"The 2011 Speaking Arts Conference, which was held in Jerusalem last week, attempted to bring together dozens of Jewish and Palestinian artists involved in performing arts (music, theater and movement). The conference featured open performances, workshops and mater classes held in a variety of auditoriums across the city.
The music workshops were led by musician and composer Sameer Makhoul, and the opening concert at the Masie House Theater Center was presented by Achinoam Nini and Gili Dor, with Arab dancer Mona Mashi'l."
"Engelbert Humperdinck is not at the height of his career right now, but that hasn't stopped pro-Palestinian elements from targeting him with the same pressures experienced by any foreign artist planning to perform in Israel.
The British pop singer has been facing an anti-Israel campaign in recent weeks, trying to convince him to cancel his scheduled performance at Tel Aviv's Nokia Arena on December 1."
"The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) inLondonand other European cities Saturday started its campaign 'Take Apartheid off the Menu: A European Day of Action against Israeli Agricultural Exporters,' according to campaign activists.
The activities in the UK included spreading brochures, raising banners in front of major shopping centers in more than 20 locations, such as London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham and Oxford.
BNC called European shoppers not to purchase Israeli agricultural products, especially those made in settlements in the PalestinianTerritory, particularly after the organization succeeded in forcing importing enterprises in UK to specify the source companies, whether from Israel or Israeli settlements on Palestinian land."
"On the morning of Black Friday - the single largest shopping day of the year - demonstrators went through three of the busiest shopping centers in Chicago: H&M, Nordstrom and the Water Tower Place Mall. The demonstrators asked holiday shoppers to think of the ethics behind their purchases, and organized brief two-minute chants in favor of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli apartheid and advocated a consumer boycott of Israeli products.
Specifically, this holiday season, they singled out five brands: American Apparel, H&M, Ahava, The Body Shop and Soda Stream. As they chanted, several shoppers walked out, expressing support and recognizing that their purchases should not lend financial assistance to corporations upholding Israel’s discriminatory and forcibly violent - not to mention generally-illegal - policies of colonial apartheid.
The demonstrations were led by the group Chicagoans for Palestinian Rights (CPR) and joined by Palestine Soldiarity Group (PSG) and members of various Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters (DePaul University, Northwestern University and University of Chicago) as well as unaffiliated community members.
Palestine solidarity activist and University of Chicago doctoral student Ishan Chakrabarti explained, “Some of these companies, like Ahava, The Body Shop and Soda Stream produce goods in the occupied Palestinian territories, on stolen land with stolen resources. Still others, like American Apparel and H&M, profit from apartheid and turn oppression into money by opening numerous stores in Israel on land which was ethnically cleansed of Palestinians by Zionist settlers in 1948. All partake and invest in an ethically bankrupt system.”
In Chicago, the consumer boycott of Israel has seen recent success at DePaul University, where students successfully lobbied the university to allow them the choice of purchasing either Sabra Hummus (produced by the Strauss group, which supports two divisions of the Israeli Defense Forces implicated in human rights abuses) or an alternate brand.
“Each time, the message is the same: don’t buy into apartheid,” said Chakrabarti."
يحار المرء كيف يتعامل مع الدعوى التي رفعها جهاد المرّ ضدّ شخصيّات ومؤسسات لبنانيّة وعربيّة وعالميّة، في إطار ما بات يُعرف بـ «قضيّة بلاسيبو» (راجع ص 15). النقاش حولها له فضائل تربويّة أكيدة على مستوى الحياة الديموقراطيّة، فيما هي مخالفة لمنطق الديموقراطيّة الذي يضمن حريّة التعبير، ويحترم الحقّ في الاختلاف. نكتب ذلك، متجاهلين أيّة خلفيّات تتجاوز السعي إلى تعويض الأرباح الضائعة التي يدّعيها المرّ، وقد انتظر سنة كاملة قبل اللجوء إلى القضاء.
تعود الحكاية إلى صيف ٢٠١٠، حين دعت شركته «تويو توسي»، فريق الروك البريطاني إلى إحياء حفلة في بيروت، على طريق عودته من فلسطين التاريخيّة المحتلّة. لم تصغِ فرقة «بلاسيبو» إلى الأصوات العربيّة والعالميّة التي طالبتها بالعدول عن زيارة الكيان الغاصب، أيّاماً قليلة بعد مجزرة أسطول الحريّة التي عزلته عالميّاً. وكان أن دعت جمعيّات في لبنان إلى مقاطعة حفلة الـ «فوروم دو بيروت»، حيث نظّمت وقفة احتجاجيّة مساء العرض. كيف تحوّل هذا التحرّك الهادئ عملاً تخريبيّاً؟
في انتظار تعيين الجلسة الأولى في الدعوى التي رفعها عليهم مدير شركة «تويو توسي»، أجمع نشطاء المقاطعة على شكر المدّعي لكونه بثّ روحاً جديدة في حملتهم
سناء الخوري
أيام قليلة تفصل رئيس تحرير مجلّة «الآداب» سماح إدريس و«حملة مقاطعة داعمي إسرائيل في لبنان» و«مركز حقوق اللاجئين عائدون»، و«الحملة العالمية لمقاطعة اسرائيل، وسحب الاستثمارات منها، وفرض العقوبات عليها» BDS، عن تحديد موعد للجلسة الأولى في الدعوى التي رفعها عليهم رجل الأعمال اللبناني جهاد المرّ. عطلة عيد الأضحى أخّرت الإجراءات القضائية الروتينيّة، لكنّها لم تنزع عن القضيّة طابعها الساخن.
منذ تأسيسها عام 2004، نجحت PACBI في توسيع رقعة نشاطها وكسب شركاء وحلفاء من أوروبا حتى أميركا. وقفة مع أحد مؤسّسي الحملة وجردة حساب بالإنجازات والتحديات
رشا حلوة
عكا | خلال سنوات قليلة، استطاعت «الحملة الفلسطينية للمقاطعة الأكاديمية والثقافية لإسرائيل» PACBI اختراق الحواجز العالمية وكسب حلفاء جدد في معركتها الرامية إلى مقاطعة إسرائيل أكاديمياً وثقافياً، بدءاً من أوروبا وصولاً إلى الولايات المتحدة، مروراً بكندا، والهند، وجنوب أفريقيا. عمر البرغوثي، أحد مؤسسي PACBI و«الحملة العالمية لمقاطعة اسرائيل، وسحب الاستثمارات منها، وفرض العقوبات عليها» (BDS ــ تعنى فقط بالمقاطعة الاقتصادية لإسرائيل) يقول لـ «الأخبار» إنّ الحملة الدولية لمقاطعة اسرائيل استطاعت سريعاً كسب تأييد عالمي، وتحديداً في بريطانيا وإيرلندا وجنوب أفريقيا.
بسبب الظروف المختلفة التي تعيشها مناطق 48 عنها في الضفة وغزة والشتات، فإنّ معايير المقاطعة هناك تراعي تلك الاختلافات مع التأكيد على المبادئ الأساسية. في هذا الشأن، يشير عمر البرغوثي لـ «الأخبار» إلى أنّ «PACBI عقدت اجتماعات في رام الله وحيفا مع ممثلين وممثلات عن أهم المجموعات الطلابية المؤطرة في أحزاب سياسية في الداخل الفلسطيني. ومن خلال النقاشات والجدل المستمر منذ أشهر، بدأت تتضح ملامح معايير خاصة بفلسطينيي 48. ومن المتوقع أن تنضج في الأشهر القليلة المقبلة. إن كانت المواطنة الفلسطينية في مناطق الـ 48 لا تستطيع أن تقاطع المؤسسات الأكاديمية والثقافية والصحية والخدماتية العامة التابعة للدولة، فهي تستطيع أن تقاطع بعض المنتجات ذات البدائل. هناك مثلاً حملة تتسع في الداخل لمقاطعة بضائع المستعمرات المقامة في الأراضي المحتلة عام 67، كما تستطيع أن ترفض إعطاء إسرائيل «ورقة توت» تغطّي بها قبح استعمارها وعنصريتها.
"How does one deal with the lawsuit filed by Jihad Murr, head of the event management company 2U2C, against Lebanese, Arab, and international figures and organizations in what has become known as the Placebo case?
Discussion of the case is important, especially since the case itself violates the very logic of democracy that guarantees freedom of expression and respects the right to disagreement.
I write this assuming that Murr has no other intent behind the lawsuit besides seeking compensation -- even though he waited a full year before finally resorting to litigation."
"A lawsuit against BDS activists in Beirut has ignited a debate about freedom of expression and is shaping up to be a landmark case in Lebanese courts.
The editor of Al Adab magazine, Samah Idriss, the Campaign to Boycott Israel Supporters in Lebanon, the Center for the Rights of Refuges-Aidoun, and the International Campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Against Israel (BDS) are being sued by the head of the event management company 2U2C, Jihad Murr.
Perhaps unintentionally, Murr has breathed new life into the BDS campaign in Lebanon. The court case is no longer just a local concern; international campaigners are pledging to appear before the Lebanese court in support of their comrades."
«مهرجان العود الدولي» الذي ينطلق اليوم في القدس المحتلّة، أقرب إلى كرنفال استشراقي في رعاية «بيت الكونفدرالية الصهيوني». وقد تتالت الدعوات إلى مقاطعة هذا النشاط التطبيعي، فيما يواصل الاحتلال سياسة التطهير الثقافي ضمن مخطط أسرلة المدينة
نجوان درويش
القدس المحتلة | سيرك حقيقي هو قصة المشاركين الفلسطينيين في «مهرجان العود الدولي» الذي يقيمه «بيت الكونفدرالية الصهيوني» في القدس بدءاً من اليوم حتى 19 الحالي. المهرجان الذي لا يخرج عن سياسة بلدية الاحتلال في القدس ـــــ الشريك الأساسي المموّل للمهرجان ـــــ يبدو سيركاً في حيثياته الاستشراقية، واستغفاله لفنانين فلسطينيين وأتراك ومغاربة بتحويلهم إلى بازار من الإثنيات والطوائف الملوّنة أمام جمهور «الكونفدرالية الصهيونية» من مستوطني «القدس الغربية».
"Israel and the GCC discreetly work hand in hand: “I would be surprised if there is no knowledge about the Saudi positions (in Israel) or knowledge in Saudi of the Israeli positions,” said David Menashri, director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University. “I would put it this way: The Gulf states, some of them, would like Israel to be more active against Iran, though they would never say it publicly,” said Meir Litvak, a regional expert at the Dayan Center think tank at Tel Aviv University. All this takes place under the umbrella of regional “defense strategy,” meaning the military exercises which keep Iraq and the Gulf under various kinds of Western political dominance so as to constrict oil supplies and justify ongoing arms purchases by the $700 billion dollar in annual spending US defense complex."
"The Saudi artist Ahmed Mater has become the subject of an online campaign in Saudi Arabia calling for his immediate censure by the Saudi government, following the inclusion of his work Evolution of Man, 2010, in an exhibition in Israel.
The show, “West End”, opened this summer at Jerusalem’s Museum on the Seam, a socio-political contemporary art museum on the edge of the ultra-orthodox Jewish neighbourhood of Mea She’arim. The display garnered extensive media coverage largely thanks to the participation, alongside 21 other artists, of seven non-Israeli artists of Middle Eastern origin. Of these, only two live permanently in the country of their birth: the Egyptian artist Moataz Nasr and Mater."
"Palestinian activists will reenact the US Civil Rights Movement's Freedom Rides to the American South by boarding segregated Israeli public transportation in the West Bank to travel to occupied East Jerusalem.
Palestinian activists will attempt to board segregated Israeli public transportation headed from inside the West Bank to occupied East Jerusalem in an act of civil disobedience inspired by the Freedom Riders of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 60's.
Fifty years after the U.S. Freedom Riders staged mixed-race bus rides through the roads of the segregated American South, Palestinian Freedom Riders will be asserting their right for liberty and dignity by disrupting the military regime of the Occupation through peaceful civil disobedience.
The Freedom Riders seek to highlight Israel's attempts to illegally sever occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, and the apartheid system that Israel has imposed on Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Several Israeli companies, among them Egged and Veolia, operate dozens of lines that run through the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, many of them subsidized by the state. They run between different Israeli settlements, connecting them to each other and cities inside Israel. Some lines connecting Jerusalem to other cities inside Israel, such as Eilat and Beit She'an, are also routed to pass through the West Bank.
Israelis suffer almost no limitations on their freedom of movement in the occupied Palestinian territory, and are even allowed to settle in it, contrary to international law. Palestinians, in contrast, are not allowed to enter Israel without procuring a special permit from Israeli authorities. Even Palestinian movement inside the Occupied Territories is heavily restricted, with access to occupied East Jerusalem and some 8% of the West Bank in the border area also forbidden without a similar permit.
While it is not officially forbidden for Palestinians to use Israeli public transportation in the West Bank, these lines are effectively segregated, since many of them pass through Jewish-only settlements, to which Palestinian entry is prohibited by a military decree."
"In anticipation of his visit, for nine performances of a new play 'In Paris', 63-year-old dancer talks about staying young, politics, and why he won't boycott Israel.
September 11, 2011, was a rainy day in Paris. Outside the Theatre National de Chaillot, overlooking the Eiffel Tower, a large crowd huddled under umbrellas and watched the national ceremony marking a decade since the World Trade Center disaster in New York. In the bowels of the theater, in a subterranean dressing room with pink walls, Mikhail Baryshnikov sat cross-legged on a chair encased in blue velvet upholstery. In a little while he would get ready for the matinee performance of "In Paris," a new play he is starring in, which arrives in Tel Aviv for nine performances at the Suzanne Dellal Center beginning on November 15."
