#BDS: Famous Greek composer asks his government to arrest Netanyahu

"ATHENS, (PIC)-- Greek composer and orchestra conductor Mikis Theodorakis has asked his government to arrest Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu and put him on trial for his crimes in Gaza and Lebanon.

Theodorakis, in a TV interview on Monday evening, attacked Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou for meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, who the composer says was persona non grata in Greece due to his "war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza."
He said that Athens should have rather arrested Netanyahu and put him on trial."


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#BDS: New Yorkers protest Israel Philharmonic, more protests planned in other cities

"February 22 – Seventy New Yorkers protested the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s (IPO) performance at Carnegie Hall Tuesday evening, using chants, songs and street theater to highlight the IPO’s role in whitewashing Israel’s apartheid policies against the Palestinian people. The orchestra’s performances are being met with protests in six of the seven cities on its US tour, including a protest last Sunday evening in West Palm Beach, an upcoming Wednesday protest in Newark, and further protests in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as reported by the Israeli news website YNet.

Noelle Ghoussaini from Adalah-NY explained, “Tonight we sent a clear message to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israeli government’s “Brand Israel” campaign that their music cannot drown out Palestinians’ calls for justice.” The US protests respond to the call from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) to boycott cultural institutions like the IPO that work to normalize Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and whitewash the oppression of Palestinians in Israel, the occupied territories, and in exile.

Hundreds of well-dressed concert-goers paused on the edge of the sidewalk in front of Carnegie Hall, and looked across the street at the protesters’ signs, and listened to their chants and songs. Many were handed a mock IPO program that featured a cover photo of a past IPO performance in front of Israeli tanks for the Israeli army, and, on the inside, the PACBI’s call for an international boycott of the IPO.

Protesters held signs saying, “Israel Fiddles while Palestine Burns,” “Justice Presto not Lento,” “Without Justice There’s No Harmony,” and “Boycott the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra;” and they carried a banner with the words “Don’t Harmonize with Israeli Apartheid,” surrounded on each side by a violin with a rifle barrel as its neck. Protesters chanted, “We love Gustav, we love Mahler, but occupation makes us holler;” “For liberation take a stand, don’t let Is-ra-el rebrand;” and “Muslims, Jews, Atheists and Christians, stand for justice like Egyptians.”

In a street theater skit, a protester­­-turned-IPO conductor asked the crowd, “How can apartheid continue without us promoting the new, positive, aesthetically vibrant and civilized Israel? Don’t forget, there is “art” in “apartheid.” The conductor instructed three violinists to play progressively louder in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to drown out and cover up Israeli crimes against Palestinians that kept welling up behind the orchestra."

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#BDS: Action against Ahava

Courtesy of PSC:


"Ahava will be exhibiting at the Professional Beauty 2011 show. Join the protest this Sunday at ExCeL to tell visitors that AHAVA IS BAD FOR BUSINESS.

This picket will a highlight the continuing campaign against Ahava, which sells its products in upscale shops, spas and salons.

Date: Sunday, 27 February 2011
Time: 10:00am - 12noon
Place: West Podium, West Entrance, ExCeL Exhibition Centre

Nearest DLR Station: Custom House for ExCeL (Zone 3). Further travel details are provided by the venue here.

The Stolen Beauty campaign is part of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement against institutions and corporations that give tacit or material support to the Israel's occupation of the Palestinian Territory, designed to pressure the Israeli government to end the occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, land appropriations and violent repression in the West Bank continues.http://freepalestinefortnightlydemo.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/ahava-pink.jpg

Ahava's products, produced in the occupied West Bank are labelled of ‘Israeli origin' even though, according to international law, the West Bank cannot be considered to be part of the State of Israel.

Ahava exploits occupied natural resources for profit, which is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Ahava fraudulently benefits from customs duty exemptions under the EU-Israel Trade Agreement by labelling its settlement produce as from Israel. Companies like Ahava profit from the illegal settlements which are a major obstacle to a just and peaceful solution to the conflict. "

#BDS: Free Palestine Rap Song

I will resume blogging tomorrow

Off for a few days...

#BDS: A pebble in the mainstream

"David R Randall

On the band’s last tour to Israel, Faithless frontman Maxi Jazz and lead guitarist Dave Randall became acutely aware of the Israeli occupation and late last year – amid much public attention – Faithless cancelled its scheduled Israeli gig.

Israel is the regional centre for all things cool, sexy and western – or so its government PR machine would like the world to think.

Tel Aviv is promoted as a hedonistic, libertarian party city, frequented by many of the world’s best known bands and DJs. This manufactured image matters to Israel.

The implicit message is that the country is liberal and progressive. Music fans can dance, drink and pop pills long into the night, blissfully distracted from the immeasurable suffering endured by Palestinians living just 40km down the road in Gaza.

In effect, music helps to drown out the cries of the oppressed in a society wilfully in denial of its role as oppressor. International DJs and musicians should no longer be complicit in this crime.

Faithless last performed in Israel in June 2005. I invited my friend, Palestinian producer and rapper Jad Abbas (aka Boikutt), to be my guest at the gig. He declined, explaining that Israeli checkpoints meant the short journey to the venue from his home in Ramallah would be almost impossible.

He added that, as a supporter of the cultural boycott of Israel, he would prefer it if our gig wasn’t happening at all. At the time, I knew of no western bands who had joined the boycott.

Since then, awareness of the true face of Israel and the suffering and humiliation to which Palestinians are subjected has become far more widespread, particularly in the wake of the siege of Gaza.

Significantly, people are coming to the realisation that Israel is an apartheid state. "

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#BDS: John Greyson: Sex, Song and Segregation

"Monday February 28 2011

Screening begins 19h00 Concordia University Room H-110 1455 de Maisonneuve West Montreal Quebec

On February 28th, award-winning Canadian filmmaker John Greyson will be present in Montreal for Cinema Politica Concordia’s special screening event Sex, Song and Segregation. Bringing together penguins, protest, megaphone choirs and Elton John in a politically explosive combination, the event aims to celebrate Greyson’s contributions to art and activism, charting 25 years of films exploring South Africa, Palestine, race, sex, politics, and music.
John Greyson is a filmmaker, video artist, writer and activist whose features, shorts and installations include Fig Trees (2009), Proteus (2003), Zero Patience (2003) and Lilies (1996). An associate professor in film at York University, Greyson also serves on the advisory boards of Vtape, Inside/Out and the Toronto Palestinian Film Festival. Greyson has participated in numerous anti-censorship, AIDS and queer activist media projects such as The Olive Project, Deep Dish TV, Blah Blah Blah and AIDS Action Now.
A member of Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Greyson is active in the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for self-determination. He has produced several BDS-related short videos including Hey Elton, Vuvuzela, and most recently, BDS Bieber."


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#BDS: Hello Kitty Store opens in Israel

"Japanese fictional character, whose image has been used on 280,000 products in Europe, to officially land in Israel as part of new chain of stores

While listening to what Hello Kitty officials have to say about the reasons for their decision to expand the brand's activity in Israel in the coming year, one might want to consider appointing them as economic attachés in one of Israel's embassies. The company managers insist that Israel is an overwhelming financial success story.

"You are one of the only countries which have survived the global financial crisis so well," says Roberto Lanzi, an Italian, president of Global Consumer Products for the EMEA market (Europe, Middle East, Africa) at Sanrio, the Japanese company which owns the Hello Kitty brand.

He made the remark during a visit to Israel with Kunihiko Tsuji, one of the company's owners. "Although you have the limitations of a small country, the Israeli market has great potential," the two agreed.

Hello Kitty, which has such a Western name, is in fact a Japanese cat. The products bearing its image have a sales turnover estimated at more than $6 billion a year."

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#BDS: Israeli tennis player feeling 'comfy' in Dubai security zone

"Israeli tennis player hopes her presence in Middle East states often hostile to Israel can build mutual respect between two sides

When most players at the Dubai Championships finish their matches, they mingle in the clubhouse eating and chatting. For Shahar Peer, it's back to a guarded compound where she watches movies with her father Dov.

But it could be worse for Peer. She was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates to play in Dubai two years ago because of anger over an Israeli military offensive in Gaza. The UAE doesn't have diplomatic relations with Israel and tournament organizers were penalized by the WTA and forced to meet conditions to stay on the world tour."

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#BDS: Fascists and Zionists find common ground

"Today in Britain if you decided to attend a fascist rally you might see something slightly unexpected in the crowd: the Israeli flag. Israeli flags are becoming more and more common as Zionists join forces with the fascists to mobilise against anti-fascist groups and pro-Palestine supporters throughout Europe.  

In England the English Defence League (EDL), known for its vitriolic and violent anti-Muslim racism, has gone so far as to set up a “Jewish Division” and now it is not an uncommon sight to see Zionists and fascists together yelling “We hate Muslims” and “Muslim bombers off our streets” at pro-Palestinians forces.

But is it not just small groups of Israel supporters around the world who agree with the revolting anti-Muslim racism of Europe’s far right and fascist groups: the state of Israel welcomes fascists with open arms – as long as they hate the Muslims as much as Israel does.

This is why people like the Dutch politician Geert Wilders from the far-right Freedom Party – who argues that the Quran should be banned and calls for an immediate end to Muslim immigration to Holland – was invited by the Israeli government to speak at a conference in Israel. He argued that “The jihad against Israel is the jihad against the West.” Perhaps what he really meant to say is the genocide of the Palestinians that Israel is carrying out is one that fascist parties around the world would like to emulate."

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#BDS: Boycott Israel Movement in Australia

#BDS: Al-Tariq: A Dialogue with Occupation, Colonization and Apartheid!

"As Palestinian Students based in Gaza we are alarmed to see yet another group 'Al Tariq’[1] presenting solutions for us Palestinians, as if two equal parties were locked in a stalemate. According to the group website “both sides” need to “learn from each other through reconciliation, forgiveness, and dialogue”. For us young people among the 1.5 million languishing in Gaza open-air prison, (800,000 children) the 4 year-long medieval blockade of land, air and sea and 2 years on from the most devastating of massacres that killed over 1400 of us and over 350 of our children, this is quite an insult.
We ask: can we forget the ongoing ethnic cleansing? How can we forget the brutal killing of 350 of our children and 1400 citizens, while more shootings of farmers and rock collectors continue along the border? How can we forget the ongoing medieval siege of the whole of the Gaza Strip which still deprives sick patients from treatment abroad and allows no concrete in for reconstruction?
The dialogue promoted is a diversion from addressing the wrongs and route to justice for a clearly racist and colonial subjugation of an entire people such as that imposed by Israel on us Palestinians languishing in besieged Gaza or in the Bantustans of the West Bank. Israeli oppression has traditionally followed the sequence of, 'murder, steal and colonize first, then dialogue on our terms later’.
This applied to South African Apartheid, and the white Afrikaner regime and its allies and supporters steadily felt their hold was threatened only when civil resistance grew among South African blacks and the global Anti-Apartheid Movement. The right to resist illegal military occupation and racist domination is enshrined in international law, yet like us they branded the African National Congress as one of the more 'notorious terrorist organisations’ - Nelson Mandela was on the US terror watch list until 2008.
Anti-Apartheid heroes Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Ronnie Kasrils have said that the situation here is worse than apartheid. So we ask again, would we have asked for White South African youth to discuss with Black youth under Apartheid telling them that, “the path that both parties walk only after they learn from each other through reconciliation, forgiveness, and dialogue?”
For South Africa, there was no discussion, there was no debate, the racist oppression had only one answer: BOYCOTT."
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#BDS: Chile pushes for boycott of products of Israeli colonies

"Chilean parliamentary delegation vows to prevent government to sign a free trade treaty with Israel

Ramallah: Cyprus has recognised the Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with the Palestinian National Authority highlighting the importance of such a recognition, but the move has angered Israel.

Only a day before Cyprus, Paraguay recognised the Palestinian state within 1967 borders along with five other countries from South America namely Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Uruguay. Chile and Peru have also recognised the Palestinian state but without specifying the borders.

A 12-member delegation of the Chilean Parliament, visiting the Palestinian Territories, vowed to do what is necessary and fight for preventing their government to sign a free trade exchange treaty with Israel.

Addressing a press conference at the Palestinian Legislative Council, the Chilean delegation said that the 1967 border lines should be the basis for the Chilean recognition of the Palestinian state."

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#BDS: Knesset committee approves bill allowing Israel boycotters to be fined

"Bill calls for heavy fines to be imposed on Israeli citizens who initiate or incite boycotts against Israeli individuals, companies, factories, and organizations.

The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee approved a bill on Tuesday that calls for heavy fines to be imposed on Israeli citizens who initiate or incite boycotts against Israel, despite the Foreign Ministry's objections.

The Knesset approved an initial reading of the bill over six months ago. The bill will now move on to a first reading in the Knesset for approval. If it becomes a law, the fines would apply to anyone boycotting Israeli individuals, companies, factories, and organizations."

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