#BDS No military aid to Israel

Help us continue to shape the political landscape to end U.S. military aid to Israel by signing up today to educate and organize people in your community. When you do so, you'll join more than 2,000 people in 49 states and more than 900 cities who have received an organizing packet with fact sheets, flyers, petitions, stickers, and more--everything you'll need to spark conversations in your community and identify more people who agree with us that we should be funding community needs, not Israel's misdeeds against the Palestinian people. Read more here.

#BDS "This Is Apartheid" Poster Contest

Art has always been an important part of liberation struggles. It can inspire and convey concepts beyond words.Itisapartheid.org and its primary partner, Lajee Center, are sponsoring a competition for artists and graphic designers who are invited to submit posters on the theme of “Israeli Apartheid.” These posters should reflect the nature, realities, and/or consequences of apartheid policies in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. Posters will be judged by a panel of distinguished activists and artists. The winning entries will be featured in an online poster gallery and disseminated widely on the internet and various other venues. Youth from refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank will participate in the contest. Read more here.

#BDS British students reject twinning with Israel's Hebrew University

Students at Britain's University of York have rejected a proposal to twin the institution with the Hebrew University in occupied Jerusalem. The vote on the issue was carried out by York University's Student Union. According to newspaper reports, York student Jacob Campbell proposed the twinning agreement in order to defend Israel and curb what he described as "anti-Semitic" activities in British universities. York University's Student Union asked its members to vote for or against the proposal, which sought to build links between the student unions of the two universities prior to a full twinning agreement with the Israeli university. The result was that 891 students voted against the twinning proposal, with 144 in favour; there were 127 abstentions. Student leaders said that the quorum for the vote to be carried was at least 5% of the total membership, equivalent to 784 participants. They pointed out that the relatively high turnout of voters reflected the importance of the issue to the students. Read more here.

Commemorating the anniversary of the First Intifada in the no go zone

Twenty four years ago, on December 9, 2011 a revolution began. The revolution began in Gaza, it was the First Intifada. After twenty years of Israeli occupation Palestinian resistance exploded in full force. Boycotts, demonstrations, tax refusal, all of these were the strategies of the Intifada. Over one thousand Palestinians would be killed by Israel during the Intifada;over one hundred thousand Palestinians would go to prison during the course of the Intifada. For six years the Intifada burned, Palestinians were united in a massive nationwide campaign of popular resistance.

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On International Solidarity Day with Palestine, Israeli Repression Continues

Coinciding with the international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, the weekly protests against the apartheid wall and settlements was suppressed by the occupation forces, who shot protesters with live bullets and metal bullets covered with rubber. The loud shooting, sound bombs, and tear gas bombs caused injuries to protesters and dozens of suffocation cases. Two journalists were arrested and three international human rights defenders. Read more here.

#BDS Activists Call on Fashion Icon to Sever Ties with Lev Leviev

In November, US Campaign coalition member groups Adalah-NY, CODEPINK, and Jewish Voice for Peace, along with human rights organizations in the UK, called on fashion icon Daphne Guinness and Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) to sever ties with Israeli settlement builder and conflict diamond purveyor Lev Leviev. Leviev is a principal sponsor of Ms. Guinness’s current fashion exhibition at FIT.

In an open letter to Guinness and FIT, the groups detailed Leviev’s sordid complicity in a multitude of human rights abuses that have led a number organizations and governments to distance themselves from Leviev’s companies. Citing Guinness’s own humanitarian work, the groups implored Guinness to sever all ties with Leviev:

We recognize your strong commitment to supporting women’s rights around the world, to countering AIDS in Africa and to helping the needy in places like Haiti. Therefore, like the organizations, governments and individuals who have sought distance from Leviev, we feel confident that you do not wish to tarnish your name and good works by associating yourself with Leviev’s companies’ human rights violations and questionable business practices. Leviev’s companies undermine the very rights and humanitarian causes that you support. Therefore, we call on you to act swiftly to sever all ties between the exhibit at FIT that bears your name, and Lev Leviev.

Representatives of Guinness and FIT have responded by saying they are taking the groups’ concerns into account, but have thus far failed to elaborate a further course of action. The petition calling on Guinness and FIT to sever ties with Leviev has generated a fair amount of negative publicity for all involved. Online stories detailing Leviev’s sponsorship of the exhibition have been featured on prominent sites like New York magazine, Vogue UK, and Jezebel, the influential feminist blog. The exhibition runs through January 17th, 2012.

#BDS ‘We refuse to be complicit’: Over 150 Swiss artists call to boycott Israeli art fest

The Swiss BDS Group has announced a statement signed by over 150 Swiss artists calling on artists, cultural institutions and the public to boycott the Culturescapes Israel festival and a "Swiss Season" program which hosts Swiss artists in Israel.

Among the signatories are the internationally acclaimed filmmakers Claude Goretta and Alain Tanner, the theater directors François Rochaix and Jean Grädel, as well as the actor Jean-Luc Bideau. A Swiss BDS Group press release says Culturescapes Israel festival and "Swiss Season" programs represent "the largest Israeli propaganda effort ever launched in Switzerland through the domain of culture." Read more here.

#BDS Students stage dramatic walkout on Avigdor Lieberman mouthpiece in Michigan

Bilal Baydoun, a senior at the University of Michigan, writes: Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor recently staged a walkout on Israeli Bedouin diplomat and Ministry of Foreign Affairs apologist Ishmael Khaldi। He came to our campus at the invitation of Israel lobby group CAMERA (Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) to whitewash the marginalization of minorities in Israel. I've included a video of our walkout. Via Mondoweiss

#BDS: Declaration of Swiss Artists Responding to the Palestinian Appeal for Solidarity

"When Israel, through the Culturescapes festival, conducts a wide public relations campaign in Switzerland, when the program Swiss Season invites Swiss artists to present their works in prestigious venues in Israel, the undersigned artists and cultural actors hereby express their rejection of the politics of the Israeli state, policies which, for over 60 years, violate the rights of the Palestinian people.

The flattering image that Israel seeks to present, an image of a country in which creativity blooms in freedom, clashes with the reality that the Palestinian people endures. The refugees are still refused their right to return, Palestinians citizens of Israel are subject to legal and cultural segregation, the Gaza Strip is still under siege, the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East Jerusalem remain under military occupation. In contempt of the law and public protestations, Israel continues the colonization and the construction of the separation wall in the West Bank and Jerusalem. We recognize in these politics the traits of an apartheid regime, as defined by international law."

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#BDS: Arch Enemy: Stand with Revolution not Apartheid

"It is with great disappointment that the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has learned of your scheduled performance in Israel set for January 24, 2012 [1].  Given that Israel is involved in grave violations of international law and human rights we urge you to cancel this gig until the time comes when Israel is in compliance with its obligations under international law and fully respects Palestinian rights."

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#BDS: Time for outrage against academic support for Israel

"The EU is not only refusing to take action against Israel, it is busily conniving in Israel's crimes.

Persistent campaigning by the Palestine solidarity movement has turned Veolia into something of a toxic brand. From Manchester to Melbourne, local authorities have been quizzed about their dealings with the French corporate giant because of its role in constructing a light rail system for illegal Israeli settlements in Jerusalem.

The controversy has affected Veolia's bottom line, resulting in the loss of contracts worth €10 billion (£8.6 billion) over the past six years. So it recently turned to the Brussels bureaucracy for moral - or, perhaps more accurately, immoral - support.

On 31 October, Antonio Tajani, vice-president of the European Commission, opened the "Go4 Europe" business conference in Tel Aviv. On promotional material that Tajani and his aides almost certainly read, Veolia was listed as one of the event's four "platinum sponsors". As Tajani used the occasion to  laud  Israel's "business-friendly environment" (his words), he gave his tacit blessing to companies such as Veolia that have seized the opportunities presented by an apartheid state."

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#BDS: OUMOU SANGARÉ ANNULE SON CONCERT EN #ISRAËL

"Merci à la grande chanteuse malienne Oumou Sangaré d’avoir décidé d’annuler son concert à L’opéra de Tel Aviv, programmé pour le 9 décembre prochain !

Outre ses superbes talents de chanteuse qui ont fait d’elle une star mondiale à l’âge de 21 ans, Oumou Sangaré est une personne engagée. Elle défend notamment la cause des femmes et il aurait été dommage qu’elle aille soutenir, par sa présence un Etat qui pratique l’apartheid et le nettoyage ethnique de tout un peuple."

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#BDs Call: Red Hot Chili Peppers to perform in #Israel

"A decade after they canceled their plans to perform for fans in Tel Aviv, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be performing in Israel.

In 2001, in the wake of the release of the band’s successful album “Californication,” 20,000 tickets were sold for a concert featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park. After a wave of attacks, however, the band canceled their visit to Israel."

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#BDS: NUS calls to end Ahava and King's College project

"Ahava's shop in Covent Garden closed following protests
The National Union of Students executive has unanimously voted to condemn King’s College London and demand that it ceases participation in a research project with Israeli cosmetics company Ahava.
King’s College Palestine Campaign organised a petition with 1,000 signatures, included Noam Chomsky and pro-Palestinian campaigner Omar Barghouti.
Support was pledged by the Universities and Colleges Union representative at King’s College.
This week the NUS National Executive Council passed a motion demanding “the immediate end of the university’s involvement in the project, and the rejection of the financial grant King’s has received for its participation.”

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#BDS: European Bank Pulls Out Of Israel After Pressure From Boycott Campaign

"The French bank, BNP Paribas, has decided to cease operations inside Israel, after the bank was targeted by the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which aims to use economic pressure to get Israel to adhere to its obligations and abide by international law.

Although the bank stated that its withdrawal from Israel was not due to the pressure campaign, but instead due to heavy losses sustained during the Greek financial crisis, Israeli officials and bankers have stated that they believe the bank gave in to pressure from European human rights groups to pull out of Israel.

BNB Paribas will close its offices and lay off sixty employees in Israel, and will end its financing of projects in the Jewish state.

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