest of honor for the 20th anniversary of the Sam Spiegel Israeli film Academy.

During a press conference, the director said Israel has exported some excellent films over the past few years, and that European groups should focus on screening Israeli movies, not boycotting the country's film industry.

#BDS: Despite pressure, Pete Seeger won’t cancel participation in Israeli-organized peace rally

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) -- No one tells Pete Seeger what to do.

At 91, the iconic folk singer has penned hundreds of protest songs, railing against everything from the Vietnam War to global warming. He was blacklisted in the 1950s, he slept under the stars with striking farmers and he still reads the Communist “People’s  World” -- along with The New York Times, of course.

Yet despite his opposition to Israeli policies in the West Bank and Gaza, Seeger refuses to heed calls to boycott an upcoming peace event organized by an Israeli institution.

In recent weeks, Seeger has rejected calls by individuals and organizations demanding that he cancel his participation in “With Earth and Each Other: A Virtual Rally for a Better Middle East,” an online event promoting peace through cross-border cooperation and scheduled for a Nov. 14 global broadcast atwww.withearthandeachother.org.

“My religion is that the world will not survive without dialogue,” Seeger told JTA in an interview from his home in Beacon, N.Y. “I would say to the Israelis and the Palestinians, if you think it’s terrible now, just think ahead 50 years to when the world blows itself up. It will get worse unless you learn how to turn the world around peacefully.”

Seeger was invited to perform for the online peace rally by event organizers Friends of the Arava Institute, the North American fund-raising arm of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. The institute works with Arab and Jewish leaders to solve the region's environmental challenges cooperatively.

Thirty other organizations have signed on to the event, ranging from Peace Child Israel to the Jewish National Fund.

Actor Mandy Patinkin will emcee an event that will feature group viewings organized around the world from San Francisco to Bonn, Germany.

Activists from the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement have been pushing Seeger to cancel, posting open letters to him on their websites.

#BDS: FRENCH CONSULATE PROTESTED OVER PERSECUTION OF “BOYCOTT ISRAEL” ACTIVISTS

The French Consulate in Edinburgh faced protest yesterday on the day that a French Green Party MP and a university professor faced trial on charges of racism over their support for the growing campaign to boycott Israel.

 

The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) organised the protest to show support with Senator Boumediene-Thiery and Professor Omar Slaouti, a leading member of the NPA anticapitalist party. Around 30 campaigners held placards with slogans such as “Boycott Israel, not Gypsies”, and “Israel is a country, not a race”.

 

However, the case against the French pair lasted only 45 minutes before being thrown out of the Pontoise court to cheers from their supporters, who had gathered in their hundreds despite a national transport strike.

 

SPSC chair Mick Napier welcomed the legal decision but criticised what he referred to as the “political show-trials”. Said Napier, “The French Interior Minister, Brice Hortefeux, stated before the trials had even begun that boycotting Israel was a crime. This is a very dangerous interference in the judicial process, but it is encouraging to hear that the judge today was not swayed. It is clearly ironic that a French state in the process of expelling its Roma population is accusing human rights activists of racism.”

 

Napier was one of five SPSC activists cleared of similar racism charges in Scotland earlier this year. In dismissing that case, Sheriff Scott said, “… if persons on a public march designed to protest against and publicise alleged crimes committed by a state and its army are afraid to name that state for fear of being charged with racially aggravated behaviour, it would render worthless their Article 10(1) rights. Presumably their placards would have to read, ‘Genocide in an unspecified state in the Middle East’; ‘Boycott an unspecified state in the Middle East’”.

 

Olivia Zemor of French group EuroPalestine said that more trials were set for coming months, including the appeal by Sakina Arnaud, who was convicted of racism for fixing a sticker saying "Boycott Apartheid Israel" to a bottle of orange juice.

#BDS; British director Mike Leigh cancels Israel visit

Leigh, scheduled to teach at film school, cites several Israeli policies, including proposed loyalty oath, as reason for change of heart.

It’s happened again.

British director Mike Leigh, who was scheduled to visit Israel from November 20-27 to teach a master class at in Jerusalem as part of the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School’s "Great Masters" program, canceled due to political reasons.

In a letter announcing his decision, Leigh, the director of such films as Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and the upcoming Another Year, cited several of Israel’s policies, including the proposed loyalty oath, as the reason for his change of heart.

#BDS; AUSTRALIAN unions are signing up to an international campaign to boycott Israeli goods.

But a fight is brewing over a proposal for the Australian Council of Trade Unions to endorse the movement.

The broad-based divestment and boycott campaign is targeting companies that profit from the Israeli settlements.

The Electrical Trades Union, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, the Queensland branch of the Rail Tram and Bus Union and the Finance Sector Union have all passed a resolution supporting the international campaign of "boycott, divestment and sanctions" (BDS) against Israel.

Communications Electrical Plumbing Union national secretary Peter Tighe told The Australian the electrical branch of his union had adopted the resolution and he would now take it to the broader CEPU, then the ACTU.

"We had a 30 or 40 minute presentation from a delegate who had visited Palestine," Mr Tighe said.
"The council decided we would support the BDS. We are not anti-Jewish; we just think the human misery over there is outrageous. We think the Israeli government is captive to some extreme views on the Right.
"We think it's got to a stage where we are going to have to have bans across the board.
"Working people can't sit on their hands forever."
Mr Tighe, who sits on the ACTU executive, will take a resolution to the peak union body.
"We will use our influence within the ALP to push this position," he said.
"Now you have a few unions with the same view and we can influence the political process more, we are not just one voice."
Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes said he would fight any plan to see the ACTU endorse the sanctions.
"We don't believe that it's in the interests of Palestinian or Israeli workers to seek to divide them in the peace process," Mr Howes said.
"Unions are free to do what they wish but certainly I think it's a bit naive. Some unions are not fully aware of what they are signing on to."