#BDS: New prize to encourage 'Zionist art'

Following controversial artists' letter calling for boycott of Ariel cultural hall, Culture Minister Limor Livnat announces new award aimed at fighting 'de-legitimization,' says all state-funded culture institutions will be forced to perform all over Israel

Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat announced Monday that she plans to force all state-funded culture institutions to perform all over Israel as a condition for continuing their funding.

She spoke during a Knesset's Education and Culture Committee session on the backdrop of the second artists' letter calling for a boycott against the Ariel culture hall, which is located beyond the Green Line.

The minister plans to extend an amendment to the criteria determining the budgeting of all cultural institutions. A theater which refuses to sign a commitment to perform anywhere across Israel will be deprived of funding.

#BDS: Students push for divestment at university

USC’s campus has recently become the scene of a growing movement by pro-Palestine supporters speaking out against what they see as illegal occupation of territory and discriminatory practices by the Israeli government.

The movement, known internationally as the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” movement, aims to achieve sanctions or other official action against Israel.

Activists hope to achieve this by means of boycotting certain Israeli institutions and stopping business in — or divesting from — companies that are involved in the occupation of what BDS supporters say is Palestinian territory.

The movement has been spearheaded on campus by Students for Justice in Palestine, a pro-Palestine student group that has attempted to raise awareness for the movement by hosting events and collecting petition signatures.

#BDS: 7 things you can do this BDS Week of action + check out the new BIG website Inbox X

Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions week of Action till 16^th November 2010

For more than sixty years the suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of the Israeli state has been met with the international community rewarding Israel economically and politically, and allowing Israel to act with impunity.

People of conscience around the world have a responsibility to respond to the call from Palestinian civil society to join them in the growing movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until the country complies with international law and recognises Palestinian rights.

As part of the BDS week of action, we’re pleased to re-launch the Boycott Israeli Goods website – with in-depth information in a number of current campaigns we are involved in – including saying no to Ahava Stolen beauty; a new ‘boycott pledge’ as part of our supermarket actions and phone-in; a petition to launch campaigns to ‘Bin Veolia’ and a new campaign that we will be launching later in the week.

Check out the relaunched www.bigcampaign.org

From taking part in a direct action outside your supermarket to signing the ‘boycott pledge’ online, everyone can get involved in during the BDS week of action.

Below are seven things you can do:

1) Sign the ‘boycott pledge’ and keep it in your wallet, as a reminder to check the label during your supermarket shop, or make conversation with the shop manager to show you’re a card carrying boycotter of Israeli goods. You can also sign the pledge online and send an email to the supermarkets you shop at that you’ve signed the boycott pledge.

2) Supermarket phone in: On Thursday 11^th, ring Tesco’s and Sainsbury’s and ask them to stop stocking Israeli goods until the country complies with international law. Tesco’s: Ring 0800 505 555 and press option 3. Sainsbury’s: Ring 0800 636 262.

3) Change your facebook profile (using the picture above) tag your friends in it, and ask them to change it too

4) Get involved in a supermarket action – ask shoppers to boycott Israeli goods. Find out what Israeli goods are sold in the supermarkets by visiting our ‘supermarket product watch’ page. To see what PSC branches are organising, click here

5) Use our model petition to gather support for a local campaign to ‘Bin Veolia’ who are breaking international by providing refuse and transport services to illegal settlements.

6) say no to stolen beauty - join the fortnightly protest outside the ‘Ahava’ flagship store in Covent Garden – find out when the next one is at: http://freepalestinefortnightlydemo.wordpress.com/

7) Order boycott leaflets, pledge cards, stickers, factsheets and more from the PSC office – check out our resources pageand place an order

#BDS: Anti-normalization committee slams Jordanian gov't for military ties with Israel

AMMAN, (PIC)-- The Jordanian higher executive committee for defending the homeland and confronting normalization with Israel strongly denounced the government for forcing the Jordanian army to engage in joint activities with the Israeli occupation forces.

"The Jordanian government is committing a crime against the nation when it compels the men of the Arab army (Jordan's forces) to carry out joint drills with the Zionist enemy's forces that are occupying the Arab land and insult our Islamic and Christian holy sites," the committee stated on Monday.

The committee stressed that these activities are unjustified whatever their nature and the Jordanian army must be dedicated to protecting the Arab lands from what he described as the "Zionist abomination."

It also emphasized the need to keep the Jordanian army away from the mismanagement and misconduct of Jordanian officials and politicians in the government.

#BDS: 5 protestors disrupt Netanyahu's speech in New Orleans

Five protestors who disrupted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech at a conference of the Jewish Federations of North America in New Orleans were escorted out of the room Monday.

The protestors made pro-Palestinian calls during Netanyahu's speech.

#BDS: Cape Town Opera Spreads False Information and Promotes Polishing the Chains of Apartheid Israel

In a recent report in the Mail and Guardian[1], a South African daily news source, the managing director of the Cape Town Opera reiterated his rejection of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s appeal to the group to cancel their ill-conceived tour of Israel. Archbishop Tutu had urged the CTO to cancel their tour, saying that “to perform Porgy and Bess, with its universal message of non-discrimination, in the present state ofIsrael, is unconscionable” [2]. Tutu added:

Only the thickest-skinned South Africans would be comfortable performing before an audience that excluded residents living, for example, in an occupied West Bank village 30 minutes from Tel Aviv, who would not be allowed to travel to Tel Aviv, while including his Jewish neighbours from an illegal settlement on occupied Palestinian territory.

Feeling the heat, the CTO managing director added a new spin to the planned tour, in order to turn it, in his words, into “something constructive.” He claimed to be working with “Palestinian organizations” as though that would exonerate the CTO of charges of whitewashing Israeli apartheid and war crimes. But even if one were to ignore this attempt at “balance” or “parity between justice and injustice,” which Nelson Mandela cautioned against, one cannot ignore the fact that the claim of working with "Palestinian" groups to cover up this boycott-busting tour turned out to be an unfounded fabrication.

Two of the three groups mentioned, the West Eastern Divan and the Barenboim Said Foundation confirmed to PACBI that they have not agreed to work with or provide any assistance to the CTO on this tour. The third, the Palestinian Circus School, has condemned the CTO’s claim as a blatant lie in a letter to PACBI, affirming that it has nothing to do with the CTO tour.

PACBI calls on the CTO to retract its statements, apologize for making these false claims and to immediately cancel their tour of Israel which is clearly designed to polish the chains of Israeli apartheid, to use Archbishop Tutu’s eloquent metaphor, instead of helping the Palestinians in breaking those chains altogether.

#BDS: Launching a campaign for the Palestinian Prisoners: "Write a letter to Palestinian detainees"

- The campaign target is to send the "Maximum" number of Letters to the Palestinian prisoners + raise the Awareness about their issue .

- The campaign is simply a "solidarity message" to the Palestinian/Arab detainees in the Israeli jails.

- We WRITE, ask our friends to write, a personal letter "message" to a specific Palestinian detainee in the Occupation jails . THEN

TO tweet that .. "ex: I've sent a letter to the Palestinian detainee XYZ at XYZ Israeli detainee center "prison" #PalDetainee "

- Names of the detainees could be found on [[ www.freedom.ps ]]

- People will send their personal message to the email address: writealetter2010@gmail.com

- The campaign blog is [[ www.PalDetainees.wordpress.com ]]

- On the site you find: - Introduction about the campaign - some details -Arabic/English- when/how to send letters (emails actually), in addition to FACTS & numbers about the Palestinian detainees in the Israeli jails. + a list "to be added EVERY day of the 15 days of the campaign" containing

SUGGESTED names of Palestinian detainees, people can send their letter to.

- The campaign starts Nov. 01, 2010 and lasts 15 days.

- Twitter is our main media ... and #PalDetainees is our Hashtag .

- Attached the logo - avatar- for the campaign that we may use.

- Every single post related to #PalDetainees helps raising the awareness & is therefore welcomed.

#BDS: Pamela Anderson visits Western Wall

Former 'Baywatch' star, who will participate Monday in Israeli version of 'Dancing with the Stars', spends half an hour at Jewish holy site in Jerusalem

American-Canadian actress Pamela Anderson's first day in Israelcame to an end Sunday evening with a visit to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, where she arrived in modest clothing.

The visit evoked great interest among many men in the area, who documented the event with their cameras.

Anderson called Israel a "progressive" country because it had no fur farms, and said that it can serve as "an example for the rest of the world."

She said she intends to speak about the issue of fur to Israeli religious leaders on her trip.

"It's almost 2011. There are so many alternatives to things. We can be compassionate in our choices," Anderson said.

#BDS: Local & Global Actions: Week Against the Apartheid Wall 9-16 November 2010

Week Against the Apartheid Wall 9-16 November 2010:

Local Activities: Palestinian activists and human rights defenders from across the West Bank will come together in mass protests to show their steadfastness in saying NO! to Walls, Bantustans and the Apartheid regime.

• Nilin, Ramallah
  Date: 12 November
  Where: In-front of the Apartheid Wall in the village after Friday prayers.
  Contact Person: Yaffa, yaffaalmalky@yahoo.com, Tel: +972 2 2971505
  
• Al Walaja, Bethlehem
  Date: 13 November
  Where: In-front of the Apartheid Wall in the village.
  Contact Person: Yaffa, yaffaalmalky@yahoo.com, Tel: +972 2 2971505
  
• Qalqiliya
  Date: 14 November
  Where: In-front of the Apartheid Wall in the City
  Contact Person: Yaffa, yaffaalmalky@yahoo.com, Tel: +972 2 2971505
  
• Ramallah City
  Date: 29 November
  Where: Gathering in front of united nation center in Ramallah asking to activate the advisory opinion of the international court of justice.
  Contact Person: Yaffa, yaffaalmalky@yahoo.com, Tel: +972 2 2971505

---------------------------------------------------
Global Actions:

Argentina: Seminars and film screenings about apartheid, colonialism and racism in the Israeli expansion project, the construction of the Wall and the attack on Gaza
Date: 8 and 15 November, 7-9pm
Where: Buenos Aires
Organised by: UPMPM and Federacion de Entidades Argentinos-Palestinas
Contact: info@federacionpalestina.com.ar

Australia: Theatre production of ‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’ and panel discussion
Date: 7 November, 5.15pm; and performances running until 17 November
Where: Melbourne
Organised by: Women for Palestine
Contact: sonjakarkar@womenforpalestine.org

Austria: Silent vigil with materials on the Wall and settlements
Date: 6 November, 2-4pm
Where: Vienna
Organised by: Women in Black
Contact: WomenInBlack-Vienna@gmx.net

Canada: An evening of photography and discussion with Jon Elmer, photojournalist to mark the tenth anniversary of the Second Intifada
Date: 8 November, 7-9pm
Where: Beit Zaitoun, Markham Street
Organised by: Coalition against Israeli Apartheid
Contact: endapartheid@riseup.net

Canada: Panel discussion on Walls throughout the world and their impact on daily life, including Palestine, the US, Mexico and Canda
Date: 10 November, 6.30pm
Where: York University
Organised by: Coalition against Israeli Apartheid, Students Against Israeli Apartheid and No One is Illegal
Contact: endapartheid@riseup.net

Canada: Fundraiser for the Canadian boat to Gaza
Date: 12 November, 7pm
Where: Unitarian Church, Vancouver
Organised by: Canada Palestine Association
Contact: info@cpavancouver.org

England: Launch of new War on Want report on Palestine and BDS
Date: 11 November
Where: TBC
Organised by: War on Want
Contact: ykhan@waronwant.org

England: Protests outside Ahava, student actions and petitions on BDS
Date: 6-16 November
Where: TBC
Organised by: PSC
Contact: info@palestinecampaign.org


England: Public meeting on chances of peace in Palestine
Date: 9 November, 7.30pm
Where: Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry
Organised by: Coventry against Racism
Contact: info@palestinecampaign.org

England: Public meeting on BDS
Date: 10 November
Where: St. Matthew's Church, Brixton, London
Organised by: PSC
Contact: info@palestinecampaign.org

England: Mark Thomas 'Extreme Rambling' shows
Date: 9-16 November
Where: Jacksons Lane
Organised by:
Contact:

Ireland: Film tour of new film about Gaza Inshallah
Date: Launch in Belfast, 15 November
Where: across Ireland
Organised by: PSC Ireland
Contact: info@ipsc.ie

Korea: Picture exhibition of the Wall and protest in front of Israeli embassy and bicycle tour
Date: 13 November
Where: Seoul
Organised by: Korean solidarity group
Contact: nablus3@gmail.com

Netherlands: Anti-Apartheid Wall Caravan touring across the Netherlands, with images and stories about the Wall and apartheid and petition to Government
Date: 9-16 November
Where: Across the Netherlands, starting in Dinsdag
Organised by: NPK and Sloop de Muur
Contact: muurkaravaan@hotmail.com

Switzerland: distribution of flyers, photo exhibition and conference on BDS and the Wall
Date: 13 November
Where: Geneva
Organised by: BADIL Geneva
Contact: geneva@badil.org


... More will follow
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#BDS: London hosts campaign to boycott Israel

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists and anti-Zionist groups have demanded a full boycott of goods and products made in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Pro-Palestinian activists convened a protest rally in front of a store in London that sells Israeli-made goods and called on all people to refrain from buying such products.

The activists hold a bi-weekly gathering outside the Ahava cosmetics store that sells the Israeli-made cosmetics and are urging Britons and tourists to boycott Israel.

In the latest gathering outside the Israeli-owned shop in London's Covent Garden, the activists called for an end to the siege on Gaza, the right of return for Palestinians and an end to Israel's occupation.

#BDS: How Arab normalization is undermining the boycott movement

Wassim Al-Adel, The Electronic Intifada - While boycott and divestment campaigns in the West become more sophisticated and widespread, the Arab world's longstanding boycott of Israel is being undermined by Arab governments, companies and businessmen. This attempt at no-concession normalization with Israel must be countered by all those working for justice in Palestine. The recent Adalah-NY campaign against Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev sheds light on the burgeoning relationship between Arab governments and businesses, and Israel.

Earlier this year, the New York-based coalition Adalah-NY successfully spearheaded a campaign to prevent Leviev from opening a branch of his diamond chain in Dubai. Leviev is the chairman of Africa Israel Investments, which is constructing illegal Jewish-only settlements in the area of the West Bank village of Jayyous through its subsidiary, Danya Cebus. A mixture of media exposure and public outcry forced the Emirati authorities to deny that the jeweler had been granted any permission. This was a victory for those who wish to see an end to the Israeli occupation.

The success of the Adalah-NY campaign offers activists two insights: first, there is a growing culture of numbness and complicity toward Israel and its financial backers which is being cultivated at the highest levels of Arab governments. Second, these same governments are susceptible to pressure when the extent of this collusion becomes apparent.

It is disappointing to learn that, while public outcry and media attention effectively prevented Leviev from setting up shop in Dubai, other companies with known links to Israel continue to operate freely there. Giant retailer Marks & Spencer is high on the boycott list of most pro-Palestinian groups, and yet it has just recently opened one of its biggest stores in Dubai with an investment of approximately $3.9 million and plans for further expansion throughout the region.

#BDS: Une vaste campagne africaine pour boycotter les universités sionistes

Des centaines académiciens africains ont annoncé, par l'appuie des personnalités mondiales, une initiative pour boycotter les universités sionistes jusqu'à la fin de l'occupation sioniste des territoires palestiniens occupés. Dans leur communiqué publié, le dimanche 7/11 dans les médias, plus de 200 académiciens de 13 universités africaines ont promis de soutenir l'initiative de l'université de Johannesburg, pour mettre fin à la collaboration avec l'entité sioniste. Cette initiative est la première de son genre en Afrique du sud. Le journal égyptien "al-Ahram" a rapporté aujourd'hui que plusieurs personnalités importantes soutiennent cette initiative dont le révérend Desmond Tutu, le prix Nobel de la paix en 1984 et des dizaines des célèbres personnalités en Afrique du sud. Al-Ahram a rapporté de ces académiciens que les universités de l'entité sioniste ne sont pas visées à cause de leur identité ethnique ou religieuse, mais à cause de leur implication avec le régime d'apartheid sioniste, surtout l'université de "Ben Gouriuon" qui garde les faits de l'occupation sioniste.

#BDS: Dump Veolia Protest at the Natural History Museum, London

The Dump Veolia Campaign lead a demonstration outside the Natural History Museum on 23rd October 2010 to protest against Veolia's sponsorship of the Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition at the Natural History Museum.

Veolia still holds shares in the Jerusalem Light Railway project which the UN Human Rights Council has declared is a "clear violation of international law", despite the recent announcement that it was selling its shares to Egged. The tram line runs across stolen Palestinian land connecting illegal Israel settlements and West Jerusalem thereby helping consolidating the occupation.

Veolia also runs bus services to the settlements on roads barred until recently to West Bank Palestinians despite the fact that the roads run through the West Bank.

Veolia's shameful crimes in Palestine also include the Tovlan landfill site it operates in the occupied Jordan Valley where it helps Israel dump its toxic waste on to Palestinian land next to the Palestinian village of Abu Ajaj.

#BDS: Marks & Spencer

Historically, Marks & Spencer has made statements in support of Zionism. Lord Sieff, chairman and founder of M&S who died in 2001, made several statements in support of Israel’s military policies. In 1941, Sieff said that "large sections of the Arab population of Palestine should be transplanted to Iraq and other Middle-Eastern Arab States" (Jewish Chronicle, 21/09/1941). In 1990, Sieff, in a book entitled On Management: The Marks and Spencer Way, wrote that one of the fundamental objectives of M&S was to "aid the economic development of Israel."

There have been no reports of M&S openly showing ideological support for Israel since 2004. The retail company has repeatedly asserted that "[it has] no 'special' relationship with any government, political party or religious group" but accepts that M&S does "make representations to governments in support of [its] commercial aims." M&S management has not, to our knowledge, commented on Lord Sieff's remarks in support of Zionism and has not made a statement as to whether the current management stands by them.

In 1998, Sir Richard Greenbury, then CEO of Marks & Spencer, received the Jubilee Award from Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. In 2000, the Jerusalem Report stated that "M&S supports Israel with $233 million in trade each year."

In October 2000, the Jewish Chronicle reported that the British-Israel Chamber of Commerce (B-ICC) had held meetings at Marks & Spencer's offices in Baker Street. However, in 2008 the store claimed that M&S "do not host meetings on our premises for the B-ICC." Nevertheless, in December 2004, Stuart Rose, CEO of Marks and Spencer at the time, was a listed speaker at the annual dinner of the B-ICC.

When questioned in correspondence about the sale of Israeli goods in M&S stores in 2008, an M&S spokesperson said that the company buys "from Israel as… from 70 other countries…" and went on to state that the company would continue to do so. The letter continued to say that, "[w]e always put the country of origin on the products we sell. Where we buy Israeli products we label them as products of Israel."

M&S stocks Israeli grapes, lychees, figs, plums, dates, fresh herbs, sweet potatoes, potatoes (Maris Piper, Desiree, Jacket, Marfona, and King Edward). Many of these products are imported through Carmel-Agrexco, a company part-owned by the Israeli state.

#BDS: Boston-area towns back pro-Palestinian resolutions

BOSTON (JTA) -- Voters in five Boston-area districts backed a nonbinding resolution supporting Palestinian rights in Israel.

The ballot question passed with about 56 percent in favor in the five districts in the Nov. 2 election.

The referendum, sponsored by a group called Massachusetts Residents for International Human Rights, an offshoot of the Somerville Divestment Project, asked voters if the state representative from their district should be instructed to vote in favor a nonbinding resolution calling on the U.S. government “to support the right of all people, including non-Jewish Palestinian citizens of Israel, to live free from laws that give more rights to people of one religion than another.”

A question with the same text as last week's nonbinding resolution was passed in the Boston suburbs of Somerville and Cambridge in 2008.

Two years earlier, Somerville had voted against questions asking whether Palestinian refugees had the right to “return to their land of origin” and whether Massachusetts should divest its holdings in State of Israel Bonds.