Youth Against Normalization

Jun 21, 2012

#BDS Victory! TIAA-CREF drops #Caterpillar from social choice funds

"The We Divest Campaign sent out the following press release:

June 21, 2012- Pension fund giant TIAA-CREF has removed Caterpillar, Inc. from its Social Choice Funds portfolio. As of May 1, 2012, financial data posted on TIAA-CREF’s website valued Social Choice Funds shares in Caterpillar at $72,943,861. Today it is zero.

“We applaud this decision,” said Rabbi Alissa Wise, Director of Campaigns at Jewish Voice for Peace and National Coordinator of the We Divest Campaign (www.wedivest.org). “It’s long past time that TIAA-CREF began living up to its motto of ‘Financial Services for the Greater Good’ when it comes to the people of Israel and Palestine.”

#BDS: بيان حملة مقاطعة داعمي «إسرائيل» #لبنان

قريباً، سنكون في لبنان أمام عروضٍ لبعض الفنّانين العالميين الذين عزفوا وغنّوا في الكيان الغاصب. فبعد إيـفانيسانس، التي غنّت هناك سابقاً ويُفترض أن تغنّي في لبنان في 23 حزيران، يُفترض أيضاً أن تغنّي جيسي نورمان في لبنان في 13 تمّوز بعد أن غنّت في «إسرائيل» عام 2010.

إنّ حملة مقاطعة داعمي «إسرائيل» في لبنان تذكّر بأنّ قيام أيّ فرقة بتقديم عروضها داخل كيان العدوّ عملٌ يتغاضى عن جرائمه، الأمرُ الذي يدفعه إلى ارتكاب المزيد منها بعد أن «طبّع» جرائمَه الأولى في العقول، وكأنّه يقول: «اعزفوا ما شئتم، ودعونا نقتلْ كما نشاء!». لكنّ الحملة تذكّر أيضاً بأنّ العزف في الكيان الغاصب «أقلُّ سوءاً» من إعلان التأييد المباشر للاحتلال والاستيطان والصهيونيّة.

إقرأدي المزيد

Jun 19, 2012

#BDS: Kittens Against Apartheid

"Two cuddly kittens go searching for the right hummus and learn a valuable lesson about human rights! Join the kittens in supporting justice in Israel-Palestine! Boycott Sabra and Tribe hummus! From our member group Philly BDS."

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#BDS: #Norway’s pension fund divests from #Israel’s largest real estate firm

"Norway’s finance ministry has excluded Shikun & Binui from the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), the largest pension fund in Europe, over its construction of illegal Israeli colonies in East Jerusalem. Analysts have described the company as Israel’s largest real estate business.

The Norwegian government has previously divested from Israeli military company Elbit, as well as Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus, two other construction companies involved in building illegal settlements. The two divestment announcements followed large international campaigns. The human rights organization Adalah-NY has recentlyunveiled evidence that Africa Israel continues to construct illegal settlements despite its reassurances to the Norwegian government and others to the contrary."

#BDS: JTA and Haaretz distort Alice Walker’s position on boycott of Israeli publisher

"A JTA (Jewish Telegraphic Agency) report that was carried by Haaretz, accuses Pulitzer prize-winning author Alice Walker of refusing to allow her iconic book The Color Purple to be translated into Hebrew:

Alice Walker, author of “The Color Purple,” refused to authorize a Hebrew translation of her prize-winning work, citing what she called Israel’s “apartheid state.”

In a June 9 letter to Yediot Books, Walker said she would not allow the publication of the book into Hebrew because “Israel is guilty of apartheid and persecution of the Palestinian people, both inside Israel and also in the Occupied Territories.”

In her letter, posted Sunday by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel on its website, Walker supported the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement and offered her hope that the BDS movement “will have enough of an impact on Israeli civilian society to change the situation.”

But Walker’s 9 June letter to Yediot Books, full-text of which is posted on the website of PACBI, does not even mention the Hebrew language.

The JTA/Haaretz spin that makes it appear as if Walker were objecting to her book being in Hebrew is a complete distortion."

#BDS Action Alert: Sign the Petition: Cirque Du Soleil: Do not shine on Apartheid! #CdSCancelIsrael

"“Morality, like art, means drawing a line someplace”

~ Oscar Wilde
Irish Dramatist, Novelist, & Poet (1854 – 1900)

We, citizens and residents of Qatar, came to know that Cirque du Soleil is scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv this August, after first performing in Doha in July. Many of us have always admired CdS and enjoyed their magnificent performances, however we cannot in good conscience attend their performance while Palestinians continue to face injustice and apartheid. We urge CdS to cancel their performance in Tel Aviv and demonstrate that the people of Palestine are not an exception when it comes to freedom, dignity and justice.

We, therefore, join this call and support the letter addressed from Qatar Youth Opposed to Normalization (QAYON) to Renée-Claude Ménard, the Director of Cirque du Soleil.

Twitter: #CdSCancelIsrael"

Sign the petition here

Jun 15, 2012

#BDS: مقاومة التطبيع النقابية تندد بمشاركة خيالة أردنيين وإسرائيليين في احتفالية مشتركة #الأردن

نددت لجنة مقاومة التطبيع النقابية الأردنية بمشاركة خيالة أردنيين وإسرائيليين وللمرة الثانية في "مسار الخيول" الذي تنظمه وزارة الثقافة والرياضة الإسرائيلية سنوياً في "جبل الجلبوع" الواقع في المناطق الفلسطينية المحتلة الواقعة جنوب مدينة جنين.

واكدت اللجنة في تصريح صحفي ان التنديد جاء بإجماع أعضاء اللجنة والتي تمثل (14) نقابة مهنية أردنية ترفض جميعها التطبيع مع العدو الصهيوني وفق قرارات للهيئات العامة فيها اتخذت بعد توقيع معاهدة وادي عربة العام 1994.

وكان موقع عمون الإخباري ومواقع أخرى قد نشرت في الخامس والعشرين من الشهر الماضي ونقلاً عن إذاعة بالعبرية ان مجموعة خيالة من الأردن شاركت في تقليد سنوي يسمى "مسار الخيول" تنظمه وزارة الثقافة والرياضة الإسرائيلية في جبل الجلبوغ الواقع ضمن المناطق العربية المحتلة الواقعة جنوب جنين حسب الإذاعة العبرية الجمعة.

إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS: Export Institute: Small Israeli exporters collapsing

"70% of small exporters stopped exporting or substantially reduced their activity between 2007 and 2011.

Analysis by the economics division of The Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute reveals a worrying picture of Israeli exports: 70% of small exporters stopped exporting or substantially reduced their activity in the period 2007-2011. The Export Institute explains the trend by the continuing crisis in the global economy."

#BDS: Cultural boycott biting, but quietly, Israel Festival’s classical music advisor admits

"The cultural boycott of Israel is beginning to bite, a prominent figure in Israel’s classical music world has admitted.

Gil Shohat, an Israeli composer and conductor, who is also the Classical Music Advisor to the Israel Festival and Artistic Advisor to Israel’s Red Sea International Classical Music Festival, told Israeli reporter Sharon Dubkin"

#BDS: Cirque Du Soleil: Performing in Tel Aviv is a baroque ode to apartheid, colonialism and oppression

"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 Tel Aviv which opens on August 8th, 2012 [i]. Given that Israel is involved in grave violations of international law and human rights we urge you to cancel this performance until the time comes when Israel is in compliance with its obligations under international law and fully respects Palestinian rights.

You note on your website that your performance titled 'Allegria’ (Jubilation) is a baroque ode to the energy, grace and power of youth. Yet, by performing in Israel, you are placing this ode and energy in the service of Israeli colonization and apartheid, which brings sorrow and misery to the Palestinian people. Moreover, it is both cynical and hard to believe that a group such as yours, that is so dedicated to global citizenship and social involvement[ii] would stand against the wishes of a people’s movement for citizenship, freedom, equality and justice. It is for this reason that we appeal to you to reconsider your performance."

أحرز المنتخب الكويتي للمعوقين ميداليتين برونزيتين في بطولة رومانيا الدولية المفتوحة لتنس الطاولة للمعوقين، والتي شهدت أيضا انسحاب اللاعب الكويتي عوض الحربي لرفضه لقاء منافسه (الإسرائيلي) جيفا ليران في الدور نصف النهائي للمسابقة.

إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS: #Australia-n educational program bars speakers who support #Israel boycott

"Limmud Oz, an offshoot of the international festival of Jewish learning, canceled a panel featuring several controversial Jewish speakers for its upcoming conference in Melbourne.

The Jewish panelists no longer speaking, although they initially appeared on the Limmud Oz website, include Vivienne Porzsolt, a spokeswoman for Jews Against the Occupation who was detained in Israel last year en route to the flotilla to Gaza, and who recently marched in Sydney alongside Hezbollah supporters; Avigail Abarbanel, who renounced her Israeli citizenship in 2001; and Peter Slezak, a co-founder of the far-left Independent Australian Jewish Voices."

"The recent hunger strikes of almost 1,600 Palestinian prisoners represent a watershed juncture in nonviolent resistance in Palestine. While Palestinians have long utilized methods of nonviolence—dating back to Mandatory Palestine of the thirties and epitomized by the First Intifada of the eighties—only recently has a truly international effort appeared. In the midst of the Arab uprisings, the international attention on the region provides a moment of focus for civil resistance, and the nascent coalition of actors utilizing these methods is growing. While the groups have different agendas and tactics, their notable successes in recent months show that, regardless of divisions among them, strategic nonviolence is gaining powerful momentum in Palestine.

The present international activity has been a long time coming. In 2001, the deeply controversial United Nations Durban conference convened to address Israeli repression of the Second Intifada. Though it failed to produce a formal resolution or offer recommendations, the NGO forum associated with the conference condemned “Israel as a racist, apartheid state” (Article 162), and spurred many to action. For Omar Barghouti, a prominent Palestinian activist, “Durban confirmed that grassroots support, even in the West, for the justness of the Palestinian cause was still robust.” Academic institutions, trade unions, and religious organizations began to use targeted boycotts and sanctions against Israel. In 2004, the US Presbyterian Church voted for “a process of phased selective divestment in multinational corporations doing business in Israel.”

"According to the Flaming Eggplant’s mission statement, one of the cafe’s goals is to “nourish the local food system by making delicious, healthy, ecologically and socially just food accessible to all.” In its statement of principles, the collective also expresses its commitment to “supporting political participation and direct action to create a just and egalitarian society.” Office Coordinator Cris Papaiacovou said, “We came to a consensus as a collective to support the Palestinian civil society call for BDS because it is directly in line with our mission and statement of principles.” He added, “We are proud to join this non-violent movement to pressure Israel until it ends its human rights violations against Palestinians.”

The café’s support of the boycott becomes the latest victory in ongoing student-led activism for Palestinian human rights at TESC. In the Spring of 2010, the student body voted overwhelmingly to support two resolutions, one calling for divestment from companies profiting from Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and the other prohibiting the use of Caterpillar Inc. equipment on campus. Rachel Corrie, an Evergreen student, was killed in 2003 by a weaponized Caterpillar bulldozer operated by the Israeli military as she attempted to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian family’s home in the Gaza Strip."

#BDS: #Egypt shuts down production of film that promotes #Israel ties

"Egypt's censor has stopped production of an Egyptian film because it reportedly promotes the normalization of relations with Israel, according to the Al-Ahram newspaper.

The film, called "A Loaf of Bread," was written and directed by Mohamed Kenawy, who denied the accusation, saying the film is meant to promote peace and cooperation among all people regardless of sex, race and religion.

The story revolves around an Egyptian, a Palestinian and an Israeli, and it deals generally with life in the Arab world. The movie had been in production for two months before filming was halted."

Youth Against Normalization

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