Hudson Valley Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions

Correction from WhoProfits.org

2012-02-13T23:38:00.000-05:00

Too bad we didn't use this excellent resource when deciding the scope of our CVS actions. We have made some minor changes to this website to reflect the following information...

As you might know, we have a 5-year research project in Israel called "who Profits" (www.whoprofits.org) - where we publish a database of companies involved in the occupation. We have a complete mapping of all settlement products and we have put a lot of effort into investigating dead sea products such as Ahava. It is crucial for our work to be very precise with our facts, and not to fall into exaggerations and all sorts of false information on the web, which can discredit our campaigns.

Check out our new whoprofits website:

http://www.whoprofits.org/company/ahava-dead-sea-laboratories

On your website I see this quote: "CVS should stop selling Ahava, as well as other products made in Israel's illegal settlements. These include L'Oreal's Natural Sea Beauty, Dead Sea Salt Foot Soak, and Swisa Beauty Esensuals." This is not precise. Of these, only Ahava is a settlement product, it is produced in a settlement and partially owned by two settlements. Also, the mud they sell (as mud, not extracts) is excavated in the occupied area, in contradiction with international law (forbidding pillage of natural resources). The dead sea minerals used by Ahava as well as by other companies are excavated in the south of the dead sea by Dead Sea Works, which is officially in 1948 Israel.

I would also encourage you to look for sales of SodaStream in your area, as it seems that they are gaining momentum in the US.

http://www.globalexchange.org/sodastream

This is also a settlement product, and now, for the first time, there is a cheap alternative we can offer to this product. See where they sell near you:

http://www.sodastreamusa.com/where_to_buy.aspx

Good luck in all and let me know if you need anything...

2012-02-04T16:26:00.001-05:00

Dutchess Peace held their first BDS rally in front of a CVS store. Most cars took flyers and we went through about 180 handouts. We also talked to the store manager who said that she had already discussed our objection to Dead Sea products with her district manager. We had 7 demonstrators there, more than enough to pass out flyers to stopped cars.

One member stood just outside the CVS door handing flyers to those leaving the store. At the end, a woman come up and disputed the fact that Palestinian's were treated like second class citizens. She was adamant but ill informed. We have heard the distortions so often now that we could say them ourselves, even the statement that Jimmy Carter is an "anti-Semite."

In all, a successful event because we had been seen by hundreds of cars and interacted with many people coming out of the store.

Code Pink on Ahava

2012-01-23T18:38:00.000-05:00

Join us in taking two online actions to spread the truth about Ahava’s ugly occupation racketeering.

CONTACT ELLE Magazine in New York City

The January 2012 issue of ELLE ran a feature entitled “Sea Salt Benefits” on the wonders of Dead Sea Cosmetics. Ahava was featured prominently, and the writer described the factory and visitors center as being in Israel. She was either confused, mislead or possibly both. You can read the letter that we wrote in response.

TAKE ACTION: PLEASE WRITE A COMMENT. Let ELLE know that Ahava’s factory, visitors center and research facility are located in the Occupied West Bank in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem.
Go to the comment form on ELLE Magazine’s site --- scroll down until you see "Please select a category," and select "I have a comment about an article in ELLE Magazine."

CONTACT NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM in London

The Independent reported on a letter sent by prominent UK academics and intellectuals to the Museum of Natural History regarding its research collaboration with Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories.
“In their letter, the 21 signatories, who include the eminent biologist Sir Patrick Bateson, president of the Zoological Society of London, and leading intellectual Sir Jonathan Miller, claim that the Natural History Museum’s connection with Ahava-DSL means that it is ‘co-ordinating an activity that breaks international law’.”

You can read the letter and see the impressive list of signatories who are standing up for human rights and international law.
The Natural History Museum defended its collaboration with Ahava as a matter of “academic freedom.” But Ahava is a for-profit business—and is in fact an occupation racketeer in the illegal settlement trade—so this seems to have more to do with whitewashing Ahava’s reputation than with the free exchange of ideas.

Using the Customer Enquiry form on the Natural History Museum’s web site, you can let them know what you think of their collaboration with Ahava.
Thanks so much for being part of the team helping to take the profit out of occupation.
All best,

Nancy, Rae, Kristen and the Stolen Beauty Team
P.S. Buy one of our great Occupation Isn't Pretty Boycott Ahava t-shirts, lots of sizes, order now!

Bed Bath and Beyond

2011-12-22T10:34:00.002-05:00

Supporting BDS and Palestinian rights as a Jew

2011-12-12T21:26:00.000-05:00

Supporting BDS and Palestinian rights as a Jew

by Antony Loewenstein

Sydney, AUSTRALIA: The logic of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) didn’t appear to me immediately. When my first book, My Israel Question, was released in 2006, the issue was barely raised, despite Palestinian civil society launching its call in 2005 “against Israel until it complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”

The vast majority of Israeli Jews claimed to be in constant fear of Palestinian terrorism despite living relatively free lives in a society that increasingly made Palestinians invisible. Palestinians under occupation were disillusioned with their leaders and after more than a decade of fruitless negotiations with Israel, the Oslo period, longed to be free.

But now, with Israel a state that even more brazenly boasts a fundamentalist Jewish minority as representing true Zionism, BDS is an essential tool to harm Israel’s economic and moral fibre. In the words of American Jewish dissident Philip Weiss, founder of the website Mondoweiss, “Israel isn’t good for the Jews anymore.” Most importantly, Palestinians under occupation are making this call, not a Diaspora attempting to impose a distorted vision onto them.

BDS is a key weapon to de-normalise the relationship between both the globalised economy and Israel and the constructed emotional ties that allegedly bond Israel and the West. Witness Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard recently tell an event sponsored by National Australia Bank that, “We are two countries separated by distance, but united by values. Liberal democracies that seek freedom and peace.”

An ever-expanding 44-year-old occupation is a strange way to crave freedom and peace.

It is the only the New South Wales Greens who are brave enough, despite a year of intense Murdoch media bullying and Jewish community pressure, to maintain in principle support for BDS and examine ways to “actively support the [Federal] Australian Greens position, including that the Australian government halt military cooperation and military trade with Israel.” This is a proudly BDS position, wherever the Greens call it this or not.

Israel/Palestine is not a balanced conflict, with two equal sides fighting over land, rights and dignity. It is, writes leading Israeli publisher of Haaretz, Amos Schocken, “a strategy of territorial seizure and apartheid. It ignores judicial aspects of territorial ownership and shuns human rights and the guarantees of equality enshrined in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.”

Although he doesn’t mention BDS, it is impossible to undermine daily, creeping oppression with yet more “negotiations” between Israel and the Palestinians while Washington remains Israel’s lawyer.

BDS is the non-violent weapon wielded to show Israel and its global backers that business as usual is unacceptable.

BDS makes many Jews distinctly uncomfortable, with wild claims that this is exactly the same tactics used by Nazis in Germany in the 1930s against Jewish businesses. It is nothing of the sort. Jews are not being targeted but businesses that directly support the Zionist state or receive funding from it. Israeli chocolate shop Max Brenner is a legitimate target because it proudly supports the IDF, an army complicit in daily human rights abuses.

Zionist cheapening of anti-Semitism has become endemic from seeing Nazis in inner Sydney protesting outside Max Brenner to American critics of neo-conservative plans to bomb Iran.

Despite these smears, BDS is growing globally because Israeli actions against Palestinians inside Israel proper and the occupied territories is becoming more repressive and outwardly racist. The litany of exclusionary legislation before the Israeli Knesset, some of which are being pushed by so-called “moderates”, rises weekly. BDS sends a message to these Israelis and Diaspora supporters who either remain silent or simply mouth platitudes about a two-state solution. It is designed to make blind backers uncomfortable and defensive.

It’s being grimly amusing to watch liberal Zionists in Australia and beyond express displeasure with BDS, arguing it is too inflammatory and extreme and ostracises potential allies inside Israel (namely Jews, as Palestinian allies are less important in their worldview). In fact, the opposite is true and BDS forces two-state advocates and fence-sitters to explain how their sclerotic process will do anything to advance peace in the Middle East.

BDS is the enemy of the status-quo and liberal Zionists in Australia, including Monash University’s Mark Baker and Philip Mendes, are paralysed in wishfully thinking the Israeli government will suddenly believe the Palestinians are worthy of being given a state. They recoil at BDS because they despise one part of an outcome that aims to bring true democracy for all citizens inside Israel and Palestine – the one-state solution – something a two-state result can never achieve. If not BDS to tell Israel that its Western-backed racism and occupation is illegal under international law, then what tactic? They have no answers, and desperately cling to an emotional claim as post-Holocaust children. This is no way to ensure rights in the 21st century, if it ever was.

BDS isn’t the answer to all the Palestinian needs. It is one part of a bigger struggle currently underway inside Palestine itself and the Palestinian Diaspora; a worldwide campaign that doesn’t rely on leaders to beg Israel for scraps or a state or rights. Popular, non-violent resistance, BDS and readdress for Palestinian refugees are key initiatives that must be supported to liberate both Palestinians and Israelis.

BDS is causing economic and sociological harm to the Zionist state, and this is something to celebrate. Were enlightened citizens of the world during South African apartheid asked to feel sorry for whites that ruled the blacks with an iron fist? Of course not, and BDS doesn’t aim to comfort the jarred nerves of Israelis or Diaspora Zionists.

It is about addressing a decades-old matrix of control that has only survived because of Diaspora Jewry funding and morally arming the Zionist state.

Antony Loewenstein is a Sydney-based independent journalist and author who has written for The Guardian, Haaretz, The Nation, Sydney Morning Herald and many others. His two best-selling books are My Israel Question and The Blogging Revolution. He is currently working on many projects, including a book about vulture capitalism, a book on the Left in contemporary politics and another title on Israel/Palestine.

Outside the CVS in Kingston, NY

2011-10-21T15:21:00.002-04:00

Nine of us located ourselves outside the Kingston CVS. There was plenty of car traffic, but few on the sidewalks, so we decided to have some of us offer flyers to the stopped traffic.

The first car was a good omen. The driver, who looked like he was from the Middle East, thanked us profusely for what we were doing. To our surprise, most drivers accepted flyers, and some even thanked us. After an hour, we had passed out almost all our flyers, the 220 we had come with.

Cars stopped for the light, however, can be dangerous. We had to be especially careful not to go into the second lane of traffic if the first lane was still moving. It made watching the light and being aware of other cars very important.

One of us stood outside the door of the CVS and passed out flyers to those entering and leaving. We have never tried to do this before, but there was no objection to the person being there. We decided to do this at every future BDS action at CVS.

Our meeting with the assistant manager was cordial and informative. She had read the letter we had sent to the manager and seemed aware of our issue. She said that she would let the CVS management know about our rally and about the fact that we planned to do another in front of the store.

Were people generally more apt to accept flyers because of Occupy Wall Street? That might be what was going on, since several people we talked to naturally made the transition between how Palestinians were being treated and how they were being abused by employers and by the system. One talked about having to hold four jobs to pay for her house. Do people now think that all protests are a good thing? Or do they see the links between the suffering of the Palestinians and their own economic mistreatment? The latter would be an amazing leap in public awareness.

Second BDS action in front of the Rhinebeck CVS

2011-10-02T20:17:00.002-04:00

Five of us went to Rhinebeck this Sunday, Oct. 2. We handed out 125 flyers, and over 50 cards. There were some who came up to argue the traditional Zionist line, but the discussions were not as heated as last time. The best talks were with people who didn't know what the settlements were. They were open to something that they had never heard before, and sometimes willing to do something about it. The women below went back into the store to exchange a settlement product she had just bought. Here she is giving a "thumbs up."

The CVS store manager came out at one point and we gave her a flyer. We had talked to her at the first action.

The sign got a lot of attention from cars passing by.

Lisa discussing the CVS boycott with two people across the street.

Ahava’s last day

2011-09-22T07:52:00.000-04:00

Ahava’s last day
http://londonbds.org/2011/09/20/ahavas-last-day/

The above images are the end result of a successful campaign to cleanse London’s Monmouth Street of Ahava, a notorious retailer of Dead Sea beauty products made from natural resources plundered from the Palestinian people and manufactured on an illegal West Bank settlement.

Throughout this time, campaigners have engaged and distributed flyers to thousands of UK residents and international visitors informing them about Ahava’s unethical and illegal practices.

This, the UK component of CODEPINK’s international ‘Stolen Beauty’ campaign has used many tactics including fortnightly public demonstrations, legal challenges, occupations and other forms of direct action.

The Ahava Boycott Campaign proved successful due to the efforts, hard work and dedication of all the activists, truthtellers and human rights campaigners, some who made many sacrifices and all who gave so generously of their time.

Should Ahava relocate to other premises, activists vowed the campaign will continue.

Rhinebeck BDS Action Sept. 10

2011-09-10T15:49:00.002-04:00

It was a hard sell in Rhinebeck. Most people took flyers and many asked questions. Most did not even know about the settlements in the West Bank. If they did, they tended to thank us for being there. As usual, a few foreigners took pictures. They hadn't expected to see something like this in America.

One wine merchant from Ithaca asked if it was still safe importing wines from the occupied West Bank. A few teenagers seem to know all about the West Bank. CVS is not popular, so many took flyers because of that.

We handed out about 120 flyers, below what we have been doing in Woodstock. Next time, we should probably come during the farmers' market on Sunday. There is a lot more foot traffic by CVS at that time.

Why the hard sell? Compared to Woodstock, more people came up to us angry that we were critical of Israel. We tried to be calm and answer their questions, and mostly that's just what we did. There were some, however, who were just furious and not open to any discussion at all. With those, it was better just turning away and talking to someone else.

Thanks to the group that came out to do the rally. We all agreed that Rhinebeck was fertile ground for BDS actions. People had obviously never seen anything like this before.

It was high time.

Second BDS action in front of the Woodstock CVS

2011-08-14T01:33:00.000-04:00

We had a second CVS boycott event in Woodstock. Five held our banner outside the CVS store, and five handed out flyers. At the end of an hour, we walked with the banner to the Village Green, handing out flyers on both sides of the street.

We handed out about 270 flyers this time, bringing our total up to over 500. Another day at the CVS in Woodstock would probably get us close to a total of 800.

We had only minor objections this time. One older woman made a big show of throwing her flyer away. Another rather goofy old man told the group: "I would rather look at you through the cross hairs of a rifle," nasty words indeed. For his efforts, I have also posted his picture below.

Many people are willing to talk about Israel and the settlements, which is encouraging. The few hateful responses we got were troubling, but may also show a certain desperation. Israel's actions just won't be immune to criticism forever.

At least four people brought up the 3 billion we give to Israel each year, and contrasted this give-away with the cutting of services for the American Middle Class. Perhaps our flyer should say more about this.

"I would rather look at you through the cross hairs of a rifle."

City artist Spurns Israel invite for Palestine cause

2011-07-30T22:04:00.001-04:00

City artist Spurns Israel invite for Palestine cause

Bangalore Mirror
http://www.bangaloremirror.com/article/1/201107312011073100011874562a0f655/City-artist-Spurns-Israel-invite-for-Palestine-cause.html

It was billed as the first major show of Indian art in Tel Aviv. But with a section of Indian artists deciding to skip the event, and launching a political offensive for the cultural boycott of Israel, the issue now is snowballing into a vicious controversy which has split the artist fraternity down the middle.

Bangalore-based Pushpamala N was apparently among the 20-odd artists invited by the Israeli government to participate in ‘Deconstruct-ing India’, a show to be held in April 2012 at the newly-built Amir Wing of the Tel Aviv Museum.

The 55-year-old photo-artist first dashed off a mail to the show’s curator, Tami Katz-Freiman, declining to take part, and then started a signature campaign to show solidarity with a Palestinian civil society movement which calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights.

Well-known English novelist and art critic John Berger and author-activist Arundhati Roy are among a handful of international names who support the cultural boycott of Israel, while Sir Nicholas Hytner, the director of the London’s National Theatre, is one of the strongest critics of this approach. “It seems profoundly counter-productive to cease contact with precisely that section of Isra-eli society most likely to provoke a change in direction within Israel,” he has said.

In her mail, which has been widely circulated amongst Indian artists and galleries, Pushpmala drew attention to the efforts of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and claimed, “If we exhibit in this show, we will be legitimising the racist and apartheid policies of the Israeli government.”

Pushpamala’s stand is now being supported by a section of artists, including Tushar Joag, but others like noted art critic Girish Shahane have struck a strongly cautionary note. “If we start boycotting museum shows because of bad things governments are doing, where will it end? Why should Indian artists exhibit in China, when the regime there has been responsible for horrendous massacres and continues to deny basic freedom of expression to its citizens? Israel has done terribly by the Palestinians, but associating art institutions and centres of learning, even state-funded ones, so closely with state policy is a silly mistake in my opinion, and tokenism of the worst kind as well,” wrote Girish.

But it seems a section of artists is planning to lend support to the boycott call. Speaking to Mirror, Pushpamala said, “We are in the process of collecting signatures. I already have the backing of five participating artists and some more have expressed solidarity. Some artists are travelling. So, I am waiting for them to get back to me. I plan to issue a press statement in a few days.”

However, senior artists like Laxman Shreshta are firmly opposed to any such boycott. “It’s like the case of the rebel without a cause. I would not support Pushpamala at all. If Indian artists have been invited for this interesting exhibition, they should go there and show the world what they are doing. There’s no need to mix politics in this,” he said. It’s a feeling echoed by Atul Dodiya. “Any country which commits atrocities should be roundly condemned. But while even artists have political viewpoints, art itself cannot be a political tool. It is a means to create bonds, not break them. That’s why even with Pakistan, we continue to maintain cultural relations. So why not Israel?” he asked.

But the matter is set to escalate with the rest of the invited Indian artists being forced into taking a public stand, especially since the entire list of participating names, including Ravi Agarwal, Atul Bhalla, Anita Dube, Shilpa Gupta, Subodh Gupta, Ranbir Kaleka, Jitish Kallat, Riyas Komu, TV Santhosh, Sudarshan Shetty, Hema Upadhyay and Lochan Upadhyay have been made public.

At least Sudarshan Shetty isn’t amused by the hullabaloo. “I don’t have any fresh work to show there, so the curator is arranging to get some earlier works of mine from some private collectors. I will be participating though I am still to figure whether most of the others plan to. Though I personally condemn the Israeli occupation, I don’t think boycotting the show is a solution. You can instead use that opportunity to express your view. There are problems in almost every country, including India, so should we completely stop exhibiting our art?

‘Make a point through your art’

I have travelled extensively in Israel. I remember being at the artist’s colony, Ein Hod, in the Haifa district. They have a well-developed art situation there.

An artist is a universal being whose background and traditions will but naturally reflect in his/her works. I was once asked to comment on a topic by an NYT reporter as being an Indian artist and my immediate response was to contest that. Artists belong to the world, we don’t need to be labelled. In that sense, politics and arts needn’t mix. Of course, you can make a political statement through your work. Picasso did too. But then again, let your art works speak for you. Surely, artists can oppose a matter vocally, but I would say exhibit your works, make a point through your art. —Yusuf Arakkal

We won't back down

2011-07-21T22:34:00.000-04:00

We won't back down until TIAA-CREF divests from the Israeli occupation!

This Tuesday in Charlotte, NC, I was proud to stand up and demand answers from retirement giant TIAA-CREF CEO Roger Ferguson and CREF Trustees at their annual corporate meeting. I stood side by side with many other TIAA-CREF investors like me who, one after another, told them that we did not want to build our future retirements on a foundation of demolished Palestinian homes, illegal Israeli settlements, and military occupation.

I felt supported to speak out by people like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who called the TIAA-CREF campaign "important because it is one of the most broad-based divestment efforts in the U.S." just days before in an op-ed in the Charlotte Observer, and by tens of thousands of people like you who have signed petitions and letters and advocated in your own communities.

TIAA-CREF leadership told us that, when it comes to Israel and Palestine there is no consensus, but rather controversy. In fact, a representative from Amnesty International reminded them that there is consensus in the human rights community: the Israeli occupation is a legal term, not a disputed one, and the Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal. A fellow investor asked why, if TIAA-CREF cared so much about the opinion of their clients, did they block a resolution that would have allowed them to be polled about their comfort with investing in companies profiting from the Israeli occupation with their retirement funds? And yet another reminded Mr. Ferguson that on issues of justice -- slavery, segregation, Apartheid -- there was no consensus either, but there was and still there is a moral compass. Challenges like mine dominated the shareholder meeting yesterday in Charlotte. In fact, the main topic of that meeting was our campaign—the largest divestment campaign for Palestinian human rights in US history.

What is the most exciting to me, though, is that as I was inside the meeting in Charlotte, actions took place nationwide—outside the meeting in Charlotte, as well as in Baltimore, Ithaca, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Lexington, St. Louis, New York City, Washington D.C., Detroit, Palo Alto, and Sacramento. See images of the simultaneous protests.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=Jd9xyrD%2FAnz6DWMvAceCulHmMqIcZNVj

Jewish Voice for Peace

From Archbishop Desmond Tutu

2011-07-18T15:57:00.002-04:00

From Archbishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009:

As shareholders with the retirement giant TIAA-CREF head to Charlotte this week for their national meeting, there is one issue they will find conspicuously absent from the agenda: divestment from the Israeli Occupation. Despite pleas from shareholders, including medical professionals, students and academics from universities across the United States, the pension fund refused to allow a vote on a resolution that would have compelled TIAA-CREF to consider divestment from companies such as Caterpillar or Elbit. These are companies that profit substantially from the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

In an effort, presumably, to avoid the topic altogether, TIAA-CREF even went so far as to move its annual meeting to Charlotte from its usual location in New York City. But even in Charlotte, they will not be able to escape from "occupation." Throughout the United States and the world, people will continue to speak truth to power about the apartheid perpetrated in the Holy Land.

I, for one, never tire of speaking out against these injustices, because they remind me only too well of what we in South Africa experienced under the racist system of apartheid. I have witnessed firsthand the racially segregated roads and housing in the Occupied Palestinian territories. I have seen the humiliation of Palestinian men, women and children at the checkpoints and roadblocks. I have met Palestinians who were evicted and replaced by Jewish Israeli settlers; Palestinians whose homes were destroyed even as new, Jewish-only homes were illegally built on confiscated Palestinian land.

This oppression, these indignities and the resulting anger are only too familiar. It is no wonder that so many South African leaders in the anti-apartheid struggle, including Nelson Mandela and numerous Jewish leaders, have found ourselves compelled to speak out on this issue.

Though the situation deteriorates daily, I am not without hope. Before apartheid ended, most South Africans did not believe they would live to see a day of liberation. They did not believe that their children, or even their children's children, would see it. But we have seen it, and I know that if apartheid can end in South Africa, so too can this occupation.

We could not have won our freedom in South Africa without the solidarity of people around the world who adopted non-violent methods to pressure governments and corporations to end their support for the apartheid regime. Faith-based groups, unions, students and consumers organized on a grassroots level and catalyzed a global wave of divestment, ultimately contributing to the collapse of apartheid.

More than two decades later, another wave of divestment has emerged, this time with the goal of ending Israel's 44-year-old occupation and its unequal treatment of the Palestinians.

The TIAA-CREF campaign is important because it is one of the most broad-based divestment efforts in the U.S.: thousands of professors, doctors, students, and many other people of conscience are coming forward demanding that the suffering of the Palestinians not be ignored in the company's bottom line. The campaign originated with a call from the American group Jewish Voice for Peace, whose members understand that ending the occupation means a better future for both Israelis and Palestinians; a future in which both the violence of the occupier and the violent resistance of the occupied come to an end, where one people no longer rule over another, and where the cycles of suffering, humiliation and retaliation are broken.

In South Africa we understood that true peace could be built only on the basis of justice and an unwavering commitment to universal rights for all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin or any other identity attribute. I encourage TIAA-CREF, whose slogan is "for the greater good," to heed the call for divestment, to refuse to profit from oppression of a people, and thus to stand on the side of what is right: a safe, secure and peaceful future for Palestinians and Israelis.

For the Record offers commentaries from various sources. The views are the writer's, and not necessarily those of the Observer editorial board.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/07/17/2459590/tiaa-cref-should-hear-us-divest.html

Waiting for a full-fledged Palestinian genocide?

2011-07-13T14:40:00.000-04:00

Next week I am going to Charlotte, NC, and I want to bring your voice with me. You see, financial giant TIAA-CREF is having its shareholder meeting in Charlotte, but the company refuses to talk about the Israeli occupation.

That's why I am asking you to sign this open letter to TIAA-CREF CEO Roger Ferguson before Tuesday and ask him to divest from companies such as Caterpillar, which manufactures the bulldozers used to demolish tens of thousands of Palestinian homes, and Veolia, which operates buses in a segregated highway in the West Bank. Segregation! I am old enough to have witnessed myself segregation in the South. I did not like it then and I do not like it now.

I have been proud to be a Jew all my life, but after visiting Israel three times and the West Bank once, I've seen the effects of the Israeli occupation with my own eyes, and what I have seen harms not only Palestinians but also Jews everywhere.

I started investing in a TIAA-CREF pension fund back in the 1970's, and now as a retired professor, I draw almost half of my income from TIAA-CREF. I do not want to have my retirement money contributing to injustice. That's why I am asking you to sign this open letter to Mr. Ferguson.

Together with other TIAA-CREF participants, I filed a shareholder proposal asking TIAA-CREF to talk with companies that profit from the Israeli occupation and ask them to stop profiting from human rights violations. TIAA-CREF decided not to include that proposal on the ballot.

I also wrote TIAA-CREF personally to express my concerns. All I got was a brief letter from them saying no, and that profit was their only concern.

TIAA-CREF has already divested from Sudan because of the genocide in Darfur. And yet the company says that the case in Palestine is different because the genocide in Darfur was recognized as such by the US government.

Is TIAA-CREF waiting for a full-fledged Palestinian genocide before deciding to divest? How many more Palestinians need to be made homeless before TIAA-CREF takes action? And if the company can only take its cues from our government, does it mean that it was in favor of segregation when such a practice was legal in the US? It is certainly in favor of segregation today if it keeps on profiting from the Israeli occupation and its Jewish-only roads and settlements. And it is doing this with my hard-earned money.

Please, sign the letter to Ferguson.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=lNVVZ3a92qDf5g9oBd%2BbC8mzdjduuTsb

Thanks.

Evalyn Segal, Ph.D.

Professor Emerita. Department of Psychology. San Diego State University.

Roger Waters endorses BDS and speaks against Israeli anti-boycott law

2011-07-13T13:59:00.000-04:00

First CVS event in Woodstock

2011-07-09T22:27:00.001-04:00

About 10 of us showed up outside the Woodstock CVS with our new banner and about 400 flyers. Three or four held the banner while the rest passed out flyers (220 were given out in the hour we were there). At the end, two of us went around Woodstock and handed out flyers to everyone on the streets. Then we went in to talk the the store manager about CVS products made in the occupied West Bank.

We were respectful, and the manager said that she would talk to her national office on Monday.

A Palestinian man and his son stopped by and said: "I never thought I would see this in America." He and his son stood with us for the rest of the rally. Later an English man stopped by and said that he was amazed to see America finally waking up to the issue of Palestinian rights.

We had a few negative opinions, but not many. One middle aged women said she would "wipe her ass" with the flyer and went into the CVS to tell on us. Another women was horrified that "anti-Semitism had come to Woodstock." She hadn't read the flyer, but she thought the word, apartheid, was all she needed to see.

In all, I thought it was a great first effort.

Responsibility as an artist not to lend legitimacy

2011-07-06T20:04:00.000-04:00

July 5, 2011

To Whom It May Concern:
After much deliberation, I have turned down the Fellowship offered me by the Jewish Foundation for National Culture to attend the first American Academy in Jerusalem from October 23-December 23, 2011.

I stand in solidarity, not only with the people of Palestine, but also with the many thousands of Israelis who disagree with their government's policies by joining the campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel. Although I am not a member of the BDS movement and do not endorse all their claims, I do oppose the occupation and do not want to normalize it. I accept and exercise my social responsibility as an artist not to lend legitimacy to the State of Israel as long as it continues the occupation.

My conscience will not allow me either to participate in programs funded by the current Israeli government at this point in time, or to show my films at venues that receive funding from that government. I stand in support of the Palestinian and Israeli peoples who believe in justice for all, equal representation, and an end to the oppression of the Palestinian peoples. It is the least I can do. The most is yet to be seen.

Barbara Hammer

Film Director

New York, New York

Thank Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for slam dunking apartheid

2011-06-29T13:36:00.000-04:00

Two months ago, YNet News reported that legendary basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was planning to visit Israel in coordination with the Israeli Foreign Ministry and the Israeli Consulate of New York. NBA Sporting News reported that Abdul-Jabbar would be competing for the "Spirit of Freedom Award" at the Jerusalem Film Festival.

In private correspondence, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has confirmed that the former Los Angeles Lakers star has decided not to visit Israel due to concerns arising "after the Nakba Day violence." This year's commemoration of the Nakba, left 12 unarmed Palestinians dead after Israeli forces opened fire on refugees attempting to exercise their internationally recognized right of return.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, thank you for calling Israel's foul! Israeli cultural institutions like the Jerusalem Film Festival are used cynically to brand Israel as a beacon of cultural and technological progress, diverting attention away from its occupation and apartheid policies. For this reason, cultural boycott of Israel is a key component of the growing Palestinian-led movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law. You can read the Palestinian guidelines for cultural boycott here.

100 organizations signed a thank-you letter to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, urging him to hold fast to his decision not to lend his good name or an air of legitimacy to Israeli human rights violations. In addition to the US Campaign, signatories include the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within (Israel), the Organization for Black Struggle, six Islamic-American organizations, four Jewish organizations, fourteen campus groups, and dozens of other US Campaign member organizations.

The letter points out to Abdul-Jabbar: Your film, "On the Shoulders of Giants," documents the policies of segregation and racism that characterized the world of basketball in the 1930s. Ironically, the majority of Muslim and Christian Palestinians could not even have attended such a screening because they are excluded from entering Jerusalem on the basis of their ethnicity and religion.

Click here to thank Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for slam dunking apartheid!
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=WYM8ci4kN5oXCfk6GL7SkPajIgIMFtLx

US Campaign to End the Occupation

Ahava, occupation profiteer

2011-06-20T09:14:00.000-04:00

After years of strenuous denial, Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, an Israeli cosmetics firm with its main manufacturing plant in an illegal West Bank settlement, is proven by documentary evidence to be in violation of international law through its theft of Palestinian resources. This evidence was recently discovered by Who Profits, a research project of the Israeli Coalition for Peace, which documents corporate activity in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory.

Prior to this finding representatives of Ahava repeatedly claimed that the company does not make use of natural resources from the West Bank: "the mud and materials used in Ahava cosmetics products are not excavated in an occupied area. The mud is mined in the Israeli part of the Dead Sea, which is undisputed internationally." The new findings prove that the company was given a license for excavating minerals in 2004 from the Israeli Civil Administration, which is the representative of the Israeli government in the Occupied West Bank, and that the excavation site on the occupied shores of the Northern Dead Sea is currently active. By making use of mud that is excavated in the occupied area the company is violating international humanitarian law (the laws of occupation), which prohibits the plundering of natural resources from the occupied territory. Merav Amir, Coordinator of Who Profits, said, "Ahava can no longer continue misleading consumers about where they get the mud used in their products. This mud is from the Occupied West Bank and is stolen from the Palestinian people."

Nancy Kricorian, the manager for CODEPINK ís Stolen Beauty Ahava Boycott http://www.stolenbeauty.org, an international campaign against the company's violations of international law, said, "Ahava's CEO has been circulating a letter to retailers that we thought was filled with lies, and now Who Profits has provided us with the evidence to prove it."

The company is still reeling from the public relations setback of an explosive new report issued on May 5th by Bítselem, a leading Israeli human rights group, which calls Ahava out by name as an occupation profiteer. Ahava representatives have yet to respond to Bítselem's report, and the company's reputation is now further tarnished by this just discovered documentary proof of its violations of international law.

Portland BDS Coalition Flash Mobs New Seasons: May 29, 2011

2011-06-14T09:52:00.003-04:00

Ahava prove to violate international law

2011-06-12T16:26:00.001-04:00

Press Advisory Date: 18 May 2011

CAUGHT: Ahava's Theft of Occupied Natural Resources Finally Exposed After years of strenuous denial, Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, an Israeli cosmetics firm with its main manufacturing plant in an illegal West Bank settlement, is proven by documentary evidence to be in violation of international law through its theft of Palestinian resources. This evidence was recently discovered by Who Profits (http://www.whoprofits.org), a research project of the Israeli Coalition for Peace, which documents corporate activity in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Syrian territory.

Prior to this finding representatives of Ahava repeatedly claimed that the company does not make use of natural resources from the West Bank:
"the mud and materials used in Ahava cosmetics products are not excavated in an occupied area. The mud is mined in the Israeli part of the Dead Sea, which is undisputed internationally".

The new findings prove that the company was given a license for excavating minerals in 2004 from the Israeli Civil Administration, which is the representative of the Israeli government in the Occupied West Bank, and that the excavation site on the occupied shores of the Northern Dead Sea is currently active. By making use of mud that is excavated in the occupied area the company is violating international humanitarian law (the laws of occupation), which prohibits the plundering of natural resources from the occupied territory. Merav Amir, Coordinator of Who Profits, said, "Ahava can no longer continue misleading consumers about where they get the mud used in their products. This mud is from the Occupied West Bank and is stolen from the Palestinian people."

Nancy Kricorian, the manager for CODEPINK's Stolen Beauty Ahava Boycott (www.stolenbeauty.org ), an international campaign against the company's violations of international law, said, "Ahava's CEO has been circulating a letter to retailers that we thought was filled with lies, and now Who Profits has provided us with the evidence to prove it."

The company is still reeling from the public relations setback of an explosive new report [2] issued on May 5th by B'tselem, a leading Israeli human rights group, which calls Ahava out by name as an occupation profiteer. Ahava representatives have yet to respond to B'tselem's report, and the company's reputation is now further tarnished by this just discovered documentary proof of its violations of international law.

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East

2011-06-08T14:08:00.000-04:00

http://www.cjpme.org/

Dear friends of CJPME:

We invite you to participate in the June focus* of our "We're not buying it" Boycott Israel campaign. As you may know, CJPME's Boycott Israel campaign is intended to pressure Israel to respect human rights and cease its occupation of Palestinian land. The campaign has a different focus each month: one consumer target, and one cultural target. For June, we urge you to participate as we target:

IKEA- Consumer Target
Duran Duran- Cultural Target

IKEA

IKEA delivers to the illegal Israeli colonies in the West Bank, while refusing to deliver to any Palestinian cities in the Occupied territories. IKEA currently has two stores in Israel and is planning on opening a third one in 2012. Find out more.

What can you do?

Express your concern by sending an email to the executives of IKEA by clicking here.
Send a letter to execs at IKEA by printing the letter here, adding your name, and sending it.
Print this letter, add your name, and take it to your local IKEA.

Duran Duran

Duran Duran is an English band formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980's, and have sold over 100 million records throughout their career. The band will play in Tel Aviv on July 30. Please ask Duran Duran to cancel their trip to Israel.

What can you do?

Express your concern via email to Duran Duran by clicking here.
Send a letter to Duran Duran by printing the letter here, adding your name, printing and sending it.

If we all work together, we can make a difference. Please do your part to end Israel's human rights abuses, and put an end to the Occupation - it is time!

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
Telephone: (438) 380 5410

CJPME Website - CJPME Email

* Note that CJPME encourages its adherents to boycott all targets ongoing. The monthly focus simply enables CJPME to give direction and freshness to its boycott campaign.

CVS products made in the settlements

2011-05-18T21:27:00.003-04:00

I looked closely today at what the CVS has in this store.

It doesn't carry Ahava, although this store is listed on the national CVS website as carrying many of their products: Ahava Enriched Intensive Foot Cream, Ahava Velvet Cream Wash Orange & Frangipani, Ahava Foot Indulgence Soft & Soothing Gift Set, Ahava Purifying Mud Soap, etc.

The Rhinebeck CVS is loaded with l'Oreal products. This from the BDS Movement for Freedom, Justice, and Equality:
"L'Oreal Israel manufacturers a line of products using Dead Sea minerals under the name 'Natural Sea Beauty' that is exported to 22 countries. While L'Oreal exploits minerals from the Dead Sea, the region and its resources are systematically closed to the indigenous Palestinian people by Israel's military occupation and apartheid practices, which have set up a network of checkpoints, segregated roads and exclusive zones."

Natural Sea Beauty (Manufactured by Interbeauty Cosmetics Inc., a subsidiary of L'Oreal) is sold by CVS: http://www.thefind.com/query.php?query=%22Natural%20Sea%20Beauty%22%20cvs

H20 + Sea Mineral Mud Mask also uses Dead Sea minerals and is sold by CVS:
http://www.thefind.com/search?query=purifying+facial+mud+mask+cvs

Dead Sea Salt Foot Soak, Swisa Beauty Esensuals Dead Sea Facial Peel, and Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Mud Pac are also carried by CVS

CVS carries many other products that are simply made in Israel: Emjoi Rotoshave Electric Razor, CVS Medicated Wipes To Go, CVS Children's Allergy Relief Oral Solution, CVS Tampons Super Plus Absorbency, Garnier Nutritioniste Nutri-Pure Cleansing Towelettes, Born Free 7-Oz Training Cup Assorted Colors, CVS Unscented Plastic Tampons Multi Pack, Born Free Twister Brush Set, Born Free Vented Glass Bottle 5 oz, Bornfree Level 3 Fast Flow Nipples, Boogie Wipes Individually Wrapped, Fresh Scent, CVS Omeprazole 20 Mg Tablets, Epilady Coil Tweezer.

German firm pulls out of Israeli project...

2011-05-12T14:10:00.000-04:00

In an unprecedented victory to a public campaign led by Palestinian, German and Israeli groups, the German firm Deutsche Bahn International has been pulled off an Israeli railway project by a decision of the German Federal Government. The Israeli railway line is being built between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, unlawfully crossing into occupied Palestinian territory in two areas, at a great cost to the neighboring Palestinian communities.

The international campaign was launched six months ago following an investigation by the Israeli research group “Who Profits from the Occupation” of the Coalition of Women for Peace. The “Who Profits” report (see: http://www.whoprofits.org/articlefiles/WP-A1-Train.pdf) the route of the new train line and the involvement of several European companies in its construction on occupied Palestinian land.

A letter from the German Transport Ministry was released last week, stating that "The federal government pointed out [to Deutsche Bahn] that the project of the Israeli state railway is problematic from a foreign policy point of view and potentially breaches international law." The letter added that the German operator confirmed "in writing" that there would be no further involvement of its international subsidiary in "this politically very sensitive project".

Prominent among the other European companies involved in the planning and construction of the new train line is the private Italian company Pizzarotti which handles much of the tunneling. A wide coalition of Italian organizations has appealed to the company to back out of this illegal project (see more: http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/stop-train-meets-6318). The Israeli Coalition of Women for Peace has called upon other governments to follow the example of the German Government and regulate corporate involvement in international law violations in the occupied West Bank.

Campus BDS Heating Up This Spring!

2011-04-26T22:23:00.003-04:00

US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation : Campus BDS Heating Up This Spring!
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/

This spring, the weather is not all that's heating up! April has brought a burst of U.S. campus boycott and divestment (BDS) initiatives following inspiring actions around the country on the BDS Day of Action, held on the annual Palestinian Land Day. Active campaigns in California, Arizona, Indiana and beyond are becoming a force to be reckoned with.

We are thrilled to welcome and support many of these campus groups as new members of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation!

Here are some of the exciting ongoing initiatives:

At the University of California at San Diego, the UCSD Associated Students are voting tomorrow night on a resolution to divest from Northrop-Grumman and General Electric because they profit from violent conflict, including in Israel/Palestine. Click here to read the resolution and send endorsements to rzuabi@gmail.com.

No Mas Muertes at the University of Arizona (UA) recently issued this call for campus boycott and divestment from national targets Caterpillar and Motorola, due to their involvement in racist policies against Latina/o migrant communities and indigenous peoples in Arizona, Palestine and around the world.

The statement coincided with the launch of a national "Mock Wall" Movement protesting U.S. support for Israeli occupation and discriminatory U.S. immigration policies, with students at six universities around the country constructing walls on their campuses to raise awareness about the destruction wrought by the walls in Palestine and on the U.S. border.

At Earlham College in Indiana, students launched this BDS resolution to divest their campus from Caterpillar, Motorola and Hewlett-Packard, which profit from Israeli occupation and violations of Palestinian rights. The students put together this terrific video.

Northrop-Grumman, Caterpillar and Motorola are also three of the five companies targeted in a national campaign initiated by Jewish Voice for Peace (a member of the US Campaign) to compel financial giant TIAA-CREF to divest from Israeli occupation.

Campuses are fertile ground for this growing campaign. Check out the comprehensive new campaign web site and resources here!

Don’t forget to check our "BDS on Campus" resources here, including a handbook by veteran activists to guide students through campus divestment campaigns.

Whether your group is on a campus or not, we invite you to join our coalition too, by clicking here. We are more excited than ever to support diverse groups working around the country for corporate accountability and an end to U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid.

Global BDS Day of Action in Grand Central Station

2011-03-30T10:05:00.000-04:00

A little something to make you smile as we embark on the: Global BDS Day of Action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myt23xhMEMk

Sign Petition on Ahava...

2011-03-28T21:36:00.001-04:00

Dear Friend,

Not sure if you know about Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories—it’s an Israeli company that makes bath salts, sun screen, foot scrubs and other high-end products sold in pharmacies and department stores. Ahava promises “Beauty Secrets from the Dead Sea.” But wait until you hear those secrets!

Because Ahava is hiding the ugly truth—its products actually come from stolen Palestinian natural resources in the Occupied Territory of the Palestinian West Bank, and are produced in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem. Don’t let the “Made in Israel” sticker fool you—when you buy Ahava products you help finance the destruction of hope for a peaceful and just future for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Ahava puts a pretty face on its crimes, even paying Oxfam Ambassador and “Sex in the City” star Kristen Davis to be its spokeswoman. But here’s what Oxfam itself has to say about Ahava’s deceptive packaging:

"The settlements on the West Bank are illegal under international humanitarian law and that creates a lot of problems for the Palestinians that live there.”

"Consumers that are buying produce that are grown in illegal settlements need to have that information so that they can make an informed choice."

Don’t the facts about Ahava make your skin crawl? For instant relief visit CODEPINK’s www.stolenbeauty.org today, and sign up to help get the word out to Kristen and our communities—real beauty is more than skin deep!

Academic boycott of Israel gathers momentum

2011-03-28T16:57:00.000-04:00

Leading advocates of an academic boycott of Israel have stepped up their campaign calling for an "outing" of Israeli universities which support their government's policy on the occupied territories.

Nearly 300 academics from around the world have published an open letter calling for leaders of Israeli universities to lay their political cards on the table and reveal whether they support the government's policies on the border conflict.

One Israeli academic said the move echoed the days of "McCarthyism" in America.

The letter, which is addressed to Professor Menachem Magidor, president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and "members of Israel's forum to combat the academic boycott", says that Palestinian universities are being severely compromised. "Harassment, arrests, random shootings and assaults" are carried out regularly by Israeli troops on Palestinian campuses, it claims.

It goes on: "Given the destructive nature of Israeli government action against Palestinian education and academic freedom, and your simultaneous expression of concern for Israeli academic freedom in the face of the boycott, we feel that it is only fair to ask the Israeli academic leadership where it stands on the issue of current Israeli policy as described above, and to share with us what Israeli academic institutions are doing to challenge the behavior of your government."

The letter also calls for an international public debate to be held at an Israeli institution. Among the signatories, who hail from 12 countries including Israel, are Andre Brink, the South African novelist, Ronnie Kasrils, minister of water affairs and forestry of South Africa, and Hilary and Steven Rose who were among the first in the UK to call for the boycott. Mona Baker who caused a row after she sacked two Israeli academics from a journal she edited after signing the original petition two years ago is also on the list.

Hilary Rose said: "I'm hoping that this will re-open... and deepen the discussion of what is happening to the Palestinian academic system at every level - schools are shut, universities are shut, the military enter the campuses at will; it is a completely impossible situation."

"It's about outing Israeli academics and saying you can't actually pretend that this isn't going on."

She said that the recent assassination of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas's founder and spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin had "intensified" her belief in the boycott and added that they were calling for a public meeting so people could see that such a meeting would be impossible for Palestinian academics to attend in the current climate.

Professor Nachman Ben-Yehuda, of Hebrew University's sociology department, said that there was no formal forum discussing a response to the boycott, but that members of the university were monitoring the boycott and approaching individuals taking part in the boycott to discuss the issues. He said the letter harped back to the days of McCarthyism.

"I have no desire to go back to the days of McCarthy where people had to sign forms to say whether they were loyal or not.

"We should isolate this conflict [the border conflict] not escalate into other parts of public life. If people want to go against the government, that's fine, but what do they want from Israeli academia? Israeli academia is not the Israeli government."

He added: "Did such a letter go to Harvard to ask whether they support Bush in Iraq? If academics have to come out and say what they believe in why just Israel? Why shouldn't they ask the LSE [London School of Economics] if they support the Gulf war? Why just Israel?"

The debate over the academic boycott of Israel has raged for the past two years since two petitions, one calling for an out and out boycott and the other for a moratorium on EU research funding to Israel, were established. Further petitions opposing the boycotts have since gathered thousands of signatures.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2004/mar/25/highereducation.uk

US Campaign to End the Occupation

2011-03-09T23:39:00.000-05:00

Ten days ago, folk music legend Pete Seeger announced his support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement to compel Israel to comply with international law and human rights.

Less than a week later, Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters also joined the campaign, urging fellow artists to do the same and comply with the cultural boycott. He explained:

"Where governments refuse to act, people must, with whatever peaceful means are at their disposal … For me it means declaring my intention to stand in solidarity, not only with the people of Palestine, but also with the many thousands of Israelis who disagree with their governments racist and colonial policies, by joining a campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel."

Join Seeger, Waters, and thousands of others around the world in taking the next step in BDS. Are you ready to do the same? This March 30th, Palestinian Land Day, will mark the third annual global BDS Day of Action. There are lots of ways you can take part, including media engagement, house parties and direct action.

Do you want some talking points to strengthen your BDS activism on March 30th and beyond? Have you struggled with handling tough questions and criticism about BDS?

If so, check out our new BDS FAQ page!

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HwelKCQqRBM6PmdmJc%2FFQY%2BaZQYhHb6B

On the new page, you can read talking points compiled from BDS advocates around the world in response to common misguided questions like "Why are you singling out Israel?" and "Won't BDS hurt Palestinians?"

One member of the Coalition to Stop $30 Billion to Israel had this to say:
"BDS ruffles feathers, as it is intended to do. This resource has gathered the most frequently used criticisms of boycotting Israel and provides an extremely handy and succinct list of rational and persuasive responses activists can use to defend the validity of BDS as a tactic for social justice. We should read and reread this invaluable list."

A primary organizer in the University of California at San Diego divestment campaign wrote:
"During our campaign, this resource was very helpful in guiding conversations to where they needed to be. We even printed copies for each of our council members to consult."

Israel is feeling the pressure of BDS. On Monday, the Israeli parliament approved the first reading of a new anti-boycott bill, which would impose harsh fines on Israelis who call for academic or economic boycott. 50 Israeli organizations appealed to the Knesset to stop the bill and many more continue to join. Let us continue to join with those working through nonviolent means to end Israeli occupation and apartheid.

As you organize this March 30th to keep the pressure on, we hope the US Campaign's new resource will help strengthen your efforts in promoting BDS as a strategy grounded in universal values promoting freedom, human rights, and international law in Palestine/Israel.

Yours,
Anna Baltzer National Organizer

Folk music legend Pete Seeger endorses boycott of Israel

2011-02-28T12:55:00.001-05:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Folk music legend Pete Seeger has come out in support of the growing Palestinian movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel as a program for justice for Palestinians and a route to peace in the Middle East.

Seeger, 92, participated in last November's online virtual rally "With Earth and Each Other," sponsored by the Arava Institute, an Israeli environmental organization, and by the Friends of the Arava Institute. The Arava Institute counts among its close partners and major funders the Jewish National Fund, responsible since 1901 for securing land in Palestine for the use of Jews only while dispossessing Palestinians. Although groups in the worldwide BDS movement had requested that he quit the event, Seeger felt that he could make a strong statement for peace and justice during the event.

During a January meeting at his Beacon, NY, home with representatives from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and Adalah-NY, Pete Seeger explained, "I appeared on that virtual rally because for many years I've felt that people should talk with people they disagree with. But it ended up looking like I supported the Jewish National Fund. I misunderstood the leaders of the Arava Institute because I didn't realize to what degree the Jewish National Fund was supporting Arava. Now that I know more, I support the BDS movement as much as I can."

Jeff Halper, the Coordinator of ICAHD, added, "Pete did extensive research on this. He read historical and current material and spoke to neighbors, friends, and three rabbis before making his decision to support the boycott movement against Israel." Seeger has for some time given some of the royalties from his famous Bible-based song from the 1960s, "Turn, Turn, Turn," to ICAHD for their work in rebuilding demolished homes and exposing Israel's practice of pushing Palestinians in Israel off their land in favor of the development of Jewish villages and cities.

The November virtual rally "With Earth and Each Other" was billed as an apolitical effort to bring Israelis and Palestinians together to work for the environment. Dave Lippman from Adalah-NY noted, "Arava's online event obfuscated basic facts about Israel's occupation and systematic seizure of land and water from Palestinians. Arava's partner and funder, the JNF, is notorious for planting forests to hide Palestinian villages demolished by Israel in order to seize land. Arava was revealed as a sterling practitioner of Israeli government efforts to 'Rebrand Israel' through greenwashing and the arts."

Currently, the JNF is supporting an Israeli government effort to demolish the Bedouin village of Al-Araqib in order to plant trees from the JNF that were paid for by the international evangelical group GOD-TV. The Friends of the Arava Institute's new board chair recently published an op-ed in the Jerusalem Post that only cautiously questions some activities of the JNF, an organization whose very raison-d'etre is to take over land for Jews at the expense of the Palestinian Arab population.

Pete Seeger's long-time colleague Theodore Bikel, an Israeli-American known for his life-long involvement with Israeli culture, recently supported the Israeli artists who have refused to perform in a new concert hall in Ariel, a large illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

Seeger joins a growing roster of international performers who have declined to whitewash, greenwash, or in any way enable Israel's colonial project, including Elvis Costello, Gil Scott-Heron, Roger Waters, Devendra Banhart, and the Pixies.

http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=m7lqx6bab&v=0014Ey5FNw0bDIzA26Bokj9hcAFoqzCujMg3kYQXJjId-DQ_e5guWvvzARvvLNl14Ya9frzhal5SErQhl8WYTdx7DEpFfR5V7rzNJak48LjV5q99YvsuJJDsYvSptXgYnhT

Israeli Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall

2011-02-23T00:08:00.000-05:00

Photos by Andrew Courtney

Below are several BDS sites

2011-01-12T11:39:00.001-05:00

http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/53

http://www.whoprofits.org/

http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=203

http://gush-shalom.org.toibillboard.info/boycott_eng.htm

http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/sessions/london-session

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/Boycotts/BoycottsagainstIsrael.aspx

http://www.bigcampaign.org/?s=Product+List

---Here's another Boycott & Divestment possible targets list, meticulously compiled by Susanne Hoder in Rhode Island. I believe it only focuses on occupation-related companies:

http://www.interfaithpeaceinitiative.com/profiting.pdf

(Most are more appropriate for divestment, not consumer boycott. Blockbuster is an option, but not necessarily a good one.)

~ Anna

Please Boycott Us!

2010-12-24T10:47:00.002-05:00

(by Anonymous)

For years I have been rather ambivalent about the wisdom of boycotting Israel. While a boycott of anything related to the illegal settlements in the West Bank, which are a clear derivative of a brutal occupation, is an absolute necessity, and which I have fully supported, I have always been reserved about the boycotting of Israel proper. Today I feel that there is no choice but to call for a full and total boycott directed against Israel ‚Äì Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS). For the good of Israel and in the hope that blatant pressure from abroad directed primarily at the Israeli economy is the only way to wean Israel from what Thomas Friedman in a recent editorial called ‚ÄúIsrael‚Äôs crack addiction‚Äù. It is the only way to wake Israelis up from their (crack) pipe dream of ‚Äúbusiness as usual‚Äù or the feasibility of maintaining a disastrous status quo that will only lead to more land grabs, violence and war, ultimately jeopardizing Israel itself. It is the only way to convince present and future governments that the current situation is untenable and unviable. It is the only way to save us from ourselves. At this point in time, Israelis are unable to affect change from within. The atmosphere has become so poisoned that attempts at the grassroots level to affect political change are insignificant at best, particularly in light of attempts at the legislative level to delegitimise grassroots initiatives and make local NGOs seeking to advance political change illegal.

The current Israeli government (as well as past governments, whether led by Labour, Likud or the catch all Kadima party) has zero intention of moving forward with negotiations with the Palestinians. They would much rather ‚Äúmanage‚Äù the conflict than seek a truly just solution. The continued occupation is having a disastrous effect on Israeli society as a whole. Human life has become cheap, a form of Judeo-Fascism is developing here, led by rabbis, far right politicians in the Knesset and leaders in the occupied Palestinian territory. Jim Crow legislation has been tabled at the Knesset, rabbis have signed calls not to lease or sell property to Arab Israelis, hundreds demonstrate against Arab Israeli neighbors, and recently a group of minors were arrested for conducting what can only be called pogroms against innocent Arab citizens in the center of Jerusalem. The poison of the occupation has infected Israeli society as a whole at a level that can only be diagnosed as gangrenous. The only way to convince Israelis that the current status quo cannot be continued is to attach a real and significant price to the continued occupation, and yes, to force local political leaders to take responsibility, to lead rather than manage, to commit, rather than hide behind spin doctors or the outright lies of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Anyone who yet rationalises non-action against Israel is actively contributing to the inevitable use of the only other tool world history has provided for social and political change: violence! Please boycott my country today, you are our only hope!

- The author chooses to withhold his name for fear of repercussions against his family. The threat is real. Suffice to say that the author is an Israeli academic in the field of the social sciences. While the author is fully prepared to pay the price for his opinions, there is no reason for his family to suffer. The author can be reached at: pleaseboycottus@...

INCIDENT IN ART LAND (The New Yorker)

2010-12-23T11:58:00.000-05:00

Quietly moving through the Anselm Kiefer show at the Gagosian gallery on its final afternoon were eight people wearing black T-shirts that bore the show's portentous title—“Next Year in Jerusalem”—in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. They didn't speak unless spoken to; they took pictures of themselves standing before some equally portentous works of Holocaust-evoking art. (Everyone was taking pictures; the catalogue cost a hundred dollars.) Only if approached did one of the group explain that they were part of an organization called U.S. Boat to Gaza, which plans to sponsor a ship in the next flotilla to sail against the Israeli blockade. Half of the group had left, and they were reduced to four by the time that gallery representatives asked them to leave, unimpressed by their claims to be extending the discussion that Kiefer had begun. Morality. Guilt. Jewish tragedy, past and present. (“This is private property,” a gallerista in towering heels shot back. “We're here to sell art.”) A call to the police was threatened. In response, the activists put on their jackets—covering the offending Passover phrase, even while complaining that it had not, to their knowledge, been copyrighted—and asked if they might stay. Without reply, the representatives walked away.

Ingrid Homberg had gone to Gagosian that day to lift her spirits. A delicate blonde woman in her late fifties, she grew up in Germany—she is roughly of Kiefer's generation—but never felt that she belonged there; she moved to New York with her young daughter in 1980, and the city has proved a much happier fit. In recent years, however, she has been ill (fibromyalgia, arthritis) and suffers frequent pain. Still, she was immediately buoyed by Kiefer's magisterial landscapes, in which massive wings overhead suggest the judgment of God. The gallery was filled with such disturbing images. She had earlier noticed the people in the T-shirts, and now she approached them, hoping to discuss the feelings that the artist's work provoked.

But there was no discussion. Two police officers arrived just a moment after Homberg did, and ordered the group out. Including Homberg. She said that she had no reason to leave. She asked one of the officers—“Young man,” she addressed him, and he did look very young—why they did not allow the group to speak. And that was it. His partner grabbed her by the arm and began to pull her out. The force of the motion caused her to lose her balance; she fell. And the Gagosian's chamber of artful horrors came to appalling life, as crowds of gallery goers, on a busy Saturday afternoon, watched a police officer drag a frail and terrified woman, howling with pain, across the floor of two long rooms to the doorway.

Many people might have assumed that her cries were part of a staged scene, since the protesters were shepherded out behind her, loudly bemoaning their deprivation of freedom of speech. But on the street, Homberg pulled off her coat and rolled up her sleeve to reveal an arm thickly blotched black and blue. The officer, she explained, had not merely grabbed her arm—thin enough, and easy to grab—but had strongly pressed his fingers into the upper inner muscle as he dragged her. The result, she said, was agony.

A sympathetic bystander informed the officers that they had made a mistake: the sobbing woman was not with the group and no one had ordered her out of the gallery. They replied that they had ordered her out, and she had not complied; therefore, no mistake was made. Homberg asked to speak to someone from the gallery, but her request, when relayed, was met with conspicuous disinterest. A Gagosian representative has since expressed regret that anyone was hurt during the “unfortunate disturbance.” The New York Police Department, however, insists that Homberg was merely “escorted” from the gallery, and denies that she was dragged or mistreated in any way.

As she was bundled off for medical attention following the incident, Homberg continued to cry. She was upset, she said, because of the terrible pain, because of the shock, and because she had not been able to finish looking at the exhibition. The service of a car was offered by one of the protestors, who had somehow found time to change into a T-shirt that read “Greed Kills.”

Call for Minnesota to Divest

2010-12-12T14:20:00.000-05:00

DePaul divests from Israeli hummus product

2010-11-22T12:01:00.002-05:00

Today marks another win for the global boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) movement against corporations that profit from severe human rights violations. Chicago’s very own DePaul University just announced that their dining services will be discontinuing the sale of hummus manufactured by Sabra, an Israeli brand known for its vocal and material support of Israeli Defense Forces. The administration has temporarily suspended the sale of Sabra products and will likely move towards permanently banning the brand from campus.

A little over two weeks ago, members of DePaul’s Students for Justice in Palestine expressed concern over the sale of Sabra products after discovering that Chartwells, which provides dining services to the university, had introduced the Israeli-brand hummus to food and dining facilities throughout campus. Acting on their concern, the students compiled research and revealed that the Strauss Group, co-owner of Sabra, has direct monetary ties with elite Israeli military forces currently and historically involved in the illegal occupation of Palestinian land. One week after bringing the issue to the attention of campus administrators, the university informed campaign organizers that Sabra products are set to be removed from shelves for the remainder of the school quarter and will most likely not be sold on campus in the future. (Read the email sent to administrators at the end of the post.)

The ultimate success of this modest divestment campaign isn’t that it resulted in the removal of a product from campus cafeteria shelves but, rather, that it has undoubtedly set the framework for future campaigns in college campuses throughout the United States. With exactly 156 colleges and universities using Chartwells for their campus dining needs, the BDS movement against IDF-sponsoring companies like Strauss Group and Sabra can potentially reach national heights. By discontinuing the sale of Sabra products, DePaul University has made its stance clear: Any product or company involved with flagrant human rights violations against Palestinians or any other people does not mirror the principles on which the university is founded and is therefore not welcome on campus. The administration’s quick response indicates the importance of preserving and respecting Palestinian rights by divesting from companies that do the exact opposite.

DePaul’s divestment from Strauss Group-owned Sabra products comes less than a month after a similar attempt at divestment hit the streets of Philadelphia. Over two dozen activists gathered at a supermarket near the University of Pennsylvania to protest the sale of Sabra hummus. A video of the action was released to the public via YouTube where it quickly grew in popularity and eventually prompted Strauss Group to remove all references supporting the Israeli military from its English-translated website. However, the Hebrew version of the website still maintains the corporation’s public support of IDF activity.

Major BDS campaigns generally take years of concentrated grassroots efforts before any significant progress is made but that did not deter the small group of DePaul students from voicing their concern and offering alternative solutions that fell in line with the university’s code of ethics. The efforts put into this divestment campaign, both at DePaul and in Philadelphia, serve as a model for future college BDS movements. Any institution of higher learning that promotes morality, justice, and respect must make sure to abide by its principles. If it doesn’t, it is up to the students to make sure things change for the better.

Sami Kishawi

— — —

Email sent to DePaul administrators:
Hello Stephanie and Joe,

My name is Shirien and I’m part of Students for Justice in Palestine at DePaul. I’m writing you because it has recently come to our attention that Chartwells has started selling Sabra hummus products at DePaul. Many SJP members, as well as several other students, are deeply disturbed about this development. SGA President Ross R., as well as DePaul alumni Ben M. (both CC’d) recommended that we get in contact with you both in order to assist us with this matter.

The reason why we are concerned is because the company which manufactures Sabra hummus, the Strauss Group, has been a voice of support for the ongoing Israeli occupation through its ties with Israel’s military. This is apparent in their vocal support and material sustenance of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), namely the Golani Brigade. The Golani Brigade, Israel’s elite force, is known for its history of severe human rights violations. Many instances of these violations are well documented, from the assassination of Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin to the torture and humiliation of Palestinian detainees. Because of this, a boycott campaign against Sabra is happening at many universities in cities across the nation.

Many of us students are concerned about DePaul affiliating with a company with such strong military and political ties. We feel that continuing the sale of Sabra products at DePaul is in violation of our Vincentian values, which require us to stand against injustice. This goes for any other companies affiliated with human suffering.

We would like to meet with you both so that we can discuss this matter more in-depth. CC’d to this email are key board members from SJP, as well as Erez, who is on the Fair Business Practices Committee. We want to voice our concerns and perhaps present alternative hummus brands that are more socially conscious. We hope that you can hear us out and help steer us in the right direction of how to go about addressing this.

Would it be possible to set up a meeting some time next week? I included everyone in one email thread so we can all be in the loop. Please let us know what you think. Thank you for your time and consideration!

Sincerely,
Shirien

Prominent film, television artists join boycott of West Bank arts center

2010-11-14T09:38:00.000-05:00

Workers readying the Ariel cultural center for its opening.
Photo by: Alon Ron

Media personalities sign on to internet petition protesting the threat to revoke funding for artists that refuse to perform in the newly opened cultural center in Ariel.By City Mouse Online Tags: Israel news Israel settlements West Bank Israel boycott settlement boycott

A group of leading Israeli film and television artists have signed onto an online petition supporting the right of theater actors to refuse to perform in the newly opened arts center in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.

"A number of Knesset members and ministers from Yisrael Beitenu and Likud and other right-wing figures are calling for cutting off funding to artists that this week called for a boycott of the cultural center in Ariel," the online petition said.

"Threats of this type by these Knesset Members do not scare us," the petition continued. "As Israeli citizens, the refusal of these theater actors to perform in Ariel, which is not within the borders of Israeli sovereignty, is a democratic right."

"It is unconscionable that the resistance to the settlement enterprise, a belief shared by a substantial amount of the Israeli public, has turned into an illegitimate position that leads to slandering, silencing, and funding cuts," said the petition.

The Ariel cultural center celebrated its official opening last week, including a performance by the Be'er Sheva theater group.

Dozens of Israeli theater figures had sent a letter to Be'er Sheva Theater actors on November 5, urging them to join their battle and boycott the newly built arts center.

In September, a group of theater actors and public figures signed a petition saying they would not perform in the new Ariel center as a protest of Israel's settlement policies. The protest was supported by over 150 academics.

Foreign Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday that he will act against the boycotting artists by halting direct funding of their travel expenses for shows abroad and by preventing their appearances before state bodies.

This is what CAT bulldozers do in Palestine

2010-10-29T22:02:00.001-04:00

Tell your friends to ask TIAA-CREF to stop investing in CAT now.

Dear Frederick,

I have remarkable news. The Israeli press is reporting that Caterpillar is withholding the delivery of tens of D9 bulldozers—valued at $50 million—to the Israeli military.(1) These are weaponized bulldozers that are used to illegally destroy homes and orchards of Palestinian families. And they are the very same bulldozers as the one that killed a 23-year-old American peace activist named Rachel Corrie seven years ago when she tried to protect the home of the Nasrallah family in Gaza.

This is not an earthquake.

That's why the next part of the story is even more amazing. The news reports say that the deliveries have been suspended now because Rachel's parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie, are bringing a civil suit against the government of Israel in a court in Tel Aviv.(2) The deliveries are to stop during the length of the trial. We take this as an indirect admission by the company that these bulldozers are being used to violate human rights and to violate the law. The Corrie story is sadly just one of thousands of stories of loss and pain.

A suspension of the sale of bulldozers is what we have been asking Caterpillar for over seven years now. This is a great win, but this is no time to let off the pressure.

Caterpillar and the U.S. government have neither confirmed nor denied the news. And news reports describe the company's move as a temporary decision only. To urge the U.S. government to make this policy permanent, please sign the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation’s petition to President Obama to continue this new policy.

We need to hold both our government and corporations profiting from the occupation accountable. TIAA-CREF, one of the largest financial services in the United States, invests heavily in Caterpillar (over $250 million as of their last financial report). Thanks to you, we've already gathered over 17,000 in our petition to TIAA-CREF, asking it to divest from Caterpillar and other companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. But we need more! Tell your friends to sign our petition. If TIAA-CREF divests from Caterpillar, it will have a rippling impact everywhere.

Since 2003, Jewish Voice for Peace has been filing annual shareholder resolutions to pressure Caterpillar with a growing coalition of interfaith partners. We've organized protests. We've taken over a CAT dealership. We've worked in support of Presbyterian and Methodist divestment initiatives from the company, and with your help, we are asking TIAA-CREF to divest from Caterpillar as well.

Caterpillar has never budged... until now.

Caterpillar's irresponsible behavior comes with a heavy price tag. In the last ten years, at least 11,795 homes have been demolished.(3) These statistics, gruesome as they are, cannot do justice to the pain of so many families, to their razed livelihoods and their shattered dreams.

The picture above does not come from an earthquake scene. It depicts the man-made destruction and the hopelessness that the Caterpillar bulldozers bring at the hand of the soldiers who wield them. Let's make sure that this is the last picture of this kind we get to see.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=uOdnCzgp8AjUilNWJm0Bn7LCJ%2FcycsYW

Tell your friends to ask TIAA-CREF to stop investing in CAT now.

Thank you and shabbat shalom,

Sydney Levy

Jewish Voice for Peace

Desmond Tutu calls on South African opera company to boycott Israel

2010-10-28T11:21:00.000-04:00

Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu has urged a South African opera company to boycott Israel, comparing its treatment of Palestinians to his own country's era of racial apartheid.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/global/2010/oct/27/desmond-tutu-opera-boycott-israel

David Smith in Johannesburg
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 27 October 2010 14.34 BST
Article history

Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu said to perform Porgy and Bess in Israel now is "unconscionable".
Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

The Nobel peace prize laureate said it would be "unconscionable" for Cape Town Opera to perform in Israel while millions of people there are denied access to culture and education.

But the opera company today insisted that it would go ahead with next month's tour of the American classic Porgy and Bess, while Tutu's stand was condemned by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.

The 79-year-old, who earlier this month announced his retirement from public life, issued a statement that said: " Just as we said during apartheid that it was inappropriate for international artists to perform in South Africa in a society founded on discriminatory laws and racial exclusivity, so it would be wrong for Cape Town Opera to perform in Israel.

"Cape Town Opera should postpone its proposed tour next month until both Israeli and Palestinian opera lovers of the region have equal opportunity and unfettered access to attend performances."

Tutu, a veteran of the anti-apartheid struggle and campaign to free Nelson Mandela, continued: "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.

"The Tel Aviv Opera House is state sponsored. By luring international artists to perform there, it advances Israel's fallacious claim to being a 'civilised democracy'. Yet, every day, millions of citizens are denied the right to educational and cultural opportunities in Israel and the Palestinian territories it occupies."

Tutu added: "Please, fine singers of the Cape Town Opera: much as it offers you opportunities to travel abroad and show the world what we can do, listen to your conscience. God loves Jews and Muslims equally. To perform Porgy and Bess, with its universal message of non-discrimination, in the present state of Israel, is unconscionable."

But the plea was rejected by Cape Town Opera. Michael Williams, its managing director, said today: "Cape Town Opera respects the views held by retired Archbishop Tutu. We are, however, first and foremost an arts company that believes in promoting universally held human values through the medium of opera and we are accordingly reluctant to adopt the essentially political position of disengagement from cultural ties with Israel or with Palestine."

He added: "I am proud that our artists, when travelling abroad, act as ambassadors and exemplars of the free society that has been achieved in democratic South Africa. Indeed, the production of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in question has, in our view, much which should provide food for thought for audiences in Israel."

Williams said discussions for the visit to Israel began four years ago and that negotiations to perform "within the Arab world" are ongoing.

Tutu's stand was criticised by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape Council). Its executive director, David Jacobson, said: "Peace and understanding are best served through constructive and positive engagements between Israel, South Africa and the Palestinian regions, not by boycotts."

He added: "The SAJBD Cape Council further completely rejects Archbishop Tutu's claim that Israel is founded on 'discriminatory laws and racial exclusivity'. There is, in fact, no other country in the Middle East that can claim to be as inclusive, non-discriminatory and multicultural than Israel."

Tutu caused controversy last month when he supported Johannesburg University's (UJ) decision to sever links with Israel's Ben-Gurion University, accused of actively supporting the Israeli military, unless it meets two conditions within six months.

UJ stipulated that its memorandum of understanding with Ben-Gurion should be amended to include Palestinian universities and that UJ "will not engage in any activities with [Ben-Gurion] that have direct or indirect military implications".

Flash Dance for Boycott Hits West Philly Supermarket

2010-10-27T09:27:00.005-04:00

TIAA-CREF Student Strategy Session

2010-09-29T22:56:00.000-04:00

I'm writing to ask if you'd mind promoting an upcoming regional strategy session for the TIAA-CREF divestment campaign. We have four such meetings, and one of them is set for New York City in late October. I've included all the info about it below. I think it would be fabulous to turn out many of the Hudson Valley students within reach of your radio show.

Let me know if you'd be willing to plug the session as it gets closer and/or if Rebecca or I might be able to do a quick interview about it.

Thanks for everything,

Stefanie

TIAA-CREF Student Strategy Session

New York City: October 30th

Information and applications are online now: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=5481 .

A bit of background:

TIAA-CREF is the one of the world's largest retirement funds, and we're demanding they stop investing in companies that profit from Israel's Occupation of Palestine. In many cases, campus divestment campaigns are targeting the very same companies as those within the TIAA-CREF portfolio. This fall, join other students in your region to strategize about the ways we can work together to make both campus campaigns and the national TIAA-CREF campaign stronger.

Since the June launch of the JVP campaign for TIAA-CREF to divest, over 17,000 people have signed the online petition and groups in 20 different cities have begun to mobilize. Local coalitions are leading community teach-ins, gathering signatures at events, hosting poetry slams, and organizing actions against the five main campaign targets--Motorola, Elbit, Northrop Grumman, Veolia, and Caterpillar.

At the same time, the student divestment movement is kicking it into high gear, with promising campaigns on campuses all over the country.

In these all-day strategy sessions we'll build relationships and work together to answer the following questions:

How can we build strategy against shared targets?

How can your campus group launch a TIAA-CREF campaign?

How can the materials, tactics, and organizing for the National TIAA-CREF Campaign support and enhance your campus group's existing divestment efforts?

How can your campus divestment campaign grow the national movement for TIAA-CREF to divest?

Please spread the word among your networks and let me know if you have any questions at all!

Israeli ties: a chance to do the right thing

2010-09-26T20:48:00.000-04:00

The Sunday Times Sep 26, 2010†

By:†Archbishop Desmond Tutu

The University of Johannesburg's Senate will next week meet to decide whether to end its relationship with an Israeli institution, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, on the grounds of that university's active support for and involvement in the Israeli military. Archbishop Desmond Tutu supports the move. He explains why

Archbishop Desmond Tutu†
Photograph by: ROBYN BECK

" My heart aches. I say, "Why are our memories so short." " Jacob Zuma

"The temptation in our situation is to speak in muffled tones about an issue such as the right of the people of Palestine to a state of their own.

We can easily be enticed to read reconciliation and fairness as meaning parity between justice and injustice. Having achieved our own freedom, we can fall into the trap of washing our hands of difficulties that others face. Yet we would be less than human if we did so. It behoves all South Africans, themselves erstwhile beneficiaries of generous international support, to stand up and be counted among those contributing actively to the cause of freedom and justice." - Nelson Mandela, December 4 1997

Struggles for freedom and justices are fraught with huge moral dilemmas. How can we commit ourselves to virtue - before its political triumph - when such commitment may lead to ostracism from our political allies and even our closest partners and friends? Are we willing to speak out for justice when the moral choice that we make for an oppressed community may invite phone calls from the powerful or when possible research funding will be withdrawn from us? When we say "Never again!" do we mean "Never again!", or do we mean "Never again to us!"?

Our responses to these questions are an indication of whether we are really interested in human rights and justice or whether our commitment is simply to secure a few deals for ourselves, our communities and our institutions - but in the process walking over our ideals even while we claim we are on our way to achieving them?

The issue of a principled commitment to justice lies at the heart of responses to the suffering of the Palestinian people and it is the absence of such a commitment that enables many to turn a blind eye to it.

Consider for a moment the numerous honorary doctorates that Nelson Mandela and I have received from universities across the globe. During the years of apartheid many of these same universities denied tenure to faculty who were "too political" because of their commitment to the struggle against apartheid. They refused to divest from South Africa because "it will hurt the blacks" (investing in apartheid South Africa was not seen as a political act; divesting was).

Let this inconsistency please not be the case with support for the Palestinians in their struggle against occupation.

I never tire of speaking about the very deep distress in my visits to the Holy Land; they remind me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like we did when young white police officers prevented us from moving about. My heart aches. I say, "Why are our memories so short?" Have our Jewish sisters and brothers forgotten their own previous humiliation? Have they forgotten the collective punishment, the home demolitions, in their own history so soon?

Have they turned their backs on their profound and noble religious traditions? Have they forgotten that God cares deeply about all the downtrodden?

Together with the peace-loving peoples of this Earth, I condemn any form of violence - but surely we must recognise that people caged in, starved and stripped of their essential material and political rights must resist their Pharaoh? Surely resistance also makes us human? Palestinians have chosen, like we did, the nonviolent tools of boycott, divestment and sanctions.

South African universities with their own long and complex histories of both support for apartheid and resistance to it should know something about the value of this nonviolent option.

The University of Johannesburg has a chance to do the right thing, at a time when it is unsexy. I have time and time again said that we do not want to hurt the Jewish people gratuitously and, despite our deep responsibility to honour the memory of the Holocaust and to ensure it never happens again (to anyone), this must not allow us to turn a blind eye to the suffering of Palestinians today.

I support the petition by some of the most prominent South African academics who call on the University of Johannesburg to terminate its agreement with Ben-Gurion University in Israel (BGU). These petitioners note that: "All scholarly work takes place within larger social contexts - particularly in institutions committed to social transformation. South African institutions are under an obligation to revisit relationships forged during the apartheid era with other institutions that turned a blind eye to racial oppression in the name of 'purely scholarly' or 'scientific work'." It can never be business as usual.

Israeli Universities are an intimate part of the Israeli regime, by active choice. While Palestinians are not able to access universities and schools, Israeli universities produce the research, technology, arguments and leaders for maintaining the occupation. BGU is no exception. By maintaining links to both the Israeli defence forces and the arms industry, BGU structurally supports and facilitates the Israeli occupation. For example, BGU offers a fast-tracked programme of training to Israeli Air Force pilots.

In the past few years, we have been watching with delight UJ's transformation from the Rand Afrikaans University, with all its scientific achievements but also ugly ideological commitments. We look forward to an ongoing principled transformation. We don't want UJ to wait until others' victories have been achieved before offering honorary doctorates to the Palestinian Mandelas or Tutus in 20 years' time.

Israeli Beauty Products Company Ahava Complicit in the Sins of Occupation

2010-09-18T11:39:00.000-04:00

Walk into any Ricky's store, a beauty shop chain in New York, and you will find a shelf filled with Ahava products. For $28, you can buy mineral toning cleanser; for $22, Dead Sea liquid salt; and for $9, purifying mud soap. The products made by Ahava (which means "love" in Hebrew) seem innocent enough, perfectly enticing for anyone fond of beauty products.

But looks can be deceiving. As activists from the peace group CodePink's Stolen Beauty campaign are fond of chanting at protests, Ahava can't hide its "dirty side."

For nearly two years, an international campaign spearheaded by Palestine solidarity activists has targeted Ahava and the various stores that carry its products, including Ricky's, calling for a boycott. The boycott campaign has heated up recently, eliciting push-back from Jewish organizations around the country and a response from the CEO of Ahava.

While Ahava labels its products "made in Israel," they are actually manufactured in a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in Palestine. According to the Web site Who Profits?, a project of the Israeli anti-occupation group Coalition of Women for Peace, the company exploits Palestinian resources from the Dead Sea.

Under the Geneva Conventions, and various United Nations resolutions, all of Israel's settlements--which house about 500,000 settlers--are illegal, as is excavating natural resources in an occupied area. Israel has occupied the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip since the 1967 Six-Day War. The settlements are widely seen as an obstacle to the creation of a viable and contiguous Palestinian state.

"[The boycott] is about a just peace for Israelis and Palestinians," said Nancy Kricorian, CodePink's coordinator for the Stolen Beauty campaign. "The situation on the ground there is dehumanizing and demoralizing and terrible."

Ahava, which rakes in profits of nearly $150 million a year, according to a Dec. 2009 CNN report, is owned by entities deeply involved in Israel's settlement project in the occupied West Bank. According to Who Profits? 37 percent of the company is owned by Mitzpe Shalem, an illegal settlement located in the eastern West Bank; another 37 percent by the private investment fund Hamashibr Holdings, which also is a major shareholder in two companies that export produce made in settlements; 18.5 perent by the U.S.-based Shamrock Holding, owned by the Roy E. Disney family of Walt Disney fame, and which is a shareholder in a company that manufactures electronic detection systems that are used on the West Bank separation barrier; and 7.5 percent by the West Bank settlement of Kalia.

In an interview, Kricorian acknowledged that Ahava is a huge target, and likened the Stolen Beauty campaign to a "game of whack-a-mole," as new places where Ahava products are sold pop up frequently. But Kricorian says it isn't just about hurting the company's sales.

"A boycott campaign is strategic, and it's a long-term thing," she said. "It's not just about hurting the company's sales. It's also about educating the public about, in this particular case, the company's illegal practices and sullying the company's name and reputation."

Page 2 of 3 Continued from previous page

The campaign to boycott Ahava, in both the United States and around the world, has racked up some important victories. In August 2009, activists successfully pressured Oxfam International to drop Sex and the City star Kristin Davis as a spokeswoman because she was also working with Ahava. In November 2009, the Dutch Foreign Ministry agreed to investigate Ahava's manufacturing and labeling practices. Costco, a large U.S. retailer, was pressured into halting the sale of Ahava products at its stores in January 2010. The Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank, has included Ahava products in its boycott of settlement products campaign, confiscating and destroying products made in West Bank settlements. Recently, four activists in London were acquitted on charges of trespassing after direct actions in 2009 in which they locked themselves onto oil-filled drums inside an Ahava shop.

AHAVA did not respond to inquiries for comment.

The Stolen Beauty campaign, which began in the aftermath of the brutal Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in 2008-'09, is part of the larger boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement that grew out of a 2005 call by a vast swathe of Palestinian civil society groups for BDS against Israel. Modeled on the anti-apartheid movement that targeted South Africa, the Palestinian-led BDS movement demands that Israel withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories, implement equal rights for Palestinian citizens of Israel and recognize the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees and their descendants who fled or were expelled from Palestine during the1947-'49 Arab-Israeli war.

"The BDS campaign has become the most effective, morally consistent, nonviolent form of solidarity with the colonized Palestinians against Israel's apartheid and colonial rule," Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, wrote in an e-mail. "The Stolen Beauty Campaign against Ahava, led by our partner CodePink, is a truly inspiring BDS campaign, as it is creative, focused, well-researched and very effective in conveying the message across to and, more crucially, in mobilizing BDS action in a wider, more mainstream audience."

The Israeli government has taken notice of the growing BDS movement. The Israeli Knesset recently passed a preliminary reading of anti-boycott legislation that would impose fines on Israeli activists promoting boycotts of Israel. A February 2010 report by the Reut Institute, an Israeli think-tank with close ties to Israel's government, identified the BDS movement as an threat to the state.

In the United States, the BDS movement, and the campaign against Ahava, has also generated controversy. After a Washington, D.C.-based group protested in July 2010 against Ahava products being sold in Ulta, a beauty store, the Jewish Community Relations Committee of Greater Washington urged supporters to buy Ahava products.

Brooklyn's Ricky's shop has also become the epicenter of a dispute over the Boycott Ahava movement. After a July 9 protest outside the store led by CodePink's Stolen Beauty and Brooklyn for Peace, which signed onto the campaign in May, a group of rabbis in Brooklyn drafted a letter in response, urging people to buy Ahava products and denouncing the campaign. The rabbis' letter claimed that "CodePink ignores the history and legal status of Mizpeh Shalom" because it is located in "'Area C', a huge section of the West Bank over which Israel, again by joint agreement, was granted full control, except over Palestinian civilians." (The Area C designation comes out of the 1993-era Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Area C incorporates all West Bank settlements.)

Page 3 of 3 Continued from previous page

"Local Jewish leaders find the idea of a boycott of Israel to be a misguided and one-sided approach to a complex and deeply troubling conflict," said Rabbi Andy Bachman, a signatory to the letter and a member of the liberal group J Street's Rabbinic Cabinet. "The problem with a boycott is there's one side that's all right and another side that's all wrong. If that's what the boycotters think, then there really is nothing to discuss. But if not, then why not boycott Palestinian business for years of rejecting peace accords?"

So far, Ricky's has not budged, and continues to sell Ahava products. Dominick Costello, the president of the store, refused to comment.

The relentless targeting of Ahava hasn't gone unnoticed by the company. A letter that has recently been circulated by Ahava to its business partners states that "our company and products have been the subject of unfortunate, ugly and clearly politically motivated smear attacks" that are being pushed by a "couple of small radical fringe organizations, which are part of a larger and more insidious campaign aimed against the State of Israel."

The surge in attention to the boycott campaign is a sign that "we've gotten attention to issue of settlements like we never got before," said Naomi Allen, an activist who sits on Brooklyn for Peace's board and is involved in the group's Israel/Palestine committee. Beginning this month, Brooklyn for Peace plans to hold protests outside the Ricky's shop in Brooklyn on the last Tuesday of every month.

"This is not an argument that we're going to lose, because [what's] right and international law are on our side," Allen said. "The issue of Ahava is a clear-cut issue. There's no excusing the fact that this is occupied territory which is being stolen from the rightful owners and exploited for profit that isn't being shared with the rightful owners."

Alex Kane is a student, journalist and blogger based in New York City. He is a writer for the Indypendent and a frequent contributor to the blog Mondoweiss. His work has also appeared in Salon, Electronic Intifada, Common Dreams, Palestine Chronicle, Gotham Gazette and Extra! He blogs at alexbkane.wordpress.com, and you can follow him on Twitter.

http://www.alternet.org/story/148214/

Sondheim, Moore, et al. Support Israeli Boycott

2010-09-09T08:50:00.000-04:00

Broadway World Web September 8, 2010
http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/

Jewish Voice for Peace has collected over 150 names ofObie/Emmy/Tony/Pulitzer and other prize- winning theater and filmprofessionals in support of the Israeli actors'/playwrights' boycott ofIsraeli settlements. The issue has exploded in Israel and now support forthe boycott hasgone global.Supporters include: Theodore Bikel, Mira Nair, JuliAnne Moore, Hal Prince,Stephen Sondheim, Cynthia Nixon, Tony Kushner, Mandy Patinkin, Eve Ensler,Jennifer Tilly, Ed Asner, Wallace Shawn, James Schamus and many more.

Ed Asner, actor "It is always amazing when actors turn down jobs. To have
the actors of Israel say they will not work in those venues is truly an actof courage. I applaud them and would love to instill the actors of Americawith that courage."

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace: "The response of American artists to the courageous actions of their Israelicounterparts is just phenomenal. It is especially notable that so many ofthe signatories are Jewish Americans with long-standing connections toIsrael. We hope that the strong show of solidarity by Americans in responseto these brave Israelis will help spark a new conversation in bothcountries, one that acknowledges that the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are illegal by every measure of international law, contribute to the daily violation of human rights of Palestinians, and are a major obstacle to a just peace inthe region."

Corey Fischer, co-founder of the Traveling Jewish Theater (now JewishTheater San Francisco), "It seems to me that, as often happens in our times,these artists are taking on what was traditionally the task of the Hebrew Prophets: speaking truth to power. I hope someone is listening."The Israeli theatre community re cently released a petition in which theyrefused to perform in the West Bank because of news that performances werebeing planned for Ariel's new cultural center. The group of artistsparticipating in the boycott hope that their actions will only highlight theinjustice of the current occupation.

Read more:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Sondheim_Moore_et_al_Support_Israeli_Boycott_20100908

visit my website www.michaelmunk.com

Church boycott calls ring louder

2010-08-25T15:52:00.002-04:00

Sarah Irving, The Electronic Intifada, 25 August 2010

Churches around the world are joining the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. (Luay Sababa/MaanImages)

The world's churches have long been one of the battlegrounds of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. With the strengthening of the BDS movement, a number of churches across the globe have seen the boycott of Israeli and Israeli settlement goods hotting up, and recent weeks have witnessed some notable victories.

The British Methodist Church has seen a number of resolutions on Israel passed in recent years. In 2006, says Dr. Stephen Leah, a Methodist preacher and member of the church's conference, a vote to divest from companies profiting from the occupation was passed "overwhelmingly," and other motions condemning Israeli actions in Gaza and encouraging church members to campaign for a just peace have been welcomed.

In June, Leah and colleague Nicola Jones, a Methodist minister who works with Palestinian liberation theology organization Friends of Sabeel, sparked major debate in the British media after they successfully shepherded a boycott motion through Methodist conference. "In 2009 we set up a working party in order to bring a statement to 2010 conference outlining the Methodist Church's position on Palestine," explains Leah. "Our report was the basis for the new resolution."

The resulting motion has attracted most attention for its call for a boycott of goods from Israeli settlements. Christine Elliott, the Church's Secretary for External Relationships, said in an official press release that "This decision has not been taken lightly, but after months of research, careful consideration and finally, today's debate at the Conference. The goal of the boycott is to put an end to the existing injustice. It reflects the challenge that settlements present to a lasting peace in the region. We are passionate about dialogue across communities and with people of all faiths. We remain deeply committed to our relationships with our brothers and sisters of other faiths, and we look to engage in active listening so that we act as agents of hope together."

"My personal view is that I'm in favor of a boycott of all Israeli goods," says Leah. "But we had a big debate about it in the working party, as you can probably imagine, and some people said we should stick with a boycott of settlement products. So the statement now says that the Church will boycott settlement goods, but that some Methodists would like to go further." Although the Methodists are the first church in the UK to mandate a settlement boycott, Leah claims that grassroots opinion within other churches, particularly the United Reform Church, would also support a boycott motion if one was presented to their conferences.

Significantly, the Methodist resolution doesn't stop with a settlement boycott. It encourages church members to educate themselves on the issue of Palestine, directing them to documents such as the 2009 Kairos Declaration by Palestinian Christian leaders. It also encourages them to take action, ranging from engaging with the Amos Trust's Just Peace for Palestine initiative to volunteering with the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI), whose human rights observation work takes volunteers to villages such as Yanoun, which has been repeatedly attacked and threatened by far-right settlers from Itamar. Official Methodist documents now refer to settlements as illegal, and the Church leadership has written to Britain's main supermarkets asking for details of their policies on settlement produce. According to a Church spokesperson, they intend to make the results of their enquiries public in the near future, and the Methodist website already includes guidance on country of origin labels relating to Israel, the occupied West Bank and settlements.

The Methodist resolution also "directs the Faith and Order Committee to undertake further work on the theological issues, including Christian Zionism, raised in the report that are needed to guide and support the approach of the Methodist Church to the Israeli/Palestinian situation and to bring a report to Conference." This, says Leah, is a measure aimed at "getting to grips with what's behind Christian Zionism, because there are all sorts of different strands. Part of that will be a discussion within the Committee as to whether or not some aspects are compatible with Methodist beliefs. For example, some people, including the UN, have said that Zionism is akin to racism, and the Methodist Church is completely against all forms of racism." Leah says that he's rarely encountered Christian Zionism within his local Methodist congregations in the north of England, but acknowledges that "some people do have a feeling that we should be supporting Israel because they're in the Bible and so on. But I'd say it's stronger in other churches, especially the evangelical churches."

Boycott backlash

Unsurprisingly, the decision of Britain's second largest Protestant church to endorse the settlement boycott and research Christian support for Zionism has been controversial. The London-based Council of Christians and Jews responded to the Methodist resolution with mailings claiming that the boycott will "hurt Palestinian people," while the Board of Deputies of British Jews issued a statement calling the motion "a very sad day, both for Jewish-Methodist relations and for everyone who wants to see positive engagement with the complex issues of Israeli-Palestinian relations. The Methodist Conference has swallowed hook, line and sinker a report full of basic historical inaccuracies, deliberate misrepresentations and distortions of Jewish theology and Israeli policy." The statement went on to accuse the Methodist Church of being "crass, insensitive and misinformed," and The Jewish Chronicle reported that the board had cut off relations with the Methodist leadership until "we see signs of a change in their stance."

From Israel, meanwhile, commentators raised the specter of a "threat to inter-faith efforts all over Europe." The Jerusalem Post called the Methodist Church, which claims 330,000 members in the UK, a "small and declining community" and described the Kairos Declaration as a "highly organized" effort by Palestinian Christian leaders. A Jerusalem Post op-ed by Robin Shepherd of the Henry Jackson Society (which numbers Operation Cast Lead defender Max Boot, former Israeli ambassador Dore Gold and a former CIA director amongst its figureheads), was entitled "The Banality of Methodist Evil," called the BDS campaign "rancid" and accused the Methodist Church of "burying its credibility under a gigantic dunghill of intransigence, pedantry, lies and distortions." The writers concluded by suggesting that "If the Methodist Church is to launch a boycott of Israel, let Israel respond in kind: Ban their officials from entering; deport their missionaries; block their funds; close down their offices; and tax their churches. If it's war, it's war. The aggressor must pay a price."

"I think a lot of people were expecting this," says Leah, "But the ordinary people I've been speaking to in churches are absolutely delighted. They say we've stood our ground and done what's right." He cites letters such as that from the Reverent Rob Hufton, which appeared in the Church's newspaper, the Methodist Recorder, pointing out that Israeli restrictions on Palestinian movement render impossible the kind of inter-faith encounter which critics of the Methodist motion claim to support. Hufton condemned the Israeli policies which have turned the West Bank into a "Swiss cheese" and concluded that "Things are worse than the maligned [Methodist] report suggests. We, as a Church, have nothing to apologize for and should not be intimidated."

Leah admits that the Methodist leadership have been "getting a lot of flak from The Jewish Chronicle and The Jerusalem Post, which always makes them a bit worried," but he sees grassroots work with members of the Methodist congregation as his main task. He's also keen to highlight the support which the Methodist motion has attracted from anti-Zionist Jewish organizations, and the potential it holds for cross-community dialogue with Britain's Muslims. "I think more than anything it's important for the Methodist church and leadership to be bold in what they're doing and take it back to those who are criticizing and say, we've got to stand up against injustice," he says.

Behind the hysterical attacks on the Methodist resolution from Zionist commentators is their fear of the growing BDS movement. For the Methodist Church's decision may be part of a growing trend amongst churches worldwide. Despite The Jerusalem Post's insistence on the marginality of the Methodist Church, the Church of England, the UK's largest Protestant denomination, announced the week after the Methodist conference that it was reviewing its stake in French transportation company Veolia because of the latter's role in the Jerusalem light rail project. According to the Anglican Missionary and Public Affairs Committee, there was concern within the Church that "once built, the rail system will help to cement Israel's hold on occupied East Jerusalem and tie the settlements even more firmly into the State of Israel." The church would, it said, be investigating whether "the tram operator will ensure access to the tram that does not discriminate between Palestinians and Israelis, and abide by any ruling on the legality of the project in an international law."

Australian, US churches move towards settlement boycott

In Australia, meanwhile, the National Council of Churches also passed a motion at the end of July backing a boycott of settlement products. The NCCA represents the Australian branches of the Catholic and Anglican churches, along with 15 other denominations. An NCCA press release states: "Rev Tara Curlewis, General Secretary of the NCCA said 'We are asking the member Churches of the NCCA to consider boycotting particular goods produced in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories." NCCA added that boycotting Israeli goods could help to "liberate the people from an experience of injustice" and was a means to help establish a "just and definitive" peace for Palestinians and Israelis. It also confirmed that Act For Peace, the Christian aid agency for Australia, would support boycott actions and advocacy initiatives by Australian churches.

Australian Zionist groups reacted with predictable fury, framing the decision as a boycott against "West Bank Jews." Robert Goot, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, claimed to reporters that the resolution "revived painful memories for Jews in Australia of earlier times in Europe when churches allowed themselves to be swept up in the tide of popular prejudices against the Jewish people."

While not going as far as British and Australian churches, the Presbyterian General Assembly, which represents the denomination's two million-plus members in the US, in July passed a number of resolutions on Palestinian issues. These included approving with 82 percent of the assembly vote a position paper which called for an "end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories" (while also affirming "Israel's right to exist as a sovereign nation within secure and internationally recognized borders") and "an immediate freeze on the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and on the Israeli acquisition of Palestinian land and buildings in East Jerusalem."

The Presbyterian General Assembly also approved a report by the Mission Responsibility Through Investment committee which "Strongly denounces Caterpillar's continued profit-making from non-peaceful uses of a number of its products on the basis of Christian principles and as a matter of social witness" and "Calls upon Caterpillar to carefully review its involvement in obstacles to a just and lasting peace in Israel-Palestine, and to take affirmative steps to end its complicity in the violation of human rights." The Presbyterian General Assembly said that it rejected divestment as an option, on the grounds that it would continue to "engage" with companies which "profit from the sale and use of their products for non-peaceful purposes and/or the violation of human rights." The Anti-Defamation League, which routinely attacks any policies critical of Israel, called the reports "biased."

Sarah Irving is a freelance writer. She worked with the International Solidarity Movement in the occupied West Bank in 2001-02 and with Olive Co-op, promoting fair trade Palestinian products and solidarity visits, in 2004-06. She now writes full-time on a range of issues, including Palestine. Her first book, Gaza: Beneath the Bombs co-authored with Sharyn Lock, was published in January 2010.

Support Builds

2010-08-22T19:53:00.001-04:00

Published on Sunday, August 22, 2010 by the Boston Globe

Support Builds for Boycotts Against Israel, Activists Say

by Farah Stockman

WASHINGTON - In May, rock legend Elvis Costello canceled his gig in Israel. Then, in June, a group of unionized dock workers in San Francisco refused to unload an Israeli ship. In August, a food co-op in Washington state removed Israeli products from its shelves.

Code Pink launched a boycott of the cosmetic company Ahava because its products are manufactured in an Israeli settlement.

The so-called "boycott, divestment, and sanctions'' movement aimed at pressuring Israel to withdraw from land claimed by Palestinians has long been considered a fringe effort inside the United States, with no hope of garnering mainstream support enjoyed by the anti-apartheid campaign against South Africa of the 1980s.

But in recent months, particularly after an Israeli raid on a flotilla delivering supplies to Palestinians, organizers are pointing to evidence that the movement has picked up momentum, even as Israelis and Palestinians are moving toward a new round of peace talks.

"Peace talks have been going on for decades and all they have resulted in are more dispossession,'' said Nancy Kricorian, a New-York-based staff member for Code Pink, an antiwar group that launched a boycott of the cosmetic company Ahava because its products are manufactured in an Israeli settlement.
Kricorian, who grew up in Watertown, said Code Pink experienced increased interest by groups wanting to endorse the boycott during the Israeli operation in Gaza last year, and again since a May 31 Israeli raid on a flotilla left nine pro-Palestinian activists dead. Ahava did not respond to an e-mail request for comment.

Susanne Hoder, a member of a "divestment task force'' set up by the Lawrence-based New England Conference of the United Methodist Church, said she believes activists will continue efforts until the Israeli military leaves the West Bank.

"Slowly but surely people are starting to recognize that some action is needed,'' she said.
Her task force supports divestment from 29 companies it says are involved in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, including Motorola and Caterpillar, but not from Israel itself.

The movement has gained energy from a Palestinian boycott announced in May of products made by Israeli settlers, but it also has sparked a backlash from Israeli lawmakers, who are now considering a bill that would bar non-Israelis involved in "boycott divestment sanctions'' efforts from entering Israel for 10 years.

An additional measure being considered would allow settlers to sue activists inside Israel and the West Bank who help organize boycotts. If the measures pass, they could be used against US activists, the Palestinian Authority, and Israeli groups such as Boycott from Within and whoprofits.org, a website that lists settler products.

Jonathan Peled, spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, said it is unclear whether the bills will pass. He called the various boycott and divestment efforts in the West Bank and the United States "regrettable and counterproductive,'' especially as Israeli and Palestinian leaders are set to begin peace talks in Washington next month. It is unclear whether the Palestinian boycott will continue throughout the peace talks.

But activists in the United States and Europe - where the movement has much more widespread support - say such actions provide a much-needed outlet to people who want to end the conflict.

"We used to lobby the US government, the Israeli government, and the Palestinians to do something,'' said Sydney Levy, of Jewish Voices for Peace, a California-based group that collected 17,000 signatures since June asking investment firm TIAA-CREF to divest from companies involved in the occupation. "But now we realize that we can take action on our own. We are only waiting for ourselves.''
TIAA-CREF said in a press release that it would not alter its investment policy.

The movement is such a hot-button issue that the sale of stock in Israeli companies often sparks unfounded speculation. Earlier this month, after a blogger reported that Harvard University sold $41.5 million in holdings in a number of well-known Israeli companies, the university had to issue a statement explaining its investment strategy and assuring the public that it had not "divested from Israel.''
Last year, after student activists at Amherst-based Hampshire College told reporters that they had successfully lobbied for the sale of holdings in an Israel-related mutual fund, the university swiftly announced that the sale was not political.

Boycott activists say they are not discouraged by the lack of popular support, noting that the successful boycott of apartheid South Africa took decades to come to fruition. But that boycott had strong support among African-Americans, while boycotts against Israeli companies face passionate opposition from many Jewish Americans, who have mobilized to oppose such efforts.

"Their goal is to brand Israel the new South Africa,'' said Jonathan Haber, a Boston consultant who started the website DivestThis.com to fight against the movement. "Israel is not an apartheid state.''
Hussein Ibish, of the Washington-based American Task Force for Palestine, said the "boycott, divestment, sanctions'' movement had no chance of becoming mainstream inside the United States as long as it targets Israel. But he said actions aimed at Israeli settlements "had a shot'' at garnering popular support, especially now that the US government is pressing Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank on land that US, European, and Arab officials hope will become a Palestinian state.
"There isn't a big constituency in the United States for being hostile to Israel, but I think there is potentially a huge constituency for pressuring Israel to end the occupation,'' said Ibish.

For decades, Israel has provided tax incentive and subsidies for settlers who move to and open businesses in the West Bank, a territory the size of Delaware that the Israeli military took control of in 1967, when it won a war against Arab nations.

Today about 17 percent of the area's 2.5 million people are Israeli settlers, while the rest are Palestinians, according to US estimates. International law forbids a country from moving its civilians into occupied territory. But Israel maintains that the West Bank is disputed territory exempt from that provision.

Hoder, 58, a former communications director, said the goal of the New England Methodist divestment task force is to help end the conflict, not to harm Israel. Earlier this year, she led a Methodist fact-finding mission in the West Bank. This summer, the task force helped persuade two more Methodist groups to pass divestment petitions, bringing the total number to 11 out of 62.

Hoder said she became an activist in 2002, after a group of Palestinian YMCA officials came to visit Rhode Island. She traveled to see Israel and the West Bank for herself for the first time in 2004.
"I was shocked,'' she said of hardships that the occupation brought in Palestinian daily life. "I came back with a clear sense that as churches, we shouldn't be sitting on the sidelines.''

In 2005 - a year after the church's worldwide governing body voted to oppose the Israeli occupation - Hoder and other church activists established the task force, which recommends that individuals divest from 29 companies, including Motorola, which sells security surveillance systems for settlements and checkpoints; Caterpillar, which sells bulldozers that tear down Palestinian homes; and Veolia, a French transportation company involved in building a light rail system between the settlements.

Spokeswoman Tama McWhinney said Motorola is "concerned about any issues that shareholders raise'' but will "continue to provide communications systems to more than 70 countries around the world in accordance with their laws.'' Jim Dugan, spokesman for Caterpillar, said strict US antiboycotting laws prevent US companies from participating in boycotts.

"We expect our customers to use our products in . . . ways consistent with human rights,'' he wrote. A spokesman for Veolia was not available for comment.

The Methodist church's largest investment body, the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits, still holds stock in companies on the list, including Motorola, Caterpillar, and Veolia.

"Monument to Freedom" Trip to Israel

2010-08-16T17:19:00.000-04:00

AHI offers way overpriced foreign travel packages to college alum groups. Mine came in the mail, offering a 10 day excursion to a nation so small that it "allows you to experience an array of highlights, from spiritual landmarks to modern monuments to freedom." Yes, for $2,595 I could visit Israel with my fellow alums.

I called AHI at 877 572-5160, urging them to discontinue the trip because of Israel's human rights abuses. Turns out AHI serves about 400 colleges nationwide. Each college alum office picks the three tours to be offered. The woman on the phone would not tell me how many of the 400 colleges offer the trip to Israel.

She never asked my name or college. So we can all call AHI and object to the Israeli visit for alums.

I will also contact my college office and urge them not to offer the trip to Israel in the future.

Fred

On the Woodstock Ahava Demonstration

2010-08-15T22:22:00.002-04:00

Of course, the recent demonstration in Woodstock against Ahava products caused some consternation. You have a group committed to freeing the Palestinian people from occupation and apartheid oppression and you have a group that puts the interests of Israel above anything else. When you get both groups in the same place, there will be some shouting and name calling.

But this is the way change happens in a democracy. Think about the freedom rides and lunch counter sit-ins during the Civil Rights Era. Or the boycott of South African goods and investments during apartheid. People demonstrating in the streets for human rights made the issues clearer for the general public.

Ahava is made in the occupied West Bank. When a person buys Ahava products, the money makes its way back to an Israeli settlement that is illegal under international law. The settlement is illegal, as well as the exploitation for profit of the land's natural resources.

If peace is ever to come to the Middle East, Israel must end its occupation of the West Bank, lands taken during the 1967 war. Buying products made by Israelis in this occupied territory does the opposite; it perpetuates the occupation.

If you would like to see what other products profit from the apartheid treatment of Palestinians, go to http://www.hudsonvalleybds.org. BDS stands for boycott, divestment and sanctions, a non-violent way to get Israel to do the right thing in the Middle East. Join us if you value peace and human rights for all people, regardless of race, religion or ethnic identity.

Fred Nagel

Letter about Ahava demonstration in Woodstock

2010-08-15T22:21:00.001-04:00

Dear Editor,

On the last Saturday in July, my wife and I were among those in Woodstock who received a half- page flier from someone on the Green demonstrating for Ahava. Concerned with the accuracy of statements and allegations in the flier, I did some research and -- for the benefit of your readers who also received that missive -- write to share the results.

Flier: "Mud and materials used in Ahava cosmetics are not excavated in an occupied area. The minerals are mined in the Israeli part of the Dead Sea which is undisputed internationally." Research shows: In her article, "The Case Against Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories", Nancy Krikorian wrote, "The mud that is used in the Ahava products is taken from a site that is next to the settlement of Kalia." The results of a "Geo Names" map search indicates clearly that Kalia is at the northwest end of the Dead Sea. That's Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Flier: "Mitzpe Shalem, a west bank kibbutz, where Ahava products are produced is not an illegal settlement." Research shows: Mitzpe Shalem may not be illegal under Israeli law, but it is illegal under International Law. Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states, "The occupying power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own population into the territories it occupies."

Flier: "The Dead Sea is clearly Israeli. Mitzpe Shalem is within the green line which makes it just as much a settlement as Tel Aviv." Research shows: The Dead Sea forms part of the border between Jordan, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The eastern half of the Dead Sea is part of Jordan, while the western half is divided between Israel (south) and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (north). Mitzpe Shalem is inside the Green Line...which means it's in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Tel Aviv is outside the Green Line.

Flier: "The boycott is aimed at the delegitimization of the state of Israel." Research shows: The boycott of Ahava is not aimed at de-legitimizing the state of Israel, but at ending its occupation of Palestinian territory.

Flier: "Middle East Crisis Response Group is devoted to the destruction of Israel." Research shows: MECR is not devoted to the destruction of Israel, but to working for peace with justice for all those who live in the region.

Submitted in the hope that clarity will lead to better understanding,

Paul Rehm

Urge TIAA/CREF to Divest

2010-08-12T12:52:00.002-04:00

If you are/were in education and have a TIAA/CREF retirement account, please call and ask them to stop investing in Israel. Making money from apartheid is inconsistent with the stated ideals and goals of this special investment company.

Call: 1 800 719-1193. Press 0 to get a live person, confirm your membership, and ask them to pass on your divestment request. The woman I talked to was very friendly and told me that they were "getting a lot of these calls." Here's hoping they get a lot more.

Also, please sign the Jewish Voice for Peace's petition online.

TO TIAA-CREF:
Please refrain from investing in any company that contributes to violations of human rights or international law by:
• Directly profiting from, or contributing to, the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Providing products or services that contribute to the construction and maintenance of Israeli settlements and/or the Separation Wall, both of which are illegal under international law.
• Providing products or services that contribute to or enable violent acts that target civilians.

I also request that you establish investment criteria to exclude any such investments in the future.

As one of the largest financial services companies in the world, changing your policies will send a message of hope to Palestinians and Israelis who seek peace and justice.

TIAA CREF action by Jewish Voice for Peace

2010-07-22T11:40:00.001-04:00

Wow!

I'm writing you from New York City where I just got back from the TIAA-CREF annual meeting and I'm still a bit overwhelmed by the experience.

I can't tell you what it meant to have each one of you there with us in the room. 15,300 of you to be exact. Each of you signed a petition or a postcard, or secured hundreds of postcards in your own community. And you know what? That made all the difference --- to us, and to the leadership of TIAA-CREF.

Yesterday we finally got a chance to call on TIAA-CREF, in person, to divest from companies like Caterpillar and Elbit that profit from Israel's occupation. As a fellow activist in the room said, "This was a real breakthrough today." I couldn't agree more.

At the meeting, those who have retirement accounts with the company can stand up and speak. We had a designated speaker delivering the postcards to TIAA-CREF management, and we knew a few other people, mostly professors and teachers, would get up and ask that their money not be invested in companies that profit from discrimination, death, and destruction, and push hope and peace ever further away.

But what happened was extraordinary. First 5, then 10, then 14 people, then more got up, one after another, to speak from the heart about why TIAA CREF must not profit from Israel's occupation. These people weren't just JVP members, but included TIAA-CREF shareholders attending the meeting for entirely different reasons, who were spontaneously moved to speak in support of our campaign.

Not a single person spoke to defend Israel's occupation. Not one. But we all know that will change, which is why we need you now to help us grow the 15,300 to 25,000 and then 50,000.

But yesterday, our voice for justice, for full equality, for a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, dominated the room. So many inspiring and courageous JVP activists stood up to say how TIAA-CREF was fueling death and destruction by literally investing in it. To implore TIAA-CREF to find a new way.

During the meeting, we had the honor of delivering our many stacks of petitions and postcards directly to the Chief Financial Officer, and could feel the energy in the room change as the TIAA-CREF executives saw how many people we were representing. The CEO of TIAA-CREF announced they would be meeting with our campaign team tomorrow, and I knew they were taking us seriously.

It was impossible for anyone in that room to not have been affected by what they saw and heard. Just imagine - hours of statements about the Israeli occupation were made in the boardroom of one of the largest financial services companies in the world.The executive managers and board members present listened attentively, respectfully.

We know the struggle will be long to actually get TIAA-CREF to divest, but this is just the beginning. Our story is already spreading across the world, with media coverage in US News and Report, Inside Higher Ed, Israel's Ha'aretz, Tablet and the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

You've made all of this possible, and we plan on bringing you with us every step of the way.Please add more voices to yours! We are already having an impact at 15,300 but want to grow to 50,000. Please tell your friends today.

Thank you. I wish we could have videotaped the statements of every person in that room-I promise you, you would have been moved and inspired. But none of us who were there will ever forget it.

Onward,
Aaron Levitt
Jewish Voice for Peace

P.S. At yesterday's meeting, TIAA-CREF's corporate leadership announced they would be meeting directly with Jewish Voice for Peace this morning, and so they did. This is a very exciting step--and it's also just the beginning. We still need you to help us get more signatures, especially from TIAA-CREF participants who are predominantly professors, teachers, medical and nonprofit workers.

Food Co-Op in Rachel Corrie's Hometown Boycotts Israeli Goods

2010-07-20T23:28:00.002-04:00

The Olympia Food Co-op announced last week that no more Israeli products will be sold at its two grocery stores.

by Natasha Mozgovaya

Americans are far more supportive of Israel than Europeans, and most initiatives to boycott Israeli goods or to divest funds from companies working with Israel are unsuccessful in the United States.

Last week, the board of directors of the Olympia Food Co-op in Washington state decided that no more Israeli products will be sold at its two grocery stores in the city. (Photo by: AP)

But such projects have recently become more widespread, especially among students - although most divestment decisions by student bodies are not implemented on the colleges' management levels.
Last week, the board of directors of the Olympia Food Co-op in Washington state decided that no more Israeli products will be sold at its two grocery stores in the city.
"We met last Thursday for the board members meeting and a pretty large group - about 40 people - presented the boycott project and answered our questions," Rob Richards, a board member, told Haaretz. "A couple of board members were concerned about what will be the financial effect on the organization, but it's minimal. For me personally there is a moral imperative that goes beyond any financial concern. So we decided to adopt the boycott which went into effect the next day."
Asked whether the boycott includes all products made in Israel, or only in settlements, Richards explained: "As far as I know - it concerns any Israeli products. We exempted "Peace Oil" - it's a joint product produced by the Palestinian farmers. Any product that is made by the company that works to improve the conditions of the Palestinians will be exempted."
Richards says the decision drew no protests.

"There was very little feedback from the staff that was against the boycott, but it seemed as minority opinion. We have two members on the board from the Jewish community who were supportive of the boycott - it's pretty progressive town. I know that's not universal at the Jewish community."
There is a list of conditions that will lead to the end of the boycott, he says.
"I am trying to be realistic - the Olympia Food Co-Op boycott is not going to change the Israeli policy, but I believe that these small drops will eventually have an effect. I would like to see more co-ops joining the boycott and more voices involved," he added.

It is probably no coincidence that Olympia is the hometown of the International Solidarity Movement activist Rachel Corrie who was killed seven years ago in Gaza - a Caterpillar bulldozer ran over her as she tried to prevent demolition of a Palestinian house. Last month, the student body of Evergreen State College in Olympia, where she studied, passed two resolutions which called for the college foundation "to divest from companies that profit from Israel's illegal occupation of Palestine," and the second one called to ban the Caterpillar company equipment from campus.

"The fact that it is the home town of Rachel Corrie's parents and that it is represented by Rep Brian Baird (who has been to Gaza and is outspoken against Israel) makes this ripe for issues," said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi of The Israel Project, a pro-Israel organization. "So does the fact that it does not have a very organized pro-Israel community. This went under the radar screen at a time when most groups were focused on Iran sanctions and other macro issues. It is clear that the people who voted on this did not hear both sides of the issues. What is needed is education on facts."

An Israeli diplomatic source told Haaretz that the boycott issue is being checked, and although it seems like a marginal incident. The source added that "we are concerned about every attempt to delegitimize Israel."

The Olympia Food Co-Op boycott is only a tiny part of an effort that the BDS (boycotts, divestment and sanctions) movement is mounting on U.S. companies. On Monday, Jewish Voice for Peace activists planned to attend the TIAA-CREF annual meeting the company headquarters in New York City to deliver thousands of signatures calling on the company to divest its money from Caterpillar, Elbit, Motorola and some other companies, that, as JVP puts it, "profit from the violation of international law through home demolitions, the destruction of life sustaining orchards, the construction of roads and transit that only Israelis can use, the killing of civilians by drones, and many other injustices."
In some places the mainstream Jewish community has reacted vigorously against boycott attempts, but many Israel supporters are worried that the battle "might be already lost at the campuses."

Call for Next Thursday in NYC

2010-07-15T12:59:00.002-04:00

This coming Tuesday, July 20th, CREF will hold its annual meeting in New York City. This is the one time a year where the leadership of TIAA-CREF sits down with fund participants and listens in person to their concerns. We certainly have a concern about the Israeli occupation, and we want to make sure that they hear us loud and clear.

Israeli bulldozers resumed bulldozing Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem this week. Palestinians suffer and TIAA-CREF earns a profit. Why is TIAA-CREF invested in Caterpillar?

We have barely started collecting signatures for our petition, and as of this morning we have surpassed the 5,900 mark. Help us greet the fund's directors this Tuesday with 10,000 names in favor of divestment!

We know that TIAA-CREF is taking us seriously, but this is only the beginning. We need your help to keep our momentum growing and let TIAA-CREF know that more and more people are asking it to divest from injustice.

We're coming to the meeting on Tuesday with a large number of postcards. So many of you asked for postcards that we ran out! Please sign our petition online. Whether you've signed the postcard or the petition, we will bring you with us to the July 20 meeting!

Thanks,

Sydney Levy
Jewish Voice for Peace

BDS Success:

2010-07-14T00:17:00.002-04:00

Corrado's, a large family-owned supermarket, in Clifton, NJ, agreed to stop selling "Jordan Valley" dried dates--Product of Israel. This happened after repeated complaints to two of the younger owner/family members. It definitely helps to be a regular customer to have some say and the possible threat of widespread boycott. It is interesting to note that I had "help" from some of the employees who were from the Middle East who shared my opinions but was too "afraid" to challenge the management. In the end, the Corrados were quite gracious about removing the Israelil products. Sadly, they told me that the wholesaler of the "Made in Israel" products was a Palestinian Arab. Sigh.

Dennis Y. Loh, MD. CNRI (Creative Nonviolent Resistance against Injustice)

IKEA furnishing the occupation

2010-07-05T23:13:00.000-04:00

IKEA furnishing the occupation

Swedish Radio reported on 23 June that home furnishings retail giant IKEA in Israel discriminately ships to Israel's illegal settlements but not Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank.

Swedish Radio's correspondent in Israel, Cecilia Udden, explained that she was moving to the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank and asked the staff at IKEA Israel if her furniture could be delivered there. She reported that behind the store's counter was a huge map of Israel that showed no boundaries for the occupied West Bank, Gaza Strip, or the Syrian Golan Heights. Although IKEA's cost of transport is calculated according to distance, to Udden's surprise, transport to Ramallah was not possible. However, the store did inform her that furniture could be delivered to various Israeli settlements throughout the occupied West Bank.

Ove Bring, a professor of international law, explained to Swedish online magazine Stockholm News that IKEA's policies discriminate against Palestinians. In addition, the shipping policies violate the company's code of conduct, which is published on its website ("IWAY Standard" [PDF]).

IKEA stated in Udden's report that because it relies on local transport companies for deliveries it is bound by local rules. However, Bring challenged the company's assertion and stated that IKEA must examine whether the transport companies are truly unable to deliver to all customers who request the products. Indeed, when Udden insisted on an answer from the transportation company about why her furniture could not be delivered to Ramallah, she was informed that the Israeli military prohibits the deliveries to customers in Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank.

In its historic 2004 advisory opinion, the International Court of Justice emphasized the illegality of activity that normalizes Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. Indeed, Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center -- which is building a Museum of Tolerance on a historic Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem -- told the California-based Jewish weekly J. that the opening of an IKEA store in Israel "will be another chink in the attempts that are still out there to boycott Israel" (""IKEA's 1st Israeli store to open in spring," 12 January 2001).

Ironically, before the opening of an IKEA store in Israel in 2001, the retailer was threatened with boycott by the Wiesenthal Center because the company's founder, Ingvar Kamprad, was a member of the fascist New Swedish Movement in the 1940s. The Wiesenthal Center also suspected IKEA of complying with the Arab League boycott of Israel because it appeared to avoid commercial involvement in Israel despite possible opportunities. In a December 1994 letter to the Wiesenthal Center, IKEA President Anders Moberg stated that IKEA had not participated in the Arab League boycott and that company was in the process of investigating the possibility of opening an IKEA store in Israel.

Today IKEA's empire boasts 300 stores in 35 countries, including two stores in Israel; the company intends to open a third store in Haifa in 2012. The IKEA brand survived the revelations of its founder's links to fascism during his youth and the company demonstrated its sensitivity to a possible consumer boycott.

In yet another irony, the boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel movement is already mobilizing in Sweden. At the end of June, the Swedish Dockworkers Union began a week-long blockade of goods to and from Israel. The action by the SDU was in response to a call by Palestinian trade unionists in the context of Israel's three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip and its attack on the Mavi Marmaraaid ship on 31 May. In this context, it remains to be seen whether IKEA will rectify the racist policies of its store in Israel before such practices inspire a new consumer boycott threat.

Adri Nieuwhof is a consultant and human rights advocate based in Switzerland.

Jewish Perspectives on Boycott / Divestment / Sanctions

2010-06-22T21:11:00.000-04:00

BE AT OAKLAND PORT BERTH 58 AT 4:00 THIS AFTERNOON

2010-06-22T18:16:00.000-04:00

Subject: URGENT: BE AT OAKLAND PORT BERTH 58 AT 4:00 THIS AFTERNOON†

This morning was the first half of a victory. 1,000 picketers from around the SF Bay. The first shift [of dockworkers] for unloading the Israeli ZIM Line ship was cancelled. That is historic, but only if we finish the job by being there again at 4:00 this afternoon and staying until at least 8:00 p.m.†

Some of the people who were there this morning will not come this afternoon, which makes it all that much more important for those of you who were not there to come this afternoon. It would be better to have 2,000 people. Unlike this morning, the BART trains will be running. You can come to the West Oakland station early, and there will be cars to drive you. There will be media this afternoon. It is better for them to see a large crowd at each of the gates to the berth.†

THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO BE PRESENT AT THIS HISTORIC EVENT. You will talk about it for the rest of your life. We are the first to stop the unloading of an Israeli ship in the U.S., but we will not be the last. See you there!†

---

Unions, labor federations and other organizations around the world have condemned Israelís deadly attack against the Gaza Freedom Flotilla on May 31. In response on†June 20th, a labor and community picket of an Israeli Zim Lines ship was called for the Port of Oakland. The picket has already succeeded in shutting down the port for the morning shift, after the ILWU refused to cross the picket line. Activists have promised to return†today at 4:30pm†to stop the next shift from unloading the Zim lines ship.

Anna Baltzer on BDS

2010-06-08T08:09:00.000-04:00

The Aftermath of the Flotilla

Last night marked one week since Israel's attack in international waters on the Mavi Marmara Turkish humanitarian ship bound for Gaza, killing nine. One by one, the hundreds of witnesses aboard the vessels have been returning home to tell their stories after being stripped of any and all footage. By confiscating all non-military evidence of the incident, Israel has been able to successfully dominate the narrative, at least in the US where news of the attack had begun to dwindle by the time witnesses were released. One wonders, if Israel is conveying the whole story of what happened that night, why eliminate every single other piece of documentation? What does Israel have to hide?

According to hundreds of eyewitnesses, the Navy shot at the boat and threw tear gas and sound bombs before boarding the ship, and then hit the ground shooting. The videos released by Israel show those aboard the ship attacking soldiers with sticks. Israel claims that the deaths were an accident, that the soldiers were startled by the sticks and thus forced to shoot people to defend themselves.

Now let's put things into perspective. In 2005, the Israeli Army removed 8,000 ideological settlers from Gaza, many of them kicking and screaming with sticks and rocks in hand. The Army managed not to kill or even shoot a single one of them. Do sticks from Turks hurt more, or is it not about the sticks at all?

As Dr. Norman Finkelstein pointed out, Israeli officials met for an entire week prior to the flotilla to plan precisely what they intended to do. The Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren himself stated that the Mavi Marmara was simply "too large to stop with nonviolent means." It's hard to believe that this was an accident.

While the world focuses on the flotilla and Gaza, Israel's restrictions on Palestinian rights in the rest of Palestine continue to tighten. On Friday, soldiers surrounded the Old City in Jerusalem to prevent Muslim men from praying at Al-Aqsa mosque. Only those younger than 15 or older than 40 were allowed through. Hundreds of men gathered outside the metal bars installed by the Army around the city gates. Frustrated, many men sat down to wait to pray on the sidewalk, but soldiers on horseback pushed through the crowd, forcing the men to scatter.

It's important to note that many Palestinians wait for years to receive a permit to visit Jerusalem for just one day. Sometimes the permits are valid only for a few hours. I saw a woman in Beit Sahour whom I'd met in Syracuse last Fall. She said it's easier for her to travel to New York than to go 10 miles away to Jerusalem. She said often permits are sent to the wrong village and families fall over themselves to get the permit to the right person in time, often failing. At the gates, some men argued with the soldiers, close to tears, not knowing if they would ever get another chance to realize a life-long dream of praying at their country's holiest site.

Eventually, hundreds of men began to gather next to the wall of the Old City and across the street. If they could not enter, they would pray as close as they could. As the call to prayer rang out (at least sound can overcome walls), a noticeable calm came over the space as they bowed down in unison. The soldiers stood over the group, some filming with cameras. In the middle of the group were an olive tree and a young child who stood by himself, watching.

When the prayers ended, those who hadn't brought prayer mats wiped the dirt off their foreheads and gathered with others across the street where an imam had started to speak. Lara, a Palestinian delegate in our group translated bits and pieces of what he said.

The sermon was about the importance of compassion and justice in Islam. There they were, being denied their religious freedom, and they were talking about compassion. The imam asked that their prayers be accepted even though they could not be in the house of God. At one point, he raised his finger and called out the following: "Someday, we will live in a place where it doesn't matter what color your skin is, or where you're from." With every sentence the group resounded in a collective "Amen."

After the prayers, hundreds of women and older men poured out, one of whom told me he'd seen a man beaten by the Army for calling out against Israel's attacks on the flotilla. This is likely precisely what the Army wanted to avoid by keeping Muslims from congregating at the mosque, and they had been largely successful, at least so they thought.

Just as I was turning to return to the hotel, I heard a chorus of women's voices coming from inside the city walls. Soon a large group of women emerged carrying a Turkish flag and singing out familiar calls for justice and praising those who gave their lives to free Gaza. The soldiers thought that keeping the men out would be enough, but they had underestimated the women.

Israel has also underestimated the international civilian community, which continues to speak out. Day and night, we watch protests around the world unfold one after another, seemingly stronger and larger by the day: Japan, Paris, India, Oslo, Australia, and beyond. This is being called "Israel's Kent State."

Far more significant than protests is the fact that worldwide disapproval has been transforming into concrete rejection of normalization with Israel, including major victories for the Palestinian movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) on Israel until it complies with international law.

This past week, the student body at Evergreen College voted to divest from "Israel's illegal occupation." Before she was run over by Israeli soldiers in a US-made Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza, Rachel Corrie had attended Evergreen. Along with divesting, students have voted for a "Caterpillar free" campus. You can support the students by clicking here.

A week before the flotilla, Italy's largest supermarkets COOP and Nordiconad announced a boycott of the Israeli produce company, Carmel Agrexco. Four days later, Deutsche Bank (Germany's largest bank, worth more than $1 trillion) announced divestment from Elbit Systems, an Israeli firm that supplies technology for Israel's military, settlements, and Wall (as well as the Wall between the US and Mexico). Deutsche Bank was one of the company's largest share-holders.

The next day, it was announced that Sweden's largest national pension funds were also divesting from Elbit. (Norway did the same more than one year ago.) Going a step further, the Swedish Port Workers Union announced last Wednesday that it would temporarily stop handling Israeli cargo in response to the attacks on the flotilla.

On the same day, Britain's largest union, Unite, passed a unanimous motion "to vigorously promote a policy of divestment from Israeli companies" and to boycott Israeli goods and services as in "the boycott of South African goods during the era of apartheid."

Then yesterday, the Pixies canceled of their upcoming concert in Israel in response to Israel's attack on the flotilla. Musical artists Klaxons and Gorillaz canceled as well. This on the heels of cancelations by Santana, Gil Scott-Heron, Snoop Dog, Sting, and Elvis Costello.

These are but a few of the BDS victories that have happened just in the last month. The movement that officially began in 2005 crossed its first threshold in 2009 (having gained in four years the same momentum it took the BDS movement against South Africa 20 years to achieve), but 2010 has brought it to a new level.

Last month marked 62 years since 80% of the families in Gaza were displaced during Israel's creation, the Palestinian Nakba. And this week marks 43 years since Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The Occupation has been in place 70% of Israel's life-span so far. It is not temporary. And it is but one part of the problem. Along with Israel's discrimination against Palestinians within Israel's de-facto borders and outside historic Palestine, the Occupation will not be stopped voluntarily by Israel. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed." I spoke with a member of Boycott from Within (Israelis supporting the Palestinian BDS Call) paraphrased a common phrase during the anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa: We will bring them to their senses, or we will bring them to their knees. For Israel, as was the case for the South African Apartheid government, the former has simply never worked.

Emergency Global BDS Day of Action on Saturday 5 June 2010

2010-06-04T13:42:00.002-04:00

LOCAL ACTION:
Saturday at the Woodstock Village Green, from 2-4 pm.
Please e-mail Elaine if you can participate in this local action: ehencke1@hvc.rr.com or (845) 679-4781

--------------------------------------

NYC RALLY:
Emergency Global BDS Day of Action on Saturday 5 June 2010
Join Adalah-NY in the Freedom BDS March Against the Blockade on Gaza and the Attack on the Flotilla
Date: Saturday, June 5, 2010
Time: 12:00-2:00
Locations: Gather at Union Square and March to Max Brenner (841 Broadway), Ricky's NYC (7 East 14th St) and Aroma Espresso Bar (145 Greene St.)

Heeding the Palestinian civil society call for intensifying boycott and sanctions, as Israel massacres humanitarian workers and international solidarity activists, we invite you to join the BDS movement this Saturday, June 5 in calling for Israeli accountability and protesting its piracy against the Freedom Flotilla.

Israel’s ongoing violations of human rights and international law are enabled by the international community who do not hold Israel accountable for its actions. After the recent assault on the Freedom Flotilla, Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian Territories, said "the best hope for the Palestinians is not on a governmental level or through reliance on the United Nations, but rather through the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign."

Meet us at Union Square, where we will gather and start marching, singing and performing for BDS and ending the illegal blockade on Gaza. Our first stop will be Max Brenner Chocolatier, an Israeli business whose parent company directly supports Israeli military brigades. We will then stop at Ricky’s NYC, which carries AHAVA Cosmetics, a company whose main factory is in an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and 43% of whose profits go to subsidize two West Bank Settlements. AHAVA also excavates mud from the shores of the Dead Sea in Occupied Palestine, a practice that is against international law. We will end our march at Aroma Espresso Bar, the Israeli coffee chain that has at least one branch located in an illegal Israeli settlement, Maaleh Adumim.

We will call for an end to the illegal blockade of Gaza, the release of all Flotilla activists, vessels and cargo, and for the guarantee of safe passage to Gaza for the humanitarian vessel MV Rachel Corrie. We will also call upon all people of conscience to engage in a concerted effort of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel.

Governments have by and large refused to act, therefore as citizens we must take action ourselves! Come join us in the campaign end the blockade on Gaza.

Evergreen Students Vote to Divest

2010-06-03T10:51:00.002-04:00

Just minutes ago, the students at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, the alma mater of Rachel Corrie, announced that the whole student body voted overwhelmingly in favor of divestment from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation and in favor of making their campus Caterpillar-free.

What's more remarkable is that the decision was not made by a student council and thus vulnerable to veto by just one person, as we saw in Berkeley. No, it was decided through a campus-wide vote. No one, not the promoters of the divestment policy, not its detractors, knew how the students would vote in complete privacy.

The results? The divestment vote won by a landslide 79.5%! The Caterpillar vote by an equally impressive 71.8%!

The Evergreen College Board of Trustees and Board of Governors actually hold the purse strings of the Evergreen College and the Evergreen Foundation respectively. You can imagine the pressure that will be brought upon them to ignore the student votes.

We need you to email them right and ask them to respect the voice of the students and divest!

Board of Turstees Direction Carver T. Gayton (tescbot@evergreen.edu)

Foundation Vice President Lee Hoemann (foundation@evergreen.edu)

Also, go to http://www.tescdivest.org/ to sign a petition in support of the students!

Immediately after the student vote, the student union passed a unanimous resolution requesting full disclosure of all corporations, including those held through mutual funds, in which The Evergreen State College Foundation and The Evergreen State College are invested and asking the Board of Trustees and the Board of Governors to make public a plan of action for divestment from companies that profit from the occupation of Palestine.

Please email Mr. Gayton and Ms. Hoemann today and ask them to divest.

Many of you followed with baited breath the struggle for divestment at the University of California at Berkeley and San Diego. We sent you this report about the inspiring students from Berkeley Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Well the attacks on the bill's supporter's, including Jewish Voice for Peace, were vicious and predictable, so we decided to respond and also document what we had learned about how the anti-divestment groups work. We think it's important reading for those working on other campuses.

Most important, we interviewed the UC Berkeley student supporters of divestment so you could hear them in their own words. We can't possibly convey how incredibly inspired we were by them, but we think this ten-minute video clip will do the job for us. One thing is certain. If you want to know where today's smart, compassionate, curious and socially engaged students of all backgrounds are gravitating to, it's the campus divestment movement.

Congratulations Evergreen. During these very painful times when we see peacemakers being attacked on the seas outside Gaza, in B'ilin and N'ilin and Sheik Jarrah, it's hugely inspiring to see that real change is happening with an entire new generation.

Sydney Levy

Director of Campaigns

Jewish Voice for Peace

Atwood protest begins Hudson Valley BDS

2010-05-24T22:56:00.002-04:00

Margaret Atwood came to Bard College on Friday, May 21st to receive the Mary McCarthy award, after accepting the Dan David prize at Tel-Aviv University. Bard was hosting the President's dinner and awards ceremony at Fisher Center.

The protest was at the intersection of Annandale Rd. and Manor Ave. (on Bard campus) from 4:30 PM - 6:30 PM. We had about 18 people and were gathered along the road leading to the Fisher Center.

Our first BDS meeting was held at Doris' House at the end of the Bard Protest. 15 of us have formally started the Hudson Valley BDS movement.

Please join us for future events that we will post on this website.

Thanks,

Fred

Gonna Still Be Quoting Emerson When They Lock Me Up

2010-05-19T09:58:00.000-04:00

Full article at:

http://baltimorechr onicle.com/2010/051810Reich .html

Boycott? As my Palestinian friends in the West Bank and Gaza sink deeper into depression, watching their lives ticking away without the chance to give their kids (never mind themselves) a wholly free and dignified place in the sun, the Palestinian-led BDS movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions doesnít look to me like a nefarious ìArab plotî anymore. Now, with international energy behind it, it seems like the last best hopeóboth for Israelis and for Palestinians. Maybe the BDS campaign will really develop enough heft to counter Israelís overwhelming military advantage, by upping the economic and social cost of self-defeating supremacist-separatist policies . . . until even total equality for Palestinians might begin to seem like the less scary alternative!

Deciding to endorse BDS was not something I have come to out of hatred for Israel, despite what the talkbacks will say. I live here, after all; Iíd like to see this country get a life. Everything else has already been tried, and my friend Sam and his family are still locked up in Al Bireh and my friend Maha and her family are still locked up in Gaza City and I cannot, in good conscience, sit here in my pleasant little village near Jerusalem in silence and play it safe while they and millions of other Palestinians sit in their respective cages. Iím not an ideologue and I canít say I much like the basic idea of boycotts: they are nonviolent but they run on a kind of negative energy (donít buy, donít sell, donít invest, donít visit . . . ). On the other hand, the relentless, intensifying dehumanization of people I love and respect would seem to leave me no choice. Inaction is not an option.

Note that the BDS strategy targets, not Israel itself or Israelis as such, but rather Israeli transgressions of international law and the Israeli authorities and institutions that drive those transgressions and the Israeli cultural icons who refrain from denouncing them and the Israeli universities that cooperate with them. As a law-abiding Israeli, I am not in favor of Israelís (or anyoneís) transgressions of international law and therefore I must not support them with my silence. When I realized that the only thing still keeping me from publicly and prominently endorsing BDS was my fear of punishment (losing friends, losing a job, losing my personal freedom if the BDS activism here is finally, thoroughly, criminalized), I understood that it was time to speak out.

Day Two of Israeli Apartheid Week at UC Irvine.

2010-05-18T22:59:00.000-04:00

The Tides Are Changing in Palestine and Israel

May 11, 2010

Day Two of Israeli Apartheid Week at UC Irvine.

As I sit on the steps, marked by flagpoles, waiting for the seminar to begin, I notice a group of people parading with their props towards this event. I notice that they are carrying American and Israeli flags as well as a yellow flag with the type, "Don't Tread On Me," in black and a graphic drawing of a curled up rattlesnake on it. Some of these people are wearing white t-shirts with, "United Against Terror," printed on it. They are also carrying posters with the picture of the 9/11 disaster; and, on these posters, "Americans Will Never Forget," is typed on it. As they walk by the billboards demonstration set-up of the Israeli/Palestine wall, many of these people took lots of photographs. By now, there is a large crowd accumulated for this outdoor seminar. I watch this group moving along in the crowd, and I notice their posters. One poster has, "Stop Bringing Hate To Our Community." One nervous-looking woman turns to me and says, "This is all lies," and she continues to take some snapshots of the billboard props used for the demonstration. After a male student introduces the seminar topic and reads a short scripture about Prophet Abraham, a man with the hostile group yells out, "Kiss my ass," toward the podium.

The guest speaker, Dr. Norman Finkelstein, is introduced to the audience before he walks up to the podium. He has a PHD from Princeton University. The hostile group booed him as he stood at the podium, getting ready to speak at the seminar.

He speaks about how to end the Palestine/Israel conflict in order to live in a peaceful and productive life there. He mentions the international law as well as there are four issues for peace. These issues have to do with Borders, Settlements, Refugees, and East Jerusalem, and they tend to be complicated. The first step is to decide on the legal status of the settlement, to whom East Jerusalem belongs to, and on negotiable ways to resolve the question of how to help the many Palestinians who were driven out from their homes.

Furthermore, the World Court or International Court of Justice discussed the legal status of the wall that Israel put up, which includes the location of the wall as well as if the settlements were legal or not. Since the borders cannot be changed by force, all of the judges agreed that Israel's position is not legal, or even credible.

During Question and Answer session at the end of the seminar, some people with the hostile group asked questions about terrorism. Dr. Finkelstein talks about the Israeli soldiers dumping white phosphorus all over populated areas in Gaza, and this substance can reach up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit. These soldiers regarded their work as similar to children's games, like playing "Playstation" or using a "magnifying glass to burn ants."

Dear Margaret Atwood:

2010-05-14T11:35:00.002-04:00

April 5, 2010
Margaret Atwood
c/o McClelland & Stewart
75 Sherbourne St., 5th Floor
Toronto, ON
M5A 2P9

Dear Margaret:

Back in 1981, I remember vividly that when the Toronto police raided several bathhouses and arrested 300 men, you agreed to speak out at a hastily arranged benefit — the first public figure to do so. Your courage meant a great deal to our gay community then, and your words were typically memorable: “Why on earth would the police object to cleanliness?”

I understand you’re going to Israel in May, to accept the Dan David Prize at Tel Aviv University. Will you find words for the Gaza students who wrote to you yesterday, 44 miles down the coast, asking you to refuse the prize? Will you mention the ongoing siege of Gaza, and the larger occupation, whose check points and security wall have reduced the region to an apartheid state? Will you mention the two unarmed teenagers Mohammed Qadas, 16, and Asaud Qadus, 19, who were shot by Israeli army snipers last week? His aunt says that Mohammed had gone out to buy ice-cream. Why on earth would the army object to ice-cream?

I write today as a fan, someone whose life was changed on reading A Handmaid’s Tale, someone who still treasures my rare edition of The Journals of Susanna Moodie. For decades, you’ve been an extraordinary role model for so many of us, embracing the role of artist as a figure of conscience. You’ve consistently spoken out against a host of injustices, even as you engaged with the complexities of each issue. In May, will you decline this prize, in recognition of the growing boycott movement which is trying to contribute to peace in the region? Will you at least speak out against the war crimes committed a year ago? Will you perhaps donate a portion to a writers group in Gaza? Will you at the very least acknowledge the complexities that this award, and this conflict, represent? Or will you remain silent, making us wonder: why on earth would Margaret Atwood of all people object to complexity?

Sincerely,
John Greyson
Associate Professor (York), filmmaker

Episcopal Peace Fellowship Announces

2010-05-13T11:02:00.000-04:00

Episcopal Peace Fellowship Announces:

National Executive Council's Statement on Divestment, Boycott and Economic Sanctions as a means of Nonviolent Resistance

The National Executive Council of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship voted to endorse the enclosed statement with a vote of 8 yes, 2 no and 1 abstention.

"In response to the ongoing cycle of violence - including Palestinian terrorist bombings and the well documented military and economic violence of the government of Israel against Palestinians - that undermines negotiations and hope for an enduring peace- The NEC of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, in support of the principles of the Kairos Palestinian Document 4.2.6. endorses the application of divestment and an economic and commercial boycott of products linked to oppression of Palestinian people and occupation of their land. As peacemakers committed to nonviolent resolution of deep-seated conflicts, the National Executive Council joins a growing number of international and religious partners, including Jewish, Muslim, and Christian voices, who believe that economic sanctions can inspire a more useful dialog and negotiation towards a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. Respect for the dignity of every human being, alongside a vision to put aside the violence of terrorism, oppression and military force is key to moving negotiations forward for a lasting peace for all involved.

The National Executive Council asks the Episcopal Peace Fellowship's Israel/Palestine Action Group to offer resources to our membership and the wider church on effective strategies for boycott, divestment, and sanction, including links to partner groups and educational resources on the history of the cycle of violence and obstacles to peace in Israel/Palestine. We are all the children of Abraham, let us no longer profit at the expense of the safety and security of one another. Instead let us end the violent cycle and build a circle of peace."

We ask a favor of you: Please refer inquiries to our spokespersons from the NEC see above. Please distribute widely and send to your Diocese Communications officer. Suggestions for actions will follow in the coming weeks.

Episcopal Peace Fellowship

637 S. Dearborn Street

Chicago, Illinois 60605

http://www.epfnational.org

epfnational@ameritech.net

Calling on Elton John

2010-05-10T11:27:00.000-04:00

Palestinian civil society has called on Elton John to respect its boycott call and cancel his June 17th concert in Tel Aviv. If he does so, he'll be joining Santana and Gil-Scott Heron, who recently cancelled their spring concerts in Israel. This video suggests six reasons why Elton should join the BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement.

http://vimeo.com/11584285

Some of their ideas in the months ahead (thanks, Paul)

2010-05-05T15:43:00.001-04:00

KUDOS to American Jews for a Just Peace. What great, creative work!! Read and enjoy.
Paul

PS: Perhaps, we could use some of their ideas in the months ahead.

-----Original Message-----
From: Marla Erlien
To: members talk ajjp
Sent: Tue, May 4, 2010 6:55 am
Subject: [Ajjpbusiness] Fwd: Boston Activists Disrupt Israeli Propaganda Event at Museum of Science

Boston Activists Disrupt Israeli Propaganda Event at Museum of Science

By: BDS Activists, Boston, MA

Boston, MA, May 3, 2010 ‚Äì Local activists protested the so-called ‚ÄúIsraeli Innovation Weekend‚Äù (IIW) at the Museum of Science in Boston through multiple, disparate actions on Sunday. IIW‚Äôs sponsors, including the Consulate General of Israel to New England, were left flummoxed by the activists‚Äô efforts and largely unable to prevent their successful, multi-pronged disruption of the event.

Protesters targeted IIW because it was part of a state-sponsored campaign to ‚Äúgreenwash‚Äù Israel‚Äôs discriminatory, apartheid regime and atrocious human rights record. IIW was officially sponsored by the Israeli Consulate, which also played a major role in funding and planning the event; nearly half of IIW‚Äôs steering committee was composed of Consulate staff and the Consulate was one of the top donors.

Throughout the day, protesters maintained a visible public presence outside the Museum. Protesters held signs drawing attention to Israeli ‚Äúinnovation‚Äù in technologies of death such as white phosphorus and cluster bombs, parodying the exhibit‚Äôs slogan, ‚ÄúHealing the World Through Technology.‚Äù

Photo 1: http://picasaweb.google.com/112849110907879884526/MuseumOfScienceAction#5467220185154077138

Photo 2: http://picasaweb.google.com/112849110907879884526/MuseumOfScienceAction#5467220212835612322

Photo 3: http://picasaweb.google.com/112849110907879884526/MuseumOfScienceAction#5467220200679487874

Across the street from the Museum, demonstrators also prominently displayed a large Palestinian flag from the adjacent East Cambridge Lechmere Viaduct Bridge. The protesters‚Äô message was seen by hundreds of Museum visitors and passing tour groups, many of whom called out or honked horns in expressions of solidarity.

Meanwhile, inside the Museum, lone activists stealthily replaced the IIW program with a duplicate program, virtually identical in appearance but which highlighted themes of the Israeli science and technology sectors‚Äô complicity in water theft and other abuses [program attached]. The front of the program named Israel ‚ÄúThe World‚Äôs Leader in Cutting-Edge Apartheid Technologies,‚Äù while inside the program, titles of IWW lectures were re-printed with altered titles. For example, ‚ÄúSunshine and Sustainability: Israeli Leadership in Solar Technology‚Äù was renamed"Sustainable Darkness: Israeli Innovations in Torture Technology and Extra-Legal Maneuvering,‚Äù while ‚ÄúSharing Water in the Middle East‚ÄîIsrael‚Äôs Cross-Border Water Resource Strategy‚Äù became ‚ÄúStrategic Water Appropriation in the Middle East: Might Makes Right.‚Äù IIW organizers were overheard multiple times expressing anger and frustration at their inability to determine who was ‚Äúplastering‚Äù the exhibit with this literature.

Activists surreptitiously distributed this material for more than two hours before finally being discovered and asked to leave the Museum. Yet Museum staff were observed reading the alternative program and several expressed sympathy with the activists‚Äô cause as they were escorted out of the Museum.

Finally, yet another group of activists infiltrated the last panel lecture of the day, entitled ‚ÄúIsraeli Technology: An Investor's Perspective.‚Äù As the panel began, two participants unfurled a giant banner reading ‚ÄúDon‚Äôt Invest in Israeli Apartheid.‚Äù After the activists were shouted down by the audience and removed by Museum security, others continued to disrupt the session every five to ten minutes, individually standing up and interrupting the lecture by condemning investment in Israeli technology, calling for justice for Palestinians, or singing liberation songs.

One disrupter referred the audience to the report about war crimes in Gaza by the UN inquiry commission led by South African jurist Richard Goldstone if they truly wanted to know more about Israeli technological innovation. Another declared that investing in Israel was investing in the dispossession and genocide of indigenous people. Yet another sang a re-written, Palestine-specific version of Sweet Honey in the Rock‚Äôs Chile Your Waters Run Red Through Soweto. In sum, the activists made it impossible for the event to proceed and visibly agitated the audience.Video of the disruption will be made available online this week.

In another positive sign of Israel‚Äôs increasing marginalization, there were so few people in actual attendance of the lecture that after all the activists had been removed, there was more security present in the auditorium than attendees.

The Boston-area activists were pleased to be part of a larger, international campaign that refuses to let the Israeli government ‚Äúgreenwash‚Äù its occupation and devastation of Palestinian life by presenting itself as a leader in scientific innovation and green technology, a campaign that is part of the larger movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Just days earlier, activists in Scotland held a three-day protest of a similar such exhibition of Israeli science and technological innovation at their national Parliament building, a demonstration that included 400 tiny coffins to represent the children massacred in the 2009-2010 war on Gaza:http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/04/449973.html.

The BDS movement is an international response to the call from Palestinian society to boycott, divest from, and sanction the Israeli government until it ends its occupation and dismantles the Wall inside the West Bank, recognizes the equal rights of Palestinian citizens, and respects the right of return of Palestinian refugees. To learn more about the call for BDS, and to read about other organizations engaged in BDS work who also support the protest of the greenwashing of Israel, see:

http://www.bdsmovement.net/ - site of the global BDS movement; you can read the call for BDS here

http://www.pacbi.org/ - site of the Palestinian campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

http://www.endtheoccupation.org/ - site of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

From Anna Baltzer

2010-05-03T12:47:00.000-04:00

Dear friends,

A lot has been happening over the past few weeks, particularly within the global movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS). It may not feel like much if I'm the only list you're on, but there are new campaigns and votes all the time. The most recent vote at UC San Diego last Wednesday was sent to committee. You can

http://oeoj.ucsd.edu/Divestment_Resolution.pdf read the resolution, http://www.petitiononline.com/sddivest/petition.html sign the petition, and/or http://as.ucsd.edu/council/roster.php?class=council send a letter of support.

I want to tell you about three initiatives - a statement, a book, and an assembly - by Jewish Americans supporting BDS. Here they are, in order

************

I. BREAKING THE LAW OF RETURN

Below is a statement I worked on with Hannah Mermelstein, Nava Etshalom, and Amy Kaplan and an accompanying video. I invite others to read, watch, sign, and/or support the initiative. It speaks for itself∑

Recommended: Click here to Watch the Video! http://bit.ly/cXNXU4
---

We are Jews from the United States, who, like Jewish people throughout the world, have an automatic right to Israeli citizenship under Israel's "law of return."

Today there are more than seven million Palestinian refugees around the world. Israel denies their right to return to their homes and land˜a right recognized and undisputed by UN Resolution 194, the Geneva Convention, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Meanwhile, we are invited to live on that same land simply because we are Jewish.

We renounce this "right" to "return" offered to us by Israeli law. It is not right that we may "return" to a state that is not ours while Palestinians are excluded and continuously dispossessed.

In 1947-49, Zionist militias destroyed more than 500 Palestinian villages and made more than 800,000 Palestinian people refugees in order to create a Jewish state on land where the majority was not Jewish. It is Palestinians who have the right to return to their own land.

Now in Gaza, where more than three quarters of the people are refugees, the State of Israel not only denies the population its right of return, but also incarcerates the entire Gaza Strip under illegal and inhumane siege conditions.

We reject the notion that Israel is a "safe haven" from anti-Semitism for Jews. No one is truly safe when the price of that "security" is oppression, inequality, and occupation of another people.

Today there is a growing transnational movement for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, called for by Palestinian civil society and supported by activists, artists, and academics around the world, including an increasing number of conscientious Israelis. As part of this campaign, we pledge to boycott the "law of return." As an act of political and ideological divestment, we repudiate the claims the State of Israel makes on us as potential citizens.

We protest Israel's colonial policies and discriminatory laws toward the Palestinian people, as well as the U.S. government's political and financial support of these policies.

We hereby renounce Israel's "law of return" and refuse to lend the state our support, resources, or passports.
---

1. If you are a U.S. Jew, you can add your name to the signatories (there are already hundreds!) by emailing breakingthelawofreturn@gmail.com with your name, city, and institutional/organizational affiliations (optional).

2. Join our <../../bit.ly/a7hNqE>Facebook group ˆ all people who support this statement are welcome!

************

II. "SHIFTING SANDS"

This is your last chance to pre-order at a discount the upcoming book, Shifting Sands: Jewish Women Confront the Israeli Occupation, which comes into print on Tuesday!

I contributed a chapter, as did Hedy Epstein, Alice Rothchild, Starhawk, and many others. Israeli journalist Amira Hass wrote the preface and Cindy Sheehan wrote the foreword. The editor, Osie Gabriel Adelfang, will also be donating a portion of the proceeds to the cause. She did an incredible job. Even the cover is beautiful (some of you will recognize the wall around Munira's home from my DVD).

Visit the book's http://www.shiftingsands-book.com/ Official Website and note the Events Calendar at the top.

Order the book online (ASAP if you want the pre-order discount). Consider writing a review on Amazon if you read it and like it. I only have twelve for Witness in Palestine (thank you, whoever you are!) but it sure helps!

And don't forget to join the

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shifting-Sands-Jewish-American-Women-Speak-Out-Against-the-Occupation/117315474206 Facebook fan page and/or follow http://twitter.com/shifting__sands Shifting Sands on Twitter. http://twitter.com/shifting__sands

************

III. U.S. ASSEMBLY OF JEWS: CONFRONTING RACISM & APARTHEID

June 19-22, 2010

Between the Allied Media Conference and the US Social Forum in Detroit this summer, there will be a historic gathering of anti-Zionist Jews to develop strategies for US organizing, advance the BDS call, and much more!

Join the http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=308730373213&ref=ts Facebook group and visit the http://www.jewsconfrontapartheid.org/ Official Website to get more information, register, propose a session, contribute, check out the endorsements, or spread the word

************

Although it should not be exaggerated, these three initiatives are testimony to a continuing shift in Jewish consciousness on this issue. It is no longer an extraordinary thing to meet Anti-Zionist Jews in the United States, and Jewish Israelis are among those calling loudest for BDS. AIPAC's membership hovers around 100,000 while Jewish Voice for Peace's mailing list has now surpassed that. We join with millions of others of all backgrounds around the US and around world, forming the critical mass needed for change, led by the Palestinian people themselves. As Cecilie Surasky of Jewish Voice for Peace wrote in her incredible piece (read it!) on the UC Berkeley Divestment vote, http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2010/surasky160410.html It's Clear What the Future Looks Like...

If you're not active now, there's no better time to start!

Anna

University students commit to sweeping boycotts

2010-04-30T09:55:00.001-04:00

Published Wednesday 28/04/2010 (updated) 29/04/2010 19:50

Bethlehem - Ma'an - In anticipation of Nakba commemoration day next month, Palestinian student and youth groups across the West Bank and Gaza signed a memorandum enacting a massive boycott of Israeli products and programs.

The document calls for a halt to any activities that could normalize relations between Palestine and Israel.

"Economic, political, cultural and institutional normalization legitimize Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people by giving the appearance of normalcy to the relationship between oppressor and oppressed. This relationship is hardly one between equals as Israel continues to violate our inalienable rights, steal our land, and prevent refugees from our right of return in contravention of international law and numerous UN resolutions," a statement from the student groups said.

The memorandum went on to describe a series of measures the students intended to apply on or before 15 May, when Palestinians commemorate the 1948 expulsion of hundreds of thousands from their homes that lead to the declaration of an Israeli state.

More than list the elements of the boycott, the students asserted "our right to resist Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people through all forms of resistance and in accordance to international law, including forms of civil resistance such as demonstrations, sits-ins and, boycotts of Israel."

The students declared adherence to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BDS) and said they would reject "any Israeli-Palestinian meetings that do not recognize our inalienable rights, and explicitly aim to resist Israel's occupation, colonization and apartheid."

The student statement said the participating groups would "refuse to take part in whitewashing Israel's public image," and that "meetings that are not committed to such principles give a false picture of equality between the two parties by ignoring and legitimizing Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people."

The petition was endorsed by the following university councils:

Birzeit University's student council
An-Najah University's student council and the majority of student blocks on campus
Hebron University's student council
Bethlehem University's student council
Arab American University in Jenin' student council
Al-Quds University's student council
Palestine Technical College's student council -Aroub
Al-Quds Open University's student council-Tulkarem
Al-Quds Open University's student council-Qalqiliya
Palestine Technical College's student council - Khadouri
The Palestinian Student Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI)
Progressive Student Union Bloc-Gaza
Fateh Youth Organization- Gaza
Progressive Student Labor Front-Gaza
Islamic Bloc-Gaza

UC divestment spreads – UC San Diego to vote on bill tomorrow

2010-04-28T21:03:00.002-04:00

Mondoweiss On April 27, 2010
In The News, Op-Ed, Uncategorized, By ucsddivest by Adam Horowitz on April 27, 2010

UC San Diego will be joining Berkeley in holding a vote on divestment tomorrow evening. The San Diego bill under consideration is slightly different, and organizers seem to have learned from some of Berkeley’s challenges. From the UC San Diego newspaper The Guardian:
The resolution was drafted by members of several campus organizations — including Students for Justice in Palestine and the Student Sustainability Collective — and approved by Transfer Senator Adam Powers and Campuswide Senator Desiree Prevo. According to Associate Vice President of Enterprise Operations Rishi Ghosh — a co-sponsor of the resolution — the council was inspired by a similar effort at UC Berkeley, where the resolution passed 16-4 in the student Senate, but was eventually vetoed by Berkeley A.S. President Will Smelko.

The resolution calls for the UC system to stop investing in companies such as General Electric and United Technologies, which supporters of the resolution claim promote violence by providing technology — such as helicopters and aircraft engines — to warring countries around the world.

Sixth College senior Leena Barakat — who helped draft the resolution — said the UCSD version was altered to ensure that it condemned human-rights violations as a whole, and not specifically actions taken by the state of Israel.

Of course pro-Israel students and organizations are attacking the effort, and some of their arguments seem especially desperate – including comparing United Nations documentation of human rights abuses in Gaza to Holocaust denial (huh?!). Again from The Guardian:
A.S. Engineering Senator Adi Singer — a member of the pro-Israel community and creator of the Facebook group “Students Against ASUCSD Anti-Israel Bias and Resolutions” — said the resolution is a pointed attack against Israel.

“It’s a very thinly veiled political statement,” Singer said. “If it’s about all human-rights violations, why are there a ton of citings specifically about Gaza and very few about anywhere else?”

Although Ghosh said the resolution has received endorsements from groups such as Jewish Voices for the Peace and that information in the resolution regarding companies profiting from occupancy was provided by the United Nations, Singer maintained that the draft is biased.

“My main issue with this is that it’s very one-sided,” Singer said. “It’s not hard to find news sources that support your point of view. I can go on the Internet right now and find tons of sources that say that the Holocaust never happened.”

She added that the resolution would be detrimental to relations between Israeli and Palestinian interest groups on campus.

“Say what you want about it — the intent is clear,” she said. “The pro-Israel community has been trying really hard to build relations with the pro-Palestine community, and we would never bring up a resolution against Hamas.”

Tritons for Israel President Dafna Barzilay said it is not the council’s place to pass resolutions pertaining to international issues.

“We don’t support any such resolutions, even if it was pro-Israel or anti-Hamas,” she said. “It’s not the business of A.S. to support international problems that require that scale of spending and is not directly related to the university.”

In contrast, Ghosh said it is the council’s duty to be aware of global issues.

“If they believe that, why weren’t they there when we passed a resolution to support Haiti with allocations?” he asked. “Why weren’t they in the past, when we’ve been fighting for human rights in Sudan, fair trade in Africa?”

He said the resolution is meant to be a politically-neutral gesture.

“It is not anti-Israel,” he said. “Israel was very cleverly kept out of it.”

You can learn more about the UC San Diego effort, and what you can do to help, at their website UCSD Divest For Peace.

Boycott and Divestment program

2010-04-28T11:53:00.002-04:00

Gil Scott Heron cancels Israel gig

2010-04-27T22:17:00.000-04:00

Sunday, 25 April 2010 09:56 Written by James Meadway

http://www.counterfire.org/index.php/news/1-latest-news/4764-gill-scott-hero n-cancels-israel-gig

Gil Scott-Heron, whose political poetry influenced a generation of rap artists, last night sensationally announed the cancellation of his planned gig in Tel Aviv.

Speaking on-stage at London's Royal Festival Hall, Scott-Heron told the audience he "hated war" and, in a lengthy monolougue, told the packed audience his Israel tour date would not be going ahead. His concert had earlier been disrupted by fans dismayed at the booking, repeatedly heckling the performer and asking him to cancel. Security was called and audience members threatened with removal. A Facebook page was set up to urge the legendary perfomer against going ahead with his Israel appearance.

It stated "This is a huge mistake from an enduring cultural and political hero. Let's see if we can change his mind."

Over one thousand people have joined the page.

Scott-Heron is perhaps best-known for the classic The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, and was a leading voice in calling for the cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa, joining United Artist Against Apartheid in the 1980s.

His sharply political songs have provided a space for his own militant, anti-racist politics.

With Palestinian artists and musicians calling for a cultural boycott of Israel, campaigners were deeply saddened by Scott-Heron's apparent decision to play a high-profile gig there.

"Gil Scott-Heron's music has always been about fighting racism," said protestor Sara el-Sheekh.

"But Palestinians daily face the most terrible oppression from the Israeli occupation ≠ easily comparable to apartheid in South Africa. Musicians and artists should not be giving this apartheid state any legitimacy."

It's great news that this date has been cancelled. Scott-Heron was cheered and applauded when he made his announcement."

Campaigners have vowed to continue the fight for a cultural boycott of Isra

Irish Trade Union solidarity with Palestine (thanks, Sheila)

2010-04-19T09:09:00.000-04:00

April 18, 2010
Irish Trade Union solidarity with Palestine.

------
"It's rare that we can be so unequivocally positive about something when talking about Palestine, but this conference has helped move Palestine solidarity to a new level in the unions."
------

On Friday there was one of the most significant events yet in Palestinian solidarity work in Ireland. The Irish Congress of Trade Unions held a conference on Palestine/Israel and on how to build solidarity links. It was reported and attacked in the media and, in a nutshell, it was a very successful conference -- one that will lay the basis of future union campaigning on Palestine. The purpose of the conference was to discuss the implementation of the 2009 ICTU resolution which called for a comprehensive boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel

The main success lay in it being held the way it was -- with senior leaders from all major Irish unions present, and the fact it took place in Dublin Castle, a venue which was donated by the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs for the event. All of this signalled the seriousness with which this boycott campaign is held by ICTU and associated unions and their determination to place it centre stage. This display of unity was no mean feat. After 20 years of partnership arrangements with the government, Irish unions are in turmoil. The recent economic collapse has led to the government and private sector implementing brutal wage cuts, recruitment freezes and job losses. While there is considerable disagreements among union leaders on how to respond to this attack on working people, there were no serious disagreements in Dublin Castle on Friday -- Palestine is clearly an issue on which Irish trade unionists can unite.

The morning session was opened by Jack O'Connor, president of ICTU, followed by Micheal Martin, our minister of Foreign Affairs. While Martin expressed (very politely) his disagreement with boycott, he did say that he also opposed upgrading Israel's relationship with the EU. This of course raises Ireland's position with regard to Israel acceding to the OECD, with many speakers saying that the trade unions should use their position to persuade our government to veto Israeli membership of the OECD.

The highlight of the morning session was Patricia McKeown, previous president of ICTU. In her speech she outline the reasons for boycotting Israel, talked of the ICTU trip to Palestine and sharply criticised the Histadrut -- a speech which received a standing ovation. We also had Michael Letwin of US Labor for Palestine (and IJAN) effectively rebutting the US Jewish Labour Committee who gave an anti-boycott position.

The highlight of the afternoon was undoubtedly the speech by the Histadrut representative -- Avital Shapira-Shabirow. While the IPSC fully supports the BNC and PGFTU position of boycotting the Histadrut, I have to admit that we were delighted with Avital and her speech. She perfectly encapsulated the arrogance and contempt with which Israelis hold those that they disagree with. Within the first two minutes she raised the accusation of anti--Semitism and after that, in a speech that parroted the Israeli embassy's statement on the conference, it was all downhill for her, uphill for us.

In fact she accused ICTU of being linked in with that notoriously radical group -- the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign -- an attack that immediately made us the most popular people in the room. She then advised everybody to look at our website -- (www.ipsc.ie†by the way). I have to admit I felt a bit nervous here, wondering what we'd be accused of. Well she accused us of. . . (drumroll). . . supporting the right of return for Palestinians. Seriously, this was her accusation -- supporting the right of return. She then went on to claim that supporting this basic human right for Palestinians meant supporting Hamas. This smear might wash in the US but was greeted with incredulity and frank derision by the conference. It got better -- to prove how justified the Israelis were in massacring Gazans in 2009, she showed a video of a British general who praised Israel's conduct -- a general who as part of his credentials proudly boasted of having served in Northern Ireland. This to a room, about a third of whom came from the North. You couldn't make it up.

The Histadrut was followed by Omar Barghouti of PACBI and Raed Sadeq of the Democracy and Worker's Right Center in Palestine, both of whom spoke effectively about boycott, and shredded the Histadrut argument that they are 'the best friend of the Palestinian people'. While it was a shame that all the international trade union representatives from PGFTU, COSATU, Scottish TUC and TUC couldn't come as a result of the volcano (and an aside -- why is there no conspiracy theorising about the Icelandic volcano yet -- don't these people care any more?), the Palestinian speakers who made it were very happy with the conference. When I was speaking at one stage to Raed Sadeq there were literally tears of joy in his eyes because of the level of solidarity for Palestine expressed in the conference. The task of course is to move beyond expressing solidarity to practicing it, and from what I saw yesterday, there is a serious intention in ICTU to do it.

The real value of the conference lay in the networking and liaising outside the conference room. The IPSC line is that unions should first and foremost inform and divest -- inform their members of the boycott line, and divest from Israeli companies, CRH and Veolia. The trade unionists received this message very positively, and it is our intention to follow up on this. Everyone who made this conference happen -- especially Trade Union Friends of Palestine who helped drive the process -- deserves the highest praise. It's rare that we can be so unequivocally positive about something when talking about Palestine, but this conference has helped move Palestine solidarity to a new level in the unions.

Posted by David L @ 1:41 PM†

U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel

2010-04-01T23:19:00.001-04:00

U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel
Published: March 9, 2010Posted in: News- The Feminist Issue

While there are many Israeli and multinational companies that benefit from apartheid, we put together this list to highlight ten specific companies to target. Many of these produce goods in such a way that directly harms Palestinians by exploiting labor, developing technology for military operations, or supplying equipment for illegal settlements. Many are also the targets of boycotts for other reasons, like harming the environment and labor violations.

1. AHAVA

This brand’s cosmetics are produced using salt, minerals, and mud from the Dead Sea, in particular, natural resources that are excavated from the occupied West Bank. The products themselves are manufactured in the illegal Israeli settlement Mitzpe Shalem.

2. Delta Galil Industries

Israel’s largest textiles manufacturer provides clothing and underwear for such popular brands as Gap, J-Crew, J.C. Penny, Calvin Klein, Playtex, Victoria’s Secret (see #10) and many others. Its founder and chairman Dov Lautman is a close associate of former Israeli President Ehud Barak.

3. Motorola

Motorola components are also used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or ‘drones’) and in communications and surveillance systems used in settlements, checkpoints, and along the 490 mile apartheid wall. See ‘Hang up the Motorola’ campaign.

4. L’Oreal / The Body Shop

This company is known for its investments and manufacturing activities in Israel, including production in Migdal Haemek, the “Silicon Valley” of Israel built on the land of Palestinian village Al-Mujaydil, which was ethnically cleansed in 1948.

5. Dorot Garlic and Herbs

These frozen herbs that are sold at Trader Joe’s are shipped halfway around the world when they could easily be purchased locally. Trader Joe’s also sells Israeli Cous Cous and Pastures of Eden feta cheese that are made in Israel.

6. Estee Lauder

Chairman Ronald Lauder is also the chairman of the Jewish National Fund, a quasi-governmental organization that was established in 1901 to acquire Palestinian land and is connected to the continued building of illegal settlements. Estee Lauder’s popular brands include Clinique, MAC, Origins, Bumble & Bumble, Aveda, fragrance lines for top designers.

7. Intel

Intel employs thousands of Israelis and has exports from Israel totaling over $1 billion per year. They are one of Israel’s oldest foreign supporters, having established their first development center outside of the US in 1974 in Haifa.

8. Sabra

This brand of hummus, baba ghanoush and other foods is co-owned by Israel’s second-largest food company The Strauss Group and Pepsico. On the “Corporate Responsibility” section of its website, The Strauss Group boasts of its relationship to the Israeli Army, offering food products and political support.

9. Sara Lee

Sara Lee holds a 30% stake in Delta Galil (see #2) and is the world’s largest clothing manufacturer, which owns or is affiliated with such brands as Hanes, Playtex, Champion, Leggs, Sara Lee Bakery, Ball Park hotdogs, Wonderbra, and many others. Similar to L’Oreal (see #4)

10. Victoria’s Secret

Most of Victoria’s Secret’s bras are produced by Delta Galil (see #2), and much of the cotton is also grown in Israel on confiscated Palestinian land. Victoria’s Secret has also been the target of labor rights’ groups for sourcing products from companies with labor violations.

Remember, it’s also important to let these companies and the stores that sell them know that we will not support them as long as they support Israeli apartheid!

Trader Joe and the BDS movement

2010-03-29T21:21:00.000-04:00

Hi, All,
If Greenpeace can do this, perhaps we can get a BDS movement working to influence Trader Joe's stores to boycott produce and foods grown in Israel and by Israel in Occupied Palestinian Territories -- H
-----
Traitor Joe here. I'm greening up my act to save the oceans. I know you probably think this is another one of my sneaky scams, but I swear it's true. You really can teach an old pirate new tricks.

You see, for months Greenpeace publicly pressured Trader Joe's supermarkets to adopt sustainable seafood purchasing policies throughout all of their stores in order to help save the oceans. The store ranked 17 out of the 20 when Greenpeace evaluated their seafood polices along with other supermarkets. It was clear, Trader Joe‚Äôs needed to do better.

After months of hearing from activists and shoppers like you about how important it is to stop destroying oceans for profit, Trader Joe's finally turned over a new barnacle.

I‚Äôve publicly announced that Trader Joe‚Äôs stores will remove red-listed seafood, implement a sustainable seafood policy, and work with third-party, science-based organizations to establish strong, lasting guidelines for ocean protection throughout our entire seafood operation.

I'e seen the light! And, it's all thanks to YOU for getting in my face and exposing my bad habits. I'm finally doing my part to help save the oceans with my seafood purchasing policies. Tell Trader Joe's that you're happy they've done the right thing by sending them a thank you note. If you do, it'll bring a ray of sunshine to this rusty ole' pirate.

At the Waldorf

2010-03-29T20:09:00.005-04:00

Israeli Products Made in the Occupied West Bank

2010-03-13T09:47:00.000-05:00

Entire article: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article11130.shtml

...Some Israeli firms brag openly about how they can sell goods from the settlements abroad without paying duties. Cosmetics-maker Ahava uses Dead Sea mud extracted from the occupied Jordan Valley in its products. When quizzed about this by the BBC, the company's representatives admitted that they give the address of their headquarters and not the site of production when exporting. Thus, they can avail -- fraudulently -- EU preferences.

The relaxed attitude of civil servants to how European and international law is being flouted by Israel -- Britain's 2008 initiative notwithstanding -- is in stark contrast to the courage displayed by numerous ordinary people. Supermarkets in several EU countries have been flooded with complaints from customers outraged at how they are stocking herbs or oranges from illegal settlements.

In response to this burgeoning grassroots awareness, Britain's Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has published recommendations to retailers on how to differentiate between food originating from Israeli settlements, that from within Israel, and that grown by Palestinian farmers (several anti-poverty organizations sell Palestinian olive oil and other produce using a "Fair Trade" label). The interpretation of these recommendations has meant that shoppers can encounter confusing and clumsily-phrased notices while searching for groceries. The Morrisons supermarket chain has displayed the following instructions beside its stocks of "Best Medjool" dates: "Please note product labeled 'Produce of Jordon [sic] Valley' is produced in the West Bank (Israeli settlement) and produce of Israel is not from the occupied territories."

Betty Hunter from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign described the guidance to retailers as "absolutely inadequate" as she believes that no goods from Israeli settlements should be sold in Europe, regardless of whether they have been subject to customs duties. Activists from her group plan to attend the annual shareholder meetings of Britain's main supermarkets later this year and to advocate a complete ban on such goods. (The campaign is also committed to a wider boycott of Israeli goods.)

John Hilary, director of the organization War on Want, concurs. "It is quite clear that the settlements are illegal under international law," he said. "For us, there is no justification for goods from the settlements to be allowed in any European country at all."

Israel Ballet Runs into “ResisDance” in Brooklyn

2010-02-22T23:45:00.000-05:00

By Alex Kane
February 22, 2010 | Posted in Alex Kane , Gaza , IndyBlog , Palestine | Email this article

PHOTO: Desertpeace/Bud Korotzer. Mock ballet street theater is performed by Palestine solidarity activists outside the Israel Ballet's performance in Brooklyn

Over 40 Palestine solidarity activists demonstrated, performed street theater, and handed out mock programs outside of the Israel Ballet’s Brooklyn performance Feb. 21.

Protesters from Adalah NY, a local group fighting for justice in Palestine, said they were there to heed a call put out by members of Palestinian civil society in 2004 to boycott Israeli cultural and academic institutions. Modeled on the South African struggle to end apartheid, the global boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement demands that Israel withdraws from the occupied territories, dismantles illegal settlements, and implements the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The Israel Ballet is currently on a tour of the United States, and has also been met by protests in Worcester, MA and Burlington, VT. Outside of the Brooklyn Center for Performing Arts at Brooklyn College, some demonstrators contended with hostile remarks from ballet goers, including comments like “go to hell,” and people spitting near them.

“A lot of cultural institutions in Israel are complicit with Israeli war crimes, as well as the fact that there’s a sort of normalization, the attitude that as long as cultural institutions continue to function, everything’s okay,” said Andrew Kadi, a spokesperson for Adalah NY. “We’re stepping it up to say business as usual is not acceptable.”

Outside the performance, solidarity activists chanted ballet-themed slogans like “Pas de deux or arabesque, the occupation is grotesque” and “A little tutu cannot hide, your support for apartheid!”

The Israeli dance tour is part of an “official state campaign,” according to the Israeli news outlet Ynet. It comes in the midst of intense anxiety in the Israeli government about Israel’s damaged image, especially after the early 2009 Gaza onslaught that killed over 1,400 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians. Recently, the New York Times reported that the Israeli government has begun a campaign “to turn every Israeli — and ultimately every Jew — into a traveling public relations agent.”

In October 2006, Israel launched an initiative called “Brand Israel,” meant to “bridge the gap between the real Israel and its international image. Israel has much to offer to the world,” as former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, a suspected war criminal, put it.

The Israel Ballet also reportedly receives $1 million a year from the Israeli government and has an active relationship with the Israeli Defense Forces. And in the wake of the Gaza onslaught, the ballet’s founder told a publication that in Israel, “luckily, right now we don’t have to worry about war: despite our problems, this is a safe place.”

Before the Israel Ballet’s performance began, mock ballet street theater was performed. Activists dressed up in Israeli-colored tutus and Israeli Army war paint and announced they were performing “for apartheid,” which got confused responses of support from ballet goers, according to Ayesha Hoda, one of the performers.

The Israel Ballet’s “purpose being here is to hide all the horrors that are going on [in Palestine,]” said Hoda. The demonstration was also accompanied by the feisty tunes of theRude Mechanical Orchestra.

Two days ago, in Vermont, human rights activists interrupted a performance by the Israel Ballet by holding up a banner at the front of the stage that said, “No Tutu is Big Enough to Cover Up War Crimes.”

“We wanted to call attention to how culture and arts in this case can be used to mask the crimes of apartheid and occupation,” said Brian Pickett, a member of Adalah NY who participated in the demonstration in Brooklyn and was one of the activists who interrupted the ballet performance in Vermont.

For more information and photographs, visit Adalahny.org

Follow Alex Kane’s Twitter!

Protesting the Israel Ballet's performance in Brooklyn

2010-02-06T14:08:00.001-05:00

SAVE THE DATE
We will be protesting the Israel Ballet's performance in Brooklyn
WHEN: February 21st, 2010
WHERE: Brooklyn College's Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
info@adalahny.org for more information

Feb 5, 2010
Don't let the Israel Ballet tip-toe around Apartheid!

Adalah-NY, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within, and American Jews for a Just Peace call for a boycott of and protests against the performances of the Israel Ballet during their February, 2010 US tour, due to the Israel Balletís complicity in whitewashing Israeli apartheid.

The Israel Ballet will perform from February 8 ñ 27, 2010 in Panama City (FL), Ft. Myers (FL), Sarasota (FL), Bunnel (FL), West Palm Beach (FL), Gainesville (FL), Newport News (VA), Burlington (VT), Worcester (MA), Brooklyn (NY), Morgantown (WV), Buffalo (NY), Elmira (NY) and Rockville (MD). We call on individuals and groups to mobilize to boycott and protest against these performances.

The Israel Ballet comes to the United States as part of the ongoing effort to ìre-brandî Israelís image in the West as an enlightened center of arts and technology, to conceal the facts about its occupation, racial discrimination and grave violations of international law and fundamental Palestinian rights. The Israeli government-sponsored campaign to promote cultural performances is a result of the steady decline of Israelís standing in international public opinion. Consistent reports by the UN and leading human rights organizations have revealed the extent of Israelís colonial oppression, gradual ethnic cleansing and even war crimes against the Palestinian people, as pointedly revealed in the UNís recently published Goldstone Report on Israelís war of aggression on Gaza.

The Israel Ballet, which receives around $1 million annually from the Israeli government, is being advertised as a cultural ambassador of the state by the Israeli Consulate in New York. The dance group also boasts holding ìspecial performancesî for Israeli soldiers.

Arts and culture have become an important weapon in the Israeli governmentís public relations campaign, and in 2006, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched an initiative called ìBrand Israel,î to salvage Israel's deteriorating image abroad. Arye Mekel of Israelís Foreign Ministry has stated that, ìWe will send well-known novelists and writers overseas, theater companies, exhibits... This way you show Israelís prettier face, so we are not thought of purely in the context of war.î

Rather than distancing itself from the Israeli stateís cynical use of the arts to whitewash its apartheid and colonial policies, the Israel Ballet has embraced its ties with the state and proudly proclaims on its website that it is ìearning recognition and bringing honor to the state of Israel.î Israelís Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in turn, affirms the troupeís service to the state, calling them ìa valued cultural representative.î

Rather than denouncing the Israeli armyís commission of well-documented human rights violations against Palestinians, the Israel Ballet solicits funds for ìspecial performancesî for Israeli soldiers, makes use of a special army program to keep an active duty soldier as an intern, and performs an encore to the tunes of the Israeli army bandósaluting ìwith a smile the achievements of the state, Zionism and the art of classical ballet."

In the press, the Israel Ballet actively obfuscates Israelís regime of racial discrimination and segregation and shows complete disregard for Palestinian suffering. In late January, 2009, as Palestinians reeled from Israelís assault on Gaza that indiscriminately killed 1400 residents, mostly civilians, Israel Ballet founder Berta Yampolsky told TimeOut Beijing, ìLuckily, right now we donít have to worry about war: despite our problems, this is a safe place; thereís no crime, and you donít have to be afraid at night.î

Yampolsky continued, ìWe donít care what religion or nationality you are, as long as you are a good person.î Yet none of the dancers, board members, or staff listed on the Israel Ballet website are Palestinian, though Palestinians comprise 20% of Israelís citizenry. Furthermore, the Israeli government systematically discriminates against Israelís Palestinian citizens, including providing less funding for Palestinian citizensí cultural and educational activities. Palestinian artists in occupied Gaza and the West Bank fare even worse. The Ramallah-based Palestinian dance troupe, El-Funoun, must continuously contend with Israelís ongoing occupation, and its members have faced military roadblocks, military curfews, random arrests, injury, performance closures and travel bans.

To combat Israelís denial of Palestinian rights, in 2004, Palestinian civil society, led by the newly formed Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), called on colleagues in the international community ìto comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions until Israel withdraws from all the lands occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem; removes all its colonies in those lands; agrees to United Nations resolutions relevant to the restitution of Palestinian refugees rights; and dismantles its system of apartheid.î A year later, the Palestinian Civil Society Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) was issued, endorsed by over 170 NGOs, trade unions, political parties, networks and campaigns representing Palestinians inside and outside Palestine. The Palestinian boycott campaign advocates a nonviolent form of resistance to oppression that is inspired by the historic role played by people of conscience in the international community who have shouldered the moral responsibility to fight injustice, as exemplified in their struggle to abolish apartheid in South Africa through diverse forms of boycott.

Danish Banks to Divest from Israel

2010-01-28T12:53:00.001-05:00

by Saed Bannoura

IMEMC News Agencies
January 27, 2010

The Danske and Pensioner Bank (PKA) have decided to withdraw all investments from two Israeli companies, Elbit and Magal Security Systems, for their role in constructing the annexation wall in the occupied West Bank.

The decision came after human rights groups and boycott campaigns declared the wall to be in violation of an advisory ruling made by the Hague International Court.

The two Danish banks also decided to divest from Africa-Israel Company, owned by Jewish billionaire Lev Leviev, for its role in financing the construction of settlements and the wall.
Elbit Systems provide Israel with surveillance equipment installed atop the annexation wall while Africa-Israel invests in settlement construction within the occupied West Bank.

The Pensioners Bank also decided to withdraw investments from American Detection Systems for their role in the wall's construction.

These decisions were made as Israel declared it's intent to begin new construction of the wall on Palestinian lands west of Ramallah. This new section will annex more Palestinian land in order to expand the illegal settlement of Illit.

International Middle East Media Center
http://www.imemc.org/index.php?obj_id=53&story_id=57777

Friends of Sabeel--North America

PO Box 9186, Portland, OR 97207

fosna.org; friends@...

†

Cairo Declaration to End Israeli Apartheid

2010-01-05T15:18:00.000-05:00

Gaza Freedom Marchers issue the "Cairo Declaration" to end Israeli apartheid Press release, Gaza Freedom March delegates, 4 January 2010

The following declaration was issued on 1 January 2010:
Gaza Freedom Marchers approved today a declaration aimed at accelerating the global campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli Apartheid.

Roughly 1,400 activists from 43 countries converged in Cairo on their way to Gaza to join with Palestinians marching to break Israel's illegal siege. They were prevented from entering Gaza by the Egyptian authorities.

As a result, the Freedom Marchers remained in Cairo. They staged a series of nonviolent actions aimed at pressuring the international community to end the siege as one step in the larger struggle to secure justice for Palestinians throughout historic Palestine.

This declaration arose from those actions:
We, international delegates meeting in Cairo during the Gaza Freedom March 2009 in collective response to an initiative from the South African delegation, state:
In view of:

-Israel's ongoing collective punishment of Palestinians through the illegal occupation and siege of Gaza
-the illegal occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the continued construction of the illegal Apartheid Wall and settlements; the new Wall under construction by Egypt and the US which will tighten even further the siege of Gaza
-the contempt for Palestinian democracy shown by Israel, the US, Canada, the EU and others after the Palestinian elections of 2006
-the war crimes committed by Israel during the invasion of Gaza one year ago; the continuing discrimination and repression faced by Palestinians within Israel
-and the continuing exile of millions of Palestinian refugees; all of which oppressive acts are based ultimately on the Zionist ideology which underpins Israel
-in the knowledge that our own governments have given Israel direct economic, financial, military and diplomatic support and allowed it to behave with impunity
-and mindful of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (2007)

We reaffirm our commitment to:
Palestinian Self-Determination Ending the Occupation Equal Rights for All within historic Palestine The full Right of Return for Palestinian refugees

We therefore reaffirm our commitment to the United Palestinian call of July 2005 for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to compel Israel to comply with international law.

To that end, we call for and wish to help initiate a global mass, democratic anti-apartheid movement to work in full consultation with Palestinian civil society to implement the Palestinian call for BDS.

Mindful of the many strong similarities between apartheid Israel and the former apartheid regime in South Africa, we propose:

1) An international speaking tour in the first six months of 2010 by Palestinian and South African trade unionists and civil society activists, to be joined by trade unionists and activists committed to this program within the countries toured, to take mass education on BDS directly to the trade union membership and wider public internationally;

2) Participation in the Israeli Apartheid Week in March 2010;

3) A systematic unified approach to the boycott of Israeli products, involving consumers, workers and their unions in the retail, warehousing and transportation sectors;

4) Developing the academic, cultural and sports boycott;

5) Campaigns to encourage divestment of trade union and other pension funds from companies directly implicated in the occupation and/or the Israeli military industries;

6) Legal actions targeting the external recruitment of soldiers to serve in the Israeli military, and the prosecution of Israeli government war criminals; coordination of Citizen's Arrest Bureaux to identify, campaign and seek to prosecute Israeli war criminals; support for the Goldstone report and the implementation of its recommendations;

7) Campaigns against charitable status of the Jewish National Fund (JNF).

We appeal to organizations and individuals committed to this declaration to sign it and work with us to make it a reality.

Please e-mail us at cairodec A T gmail D O T com

Signed by:
(* Affiliation for identification purposes only.)

1. Hedy Epstein, Holocaust Survivor/ Women in Black*, USA

2. Nomthandazo Sikiti, Nehawu, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Affiliate International Officer*, South Africa

3. Zico Tamela, Satawu, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Affiliate International Officer*, South Africa

4. Hlokoza Motau, Numsa, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Affiliate International Officer*, South Africa

5. George Mahlangu, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Campaigns Coordinator*, South Africa

6. Crystal Dicks, Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) Education Secretary*, South Africa

7. Savera Kalideen, SA Palestinian Solidarity Committee*, South Africa

8. Suzanne Hotz, SA Palestinian Solidarity Group*, South Africa

9. Shehnaaz Wadee, SA Palestinian Solidarity Alliance*, South Africa

10. Haroon Wadee, SA Palestinian Solidarity Alliance*, South Africa

11. Sayeed Dhansey, South Africa

12. Faiza Desai, SA Palestinian Solidarity Alliance*, South Africa

13. Ali Abunimah, Electronic Intifada*, USA

14. Hilary Minch, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Committee*, Ireland

15. Anthony Loewenstein, Australia

16. Sam Perlo-Freeman, United Kingdom

17. Julie Moentk, Pax Christi*, USA

18. Ulf Fogelström, Sweden

19. Ann Polivka, Chico Peace and Justice Center*, USA

20. Mark Johnson, Fellowship of Reconciliation*, USA

21. Elfi Padovan, Munich Peace Committee*/Die Linke*, Germany

22. Elizabeth Barger, Peace Roots Alliance*/Plenty I*, USA

23. Sarah Roche-Mahdi, CodePink*, USA

24. Svetlana Gesheva-Anar, Bulgaria

25. Cristina Ruiz Cortina, Al Quds-Malaga*, Spain

26. Rachel Wyon, Boston Gaza Freedom March*, USA

27. Mary Hughes-Thompson, Women in Black*, USA

28. David Letwin, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)*, USA

29. Jean Athey, Peace Action Montgomery*, USA

30. Gael Murphy, Gaza Freedom March*/CodePink*, USA

31. Thomas McAfee, Journalist/PC*, USA

32. Jean Louis Faure, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)*, France

33. Timothy A King, Christians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East*, USA

34. Gail Chalbi, Palestine/Israel Justice Project of the Minnesota United Methodist Church*, USA

35. Ouahib Chalbi, Palestine/Israel Justice Project of the Minnesota United Methodist Church*, USA

36. Greg Dropkin, Liverpool Friends of Palestine*, England

37. Felice Gelman, Wespac Peace and Justice New York*/Gaza Freedom March*, USA

38. Ron Witton, Australian Academic Union*, Australia

39. Hayley Wallace, Palestine Solidarity Committee*, USA

40. Norma Turner, Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign*, England

41. Paula Abrams-Hourani, Women in Black (Vienna)*/ Jewish Voice for Just Peace in the Middle East*, Austria

42. Mateo Bernal, Industrial Workers of the World*, USA

43. Mary Mattieu, Collectif Urgence Palestine*, Switzerland

44. Agneta Zuppinger, Collectif Urgence Palestine*, Switzerland

45. Ashley Annis, People for Peace*, Canada

46. Peige Desgarlois, People for Peace*, Canada

47. Hannah Carter, Canadian Friends of Sabeel*, Canada

48. Laura Ashfield, Canadian Friends of Sabeel*, Canada

49. Iman Ghazal, People for Peace*, Canada

50. Filsam Farah, People for Peace*, Canada

51. Awa Allin, People for Peace*, Canada

52. Cleopatra McGovern, USA

53. Miranda Collet, Spain

54. Alison Phillips, Scotland

55. Nicholas Abramson, Middle East Crisis Response Network*/Jews Say No*, USA

56. Tarak Kauff, Middle East Crisis Response Network*/Veterans for Peace*, USA

57. Jesse Meisler-Abramson, USA

58. Hope Mariposa, USA

59. Ivesa Lübben. Bremer Netzwerk fur Gerechten Frieden in Nahost*, Germany

60. Sheila Finan, Mid-Hudson Council MERC*, USA

61. Joanne Lingle, Christians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East (CPJME)*, USA

62. Barbara Lubin, Middle East Children’s Alliance*, USA

63. Josie Shields-Stromsness, Middle East Children’s Alliance*, USA

64. Anna Keuchen, Germany

65. Judith Mahoney Pasternak, WRL* and Indypendent*, USA

66. Ellen Davidson, New York City Indymedia*, WRL*, Indypendent*, USA

67. Ina Kelleher, USA

68. Lee Gargagliano, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (Chicago)*, USA

69. Brad Taylor, OUT-FM*, USA

70. Helga Mankovitz, SPHR (Queen’s University)*, Canada

71. Mick Napier, Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign*, Scotland

72. Agnes Kueng, Paso Basel*, Switzerland

73. Anne Paxton, Voices of Palestine*, USA

74. Leila El Abtah, The Netherlands

75. Richard Van der Wouden, The Netherlands

76. Rafiq A. Firis, P.K.R.*/Isra*, The Netherlands

77. Sandra Tamari, USA

78. Alice Azzouzi, Way to Jerusalem*, USA

79. J’Ann Schoonmaker Allen, USA

80. Ruth F. Hooke, Episcopalian Peace Fellowship*, USA

81. Jean E. Lee, Holy Land Awareness Action Task Group of United Church of Canada*, Canada

82. Delphine de Boutray, Association Thèâtre Cine*, France

83. Sylvia Schwarz, USA

84. Alexandra Safi, Germany

85. Abdullah Anar, Green Party – Turkey*, Turkey

86. Ted Auerbach, USA

87. Martha Hennessy, Catholic Worker*, USA

88. Louis Ultale, Interfaile Pace e Bene*, USA

89. Leila Zand, Fellowship of Reconciliation*, USA

90. Emma Grigore, CodePink*, USA

91. Sammer Abdelela, New York Community of Muslim Progressives*, USA

92. Sharat G. Lin, San Jose Peace and Justice Center*, USA

93. Katherine E. Sheetz, Free Gaza*, USA

94. Steve Greaves, Free Gaza*, USA

95. Trevor Baumgartner, Free Gaza*, USA

96. Hanan Tabbara, USA

97. Marina Barakatt, CodePink*, USA

98. Keren Bariyov, USA

99. Ursula Sagmeister, Women in Black – Vienna*, Austria

100. Ann Cunningham, Australia

101. Bill Perry, Delaware Valley Veterans for Peace*, USA

102. Terry Perry, Delaware Valley Veterans for Peace*, USA

103. Athena Viscusi, USA

104. Marco Viscusi, USA

105. Paki Wieland, Northampton Committee*, USA

106. Manijeh Saba, New York / New Jersey, USA

107. Ellen Graves, USA

108. Zoë Lawlor, Ireland – Palestine Solidarity Campaign*, Ireland

109. Miguel García Grassot, Al Quds – Málaga*, Spain

110. Ana Mamora Romero, ASPA-Asociacion Andaluza Solidaridad y Paz*, Spain

111. Ehab Lotayef, CJPP Canada*, Canada

112. David Heap, London Anti-War*, Canada

113. Adie Mormech, Free Gaza* / Action Palestine*, England

114. Aimee Shalan, UK

115. Liliane Cordova, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (IJAN)*, Spain

116. Priscilla Lynch, USA

117. Jenna Bitar, USA

118. Deborah Mardon, USA

119. Becky Thompson, USA

120. Diane Hereford, USA

121. David Heap, People for Peace London*, Canada

122. Donah Abdulla, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights*, Canada

123. Wendy Goldsmith, People for Peace London*, Canada

124. Abdu Mihirig, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights-UBC*, Canada

125. Saldibastami, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights-UBC*, Canada

126. Abdenahmane Bouaffad, CMF*, France

127. Feroze Mithiborwala, Awami Bharat*, India

128. John Dear, Pax Christi*, USA

129. Ziyaad Lunat, Portugal

130. Michael Letwin, New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) Labor For Palestine

What NOT to buy?? from Anna Baltzer

2009-12-17T23:34:00.000-05:00

What NOT to buy??... Here are the Top Ten Brands to BOYCOTT this holiday season:

Ahava

Delta Galil Industries

Motorola

L'Oreal

Dorot Garlic and Herbs (Trader Joe's)

Estee Lauder

Intel

Sabra

Sara Lee

Victoria's Secret

More info on each at: http://www.baceia.org/2009/11/top-ten-brands-to-boycott/

Labor for Palestine: Endorse Dump Israel Bonds

2009-12-12T15:20:00.002-05:00

From: NYCLAW

Date: December 10, 2009 1:04:30 PM EST

To: LaborAgainstWar Subject: [NYCLAW] Labor for Palestine: Endorse Dump Israel Bonds

We started a website†www.DumpIsraelBonds.com†to be the center of a campaign to get unions to sell of their Israel bonds. Please take a look at it. We're gathering a list of union members willing to be "Supporters" of the site. There's no money obligation, just support for the idea that unions should not be owning bonds in a government that is so racist and anti-union.

On a Supporters page page we're going to list union member names with their union identification and an optional paragraph of biography or comment.

Examples

Stanley Heller AFT #1547, Central Labor Council delegate

Or Stanley Heller AFT #1547, Central Labor Council delegate

I've been in AFL-CIO unions for over 40 years (Retail Clerks, Machinists, Teachers) and a Central Labor Council delegate from the early '70's. It's a disgrace that unions would own bonds supporting a government that is racist, anti-union and violent. They should all be sold off immediately.

IF YOU'D LIKE TO BE LISTED AS A SUPPORTER WRITE BACK WITH YOUR NAME AND IDENTIFICATION AND (optional) paragraph: mail@TheStruggle.org

Labelling of Food from Illegal Israeli Settlements

2009-12-10T23:20:00.000-05:00

UK Issues New Guidance on Labelling of Food from Illegal Israeli Settlements

British government calls on supermarkets to tell customers when they are buying food from Israeli settlements in West Bank by Ian Black, Middle East editor, and Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem The British government has for the first time called on all supermarkets to inform customers clearly when they are buying food produced by Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The new guidance on food labelling significantly increases UK pressure on Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law, and increases the prospect of consumer boycotts. Israeli officials and settler leaders were tonight highly critical of the decision.

Until now, food has been simply labelled "Produce of the West Bank", but under the new, voluntary guidance issued by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), labels should in future give more information. It suggested they say "Israeli settlement produce" or "Palestinian produce".

Nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers live in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. The British government and the European Union has repeatedly said Israel's settlement project is an "obstacle to peace" in the Middle East.

EU law already requires a distinction to be made between goods originating in Israel and those from the occupied territories, though pro-Palestinian campaigners say this is not always observed.

Separately, Defra said that traders would be committing an offence if they declared produce from the occupied Palestinian territories as "produce of Israel".

Produce grown in Israeli settlements include herbs sold in UK supermarkets, such as Waitrose, which chop them up, package them and label them as "West Bank" produce, making no distinction between Israelis and Palestinians. A total of 27 Israeli companies operating in settlements and exporting to the UK have been identified: their produce includes fruit, vegetables, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, plastic and metal items and textiles. Other retailers selling them include Tesco, Sainsbury's, Somerfield, John Lewis and B&Q.

Goods from inside Israel's 1967 borders are entitled to a preferential rate of import duty under an agreement with the EU. Palestinian goods from the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem also enjoy duty-free or reduced tariff treatment. Settlement products fall outside these two categories.

"This is emphatically not about calling for a boycott of Israel," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "We believe that would do nothing to advance the peace process. We oppose any such boycott of Israel. We believe consumers should be able to choose for themselves what produce they buy. We have been very clear both in public and in private that settlements are illegal and an obstacle to peace."

The Trades Union Congress general secretary, Brendan Barber, welcomed the public clarification that marking produce from illegal settlements on occupied territory as "produce of Israel" was against the law, but said the government should have gone further.

"Profiting from the goods produced in the illegal settlements is contrary to international law and they should be banned from sale in the European Union, as they are in Palestine. Trade in such goods undermines the viability of a sovereign Palestinian state and holds back the peace process."Barbara Stocking, Oxfam's chief executive, said: "We support the right of consumers to know the origin of the products they purchase. Trade with Israeli settlements - which are illegal under international law - contributes to their economic viability and serves to legitimise them. It is also clear from our development work in West Bank communities that settlements have led to the denial of rights and create poverty for many Palestinians."

Dani Dayan, the Argentinian-born leader of the Yesha Council, which represents Israeli settlers, said the decision was the "latest hostile step" from Britain. "Products from our communities in Judea and Samaria should be treated as any other Israeli product," he said, using an Israeli term for the West Bank.

Israeli officials said they feared this was a slide towards a broader boycott of Israeli goods. Yigal Palmor, Israel's foreign ministry spokesman, said his country's produce was being unfairly singled out.

"It looks like it is catering to the demands of those whose ultimate goal is the boycott of Israeli products," he said. "The message here will very likely be used by pro-boycott campaigners. It is a matter of concern."

He said the issue of different European customs tariffs should not extend to different labelling on supermarket shelves. "It is a totally different thing and not required by the EU."

Israel came under intense US pressure early this year to halt construction in settlements, but has only adopted a temporary, partial freeze. Palestinian leaders say they will not restart peace negotiations until there is a full settlement freeze in line with the US road map of 2003.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign said it welcomed the new guidance but urged Defra to go further: "The government must seek prosecutions of companies which smuggle settlement goods in under false labels. We have received many calls from people who were distressed when they bought goods labelled "Produce of the West Bank" because they thought they were aiding the Palestinian economy, then realised they were economically aiding Israel's illegal occupation.

"Particularly following Israel's massacre in Gaza, consumers have been shocked at Israel's war crimes and want to take action. They do not want to feel complicit in Israel's occupation by buying stolen goods."

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/12/10-8

"Top Ten Brands to Boycott this Christmas"

2009-12-07T12:55:00.000-05:00

Posted by RORCoalition on Thu, 12/03/2009 - 13:05 USACBI -- While there are many Israeli and multinational companies that benefit from apartheid, we put together this list to highlight ten specific companies to target.

Many of these produce goods in such a way that directly harms Palestinians — exploiting labor, developing technology for military operations, or supplying equipment for illegal settlements. Many are also the targets of boycotts for other reasons, like harming the environment and labor violations.

1. AHAVA This brand’s cosmetics are produced using salt, minerals, and mud from the Dead Sea — natural resources that are excavated from the occupied West Bank. The products themselves are manufactured in the illegal Israeli settlement Mitzpe Shalem. AHAVA is the target of CODEPINK’s “Stolen Beauty” campaign.

2. Delta Galil Industries Israel’s largest textiles manufacturer provides clothing and underwear for such popular brands as Gap, J-Crew, J.C. Penny, Calvin Klein, Playtex, Victoria’s Secret (see #10) and many others. Its founder and chairman Dov Lautman is a close associate of former Israeli President Ehud Barak. It has also been condemned by Sweatshop Watch for its exploitation of labor in other countries such as Egypt, Jordan, and Turkey.

3. Motorola While many of us know this brand for its stylish cellphones, did you know that it also develops and manufactures bomb fuses and missile guidance systems? Motorola components are also used in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs or “drones”) and in communications and surveillance systems used in settlements, checkpoints, and along the 490 mile apartheid wall. The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation has launched the “Hang Up on Motorola” campaign.

4. L’Oreal / The Body Shop This cosmetics and perfume company is known for its investments and manufacturing activities in Israel, including production in Migdal Haemek, the “Silicon Valley” of Israel built on the land of Palestinian village Al-Mujaydil, which was ethnically cleansed in 1948. In 1998, a representative of L’Oreal was given the Jubilee Award by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for strengthening the Israeli economy.

5. Dorot Garlic and Herbs These frozen herbs that are sold at Trader Joe’s are shipped halfway around the world when they could easily be purchased locally. Trader Joe’s also sells Israeli Cous Cous and Pastures of Eden feta cheese that are made in Israel. QUIT, South Bay Mobilization, and other groups have targeted Trader Joe’s with a “Don’t Buy into Apartheid” campaign.

6. Estee Lauder This company’s chairman Ronald Lauder is also the chairman of the Jewish National Fund, a quasi-governmental organization that was established in 1901 to acquire Palestinian land and is connected to the continued building of illegal settlements. Estee Lauder’s popular brands include Clinique, MAC, Origins, Bumble & Bumble, Aveda, fragrance lines for top designers, and many others. They have been the target of QUIT’s “Estee Slaughter Killer Products” campaign.

7. Intel This technology company that manufactures computer processors and other hardware components employs thousands of Israelis and has exports from Israel totaling over $1 billion per year. They are one of Israel’s oldest foreign supporters, having established their first development center outside of the US in 1974 in Haifa. Al-Awda (the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition) has urged action against Intel for building a facility on the land of former village Iraq Al Manshiya, which was cleansed in 1949.

8. Sabra This brand of hummus, baba ghanoush and other foods is co-owned by Israel’s second-largest food company The Strauss Group and Pepsico. On the “Corporate Responsibility” section of its website, The Strauss Group boasts of its relationship to the Israeli Army, offering food products and political support.

9. Sara Lee Sara Lee holds a 30% stake in Delta Galil (see #2) and is the world’s largest clothing manufacturer, which owns or is affiliated with such brands as Hanes, Playtex, Champion, Leggs, Sara Lee Bakery, Ball Park hotdogs, Wonderbra, and many others. Similar to L’Oreal (see #4), a representative of Sara Lee received the Jubilee Award from Netanyahu for its commitment to business with Israel.

10. Victoria’s Secret Most of Victoria’s Secret’s bras are produced by Delta Galil (see #2), and much of the cotton is also grown in Israel on confiscated Palestinian land. Victoria’s Secret has also been the target of labor rights’ groups for sourcing products from companies with labor violations, and by environmental groups for their unsustainable use of paper in producing their catalogues. That’s not sexy!

Remember, it’s also important to let these companies — and the stores that sell them — know that we will not support them as long as they support Israeli apartheid!

To view our complete list of Israeli products in Bay Area stores click here. To report more Product Sightings, email products[at]baceia.org.

Cosmetic from AHAVA

2009-11-16T11:19:00.000-05:00

SP INTERNATIONAL :: NEWS

ISRAELI PRODUCTS FROM OCCUPIED TERRITORIES: MINISTER AGREES TO SP REQUEST TO INVESTIGATE
November 13th, 2009 • Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has agreed to a request from SP foreign affairs spokesman Harry van Bommel to begin an enquiry into the import of cosmetic products from Israeli firm AHAVA. The company manufactures cosmetics in the Mitzpe Shalem settlement on the West Bank, using minerals and mud from the River Jordan. The products are exported under the label 'Made in Israel’. “I'm pleased that this enquiry is to be conducted," says Van Bommel. "If it confirms all we've been told, then I'll be calling for a boycott of these products. This sort of practice is in conflict with international law, which forbids an occupying power from selling the products of an occupied people under its own name. It stands in the way of a fair, honest and just solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.”

In the Netherlands a group called the Badjassen Brigade, which organises protests against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, has held demonstrations outside the shops where AHAVA products are sold, under the campaign title 'Gestolen Schoonheid', Stolen Beauty. The action group is also trying to prevent AHAVA from developing a network of sales points in the Netherlands, an endeavour in which the firm enjoys the cooperation of a weekly television programme, Health Angels, broadcast on commercial television channel RTL4. It has been a thorn in the side of human rights activists for some years that many products from the Occupied Territories are exported under the Israeli flag, making profits for the occupier.

Rivage is the brand name

2009-11-13T14:40:00.002-05:00

Rivage is the brand name of a Jordanian line of cosmetics based on minerals from the Dead Sea. Their skin and hair care products are produced by Al-Mawared Natural Beauty Products Corporation in Amman. I just sent off an e-mail asking for the names of retailers in NYS and east coast distributors of the line.

You can find out more about the products by going to www.rivageline.com and www.rivageusa.net