Youth Against Normalization

Apr 14, 2011

#BDS: How about they terminate the contract?! Egypt orders review of gas contracts w/Israel

"Egypt's prime minister says has ordered a price review of its contracts to supply natural gas to Israel and Jordan over widespread domestic criticism, reports Egyptian's official news agency MENA.

Prime Minister Essam Sharaf's spokesman, Ahmed el-Samman, was quoted by MENA as saying that the review is aimed at bringing in the greatest returns for Egypt. El-Samman said revised contracts could boost income by $3 billion to $4 billion."

#BDS: Swiss train service is ordered to allow signs stating that Israel was established with violence on Palestinian land

"A Swiss court has ordered the state's national train service, the SBB, to allow a pro-Palestinian group to hang anti-Israeli posters in Zurich's central train station, the Swiss newspaper Tages Anzeiger reported on Tuesday.

Members of the Palestine Solidarity Action first attempted to hang controversial posters in several locations within the station in 2009, but were ordered by the station's management to take them down after three days.

The posters appeared to argue against Israel's right to exist. "Sixty-one years of Israel, 61 years of injustice," the sign read."

#BDS: Brandeis students disrupt speech of former Shin Bet chief

Apr 13, 2011

#BDS: Israeli terrorist colonists uproot trees and PA purchases palm seedlings from 'settlements'

"RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The "Save the Valley" campaign has called on de facto Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and his premier Salam Fayyad to stop purchasing palm seedlings from Jewish settlements.

Coordinator of the campaign Fathi Khudairat said in a press release that officials of the PA in Ramallah were paying million of dollars to buy thousands of palm seedlings from Jewish settlements at a time they claim to be championing boycott of those settlements' products.

He said that Palestinian products should be protected and the produce of those settlements should be boycotted, especially those produced by the Palestinian farmers."

#BDS: Subsidiary of Israeli Elbit Company Wins Contract to Upgrade Brazilian Air Force Jets

"A Brazilian subsidiary of Israel’s Elbit Systems Ltd. has won an $85 million contract to upgrade eleven Brazilian Air Force F-5 fighter-bomber jets, Elbit announced in a press release on 11 April. The contract will be carried out in 2013.

The subsidiary is AEL Sistemas, a Brazilian company that became part of the Elbit Systems Group in 2001. Elbit Systems Ltd. is one of the world's largest defense electronics manufacturers and integrators.

In addition to its numerous international contracts, Elbit Systems also provides both Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and other military technology for Israel’s Occupation forces, as well as security systems for the Separation Wall and settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory."

#BDS: Bob Geldof told 'boycott Israel or lose credibility'

"Pro-Palestinian campaigners have launched a campaign to stop Bob Geldof from visiting Israel next month on the basis that going there would damage the singer's "credibility as a defender of the rights of the dispossessed".

The former Boomtown Rats singer is to make his first trip to the country to accept an honorary degree from Ben Gurion University (BGU) in recognition of his anti-poverty work.

But Raymond Deane, the cultural and academic boycott officer for the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Camp (IPSC) has demanded that the star reject it and also pull out of a conference the same week on Israel's humanitarian aid work in Africa.

In a letter to Mr Geldof, who has an honorary knighthood, he said it was "a shock" that the Irish star would accept the BGU award."

#BDS: Politics and Music Don't Mix, Ha? Netanyahu cancels Bieber date

"PM was scheduled to host pop star at his Jerusalem office; taking advantage of the PR situation, Netanyahu's advisers invited group of kids from communities near Gaza border to attend.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled his date with pop sensation Justin Bieber over the singer's refusal to meet with children living in communities affected by Gaza rocket fire, Channel Two reported on Tuesday.

The prime minister was scheduled to host the young singer at his office in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, before Bieber's Thursday night concert."

#BDS: Action Alert: PETITION TO CALIFORNIA'S STATE RETIREMENT SYSTEMS

"TO CALIFORNIA'S STATE RETIREMENT SYSTEMS
From California Taxpayers and Members of CalPERS and CalSTRS

HONOR YOUR POLICIES OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE INVESTING

BEGIN YOUR PROCESS OF ENGAGEMENT WITH CORPORATIONS THAT FACILITATE ISRAELI VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

We, the undersigned, oppose investments by the California State Retirement System (STRS) and the California Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) in any company that profits from the State of Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

According to your own investment reports, more than $3 billion is invested in companies that we believe facilitate Israel's violation of human rights, its repudiation of international law and its disregard of UN Conventions and Resolutions."

#BDS: نائب "إسرائيلي" يتعرض لمقاطعة واستهجان خلال ندوة في أمريكا

تعرض عضو كنيست “إسرائيلي” إلى مقاطعة واستهجان طلاب جامعة برانديز الأمريكية خلال استضافته في حلقة نقاش أقامتها الجامعة، أمس الأول، بحضور مئات الطلاب . وقاطع طلاب وطالبات النائب “الإسرائيلي” آفي ديختر بشكل متواصل، ونعتوه باللغتين الإنجليزية والعبرية بأنه مجرم حرب . وحيث لم يتردد طلاب أمريكيون ويهود وفلسطينيون في مواصلة اعتراضاتهم على ديختر عضو كاديما ومدير “الشاباك” خلال الانتفاضة الفلسطينية الثانية .

إقرأ/ي المزيد

Apr 7, 2011

#BDS: Ahava 'leaving party', London

#BDS: After Board of Governors Rally, Carleton One Step Closer to Divestment

"On March 29th, 2011 students, faculty, staff, alumni and community allies made a significant stride toward divestment at Carleton University in Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) first launched our campus-based pension fund divestment campaign in January 2010. The student-led campaign was motivated by the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society “to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel… until it fully complies with the precepts of international law.”

After over a year of failed attempts to meet with Carleton’s Pension Fund Committee, SAIA submitted a formal request to present our motion to the Board of Governors (BOG) – the highest decision-making body of the university – to divest from four companies complicit in violations of international law in Palestine: BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman, Motorola and Tesco Supermarkets. These companies manufacture weapons and weapons components used by the Israeli military against Palestinians, and also facilitate the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank (for background see: http://carleton.saia.ca/pension-divestment-campaign.html). SAIA’s motion also called upon Carleton to implement a binding socially responsible investment policy, in full consultation with the Carleton community."

#BDS: Brussels: Pro-Palestinian groups stage anti-Israel street play

"Activists dressed as IDF soldiers 'kill' boy playing Palestinian; women cover 'body' with Palestinian flag as crowd chants 'boycott Israel.' Mayor: Freedom of expression

Members of dozens of pro-Palestinian organizations held an anti-Israel exhibit on Brussel's main pedestrian-only street a few days ago, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily reported Friday.

During the street play, one activist dressed as an IDF soldier "kicked" a Palestinian, and in another a man dressed as an Israeli soldier "shoots" a Palestinian boy and "humiliates" a "pregnant Palestinian woman".

In a particularly harsh scene, an activist playing a Palestinian woman is "forcibly separated" from her "children"."

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#BDS: Univ. of Arizona student coalition builds massive mock wall to bring attention to the occupied territories and the US/Mexico border

"Students from the Arizona chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at the University of Arizona (UA) collaborated with partners in the UA migrant rights group No Más Muertes/No More Deaths (NMM) to erect the largest mock apartheid wall in the country currently dividing the UA campus in Tucson. They aim to spotlight the lethal effects of U.S. policies in Arizona, the U.S. and Israeli-occupied Palestine.

Equipped with barbed-wire and stretching nearly four football fields’ length, the mock wall, entitled “Wall to Wall - Concrete Connections/Conexiones Concretas,” will stand for more than a week across the main traffic center of the more-than-50,000-person University of Arizona campus. Endorsed by numerous academic departments, as well as student and community groups, the JVP and NMM worked for nearly 8 months to bring the project to fruition."

#BDS: Sacramento Co-Op Board Abandons Democratic Principles Won’t Let Members Vote On Proposed Israel Products Boycott

"What started out as a question of whether the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op should stop carrying certain products based on human rights considerations has now become a matter affecting the Co-op’s very democracy.

In an effort to prevent the Co-op’s members from voting on this issue, the Co-op Board has eliminated its long standing boycott policy, done away with Open comments at Board meetings, and is seeking to eviscerate member’s ability to put initiatives before a vote of the full membership as provided in the Co-op’s Bylaws. All of this while it discusses major policy changes at private meetings with no member input.

Almost forty years ago, the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op started as a buying club out of private homes, operating essentially as a direct democracy. Soon there was a store front, then a small store on Freeport Blvd. In 1989 the Co-op moved to its current location at Alhambra and S. As the Co-op grew, it incorporated and shifted to what might be viewed as a form of representative democracy, with a member-elected Board of Directors."