Jun 15, 2011

#BDS: University of Miami Signs Collaborative Agreement in #Israel

"The University of Miami and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have signed an agreement to collaborate in areas that include joint research, academic cooperative, and student exchange programs. The agreement was signed by BGU President Rivka Carmi and UM President Donna E. Shalala, who received an honorary doctoral degree from BGU on May 30.


In the coming months, both universities will focus on developing collaborative and cooperative programs of study in the fields of humanities and fine arts, social and behavioral sciences, engineering and mathematics, earth sciences, and management sciences. Under this agreement, the universities may co-sponsor local and international seminars and colloquia as well as exchange faculty and research information."
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#BDS: الجامعة الأمريكية في بيروت: لا تدافعي عن شخص يبرر جرائم إسرائيل

 علمت، "الحملة الفلسطينية لمقاطعة إسرائيل الأكاديمية و الثقافية"، بأسى شديد، عن قرار  الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت قد بتكريم السير جيمس وولفنسون في حفل التخرج هذا العام. وزاد الاحباط لدينا  حين قرأنا رسالة وجهها  بيتر دورمان رئيس الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت، الى الأساتذة و الطلّاب و الموظفين الخريجين بتاريخ 11 حزيران [1]2011. ففي رسالته تلك وجه دورمان للجسم الجامعي، وذلكفي صدد تبرير موقف الجامعة حبال سحب الدعوة لولفنسون في حفل التخرّج و بالتالي، عدم منحه "الدكتوراة الفخرية".

إننا كحملة، عادة ما نعهد  الى شركائنا المحلّيين بتولي معالجة قضاياهم الداخلية كما يرون مناسباً. ولكن في الحالة الحاضرة، فأن الحملة ترى ان الروابط الحميمية التي تربط  اللبنانيين والفلسطينيين في صراعهم ضد الاحتلال الاسرائيلي انتهاكات اسرائيل للقانون الدولي على مر العقود، بما فيه حقوق شعبنا، يفرض علينا التدخّل المباشر في هذا الموضوع.  وكذلك فان زملاء لنا في الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت و مناصرين لحملتنا، كما قدامى الجامعة الفلسطينيون طالبونا  بالتدخّل ، كون هذه الحالة يمكن لها أن تقوّض مسعانا الدائم والمتزايد من أجل الحقوق الفلسطينية. لذا فعندما  عمد رئيس الجامعة ، في رسالته في تاريخ 11 حزيران، بالتهجم على الجامعي والمجتمع اللبناني عامة، شعرنا أنّه من الضروري  أن  نشارك مباشرة في هذا  الموضوع دعما لزملائنا اللبنانيين و الفلسطينين  كما شركائنا اللبنانيين في هذه المسألة، الذي يناضلون لتحقيق العدالة لخدمة مصلحتنا جميعا.. بالاضافة فان التشويه  والتشويه المتعمد لحقيقة دور وولفنسون في فلسطين و علاقات هذا الأخير الواضحة مع المؤسسات الاسرائيلية يستلزم ردّا من طرفنا.
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#BDS: Uproar against false labeling of #Ahava

"A GROUP of human rights activists are up in arms against retailer Wellness Warehouse for selling Ahava beauty products allegedly made in Israeli settlements.



Lining up in the forecourt of the retail store in Cape Town's up-market Kloof Street on Saturday, human rights activists called a boycott of the business outlet."
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#BDS: United Church Presbytery Group Launches BDS Campaign against #Israel

"The Holy Land Awareness and Action Task Group, of the Social Justice and World Affairs Committee within South West Presbytery of the United Church of Canada, has launchedOccupied with Peace in Palestine, a Boycott/Divestment Campaign. “The non-violent Campaign,” says spokesperson Rev. Brian McIntosh, “encourages individuals and organizations, particularly congregations of the United Church in its region, to use economic leverage to persuade six companies operating in Canada – Caterpillar, Motorola, Ahava, Veolia, Elbit Systems and Chapters/Indigo – currently involved in illegal activities in the Palestinian Occupied Territories – to stop supporting the Israeli occupation and uphold international law.”

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#BDS: The politics of literary boycotts

(...)


"Today, the best example of a vigorous cultural and academic boycott movement is that directed at Israel for its ongoing violation of Palestinian human rights. In 2004, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural 




Boycott of Israel (PACBI) issued a major call endorsed by the vast bulk of Palestinian civil society groups:
Since Israeli academic institutions (mostly state-controlled) and the vast majority of Israeli intellectuals and academics have either contributed directly to maintaining, defending or otherwise justifying the above forms of oppression, or have been complicit in them through their silence… We, Palestinian academics and intellectuals, call upon our colleagues in the international community to comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel's occupation, colonisation and system of apartheid.
Examples abound of Israel making cultural life for Palestinians a daily grind. For example, in May 2009, Israeli troops tried to close the Palestinian Festival of Literature in Jerusalem by shutting a theatre on spurious procedural grounds."
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#BDS: مظاهرة احتجاجية في السويد ضد اسرائيل تتهمها بأنها نظام فصل عنصري #Sweden

اشتعلت مظاهرة احتجاجية معادية لاسرائيل خلال مباراة لكرة اليد اجريت امس في ملعب بمدينة (كارلسكرونا) جنوب السويد.
وذكرت صحيفة (هارتس) الاسرائيلية اليوم على موقعها الالكتروني "ان نحو 150 مواطنا تظاهروا في ملعب في مدينة (كارلسكرونا) حيث كانت تجري هذه المبارة في اطار تصفيات بطولة فرق كرة اليد الاوروبية غير ان المظاهرة لم تتحول الى احداث عنف".

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#BDS: GayMiddleEast.com’s #Zionism

"Gay Middle East have always had shady politics. That the largest Middle East LGBT (well, G mostly) “grassroots news” website is run by British Israeli Zionist Dan Littauer is already cause for concern. The fact that GME regularly collaborates with neo-colonialist Islamophobes such as Peter Tatchell (the guy with a penchant for threatening lawsuits against those who don’t think he is god’s gift to oppressed gay people) doesn’t help his credentials much. Bizarrely, he is also the human rights and press officer for the Association of British Muslims. Barring the logic of such a position, Littauer is also quite friendly with Islamophobic pornographer Michael Lucas, whose recent campaign against Siegebusters, a NY-based anti-apartheid group, successfully got them banned from meeting at the NY LGBT center. Lucas, by the way, is making a name for himself uttering such gems as “Muslims have not contributed to civilization in any way”. He is also famous for making gay porn film “Men of Israel”, which had its setting on the ruins of homes Palestinians displaced in 1948."


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#BDS: AUB: Do Not Defend a Whitewasher of Israeli Crimes #Lebanon

"It is with deep regret that the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) learned of the American University of Beirut’s (AUB) decision to honor Sir James Wolfensohn at this year’s commencement.  It was with even greater disappointment that we read AUB President Peter Dorman’s letter to faculty, students, staff and alumni dated 11 June 2011 [1].  In that letter, Dorman levels accusations at his own university community as he explains the university position regarding the cancellation of Wolfensohn’s appearance at commencement and, therefore, Wolfensohn’s inability to receive the honorary degree.
As a campaign, we normally defer to our local partners to handle internal debates as we always feel they are in the best position to do so.  However, in this case, PACBI believes that the strong ties and wide common denominator between Palestinians and Lebanese in the struggle against Israel’s occupation and decades-old violations of international law and our respective people’s rights invite such an intervention from us.  Our AUB colleagues and supporters, as well as Palestinian AUB Alumni have also asked us to get involved, as this case clearly has the potential to undermine our persistent and increasingly growing work for Palestinian rights. Thus, when the AUB president, representing the institution, came out in his June 11 letter attacking his own community and the Lebanese community at large, we felt it important to weigh on this issue in support of our Lebanese and Palestinian colleagues and partners in Lebanon fighting for justice on all our behalf. Moreover, the obvious misrepresentation of Wolfensohn’s role in Palestine and his explicit connections with Israeli institutions required a response on our part."
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#BDS Victories: #Dexia bank to sell Israeli subsidiary; #Veolia loses another contract

"Just six weeks after French-Belgian bank Dexia gave notice that it was looking for a buyer for its Israeli subsidiary company, the Israeli business news website Globes reported on 15 May that the bank will sell off its 65 percent stake in Dexia-Israel (established in 2001) “by the end of the summer,” even as the parent company faces a loss with its sale. 
This news comes as a victory to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. For two years, BDS activists in Belgium and the Netherlands — along with solidarity groups in France, Turkey and and Luxembourg — sustained a campaign against Dexia after it was revealed that the bank provided long-term loans to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Who Profits, a project of the Coalition of Women for Peace,publicized Dexia’s role in financing the Israeli settlement industry. "
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#BDS Needed: General Electric to set up new Israeli R&D center

"General Electric (NYSE: GE), one of the world's largest companies, will open its a multidisciplinary R&D center in Israel, its eighth R&D center in the country, at an investment of $3-5 million. The R&D center will engage in research in medical devices, water, and clean energy.
The R&D center will be set up in Haifa, near the center of GE subsidiary GE Healthcare, which has hundreds of employees who work on medical imaging systems."
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#BDS: العرب لا يحتاجون إلى صديق مثل ولفنسون

أعلنت «الحملة الفلسطينية للمقاطعة الأكاديمية والثقافية لإسرائيل»، في بيان أصدرته، أنّها تلقّت بأسف قرار «الجامعة الأميركية في بيروت» تكريم رئيس البنك الدولي السابق، الداعم لإسرائيل، جيمس ولفنسون. كذلك تلقّت بخيبة أمل أكبر بيان رئيس الجامعة بيتر دورمان الصادر في 11 حزيران الجاري، «والذي يسيء فيه إلى أبناء جامعته ليبرّئ ولفنسون ويشرح فيه سبب إلغاء تكريمه».

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#BDS: Israeli honour for Wolfensohn after Beirut petition #Lebanon

"The former president of the World Bank has pulled out of a speech at the American University of Beirut because of pressure from anti-Israel activists.
Australian-born Sir James Wolfensohn, who is Jewish, was due to speak at the AUB graduation ceremony on June 25 and be awarded an honorary doctorate.
But the university decided to revoke the doctorate after staff and students launched a petition against honouring him because of his ties with Israeli businesses.
Sir James, who led the World Bank from 1995 to 2005, was appointed as a special envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East five years ago, a role in which he oversaw Israel's disengagement from Gaza. He left the post a year later because of disagreements over how to engage with an elected Hamas."
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