Youth Against Normalization

Jun 23, 2011

#BDS: Q&A: Why United Church activists are targeting #Israel

(...)

"Q So why a boycott of Israel?

A Number one, because Israel purports to be a democracy. Number two, they are in violation of international law and even the UN has tried to call Israel to account. So what is left for people who want to see international law enforced? Libya just happened and the U.S. jumped to take on the presumed responsibility to protect civilians; they jumped in with all kinds of force. But they won’t do that against Israel ever because Israel purports to be a democracy.

Q You say five of the companies extract minerals from occupied land or exploit labour or is a supporter of the IDF. Does Indigo make books in Israel?

A Chapters Indigo owners [Heather] Reisman and [Gerald] Schwartz founded the HESEG foundation, which provides scholarships and other support to “lone soldiers” who have been in the Israeli military. [Lone soldiers are Jews who leave their home countries to join the Israeli army. They have no family in Israel, but often want to stay once their military service is done.]"

#BDS: Third Intifada app removed from #Apple Store after complaint by #Israel

"Apple removed an application from its App Store on Wednesday after a Jewish human rights group and a top Israeli official said it contained anti-Semitic content and promoted violence against Israel.

The app, “The Third Intifada,” notified people of upcoming protests against Israel and also highlighted anti-Israel news and opinion from around the Web."

#BDS: #Veolia-controlled company participating in a public tender in The #Netherlands

"As Palestinian organisations dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), we are concerned about the involvement of corporations in violations of international humanitarian law. Of recent concern are the activities of Veolia Environment, a French multinational providing infrastructure through its subsidiary VeoliaTransdev to Israeli local authorities, for its involvement in the construction of a light rail tramway linking West Jerusalem to illegal Jewish settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank.

On 3 May 2011, as Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organisations, we sent Stadsregio Arnhem Nijmegen a letter urging them to exclude VeoliaTransdev, parent company of the Dutch transport market leader Connexxion, from the upcoming one billion Euros public transport tender for Arnhem Nijmegen and from all future contracts on grounds of grave misconduct in the OPT. The tender in question will include all the Arnhem Nijmegen city district’s public bus services as well as the Arnhem-Doetinchem railway line, one of the most frequently traveled regional tracks."

#BDS: غضب مصري على شاكيرا بسبب زيارتها إسرائيل #Shakira #Egypt #Israel

طالب عدد من النشطاء الالكترونيين بإلغاء حفلة شاكيرا المقرّرة في مصر ليلة التاسع والعشرين من تشرين الثاني (نوفمبر) المقبل.

وجاء ذلك بعد الزيارة التي قامت بها النجمة الكولومبية اللبنانية الأصل إلى تل أبيب.

إذ شاركت أمس في افتتاح الدورة الثالثة من مؤتمر "الرئيس" بدعوة من الرئيس الاسرائيلي شيمون بيريز.

علماً بأنّ مغنية البوب رئيسة ومؤسسة جمعية "حافي القدم"، وهي منظمة أهلية أميركية معنية بحقوق الأطفال في التعليم.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS NEEDED: #Interpol to perform in #Israel

Interpol announced on their official website that they will be performing in Israel on August 30.

Jun 22, 2011

#BDS: Lebanese Dancer Johayna Fakhri with Israeli band at Belfast festival, #France

"Israeli metal band " Orphaned Land "continues to bridge the gap Israeli - Arab because of the music: after buying herself tens of thousands of fans the various Arab countries and appeared on the cover of the magazine in Iran , this week the band collaborated with an artist from Lebanon.

Festival "Belfast" in France, one of the world's biggest metal festivals, the band appeared on Sunday on the main stage alongside the Lebanese belly dancer Johanna Fakhri, who danced on stage while the band played. This has been a tradition of the band, belly dancers to its numerous performances abroad, but the first time they shared a stage with the Lebanese Fakhri. On stage and in front of tens of thousands of spectators, raising the band and Fakhri flags of Israel and Lebanon."

Former Irish rugby international Trevor Hogan, who will set sail for Gaza as part of Freedom Flotilla II.

"A year after Israeli commandos stormed the Freedom Flotilla bound for Gaza, leaving nine peace activists dead, one Irish rugby star has joined a new international gathering which will set sail at the end of the month in an attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade of the territory.

Tipperary man Trevor Hogan (31), who was capped three times for Ireland and played over 100 times for both Munster and Leinster before retiring earlier this year, will sail on the MV Saoirse as part of the Irish Ship to Gaza group. The 1.5 million Palestinian inhabitants of the coastal enclave have lived in what is often described as an “open-air prison” since Israel began a policy of isolating the strip in 2006."

#BDS: ... وسقطت شاكيرا في امتحان فلسطين

عكا | «لا تتنكّري لجذورك...وقفي مع شعبك»، نداء وجّهته مجموعة من النشطاء على الفايسبوك، لم يجد آذاناً صاغية عند شاكيرا، التي وصلت أمس إلى تل أبيب تزامناً مع صدور أغنية «الحريّة لفلسطين»، المناهضة للاحتلال والأبارتهايد الإسرائيلي، عملت عليها مجموعة من الفنانين الأجانب، الذين انضووا تحت اسم مجموعة One World، إذ تقدّم النجمة الكولومبية اللبنانية الأصل عدداً من الحفلات هناك، بعدما شاركت أمس في افتتاح مؤتمر «الرئيس 2011» برعاية شمعون بيريس، حيث ألقت كلمة تناولت فيها أهمية التعليم في تنمية الشعوب والأطفال، باعتبارها سفيرة اليونيسف للنوايا الحسنة.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: BOYCOTT ISRAELI DATES CAMPAIGN

"London BDS are joining The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al Aqsa, Inminds, Palestinian Return Centre, Muslim Association of Britain and The Islamic Human Rights Commission to reach out to the wider Muslim community and make them aware of what DATES they are buying for RAMADAN.

Israel produces huge quantities of Medjoul dates which are grown in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Jordan Valley.
Buying these dates will mean that your money is going towards supporting the theft of Palestinian land and the oppression of Palestinians."
Read more

#BDS: Video: #Shakira and boyfriend Gerard Pique with the terrorist Shimon Peres

#BDS: Apartheid is no place for #punk

"The confirmation from legendary punk musician Jello Biafra that he would be playing a show in Israel came as an angry shock to many of his fans and supporters.

The former singer for the Dead Kennedys and well known activist announced recently that, despite having been urged to do otherwise by several groups in the Palestine solidarity movement, he and his band, the Guantanamo School of Medicine, will be performing in Tel Aviv on July 2. This comes in blatant defiance of the 2005 call for an artistic boycott put forth by over 170 Palestinian civil society groups.

In response, an ad-hoc grouping of global punk fans came together to launch Punks Against Apartheid, whose first action was to launch a petition and statement urging Biafra to abide by the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and cancel the Tel Aviv gig. In a few days, the petition gathered over 1,000 signatures, from Berkeley to London, and Beirut to South Korea. Below, we reprint Punks Against Apartheid's open letter to Biafra."

#BDS: Israel is intimidated by a phone app: #Israel urges #Apple to remove pro-Palestinian app

We urge everybody to download this app!

"(CBS/AP) - The Israeli government on Tuesday appealed to Apple Inc. to remove an application called "ThirdIntifada" from its App Store, saying the program glorifies violence against the Jewish state.

Israel's information minister, Yuli Edelstein, sent the request in an email to Steve Jobs, the chief executive of the American iPhone maker.

"Intifadah" is the Arabic term for two violent uprisings against Israel over the past two decades. The free application encourages its followers to share opinions and organize protests against Israel."

#BDS: Knesset to Promote Anti-Boycott Bill to Second and Third Reading

"Monday, June 27, the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee will deliberate the “Damage to the State of Israel by Means of Boycott- 2011″ bill. The bill was proposed in the Knesset on July 2010 by head of the coalition, MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) and other MK’s. The bill is focused on preventing citizens of Israel from protesting against the occupation by means of initiating a boycott. The bill passed first reading in the Knesset plenum on March 7, 2011, despite severe criticism from governmental ministries and leading civil society organizations.

The bill defines a call for boycott as a tort, for which the court may rule compensation without obligation to prove damage. The bill further authorizes the Minister of Finance to limit the participation of companies that have committed themselves not to work within settlements beyond the “Green Line”, in state tenders. (‘Rawabi Clause’)"

#BDS: Buying Israeli Goods is Funding Apartheid! Cartoon by @CarlosLatuff