Dec 10, 2010
#BDS: An Open letter from Besieged Gaza to Brothers for Brotherhood: No Brotherhood with Apartheid
We are writing to you from the Besieged Gaza Strip to express what your decision to perform in Israel means to us Palestinians, the victims of Israel’s racist segregation and war on our civilian population across the Middle East.
To begin with, two weeks from now marks the second anniversary of the 22-day Israeli genocidal war against the Palestinians in Gaza. These 22-days of intensive, indiscriminate land, sea and air bombardment by Apache helicopters, F16s, F15s, F35s, Merkava tanks, naval gunboats, and illegal White Phosphorous, resulted in the killing of 1434 civilians including 434 children and left around 5,300 injured, some permanently[1].
In what could be called the bloodiest and most violent offensive in the history of the Israeli occupation, 83 people were killed on the first day of the attacks, many of whom while inside their homes, workplaces or schools. The Israeli occupation forces bombarded houses, wiping out some whole families in the process as they sheltered in their homes. Many people were killed by Israeli snipers who situated themselves on top of houses and some were shot while fleeing or attempting to seek refuge. They bombed mosques, schools, cars, universities, factories, agricultural land and even animals. During the first few days, our streets were full of dead donkeys, horses, unidentifiable body parts alongside burnt out schoolbags strewn along the streets.
On the 4th of January, 2009, during the land invasion, the Israeli Occupation Forces entered the Zeytoun neighbourhood in Gaza city and began shooting at civilian houses. A number of family members were instructed by the IOF to move into their adjacent relatives’ house. The next morning the IOF warplanes bombed the house killing 29 of these family members in what came to be called the Samouni family massacre. The next morning in the Tal el Hawa area in Gaza City, the IOF repeated this atrocity against members of the Al-Dayeh family, killing 23 of them. A day later the Israeli Airforce bombed an UNRWA school where civilians whose houses had already been bombed sought shelter. The bombings resulted in the killing of 24 people, eight of whom were children and injuring 50 others in critical condition.
After the attacks, Ha’aretz published an interview with one of the IOF soldiers who had the following to declare:
That's what is so nice, supposedly about Gaza. You see a person walking on a road... He doesn't have to be with a weapon, you don't have to identify him with anything and you can just shoot him. With us it was an old woman on whom I didn't see any weapon. The order was to take that woman out, the moment you see her[2].
After visiting Israel and the occupied lands, icons of the South African struggle against apartheid such as Desmond Tutu said that what Israel had done to the Palestinians is far worse than what the apartheid regime did to Black South Africans. “They remind me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like we did when young white police officers prevented us from moving about. My heart aches. I say, 'Why are our memories so short?' said Tutu.
In Israel, the 1948 Palestinians have had Israeli citizenship imposed on them and are subjugated to unequal housing and health policies compared to their Jewish Israeli counterparts. Their only fault is that they belong to the “wrong religion”. Moreover, the West Bank is witnessing a process of Bantustanization with more than 600 checkpoints separating its villages and towns, not to mention settlement expansion, home demolition and land expropriation.
We urge you from under a hermetic siege in Gaza for four years now, to join the growing global BDS movement by not entertaining a system of occupation and colonization, and to not turn a blind eye to Israel’s policy of ethnic cleansing and apartheid. Many courageous artists, musicians, actors and writers have refused to entertain apartheid such as The Pixies, Carlos Santana, the Klaxons and Gorillaz, Elvis Costello, John Berger, Adrienne Rich, Massive Attack, Faithless, Gill Scot-Heron, Devendra Banart, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, Meg Ryan, Arundati Roy, around 180 Irish artists[3], and 100 Norwegian academics[4] and intellectuals, in addition to the South African Artists Against Apartheid[5].
By boycotting the Red Sea Festival and refusing to entertain apartheid you will be refusing to equate between the oppressor and the oppressed. The only way to confront the arrogance of apartheid Israel is to isolate it like it isolates the Palestinians in Gaza and until it “withdraws from all the lands occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem; removes all its colonies in those lands; agrees to United Nations resolutions relevant to the restitution of Palestinian refugees rights; and dismantles its system of apartheid[6].”
Desmond Tutu has famously said, “if you choose to be neutral in situations of injustice then you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” We are asking you to not side with the oppressor by performing at the Red Sea Festival. Don’t let your music normalise the racist brutality and the ethnic cleansing Palestinians suffer day in day out under the control of the Israeli Apartheid regime. Instead let your music stand on the right side of history; to look back on with a clean conscience when the day arrives that we Palestinians are granted the same human rights as anyone else.
Besieged Gaza, Palestine
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel
University Teachers’ Association[1] Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Report about the Israeli Military Offensive against the Gaza Strip (27 December
2008-18 January 2009)
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Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI)
#BDS: Palestinian Minister slams General Electric for supporting settlement expansion
Palestinian minister of religious affairs Dr. Taleb Abu Sha'ar strongly denounced the American company General Electric for supporting and participating in a settlement project in Abu Ghunaim Mount between occupied Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Dr. Abu Sha'ar in a press release on Thursday said that this company in cooperation with Ligon company took part in the establishment of a waste water treatment facility in Abu Ghunaim area at a cost of about 30 million shekels.
The minister expressed his strong dismay at what he described as the Zio-American collusion which General Electric is involved in, stressing that this company violated the international law when it took such step and reflected its hostility to the Palestinians.
Dec 9, 2010
#BDS: Tell Costco No Ahava, no to occupation profiteering!
A supporter from Austin, Texas made this short video--just over a minute--in Costco where she found Ahava "Beauty in a bag" on sale. Late last year some boycott suporters started a Facebook group called Ask Costco to Stop Selling Ahava and after dozens of calls and letters a Costco representative responded with a note saying they wouldn't be stocking Ahava products. Maybe it was a seasonal thing, because Ahava has popped up again in Costco's inventory. If you are a Costco member contact the company to say: No Ahava, no to Stolen Beauty.
#BDS: وما دخل السياسية والدين في الرياضة يا عالم؟
هكذا إذن .. فازت الشقيقة قطر بشرف إستضافة مونديال ٢٠٢٢ الكروي، محققة بذلك سبقاً عربياً وآسيوياً كأول دولة تفوز بهذا الشرف منفردة. ومما زاد في حلاوة النصر هو أن المنافسة كانت مع دول مثل الولايات المتحدة وإستراليا واليابان وكوريا الجنوبية. أفلا يحق لنا كعرب أن نفرح؟ ألا يعتبر هذا نصراً مؤزراً للمسلمين على أمريكا كما صرح فضيلة الشيخ القرضاوي من دوحة الخير؟! لماذا نسمع هذه الأصوات النشاز التي تعلن عدم سعادتها بالفوز القطري؟ هل هو الحسد والغيرة من إنجاز كبير لدولة صغيرة في حين فشلت دولة عربية كبرى قبل أعوام؟ لماذا يحشر البعض موضوعاً سياسياً هنا؟ ألا يحق لنا لعالمنا العربي المنكوب أن يعيش لحظات من الفرح بعيدآً عن قرف السياسة وشعاراتها البالية؟
كانت هذه جملة من الأسئلة التي طرحها من أسكرتهم لذة النصر، ولأن الغالبية كانت مهللة لهذا “الإنجاز”، فقد حان الوقت ربما لنسمع للطرف الآخر. لتلك الأقلية التي لم تشارك في الحفلة، لأنها رأت في الفوز القطري تعدياً على ثوابت الأمة الصامدة رغم كل معاهدات السلام، وهو ثابت عدم التطبيع مع دولة الكيان الصهيوني. فقلوب الجميع كانت مع قطر حتى عُرضت تلك اللقطة من ملف التقديم والتي يظهر فيها طفل يقول بأنه لو تأهلت إسرائيل لكأس العالم في قطر فستكون فرصة ليأتي المشجعون للدوحة ليتعرف العرب والإسرائيليون على بعضهم البعض..وبعدها يظهر مشهد لطفل اسرائيلي وعربي يلعبان الكرة! وما أستغربه أن وسائل الإعلام التي تتصيد مجرد تواجد مسؤول عربي في ممر من ممرات الأمم المتحدة وقت مرور الوفد الإسرائيلي لتنشره على صدر صفحتها الأولى، أو تبثه في مقدمة نشرتها الإخبارية، متهمة دولته بخيانة القضية الفسطينية، لم تعلق على هذا الأمر الخطير ولو لمماً! وجريدة القدس العربي هي أول من ينطبق عليها هذا الوصف، فلو كان الحديث عن السعودية أو مصر لكان عبدالباري عطوان قد دبج افتتاحية عصماء تتحدث عن الدم العربي الذي بيع لأجل كرة من الجلد..فسبحان من يغير ولا يتغير!
هل نحن حقاً ينقصنا معرفة بجيراننا اللطفاء؟ لا أظن ذلك، فنحن نعرفهم جيداً..نعرفهم في دير ياسين وقانا..نعرفهم في مدرسة بحر البقر المصرية..نعرفهم في حريق المسجد الأقصى..نعرفهم في محمد الدرة الذي قتل في أحضان والده وأمام عدسات المصورين..نعرفهم في جسد الرضيعة إيمان حجو الذي اخترقته الرصاصات الغادرة..نعرفهم في عدوان غزة..ولا نريد أن نعرف المزيد.
#BDS: National Lawyers Guild Demands an End to Persecution of French BDS Activists
In 2007, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) adopted a resolution that, among other determinations, urged divestment from Israel and boycott of all Israeli products, commercial services and travel to Israel except travel to engage in human rights or other solidarity work, fact-finding, and solidarity delegations. The NLG has been working actively to implement its 2007 resolution. We take this occasion not only to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in its struggle for self determination, justice and equality, but also to express our solidarity with the French Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activists who are currently facing criminal prosecution on charges of "incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence." The prosecution of activists promoting the boycott of Israeli products is a cynical attempt by the French government to confuse opposition to the policies of Israel, a state practicing occupation and apartheid, with "hate" and "discrimination" against an ethnic or religious group. The global BDS movement, and the 2005 Palestinian call for BDS, are unambiguously opposed to all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Their shared goals include ending Israel’s occupation and legalized racial discrimination.
The National Lawyers Guild urges the French government to immediately cease prosecuting French activists who promote or engage in non-violent boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel until it complies with international law. Rather than prosecute BDS activists for standing up for the universal principles of human rights, the French government, the largest supplier in the EU of military equipment to Israel, should itself comply with international law by ceasing its militarily support of Israel’s unlawful regime of occupation over the Palestinian people. When governments fail to take positive action to protect human rights, it is incumbent upon civil society to do so.
We are astounded that the French state would bring criminal charges against individuals for exercising their basic democratic right to voice support for and act non-violently on behalf of Palestinian rights. In response to appeals by French activist groups, we join others in the global BDS movement and civil society in general in supporting the French BDS movement. We are convinced that such solidarity is an effective form of resistance against state repression wherever it occurs.
Moreover, we urge the governments of France and the US to utilize the occasion of the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People to condemn Israel's systematic violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including through its denial of equal rights to and its institutionalised racism against its Palestinian citizens, its continued illegal occupation of territory acquired by force and expansion of its colonial enterprise, and the protracted denial of the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties.
The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
The National Lawyers Guild urges the French government to immediately cease prosecuting French activists who promote or engage in non-violent boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns against Israel until it complies with international law. Rather than prosecute BDS activists for standing up for the universal principles of human rights, the French government, the largest supplier in the EU of military equipment to Israel, should itself comply with international law by ceasing its militarily support of Israel’s unlawful regime of occupation over the Palestinian people. When governments fail to take positive action to protect human rights, it is incumbent upon civil society to do so.
We are astounded that the French state would bring criminal charges against individuals for exercising their basic democratic right to voice support for and act non-violently on behalf of Palestinian rights. In response to appeals by French activist groups, we join others in the global BDS movement and civil society in general in supporting the French BDS movement. We are convinced that such solidarity is an effective form of resistance against state repression wherever it occurs.
Moreover, we urge the governments of France and the US to utilize the occasion of the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People to condemn Israel's systematic violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including through its denial of equal rights to and its institutionalised racism against its Palestinian citizens, its continued illegal occupation of territory acquired by force and expansion of its colonial enterprise, and the protracted denial of the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties.
The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
#BDS: إسرائيل تتحرك لتبييض وجهها بأوروبا
في تحرك يهدف لمواجهة تداعيات الاعتداء على أسطول الحرية, تطلق إسرائيل مطلع العام الوشيك حملة دعائية غرب أوروبا تعتمد بشكل غير مسبوق على خبراء علاقات عامة، وعلى شبكات أصدقاء لتعميم رسائل سياسية تهدف لتحسين صورتها.
وطبقا لوزارة الخارجية, تقضي الخطة بأن تبادر سفارات تل أبيب في العواصم الأوروبية لتجنيد ألف متطوع على الأقل "يشاركون في تبييض صفحة إسرائيل وتعميم رسائلها".
وقالت الخارجية إن الوزير أفيغدور ليبرمان يبدي اهتماما كبيرا بالحملة ويستعد الأسبوع القادم لاستعراض مضامينها ضمن لقاء سنوي بكافة سفراء إسرائيل مشيرة إلى أنها ستضاعف ميزانية السفارات الإسرائيلية بغرب أوروبا لدعم الحملة.
ألف حليف
وبموجب الخطة سيقوم كل سفير حتى 16 يناير/ كانون الثاني القادم ببلورة قائمة ألف "حليف" محلي يتم تزويدها برسائل إسرائيلية بالتعاون بينه وبين شركة علاقات عامة تستأجر خدماتها.
وينبغي أن تتوفر بـ"الحلفاء" عدة مواصفات منها الاستعداد للعمل من أجل إسرائيل بالمظاهرات والاعتصامات بناء على طلب السفارة، ونشر مقالات رأي بالصحف المحلية.
ووفق الخطة يفترض أن تشمل قائمة "الحلفاء" ناشطين من اليهود ومسيحيين وصحفيين وسياسيين ومثقفين وأكاديميين.
وتعول الخارجية على الحملة الدعائية، وتشير إلى أنها تستحدث الاعتماد على خبراء العلاقات العامة المهنيين بدلا من الدبلوماسيين الإسرائيليين بغية تفعيل عملية تبليغ صناع القرار في أوروبا بالرسائل والمعلومات.
وتشمل الرسائل مضامين سياسية تتعلق بمواقف إسرائيل حيال قضايا مختلفة كمسيرة السلام والمستوطنات ومداولات الأمم المتحدة.
#BDS: Holiday Caroling Protest in Front of Lev Leviev's New York Store
Sing parody carols to boycott Israeli apartheid
Saturday, December 18th, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
LEVIEV Jewelry Store
700 Madison Avenue, between 62nd and 63rd
The international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel continues to grow and achieve successes. Following a global boycott campaign, Leviev's company Africa Israel made an ambiguous statement that it had no plans to build more settlements. But another Leviev company, Leader, continues to build the Zufim settlement on Jayyous' land, and Leviev's support for human rights abuses in the diamond industry in Angola continues.
This event has been endorsed by: Brooklyn For Peace, Code Pink NYC, Columbia SJP, Existence Is Resistance, Jewish Voice for Peace NYC, Jews Say No!, NYU SJP, Siege Busters Working Group ,WESPAC Foundation, Women in Black - Union Square (list still in formation)
#BDS: ‘End Military Aid to Israel’ campaign comes to BART
Two months after ads calling for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel went up in Chicago Transit Authority stations, a similar campaign began this week in the Bay Area.
Inspired by the work of the Chicago-area Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine (CJPIP), the Bay Area initiative was launched by the Northern California Friends of Sabeel, the local branch of a national group that supports the Palestinian Christian liberation theology movement. The Bay Area chapters of Jewish Voice for Peace and American Muslims for Palestine quickly signed on as co-sponsors.
Dec 8, 2010
#BDS: Summary of assistance sent to Israel to deal with the fire
Azerbaijan – 2 helicopters
Bulgaria – 1 plane and 92 firefighters
Croatia – 1 plane
Cyprus – 1 plane and 1 helicopter
Egypt – fire repression materials
France – 5 planes and fire repression materials
Germany – 1 plane, 7 experts in firefighting and fire repression materials
Greece – 7 planes, 34 firefighters and fire repression materials
Holland – 5 experts in firefighting
Italy – 1 plane and fire repression materials
Jordan – 3 truckloads of firefighting equipment and materials
Palestinian Authority – 21 firefighters and 3 fire engines
Russia – 3 planes and 22 experts in firefighting
Spain – 5 planes
Switzerland – 1 plane, 3 helicopters and a team of 14
Turkey – 2 planes
UK – 2 helicopters
US – 5 planes, 11 experts in firefighting and fire repression materials
Bulgaria – 1 plane and 92 firefighters
Croatia – 1 plane
Cyprus – 1 plane and 1 helicopter
Egypt – fire repression materials
France – 5 planes and fire repression materials
Germany – 1 plane, 7 experts in firefighting and fire repression materials
Greece – 7 planes, 34 firefighters and fire repression materials
Holland – 5 experts in firefighting
Italy – 1 plane and fire repression materials
Jordan – 3 truckloads of firefighting equipment and materials
Palestinian Authority – 21 firefighters and 3 fire engines
Russia – 3 planes and 22 experts in firefighting
Spain – 5 planes
Switzerland – 1 plane, 3 helicopters and a team of 14
Turkey – 2 planes
UK – 2 helicopters
US – 5 planes, 11 experts in firefighting and fire repression materials
#BDS: Celebrate five years of successes in the Quebec BDS movement!
Wednesday, December 15
Doors at 6pm, Dinner at 7pm
Alternatives
3720 Parc Avenue, 2nd floor
Montreal, Quebec
You are invited to join us at a dinner party celebrating the successes of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in Quebec over the first five years of this historic campaign. Come celebrate the successes of:
* The recent Montreal BDS Conference
* Quebec’s strong presence at the World Education Forum in Palestine
* The statement of 500 Montreal artists in support of BDS against Israeli apartheid
* Active boycott campaigns at Indigo/Chapters, The Bay (Ahava), and Le Marcheur
* BDS resolutions by CUPW, FFQ, CSN-Conseil Central Montéal Métropolitain, CSQ, la Ligue des droits et libertés, and others
* And many more!
Join us for
* A delicious home-cooked meal!
* Live entertainment!
* And the opportunity to meet up with friends and learn about the experiences of people who have recently returned from the World Education Forum!
This event is a fundraiser for the Middle East solidarity collective, Tadamon!
Tickets are $10 in advance and $12-$15 dollars at the door and include all of the home-cooked food you can eat!
For tickets, please call 514-664-1036 or e-mail us at info@tadamon.ca
Fight the power, turn the tide!
End Israeli apartheid!
#BDS: Palestinian protest disrupts fencing event in Spain
Pro-Palestinian protestors interrupt junior fencing competition in Burgos, chanting anti-Israeli slogans. 'I was shaking the whole competition, it was very scary,' Israeli teen athlete Irina Levin says
The Junior Fencing World Cup in Burgos, Spain turned into a political arena this past weekend when 12 pro-Palestinian protestors stormed the bleachers during a match between Israeland Spain, shouting anti-Israeli slogans and wielding anti-Israel signs.
The protestors yelled "Killers of Palestinians" at the young fencers, and their signs called for a boycott of Israel.
#BDS: احتجاج أردني على مؤتمر إسرائيلي
احتج الأردن لدى إسرائيل الاثنين على عقد مؤتمر من تنظيم أحد نواب الكنيست يدعو فيه لإقامة الوطن البديل للفلسطينيين في الأردن، ويلغي حل الدولتين.
ونقلت وكالة الأنباء الرسمية (بترا) عن نائب رئيس الوزراء الناطق باسم الحكومة الأردنية أيمن الصفدي أن وزارة الخارجية أرسلت مذكرة احتجاج للحكومة الإسرائيلية تؤكد إدانة المملكة لعقد هذا المؤتمر وأن "الأردن يطالب الحكومة الإسرائيلية إدانة المواقف التي يطلقها المؤتمر وإعلان تناقضه مع موقفها الرسمي".
وعبّر الصفدي عن إدانة الأردن "تنظيم عضو الكنيسيت الإسرائيلي المتطرف إريه إلداد مؤتمرا يدعو إلى رفض حل الدولتين الذي يضمن قيام الدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة على التراب الوطني الفلسطيني وعاصمتها القدس الشرقية، والتحريض على اعتبار الأردن وطنا بديلا للفلسطينيين".
وأضاف "انعقاد المؤتمر بمشاركة عضو البرلمان الهولندي المتطرف غيرت فيلدرز -الذي يحاكم في بلاده بتهمة التحريض على الكراهية ضد المسلمين- يشكل تصرفا عبثيا يدينه الأردن ويرفضه ويحذر من أنه يسيء إلى الجهود المستهدفة تحقيق السلام في المنطقة".
ونقل الوزير الأردني عن السفيرة الهولندية بالأردن بعد لقائهما الاثنين بناء على طلبها إن موقف فيلدرز لا يمثل موقف حكومة بلادها التي تحرص على تطوير علاقاتها بالأردن وتؤيد حل الصراع الفلسطيني الإسرائيلي على أساس حل الدولتين الذي يضمن قيام الدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة التي تعيش بأمن إلى جانب إسرائيل.
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