#BDS: Google To Invest Millions in Palestinian Tech Industry

Earlier this month, Google sent a team to the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank to meet with local entrepreneurs and techies. As reported by a local tech blog, Google’s team has taken multiple trips to Palestine for meetings and to host events and workshops. Yesterday, December 17 2010, Gisel Hiscock, Google’s Director of New Business Development for Europe Middle East and Africa, confirmed this investment with the following update on her Facebook profile.

Google’s interest in the area coupled with such a large investment is an incredible boost to an area of the world that is notably stricken with violence and tragedy. Approximately 2.4 million Palestinians live in the West Bank and another 1.4 million live in the Gaza Strip.

Continue reading

#BDS: 'Israeli War Crimes' signs to go on Metro buses

SEATTLE – "Israeli War Crimes," the enormous advertisement reads. "Your tax dollars at work."

To the right of the image is a group of children -- one little boy stares out at the viewer, the others gawk at a demolished building, all rebar and crumbled concrete.

It's an ad you'll be seeing soon on a handful of Metro buses in downtown Seattle.

A group calling itself the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign has paid King County $1,794 so that 12 buses will carry that message around town, starting two days after Christmas. That's December 27: the two-year anniversary of Israeli attacks on Gaza, aimed at stopping rocket attacks and weapons smuggling. 


Continue reading

#BDS: Denzel Washington visits Israel

Critically acclaimed American actor tours Jerusalem with his wife, who purchases two wedding rings

American actor Denzel Washington arrived in Israel on Tuesday for a private visit.

Washington, the son of a Pentecostal minister, arrived to visit his good friend in the past 20 years Dr. David Davis, head of the messianic Jews' congregation in the Carmel, Haifa. The two met in drama school in New York and acted together in a Broadway show.

Continue reading

#BDS: MNA Khadir urges boycott of shoe store

Quebec solidaire leader Amir Khadir made no apology yesterday for asking people to boycott a family-owned shoe store in his riding because it sells shoes made in Israel.


"Just because a business is in my riding, I am not going to abandon my principles," Khadir, the National Assembly member for Mercier, said in a phone interview yesterday.


Khadir took part in a demonstration last Saturday in front of Le Marcheur on St. Denis St., handing out flyers and asking customers to boycott the shop until it stops selling Israeli-made shoes.


The demonstration was organized by Palestinian and Jewish Unity, a Montreal based human rights group that advocates for the right of Palestinians to live in safety.


Continue reading

#BDS: Le mouvement BDS, une arme citoyenne

L’Association Marocaine des Droits de l’Homme (AMDH) a organisé, mercredi soir à Rabat, une conférence sur le mouvement BDS, Boycott-Désinvestissement-Sanctions, en soutien à la cause palestinienne. Modérée par la militante des droits de l’Homme, Samira Kinani, la conférence BDS avait pour objectif de faire connaître le mouvement, en tant que moyen de lutter localement contre les crimes israéliens en terres palestiniennes.

L’appel Boycott-Désinvestissement-Sanctions -BDS-, a été lancé en 2005 par la société civile palestinienne à destination des associations et citoyens du monde entier, les invitant à agir pour la liberté et les droits palestiniens à travers l’exercice de pressions économiques sur Israël. Depuis lors, le mouvement a fleuri un peu partout dans le monde, de l’Egypte aux Etats-Unis, en passant par le Danemark, le Japon, la France, l’Australie et l’Irlande, pour n’en citer que quelques-uns.`

Continuer à lire

#BDS: ADVERTISING APARTHEID

Below are some Israeli Ministry of Tourism billboards, posters and advertising hoardings that were “spotted” at London Underground (subway) stations during the past year.

Click here to see all photos

#BDS: “BOYCOTT SABRA AND TRIBE HUMMUS” GUERILLA ADVERTISING SPOTTED IN SAN FRANCISCO

Click here to see all photos

#BDS: SA group sparks fury by accepting Israeli invite

But founder says they will sing songs about peace and unity, as they did in Palestine

Grammy-award-winning group Ladysmith Black Mambazo has sparked a furious outcry among pro-Palestinian activists, the ANC and Cosatu, following a decision to perform in Israel.

The world-renowned group has been invited to perform at a world music show in June at the Opera House in Tel Aviv, as well as in Jerusalem.

Omar Barghouti, of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, said if the group were to honour the invitation, it would be "complicit" in covering up Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.

Continue reading

#BDS: Marks & Spencer Billboard in Egypt Vandalized

#BDS: الاكاديمي الاسرائيلي آفي شلايم يكتشف في الرياض براغماتية السعوديين

ا ف ب - الرياض (ا ف ب) - قال الاكاديمي الاسرائيلي البريطاني افي شلايم الذي يعد من ابرز "المؤرخين الجدد" في اسرائيل، انه اكتشف خلال زيارته الاولى للرياض "براغماتية" السعوديين واستعدادهم للاعتراف باسرائيل مقابل قيام الدولة الفلسطينية.

ورأى شلايم في مقابلة مع وكالة فرانس برس في الرياض ان المبادرة العربية للسلام تمثل السبيل الأمثل لحل النزاع العربي الاسرائيلي وندد ب"تعنت" رئيس الوزراء الاسرائيلي بنيامين نتانياهو.

وشلايم يزور الرياض حاليا لالقاء محاضرة في مركز الملك فيصل للابحاث والدراسات الاسلامية بدعوة من الامير تركي الفيصل، المدير السابق للاستخبارات السعودية.

وذكر المؤرخ انه دخل الى المملكة بجواز سفره البريطاني اذ ان السعودية لا تعترف باسرائيل.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Arrests Over Isarel Boycott In Tesco's

#BDS: Marks & Spencer opening in Egypt revitalizes calls for boycott

The boycott movement against Israeli products and services in Egypt is just over a decade old. Domestically, the movement is closely associated with the boycott of US goods and services, which began to gain momentum during the second Palestinian Intifada in September 2000 and again during the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

The movement campaigned against the opening of the first Starbucks Coffee in Egypt in December 2006. And, most recently, it has been campaigning against UK department store chain Marks & Spencer, due to open an outlet in Egypt by the end of this year.

In Egypt, the boycott campaign against Marks & Spencer commenced in November. The campaign's website, dubbed "Stop Marks & Spencer in Egypt," lists 15 reasons why Egyptians should boycott the soon-to-open department store.

"We’re calling on Egyptians to boycott because we know that it is easier and less risky to abstain from purchasing products than it is engage in activism and street protests,” campaign organizer Salma Shukrallah told Al-Masry Al-Youm. "We are specifically targeting Marks & Spencer because it is one of the primary corporations that support the Zionist movement.”

Continue reading 

#bds: دعوة مغربية لمحاصرة إسرائيل اقتصاديا

دعا نشطاء حقوقيون في ندوة بالرباط إلى محاصرة إسرائيل اقتصاديا عبر تفعيل عمل "حركة المقاطعة  وسحب الاستثمارات وفرض العقوبات" المعروفة  اختصارا بـ(بي دي أس).

واعتبروا في الندوة التي نظمتها الجمعية المغربية لحقوق الإنسان بمناسبة اليوم العالمي للتضامن مع الشعب الفلسطيني أن مقاطعة إسرائيل اقتصاديا طريقة فعالة لإرغامها على الانصياع للقانون الدولي والمبادئ العالمية لحقوق الإنسان.

كما أكدوا أن نضالهم يحركه رفضهم للظلم الذي يتعرض له أبناء فلسطين، ورغبتهم في رفع الحصار عن قطاع غزة، وتحرير المعتقلين السياسيين الذين يقبعون في سجون الاحتلال.

وتعتبر "حركة المقاطعة وسحب الاستثمارات وفرض العقوبات"، حملة دولية اقتصادية دعت إليها 171 منظمة فلسطينية غير حكومية عام 2005 بهدف مقاطعة إسرائيل والضغط عليها لإنهاء احتلالها وتفكيك الجدار العازل، وإجبارها على الاعتراف بالحقوق الأساسية لفلسطينيي الداخل، واحترام حقوق اللاجئين الفلسطينيين في العودة إلى ديارهم.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Bethlehem Mayor's Christmas Wish: Sanctions on Israel

Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh lashed out at Israel this week at a tree-lighting ceremony in honor of the Christmas holiday. He accused Israel of cutting Bethlehem off from “its twin city Jerusalem” and called for international sanctions.

“Trade sanctions, sports sanctions, educational sanctions, cultural sanctions. Sanctions are the only way,” he said. Batarseh added that it would be “a waste of time” to negotiate with Israel.

Continue reading

#BDS: Burberry opens flagship store in Israel

Prestige brand name stores are uncommon here, but famous British brand known for its checkered pattern decides to make aliyah, opening three-level store in Tel Aviv. Warning: Items cost thousands

Burberry has arrived: The famous British trademark, one of the most recognizable names in the fashion world, opened its doors this week in the State Square at the heart of Tel Aviv. The store will have three levels and spread out over 300 meters (more than 980 feet).

Continue reading