The #BDS movement explained

"In many media reports on the recent panel held at Brooklyn College on theboycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel, BDS was subjected to relentless vilification and unfounded allegations.

This was yet another ruthless campaign to demonize and shut down all criticism of Israel. Following congressional Israel-centered bullying of secretary of defensenominee Chuck Hagel, it is further evidence of the rise of a new McCarthyism — one that uses unconditional allegiance to Israel as the litmus test of loyalty."

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#BDS: #G4S accused over links to Palestinian ‘torture’ death jail #ArafatJaradat

"Campaigners today called for the British private security corporation G4S to be held to account for its involvement with Israel’s unlawful detention of Palestinians.

The British organisation War on Want is calling for the British private security corporation G4S to be held accountable for its involvement with Israel's unlawful detention of Palestinians, following Saturday's death of Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat from possible torture.

Five years ago G4S signed a contract to provide security systems for major facilities run by the Israel Prison Authority. War on Want notes that the company has supplied not only the Megiddo jail, where Jaradat died, but other prisons including Keziot and Jerusalem's Russian Compound detention facilities."

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#BDS: #UK: Students disrupt Israeli official's lecture

"British students turn against Israel: Dozens of hecklers prevent deputy ambassador from getting word in at University of Essex. Jerusalem: 'The situation on campuses is grim’

Protests against Israel on UK university campuses are growing:Dozens of students disrupted last week a speech by Israel’s Deputy Ambassador to Britain Alon Roth-Snir at the Essex University, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.

A lecture scheduled to be given by Daniel Taub, the Ambassador to Britain, was also cancelled at the University of North Ireland, due to fear of disturbances."

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#BDS: Video: Why should I boycott #Israel?

#BDS: زياد دويري: لم أرتكب جريمة بالتصوير في تل أبيب #لبنان

سينما زياد دويري لا تستقر في مكان. من لبنان إلى فرنسا ففلسطين المحتلة، سينما مفاجئة من حيث تنوّعها الجغرافي، ولكن أيضاً من حيث مشاكستها. ففي فيلمه الروائي الطويل الأول «زار» دويري عالم مراهقته في الحرب اللبنانية، فاعتبر «بيروت الغربية» واحداً من أهم الأفلام التي نظرت إلى تلك الحرب. في ثانيه، وعلى غير توقّع من أحد، وجد نفسه في الجنوب الفرنسي، في عالم العمال المهاجرين والمهمشين، فكان «ليلا قالت هذا»، الناطق بالفرنسية - بإجماع النقاد- واحداً من أبرز الأفلام التي تناولت ذلك العالم. بعدها، في ثالث أفلامه، كان متوقعاً أن يتناول «السياسة الخارجية الأميركية»، هو الذي عرف أميركا التي يحمل جنسيتها عن قرب، واشتغل فيها مصوراً مع كوينتين تارنتينو، لكنه بدلاً من ذلك، وصل إلى فلسطين المحتلة، على غير توقّع أيضاً، ليحقق فيلم «الصدمة» من خلال رواية للكاتب ياسمينا خضرا.

إقرأ/ي المزيد

#BDS: Farming Injustice: End all Trade with Israeli Agricultural Companies

"Palestinian agricultural organisations and the Palestinian BDS National Committee call for the launching of worldwide campaigns on February 9 against Israeli agricultural export corporations in light of their deep complicity in Israel’s ongoing violations of international law and Palestinian human rights. Following the successful campaign against Israel’s former leading agricultural export corporation Agrexco, and in light of the growing international consensus on the duty to enforce an effective ban on trade with the illegal Israeli settlements, we invite social movements, nongovernmental organisations, trade unions and human rights campaigners to take creative and effective action on February 9th in support of Palestinian farmers defending their land and natural resources."

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#BDS Major trade union backs boycott of Israel

Via Electronic Intifada:

One of the world’s largest cross-border trade union groups has declared its support for the campaign to boycott Israeli goods and institutions.
Meeting in Durban, South Africa last week, Public Services International (PSI) also pledged to participate in Israel Apartheid Week, an annual series of events designed to raise awareness about the discrimination and human rights abuses faced by Palestinians. PSI represents 20 million workers throughout the globe.
A resolution urging support for the Palestinian-led mobilisation for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel was proposed to the PSI congress by the South African Municipal Workers Union. Approved by a large majority, the resolution stated:
“We will continue working with our partners in the trade union movement to ensure that worker solidarity is maximized locally and internationally. The slogan of the trade union movement — ‘an injury to one is an injury to all’ — rings true for the people of Palestine. The injustices and human rights abuses towards Palestinians, while living under the rule of apartheid Israel, affects us all and we will continue to mobilize for a just resolution with urgency.”
The PSI binds together some 500 public-sector unions, who deliver vital services in 150 countries. Among the major concerns of PSI are bringing union solidarity to migrating workers; violence against women; and improving infrastructures in the areas of road-building, water and sanitation, energy, and waste. The PSI has also called on the US and its allies to cease providing weapons to Israel. And it pledged to develop campaigns aimed at persuading companies who are complicit in the occupation to withdraw from any economic activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Welcoming the PSI vote, Muhammed Desai from the organization BDS South Africa said: “Public tenders, municipal contracts and other services must now be scrutinized by shop stewards and trade unionists to ensure that our public services are not in any way connected to Israel. There should be no normal relations with an abnormal state.”  Source.

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#BDS: Premier League footballers condemn attack on Gaza, boosting pressure on #UEFA to pull 2013 U21 from Israel #fuckIsrael

"A call by 62 top football players, many from English Premier League and first division teams in Europe, condemning Israel’s recent attack on Gaza and the decision byUEFA, the European football federation, to hold its 2013 Under 21 tournament in Israel, has received wide and favorable coverage.

This takes the Palestinian campaign for the boycott of Israel, especially the sporting boycott, to new levels of international mainstream prominence and legitimacy."

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#BDS: Ann Arbor Transportation still won't allow ati-Israel ads #fuckIsrael

"The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority's board of directors held a special meeting Thursday to revise the agency's advertising policy after a federal judge declared parts of it unconstitutional.

But the agency maintains an anti-Israel advertisement calling for a boycott of Israel — what originally prompted a legal debate over the agency's policy — still won't be allowed on its buses."

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#BDS Victory: Stevie Wonder pulls out of IDF fundraiser after BDS activists wage campaign #fuckIsrael

"World famous singer Stevie Wonder has reportedly pulled out of performing at a fundraiser for the Israeli army that was scheduled to take place December 6, according to one anonymous source who spoke with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency."

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#BDS: Palestinian sports community appeal to #UEFA - #RedCardIsrael #fuckIsrael

"We, Palestinian footballers, athletes and sporting organizations and officials, are dismayed that Israel has been rewarded for its continued impunity and violent oppression of our people with the honour of hosting the UEFA Under-21 tournament in 2013. This decision is a drastic reversal of your brave stand just last year against Israeli attacks on Palestinian sport and its persistent violations of universal principles of human rights. You said: “We accepted them in Europe and furnished them the conditions for membership and they must respect the letter of the laws and international regulations otherwise there is no justification for them to remain in Europe. Israel must choose between allowing Palestinian sport to continue and prosper or be forced to face the consequences for their behaviour”. We write today to remind you of the facts that no doubt informed this brave stance and to urge you to take steps to ensure that the 2013 tournament does not take place in Israel."

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#BDS Peition: Stevie Wonder: Don't Be a Part-Time Lover of Justice! #fuckIsrael

"On November 25, 2012, YNet announced that musical legend and civil rights advocate Stevie Wonder would be performing for Israeli soldiers and major donors at the annual gala of the Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). Stevie Wonderstood against Apartheid in South Africa and has been an outspoken supporter of racial justice and civil rights in the United States. Please join us in saying to Stevie Wonder: "We Just Called to Say, Don't Entertain Apartheid!" 

Read the petition and sign it here 

#BDS: Nobel peace laureates call for #Israel military boycott over #Gaza assault #fuckIsrael

"A group of Nobel peace prize-winners, prominent artists and activists have issued a call for an international military boycott of Israel following its assault on the Gaza Strip this month.

The letter also denounces the US, EU and several developing countries for what it describes as their "complicity" through weapons sales and other military support in the attack that killed 160 Palestinians, many of them civilians, including about 35 children.

The 52 signatories include the Nobel peace laureates Mairead Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel; the film directors Mike Leigh and Ken Loach; the author Alice Walker; the US academic Noam Chomsky; Roger Waters of Pink Floyd; and Stéphane Hessel, a former French diplomat and Holocaust survivor who was co-author of the universal declaration of human rights."

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#BDS: #Gaza students launch "boycott Israel" campaign #fuckIsrael

"Malaka Mohammed, an English literature student at the Islamic University of Gaza(IUG), is the president of the university’s English Language Club for female students. Under her leadership, the club of 15 members has embarked this fall on the Gaza Strip’s first campus-based boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign targeting Israel. “After knowing that there was something called BDS, I made up my mind to do something,” Mohammed said. “So when we had our first meeting, I proposed that we boycott Israeli goods at IUG.”

Student BDS activism in the Gaza Strip began with the January 2009 launch of thePalestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI), part of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). For nearly four years, the student campaign has organized at campuses across the coastal territory, mostly in support of the academic and cultural boycott of Israel."

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#BDS G4S blockaded in Oslo over support for Israeli apartheid

Early this morning, a group of activists from the Palestine Committee of Norway blocked the entrance to the offices of the security firm G4S in Oslo. The activists demanded that G4S stop all activities that contribute to the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. The blockade adds weight to a petition — signed by 21 Norwegian organizations — which was presented to G4S management last week.

The Palestine Committee writes in a press release:

“G4S is contributing to human rights violations against the Palestinians. This is ethically unacceptable,” says one of the activists, Vanja Alling.

G4S has, since 2002, promised to end its contracts with the Israeli military, police and illegal settlements in the West Bank, but this has proven not to be carried out in practise. Here are some of the revelations from [the Danish investigative group] Danwatch in 2011, showing that G4S is still involved in the occupation of Palestine:

• G4S provides equipment and services to the separation wall in the West Bank and military checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza;
• G4S delivers safety equipment  and services to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank;
• G4S provides equipment and services to Israeli prisons in which Palestinians, among them children, are held in violation of the Geneva conventions. According to Israeli human rights organizations, Palestinians face torture in these prisons.

“Most Norwegian companies and individuals do not want to be associated with the brutal repression of the Palestinians. We know that several Norwegian companies and organizations are considering terminating their contracts with G4S due to their involvement in the occupation. The campaign against G4S will continue until the company no longer participate in the Israeli occupation,” says Vanja Alling.

The blockade lasted an hour and the activists promised to be back again soon.

“Withdraw now”

On 1 November, G4S management in Norway received a petition titled G4S contributes to the occupation of Palestine, signed by 21 groups, including  trade unions, political parties, Palestine solidarity organizations, funding organizations, Amnesty International, and YMCA-YWCA. The signatories stated: ”G4S must immediately withdraw from all activities on occupied Palestinian land and halt all deliveries to Israeli prisons in which Palestinian prisoners are imprisoned in violation of the Geneva conventions.”

Here’s the full text of the petition:

G4S CONTRIBUTES TO THE OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE

In October 2011 the Danish research center Danwatch revealed that G4S is still involved in the Israeli occupation industry by supplying equipment and services to the Israeli military, prisons and illegal settlements in the West Bank. This has happened although the company has repeatedly said that it will stop these activities based on ethical considerations.

In April 2012, G4S decided to exit from their contracts with military checkpoints, one Israeli prison and one police station in the West Bank, when the contract terms expire. However, G4S has stated it will continue to provide security and alarm services for banks and supermarkets in Israeli settlements. In addition, G4S will continue to supply equipment and services to Israeli prisons. In these prisons West Bank Palestinians are detained in violation of the Geneva conventions. According to the Norwegian People’s Aid and Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees’ report “Dangerous Connections” from 2012, Palestinian prisoners are routinely subjected to torture in these centers. Israeli human rights organizations also claim that Palestinian children are being held there.

At the same time as the situation for Palestinians is becoming increasingly desperate as a result of the Israeli occupation, G4S chooses to participate in activities that directly contribute to maintaining illegal settlements and military repression. Israel’s settlement policy in the West Bank violates international law and is condemned by the international community. Despite this, new settlements are being built and existing settlements expanded. Palestinian land and limited water resources are confiscated, and the possibilities for free movement for Palestinians are further tightened. Expansion of Israeli settlements has led to widespread destruction of Palestinian homes and forcible transferring of Palestinians. The Israeli settlement policy violates Palestinians’ rights to self-determination, equality, property, decent living conditions and freedom of movement.

The signed organizations believe that G4S’ deliveries to settlements, Israeli military, prisons and police are unethical, as this is a part of maintaining the occupation of Palestinian territories. G4S must immediately withdraw from all activities on occupied Palestinian land and halt all deliveries to Israeli prisons in which Palestinian prisoners are imprisoned in violation of the Geneva conventions.

Sincerely

Amnesty International Norway
AUF Oslo (Workers’ Youth League - Oslo)
EL&IT forbundet (Electricians and information technology workers union)
Fagforbundet (Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees)
Fagforbundet i Oslo (Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees - Oslo)
Fellesforbundet avd 023 Raufoss Jern og Metall (Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions - iron and metalworkers)
Fellesforbundet avd 850 Oslo Grafiske Fagforening (Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions -  Oslo graphic workers union)
Fellesorganisasjonen (Norwegian Union of Social Educators and Social Workers)
Fellesutvalget for Palestina (Association of Norwegian NGOs for Palestine)
Handel og kontor i Norge (Union of Employees in Commerce and Offices)
Industri Energi (Industry Energy workers union)
KFUK-KFUM Globals Midtøsten-komité (YWCA-YMCA Global Middle East comittee)
LO i Oslo (Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions - Oslo)
Norsk Folkehjelp (Norwegian People’s Aid)
Norsk Transportarbeiderforbund (Norwegian Transport Workers’ Union)
Palestinakomiteen i Norge (Palestine Committee of Norway)
Palestine Network Norway
Rødt (Red Party)
Sosiale institusjoners forening (Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees-branch 701 social workers union)
Sosialistisk Ungdom (Socialist Youth League of Norway)
Sosialistisk Venstreparti (Socialist Left Party of Norway)

SOURCE