Bullshit, #BDS #Israel: Mayor claims settlement boycott harms Palestinian economy

The Mayor of Ma'ale Adumim has claimed that South Africa's decision to boycott products produced in the illegal Israeli settlement will harm the Palestinian economy and workers.

Israeli newspaper Maariv reported that Beni Kashriel, the mayor of the occupied East Jerusalem settlement, has sent an urgent letter to South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane to complain about the boycott. In it he argues that boycotting Ma'ale Adumim's products or labelling goods as 'products produced in settlements built on West Bank soil' will have a negative effect not only on the settlement but also local Palestinians. Read more, here.

#BDS: Call to academics, students and artists around the world: Join the World Social Forum Free Palestine to build Solidarity with the Palestinian People!

"From November 28 to December 1, 2012 the World Social Forum Free Palestine will be held in Porto Alegre (Brazil). This is a historic event that brings together solidarity, human rights and social justice movements and organizations from across the globe to develop and debate ideas, share experiences, network, and plan strategies and campaigns to advance solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation.  (For more information and the full call for the WSF Free Palestine, see:  http://wsfpalestine.net/ and www.facebook.com/WSFPalestine ) The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel calls on academics, students and artists around the world to mobilize in support of the WSF Free Palestine. By expanding and strengthening academic and cultural boycott campaigns and strategies amongst a broader audience across the globe, we wish to build a new generation of Palestine solidarity." Read more

#BDS: Call to academics, students and artists around the world: Join the World Social Forum Free Palestine to build Solidarity with the Palestinian People!

"From November 28 to December 1, 2012 the World Social Forum Free Palestine will be held in Porto Alegre (Brazil). This is a historic event that brings together solidarity, human rights and social justice movements and organizations from across the globe to develop and debate ideas, share experiences, network, and plan strategies and campaigns to advance solidarity with the struggle for Palestinian liberation.  (For more information and the full call for the WSF Free Palestine, see:  http://wsfpalestine.net/ and www.facebook.com/WSFPalestine ) The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel calls on academics, students and artists around the world to mobilize in support of the WSF Free Palestine. By expanding and strengthening academic and cultural boycott campaigns and strategies amongst a broader audience across the globe, we wish to build a new generation of Palestine solidarity." Read more

#BDS: Ethics matter, the world tells #Israel

"We may be quietly witnessing these days an important change in Middle Eastern history. The calm, rational human emphasis on ethical behavior and the quest for peace and justice could be triumphing over the attempt to spread victimization and hysteria and to overlook violent and criminal behavior.
This development was clear this week in the United Church of Canada’s vote to boycott products from Israeli settlements. This was in contrast to the exhortations by former U.S. State Department and White House official Dennis Ross – a stalwart of the pro-Israel scene from his post at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy – that the United States should withhold financial aid from Egypt if it violates the Camp David peace treaty with Israel (because Cairo is sending more military assets to the Sinai to combat terrorists attacking both Israel and Egypt)."


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#BDS: Israeli Officials Accuse South Africa Of Boycotting #Israel

"Commentary | Israeli leaders are seething over the latest call for a boycott of Israel by a ranking member of the South African Government. On Sunday, South Africa’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Ebrahim Ismael Ebrahim, told reporters at the City Press, that he was “discouraging” South Africans from “associating” with Israel. Ebrahim went on to say, “Israel is an occupier country which is oppressing Palestine, so it is not proper for South Africans to associate with Israel. We discourage people from going there except if it has to do with the peace process.”

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#BDS: S.Africa approves 'Made in Palestinian Territories' tags

"South Africa's cabinet on Wednesday said it had approved the placing of Occupied Palestinian Territory labels on imported goods from Jewish settlements.

The trade minister was given the nod to issue a notice requiring that products are marked so that buyers knew their origin was not Israel, spokesman Jimmy Manyi told a press briefing."

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#BDS: #Canada's Largest Church Joins Israeli Boycott

"Members of the United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, voted Wednesday to affirm a controversial motion supporting a boycott of goods produced in Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.

Wednesday’s vote was preceded by nearly six hours of contentious debate, in which the church’s general council members nitpicked the proposal’s wording and heard drawn-out testimonies from representatives on both sides of the issue."

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#BDS: PROTESTS against Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company performing at the Edinburgh International Festival

"PROTESTS against Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company performing at the Edinburgh International Festival are attracting support from contemporary dance figures including Alain Platel, founder of the Belgian dance company Les Ballets C de la B, and UK choreographer Jonathan Burrows.

Both have endorsed statements opposing the participation of Batsheva because it is part of the Brand Israel campaign, begun in 2005, explicitly using culture as a propaganda tool to distract attention from Israel’s brutal treatment of the Palestinian people."

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#BDS: Lenny Kravitz cancels #Israel performance

"Lenny Kravitz has decided to cancel his performance in Israel due to prior commitments, Channel 2 News reported Tuesday evening.
The veteran American musician was set to sign off the summer in style with his Israel debut on October 6 in Tel Aviv."

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#BDS: JPost.comArts & CultureMusic Lenny Kravitz cancels #Israel performance

"Lenny Kravitz has decided to cancel his performance in Israel due to prior commitments, Channel 2 News reported Tuesday evening.

The veteran American musician was set to sign off the summer in style with his Israel debut on October 6 in Tel Aviv."

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Taking #BDS to the streets

"On July 26, youth activists in Nablus, in connection with the Tanweer Center for Enlightenment and Dar Al Qandeel association for arts and culture, kicked off a campaign to encourage residents of Nablus to boycott Israeli products this Ramadan and beyond.

Because people tend to purchase more products during Ramadan, the activists resolved that the month would be a perfect time to encourage the masses to resist Israeli occupation through boycott.

Activists met on Monday, July 23 to discuss what their new campaign would look like. It was decided that the campaign would focus first on the old city of Nablus, a densley populated area that acts as the commercial center. The discussion included deliberation over how best to encourage people to begin boycotting in Ramadan, and to continue afterwards."

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#BDS: Lebanese Boycott of Israel: Purely Cosmetic

"An investigation by the Campaign to Boycott Israel Supporters in Lebanon has exposed that Israeli-made products are being widely used in the beauty and cosmetics sector in Lebanon.

Therapeutic and cosmetic laser surgery is now an integral part of a booming medical tourism industry in Lebanon. Medical and beauty centers are sought after by locals and patients from the Arabian peninsula.

But unknown to most of these patients, the Lebanese market hosts a wide variety of medical equipment originating in Israel. These banned products make their way into the Lebanese market disguised as imports from the US, Europe, and Dubai. They are marketed through distributors who have no problem getting front seats at specialized conferences organized by the Lebanese health ministry."

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#BDS: طلاب فلسطينيون يطالبون نظراءهم في جنوب افريقيا مقاطعة إسرائيل

وجه شباب وطلاب وممثلو منظمات أهلية شبابية نداء إلى ممثلي مجلس طلاب جامعة فيتس وهي من اكبر جامعات جنوب أفريقيا وتضم أكثر من 27934 طالب/ة لاتخاذ قرار خلال الاجتماع السنوي لاتحاد طلاب الجامعة و الذي يعقد في هذه الأثناء بتبني الدعوات الفلسطينية لمقاطعة إسرائيل وسحب الاستثمارات منها وفرض العقوبات عليها “المعروفة عالميا ب بي دي أس BDS” لإجبار إسرائيل على احترام الاتفاقيات والقوانين الدولية ومبادئ حقوق الإنسان.

إقرأ\ي المزيد

#BDS: محاضرة د. ناصر برغوثي تحت عنوان مقاطعة إسرائيل والحقوق الكاملة للشعب الفلسطيني

القى الدكتور ناصر البرغوثي (ناشط فلسطيني في الولايات المتحدة) محاضرة بعنوان "حركة مقاطعة إسرائيل(BDS): هل تنجز الحقوق الكاملة للشعب الفلسطيني؟". وقد نظمت حملة مقاطعة داعمي "إسرائيل" في لبنان هذا النشاط في يوم 19 تموز 2012 في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت.
تحدث الدكتور ناصر خلال المحاضرة وعن ظروف وأسباب نشوء حركة مقاطعة إسرائيل وسحب الاستثمارات منها وفرض العقوبات عليها BDS.
كما ويتحدث البرغوثي عن التمييز العنصري Apartheid تعريفه وضعه في القوانين الدولية والممارسات العنصرية للكيان الإسرائيلي ضد المجتمع الفلسطيني، ذاكرًا أهم القرارات التي هاجمت الجدار العنصري والتي بالتالي تشكك في شرعية إسرائيل وتلقي الضوء على تجاوزها للقوانين والأعراف الدولية. متطرقاً الى تجربة جنوب افريقيا بمواجهة الآبارتهايد.
بالعودة لحملة المقاطعة، يتحدث الدكتور ناصر عن أهداف الحملة وأسسها بعيدًا عن أية مواقف سياسية تجاه القضية الفلسطينية-الإسرائيلية. ثم يذكر البرغوثي بعض النجاحات التي حققتها حملة BDS لافتًا الى النجاح الكبير الذي حققته الحملة في مجال المقاطعة الثقافية في الولايات المتحدة الأميريكية.
كما وتطرق الدكتور ناصر الى موضوع التطبيع، العلني والسري، بين الدول العربية وإسرائيل داعيًا الى محاربة كل وسائل التطبيع والتصدي لها عبر الاحتجاج وتنظيم الحملات الأهلية ضد ثقافة التطبيع.
تبع المحاضرة مناقشة طرح خلالها الحضور أسئلة عن فعالية الحملة وانتشارها.

#BDS: #SouthAfrica: Call for Boycott of SA Company Complicit in Israeli Occupation

"Two South African human rights organizations, BDS South Africa and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance, have thrown their weight behind the consumer boycott of a South African company, Karsten Farms, which is complicit in the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.

Karsten Farms sells dates, amongst other produce, under brands such as "Kalahari Medjoul Dates" and have a trade agreement with an Israeli cooperative, Hadiklaim - a company operating, against international law, in the illegal Israeli settlements.

The decision by the two human rights organizations to support the boycott of Karsten Farms only came after first engaging with Karsten Farms, undertaking investigations and consulting relevant stakeholders. (A copy of email correspondence with Karsten Farms can be made available on request)."

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