#BDS: Intel to invest $2.7 billion in Israel chip plant

"(Reuters) - U.S. chipmaker Intel will invest $2.7 billion over the next two years upgrading its chip plant in southern Israel to produce 22 nanometer technology.

The amount includes a 740 million shekel ($210 million) grant recently approved by the Israeli government.

"We are already in preparation for hiring," Maxine Fassberg, general manager of Intel Israel, told a news conference. "We are scheduled to start production in December."

Fassberg said the Israeli plant in Kiryat Gat will be Intel's second worldwide to produce the smaller 22 nanometer chips."

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#BDS: Boycott? Oui! Culturel? Aussi!

"Les artistes ont joué un rôle clé pour isoler le régime d’apartheid en Afrique du Sud dans les années 1980, alors même que les gouvernements occidentaux poursuivaient leurs relations diplomatiques et économiques, dans une complicité criminelle. Aujourd’hui encore, il est trop tôt pour attendre de nos gouvernements de mettre Israël au ban des nations, ou même au banc des accusés ! Mais les artistes peuvent et doivent montrer la voie, suivis par les citoyens que nous sommes tous, pour qu'enfin cesse l'oppression du peuple palestinien.

La campagne BDS

Face à la campagne de Boycott, Désinvestissement et Sanctions (BDS) contre l’Etat d’Israël, pour le forcer à respecter le droit international et les droits humains des Palestiniens, même les défenseurs d’Israël en sont réduits à demander : « Pourquoi ne boycotter que Israël et pas aussi les autres pays qui ne respectent pas non plus le droit international ? ». Au-delà de l’argument d’efficacité, la justification principale de cette stratégie (car le BDS est avant tout une stratégie) est qu’elle répond à un appel à la solidarité qui nous vient des Palestiniens eux-mêmes, depuis 2005[1]. Ce sont eux qui, aujourd’hui, nous demandent de mettre en œuvre cette campagne, et qui en définissent les contours."

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#BDS: A call to the anarchist movement to join the BDS campaign

"The Israeli anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist organization in Israel, Matzpen, of which Anarchists Against the Wall (AAtW) is a worthy heir, was the first to expose Israel as the culmination of a settler colonialist project (which continues to the present day) in spite the endorsement the country's establishment received in 1947 which has still not been retracted by the local communist party.

The first BDS call in Israel was initiated by Matzpen during the first year of the first intifada, in February 1988. It called for a boycott of the products of the colonialist settlements (see http://www.matzpen.org/index.asp?p=kria in Hebrew). Then there was an internet petition initiated by Matzpen members in 2001** for "Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions", to punish Israel (a call that Noam Chomsky refused to join, saying it was "too early").

The development of joint struggle together with the Palestinians against suppression and the Occupation, promoted by Matzpen and later by the AAtW, has not been done in the name of some nationalist urge or the illusion of building a Palestinian nationalist entity (so-called "national liberation"), but for simple "Liberation" - an end to Israeli settler colonialism and occupation.

Anarchists from all over the world have joined the ISM (International Solidarity Movement with the Palestinians) as individuals, and have come here to participate in our joint struggle. Members of the AAtW already participate in the local and international BDS initiative, as do many anarchist activists all over the world."

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#BDS: Finland shopping for "battle-tested" Israeli weaponry

I wonder who Finland will be testing these on:


"Finland's Ministry of Defense has narrowed the field in its competition to provide the Finnish army with mini unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Of the five remaining bidders, four are Israeli firms with deep ties to the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syrian Golan Heights. In addition, three of the models offered are or have been in active recent use in Israeli military operations in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and south Lebanon. The Finnish army already employs a UAV produced by Israel Aerospace Industries, as well as other "battle-tested" Israeli weapons including anti-armor missiles, artillery munitions, avionics and more. 

The aviation news website Flight Global recently reported that the remaining models were the pan-European consortium EADS' DRAC model, and four models from Israeli manufacturers: BlueBird's Spylite, Elbit Systems' Skylark, the Israel Aerospace Industries Bird-Eye 650 and Aeronautics Defense Systems' Orbiter. The article noted that the Finnish army "plans to acquire 30-45 UAV systems that will include between 120 and 176 air vehicles, with the deal to have a value of around $25 million" ("Five bidders to contest Finnish UAV deal," 1 December 2010)."

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#BDS: Israeli Activists Call on UK TeleComm. Giant to Cut Ties with Israeli Phone Company

"Tel Aviv – PNN - Israeli activists on Tuesday called on UK telecommunications giant BT to “live up” to the company’s “professed ethical standards” and “cut all ties with Israel’s occupation” by severing links with Israeli phone company Bezeq.

On the one year anniversary of BT accepting Bezeq into its exclusive ‘Global Alliance’, Israeli citizens from ‘Boycott From Within’ said they were “saddened and dismayed” at BT’s relationship with a company deeply involved in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
“We, Israeli citizens devoted to the promotion of a just peace and a true democracy in the Middle East”, the letter begins, “are deeply concerned about the potentially irreversible damage inflicted on Palestinians by the brutal Israeli occupation, and about the outrageous international support of such policies.”

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#BDS: Update on Macy Gray's Decision Whether to Perform in Israel or Not

Macy Gray has not yet decided whether she is going to perform in Tel Aviv, Israel or not. We still have time to make her do the right thing. Leave her a message on her facebook page or her twitter account asking her to boycott the apartheid state.

#BDS: Macy Gray is waiting to hear from you: Shall I perform in Israel?

Macy Gray left the following post on her official fan page on facebook:


I'm booked for 2 shows in TelAviv. I'm getting alot of letters from activists urging/begging me to boycott by NOT performing in protest of Apartheid against the Palestinians. What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinians is disgusting, but I wana go. I gotta lotta fans there I dont want to cancel on and I dont know how my NOT going changes anything. What do you think? Stay or go?

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has dedicated a whole article to urge Israelis and Zionists to tell Macy they're waiting for her in Israel, so let's unite our efforts and ask her to join the international BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) Movement!


Please like Macy Gray's pagehttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Macy-Gray-Official/176046896552 then leave her a comment asking her not to perform in Israel!

OR copy and paste the following:


Dear Macy,

Please support the Palestine call for BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) and boycott the occupying apartheid Zionist entity!

Say no to massacres, ethnic cleansing, tree uprooting, home demolition, war crimes, racism, religious supremacy, discrimination, collective punishment, official torture, disgrace unto the nation...

Join Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp who recently canceled their trip to Israel in support the boycott calls.

Say NO to ISRAEL!

Remember GAZA:

More than 1,300 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were killed during 22 days of Israeli shelling from sea, air and land. Palestinians in Gaza had nowhere to flee from Israel's onslaught as the border has been closed for two years, with disastrous consequences for the 1.5 million in habitants of Gaza -- the majority of them children and refugees.

#BDS: ACTION ALERT: Tell Macy Gray Not to Perform in Israel!

Macy Gray left the following post on her official fan page on facebook:

I'm booked for 2 shows in TelAviv. I'm getting alot of letters from activists urging/begging me to boycott by NOT performing in protest of Apartheid against the Palestinians. What the Israeli government is doing to the Palestinians is disgusting, but I wana go. I gotta lotta fans there I dont want to cancel on and I dont know how my NOT going changes anything. What do you think? Stay or go?

Please like Macy Gray's page then leave her a comment asking her not to perform in Israel!

#BDS: ‘Undip Sabra’ campaign hits DePaul’s bulletin boards and cafeteria cash registers

By Sami Kishawi

Two months ago, the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at DePaul University called on the campus administration to remove Sabra hummus and affiliated products from school cafeterias. The organization’s reasoning was that Sabra was owned by Strauss Group, a company directly benefiting and supporting two notorious brigades in the Israeli army.
The school’s administration immediately recognized the problematic nature of the product and decided to withdraw it from all campus dining halls and eateries. Almost immediately, however, pro-Zionist groups, both on and off campus, pressured the administration into reinstating Sabra products. The administration calmly promised a thorough investigation and review of the product in the beginning of DePaul’s second quarter. (Read SJP’s statement here.)
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#BDS: ACTION ALERT: Remove Sabra Hummus from DePaul University

The DePaul chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine calls on DePaul University to permanently remove Sabra hummus from its cafeteria shelves, because Sabra's parent company, the Strauss Group, financially supports the Israeli military's Golani and Givati brigades, which have been charged with countless violations of international law.


Click here to sign the petition.

#BDS: Vanessa Paradis annule son concert en Israël

"La chanteuse française Vanessa Paradis, qui devait se produire le 10 février prochain à Tel-Aviv, a décidé d’annuler son concert, entendant ainsi les nombreuses voix qui lui demandaient de ne pas cautionner par sa présence l’apartheid israélien.

Samedi soir, à l’initiative de CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, une trentaine de militants BDS s’étaient notamment retrouvés devant le théâtre de Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines), où la chanteuse se produisait, pour l’informer, elle et son public, des crimes commis par l’Etat d’Israël à l’encontre du peuple palestinien.

Nous lui avons offert une petite sérénade, une chorégraphie, et avons distribué à tous les spectateurs, sous forme de tract, la lettre ouverte à Vanessa Paradis signée par 19 artistes et intellectuels israéliens du mouvement Boycott From Within (Boycott de l’Intérieur).

Quelques heures plus tard, les producteurs du spectacle de Vanessa Paradis, Charles Bensmaine et David Stern, annonçaient l’annulation de l’étape Tel Aviv, officiellement pour « impératifs professionnels » de l’artiste.

MERCI VANESSA !

On peut lui écrire pour la remercier à :

Vanessa Paradis

Universal Music France

20 rue des Fossés Saint Jacques

75005 Paris

CAPJPO-EuroPalestine"

#BDS: Boycott the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra on its US Tour!

"The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel appeals to BDS activists in the United States to boycott the US tour of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) in February and March 2011, due to its complicity in whitewashing Israel's persistent violations of international law and human rights. The IPO is scheduled to perform in Palm Beach, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles [1]. We urge activists to continue the principled tradition of activists in New York and Los Angeles in 2007, when they protested the IPO’s appearance in their cities. [2]
The IPO is one of the flagship institutions of the Israeli state, tracing its history to the 1930’s under the British Mandate. The IPO Foundation describes the orchestra as “Israel’s musical ambassador,” [3] while the American Friends of the IPO says this about it:
Often said to have more heart than other orchestras, the IPO is Israel’s finest cultural emissary and travels throughout the world, particularly to countries where there is little or no Israeli representation. In some cases, performances of the IPO are the only example of Israel’s existence. The goodwill created by these tours, which have included historic visits to Japan, Argentina, Poland, Hungary, Russia, China and India, is of enormous value to the State of Israel. As a result, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra maintains its position at the forefront of cultural diplomacy and the international music scene [4]"
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#BDS: “Palestine Under Siege: What Every American Needs to Know.”

"You’re invited! 
“Palestine Under Siege: What Every American Needs to Know.” 
Thursday, January 20, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. 
Christ United Methodist Church, Education Conference Center 
400 5th Avenue SW. Rochester, MN 55902 
Representatives from the Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign will present an
hour-long program on the plight of the Palestinians under Israeli
occupation. This will be followed by a time for questions. 
The BDS (Boycott Divest Sanction) movement (of which MN Break the Bonds is a
part) has been gaining momentum in the U.S. as well as the world. This
citizens’ initiative marks a turning point: the time for justice is long
overdue for the Palestinian people, and traditional peace talks alone are
not enough. 
MN BBC has been on tour in the state giving programs like this one because
as Minnesotans become informed on the ways they are supporting the Israeli
government’s unjust policies, they will be asking themselves and others:
“Why has our state legislature taken a pro-Israel position in the investment
of our tax money?” They will expect their legislators to uphold and apply
the same ethical principles to investment in Israeli bonds as was done in
the past when Minnesota divested from bonds with Sudan, Iran, and S. Africa.
State legislators from southeast Minnesota will be invited and encouraged to
attend. 
Sponsored by the Southeast Minnesota Alliance of Peacemakers. 
For more information contact: Hank Kliewer hklie...@charter.net "

#BDS: American tax-exempt organizations provide direct funding to Israeli army

Siting Hybrid States blog:


"Elsewhere on this blog I have highlighted how tax-exempt donations to US organizations are used to fund overt racism and racist violence, genocidal rabbis, Jewish terrorists, andillegal Jewish-only colonies on Palestinian land.  So it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that US charity money also goes directly to the Israeli army, and yet I still find it remarkable that US government subsidies in the form of tax breaks can be used to fund foreign militaries.

Meet the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, which helps support “young men and women soldiers of Israel who defend the Jewish homeland.”  This support includes nationalistic “support programs”, physical construction projects on Israeli military bases, gives discretionary pocket money directly to Israeli army commanders for use on their soldiers, pays for soldiers to take leave and go on vacation, and on and on.  And in 2008, the most recent year for which CharityNavigator has data, this group raised over $48 million and gave over $31 million dollars to Israel’s occupation army."

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#BDS: Vanessa, n'y va pas!