#BDS: صحافيّون لبنانيّون في بروكسل: تطبيع أو لا تطبيع؟

بروكسل | مفاجأة غير سارة كانت في انتظار الصحافيين اللبنانيين المشاركين في الندوة الختامية لـ«الشبكة الصحافية لسياسة الجوار الأوروبي» التي تختتم أعمالها اليوم في بروكسل. فقد اكتشف مراسلو قناة «الجديد» وجريدتي «السفير» و«الأخبار»، أنّ الشبكة دعتهم إلى المشاركة في أعمالها من دون إبلاغهم أنّ وفداً صحافياً إسرائيلياً سيحضر أيضاً الندوة. وذلك رغم معرفة المنظمين المسبقة بأنّ هذه الخطوة مخالفة للقانون اللبناني، وللمزاج السياسي العربي المعادي للتطبيع.

الدعوة التي تلقاها الصحافيون اللبنانيون من الجهة المنظّمة، ومنهم

 كاتب هذه السطور، لم تشر إلى مشاركة الصحافيين الإسرائيليين الأربعة... علماً بأنّ الأمر حسم منذ بداية نشاطات الشبكة التي انطلقت عام 2007 في بروكسل، وتنقلت اجتماعاتها بين بيروت ومدريد وأذربيجان وأوكرانيا. فقد أُدرج لبنان في مجموعة دول شمال أفريقيا (بدلاً من الشرق الأوسط) لتفادي التطبيع الإعلامي بين الصحافيين الإسرائيليين واللبنانيين، بناءً على طلب الطرف اللبناني حينذاك.

Anti-normalization: a necessary part of #BDS-campaigning

"Some people have been wondering why the word 'normalization' is being used by pro-Palestine movements more and more frequently. Many seem to be puzzled by this word, not knowing exactly what is meant by it. What probably strikes them the most is that this expression, based on the word 'normal' which ordinarily has a positive connotation, is used in this context as something that is looked down upon or even despised. It therefore seems important to clarify what it means, why it is seen as negative, and what its role is in the oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian people.

Definition and forms of normalization

'Normalization' in the Palestinian context means: treating the Zionist state as if it is a 'normal' country like any other, instead of an illegitimate settler colony built on stolen land. It is mostly applied when Arab states, nations or people engage in social, economic, cultural or political relationships with 'Israel'. The negative context of this word is based on the fact that it is a widely held view in the Arab world that this colonialist and racist state should be boycotted, isolated and pressured, instead of allowing it to prosper in an environment of normality. In Arabic, this expression is called 'ta6bee3'."

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#BDS: Omar Faruk Tekbilek defies #Israel boycott

"Turkish flautist Omar Faruk Tekbilek will perform next Sunday at Tamar Festival, which will be held for the 12th time at the Dead Sea.


Over the past 15 years, Tekbilek has performed in thousands of festivals in front of hundreds of thousands of people across the world, sold millions of albums and won important awards."

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#BDS: Israeli & Palestinian Journalists Discuss Revolutions in DC

This event is being promoted as a dialogue event about Arabs, when in reality the panel is made up of all but one Israeli.  While most Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank cannot even travel to seek urgent medical care, much less to talk about their blogs, it seems patently unfair that Israelis are able to travel the world to discuss Arab issues with the privilege afforded to them because of their Israeli or other North American passports.  A cursory search on the internet did not net any evidence indicating that any of the Israeli participants support boycott of the Zionist state or condemnation of Zionism as a racist ideology.  A panel discussion about Arabs should be composed of a panel made up of Arabs, not 5 Israelis and 1 Arab that happens to work for them.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel delineates a carefully thought out set of principles for joint projects between Israelis and Palestinians which we support an adherence to:

"As in the cultural field, events and projects (such as those involving educators, psychologists, or historians) involving Palestinians and/or Arabs and Israelis that promote “balance” between the “two sides” in presenting their respective narratives or “traumas,” as if on par, or are otherwise based on the false premise that the colonizers and the colonized, the oppressors and the oppressed, are equally responsible for the “conflict,” are intentionally deceptive, intellectually dishonest and morally reprehensible.  Such events and projects, often seeking to encourage dialogue or “reconciliation between the two sides” without addressing the requirements of justice, promote the normalization and perpetuation of oppression and injustice.  All such events and projects that bring Palestinians and/or Arabs and Israelis together, unless based on unambiguous recognition of Palestinian rights and framed within the explicit context of opposition to occupation and other forms of Israeli oppression of the Palestinians, are strong candidates for boycott.  Other factors that PACBI takes into consideration in evaluating such events and projects are the sources of funding, the design of the project or event, the objectives of the sponsoring organization(s), the participants, and similar relevant factors."

#BDS: Solidarity Campaign with Palestinian Prisoners on Oct 12, 2011

I will be on hunger strike for 24hrs on October 12, 2011 in solidarity with thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, who have been on hunger strike since September 27, 2011 to demand their basic human rights. Join me.


http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=231330736923906

#BDS: ACTION ALERT: #SJP Needs Your Support

Support SJP (Students for Justice in Palestine) by making a donation here to help them host their first national conference at Columbia University, October 14 to 16, 2011.

#BDS: Photos: Opening of MECA's 'A Child's view from #Gaza' Exibit

The exhibit will be on display on 917 Washington Street, Oakland CA for the next two months.

#BDS: Rewarding #Alstom: Arab Partnership in Occupation

"Alstom, a French corporation, has received global condemnation for aiding Israel’s colonization of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Yet Alstom’s business ventures continue to thrive in the Arab world, and the corporation appears set to win more multi-million dollar contracts in the near future.

Boycott Divestment and Sanctions(BDS) campaigners in Beirut warned Wednesday in a press conference that French construction giant Alstom Group may be awarded major new contracts in several Arab countries, notably Saudi Arabia and Iraq. The activists appealed to Arab governments to stop dealing with the firm, which is complicit in Israel’s ongoing theft of Palestinian land."

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#BDS VICTORY: Natasha Atlas announces she cancels gig in #Irsael

Natasha Atlas announces she is cancelling her Israeli gig on her official facebook page: "I had an idea that performing in Israel would have been a unique opportunity to encourage and support my fans' opposition to the current government's actions and policies. I would have personally asked my Israeli fans face-to-face to fight this apartheid with peace in their hearts, but after much deliberation I now see that it would be more effective a statement to not go to Israel until this systemised apartheid is abolished once and for all. Therefore I publicly retract my well-intentioned decision to go and perform in Israel and so sincerely hope that this decision represents an effective statement against this regime."

#BDS: GLOBAL CALL TO BOYCOTT THE INTERNATIONAL HARP CONTEST IN #ISRAEL

"The International Harp Contest in Israel is NOT the place to play my harp.  I won't apply for it.  I don't want any part of apartheid!

It is essential for Israel to maintain the elegant facade of philharmonic concerts, chamber music ensembles, and gatherings of sophisticated harpists.  Covering up the brutal occupation in the West Bank, the slow genocide in Gaza, and the multiple violations of International Law in easier when a veil of eliteness is donned.  The denial of the rights of the Palestinian refugees to seek compensation or to return to their own property is ignored.  The legalized discrimination against Arabs with Israeli IDs is hidden from young harpists who are misled into thinking they must add "Israel" to their resume."

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#BDS ALERT: Don't buy #Agrexco - Don't support Occupation

"Last month, Israel exporter company Agrexco has gone bankrupt because of the world wide BDS campaign for the company's long and deep involvement with the illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestine.

But now a Japanese company are going to buy the fallen Agrexco with two other Israeli company for 40 million NIS, to make the Apartheid business survive.

We ask you urgently to sign the petition below to put pressure on the company to divest from the Apartheid business."

Sign petition here

#BDS: South Africa should support boycott of #Israel

"Speaking at the UN, President Jacob Zuma said he supported the Palestinian Authority’s bid for full membership of the UN for a state of Palestine; proposed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday September 23. After two decades of fruitless negotiations with Israel (while the latter continued building illegal settlements on Palestinian land, violently displacing Palestinians and stealing their resources), the PA turned its attention to getting international recognition within the UN .
Before commenting on South Africa’s position, it is necessary to look at the nature of the PA’s proposal and the circumstances leading up to it.
The United Nations partition plan in 1947 divided British Mandate Palestine into a “Jewish state” and an “Arab state”. At the time, the UN was not representative of world opinion. Most African states, for example, were still colonised and not members. Today, the UN Security Council continues this pattern of allowing a handful of countries to make decisions on behalf of the rest of the world."


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#BDS Alert: Petition against King's College London involvement with #Ahava

"King’s College London is conducting research in close collaboration with Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, an Israeli cosmetics company partly owned by and located in the illegal Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem, deep in occupied Palestinian territory. 

Ahava profits from, and helps to maintain, Israeli violations of international law. By collaborating with Ahava, KCL has itself become complicit with the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

Echoing the overwhelming international consensus on the illegal nature of Israeli settlements, we join KCL Action Palestine in calling upon the university to withdraw from the project immediately, reject the grant it has received as part of the project, and take active steps to ensure that the university does not find itself in a similar position in the future."

Sign the petition here

Review: #BDS: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights

"Roughly four million Palestinians live under a brutal and illegal US-backed Israeli occupation. Approximately 1.5 million Palestinians live inside Israel, where, although they face less dire circumstances than those in the occupied territories, they nevertheless endure substantial and increasingly vicious racial oppression. And according to the UN, five million Palestinians worldwide are "registered" refugees whom Israel denies the right of return; roughly one third of them live in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the occupied Palestinian territories. Given this appalling situation, those concerned with social justice have sought to aid the Palestinian cause, producing many contending views of how best to proceed. Omar Barghouti's book contributes to this discussion. 

BDS: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions is a collection of essays and interviews that denounce injustice towards the Palestinians and promote "BDS" as "the most ambitious, empowering, and promising Palestinian-led global movement for justice and rights" (16). Since many excellent writings already exist that detail the dramatic injustice in the region -- and Barghouti's book, too, is hard-hitting and compelling in that regard -- this review focuses on Barghouti's arguments advocating and defending BDS, particularly with respect to organizing in the United States."

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#BDS: Video: Boycott Apartheid Israel Rally #Australia