BDS

UK MP Wants ‘An Israel-Free Zone’

August 8, 2014 Staff, www.rt.com Organize! BDS, Gaza, Israel

George Galloway has suggested the UK city of Bradford should be “an Israel-free zone,” and has called for the district to issue a blanket boycott of Israeli goods, services, academics and tourists. Speaking on behalf of the Respect Party in Leeds, the MP for Bradford West encouraged a crowd gathered at a public meeting to back his stance and “do the same.” Galloway’s comments, which were filmed and subsequently posted on YouTube, have generated heated responses on Twitter. Following several official complaints, they have also sparked a West Yorkshire Police investigation. "We have received two separate complaints about comments attributed to George Galloway MP during a speech he gave at a public meeting in Leeds on 2nd August 2014. We are currently investigating the complaints," a spokesman for West Yorkshire police said.

15 Ways To Take Action Against Israel In BDS Movement

July 31, 2014 Muftah, www.muftah.org Resist! BDS, Israel, Palestine

BDS is a peaceful, civil disobedience initiative started by Palestinian civil society in 2005, in response to a paralyzed peace process and continued Israeli violations of human rights and humanitarian law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Among other things, BDS includes academic and cultural boycotts, as well as divestment from companies supporting or profiting from the Occupation. Through BDS, regular individuals around the world have a concrete means to express opposition and outrage against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. Now more than ever, supporting BDS is critical. As our governments and mainstream media institutions continue to ignore and in some cases support Israeli crimes, civil society and people of conscience have a duty to pick up the mantle and do what they can to shift public opinion away from unbridled support for Israel and toward justice and accountability for the innocent victims of its actions. For those who still aren’t sure why they should support support BDS, click here. For the rest of you, here are 15 ways you can support BDS, many of which can also be found on the BDSMovement website:

Students For Justice In Palestine Win Major Victory At Northeastern

July 13, 2014 Nora Barrows-Fr., , www.electronicintifada.net Resist! BDS, Israel, Palestine, Student Activism, Student protest

After seven weeks of sustained media attention and organizing by student activists,Northeastern University today announced that it has lifted the suspension of Northeastern Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). Not only will the group will be fully reinstated on 1 September, but they will have access to more funding for educational events than was available before the 7 March suspension. Northeastern SJP will be able to plan for those events immediately. The group was suspended in an unprecedented sanction by the administration after students distributed mock eviction leaflets on campus, a popular direct action many Palestine solidarity groups undertake during the annual Israeli Apartheid Week to raise awareness about Israel’s destruction of Palestinian homes.

Criticism Of Israel Not Allowed On College Campuses

July 6, 2014 David Palumbo-Liu, www.truthout.org Educate! BDS, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Israel

Recently Truthout featured a piece by Chip Gibbons entitled,"'Are You Now or Have You Ever Been a Signatory to a Boycott of Israel?' The BDS Movement and the Return of McCarthyism." In it, he outlines the censorious measures taken against those who support BDS, most particularly academic organizations such as the Association for Asian American Studies, the American Studies Association and the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. Gibbons mentions the legislation put forward in New York and Maryland (note that this also occurred in Illinois, Florida, Pennsylvania, Kansas and South Carolina), as well as the actions of the Jewish Community Center to vet and censor artistic and cultural performances. Another practice that smacks of McCarthyism is the misuse of state and federal law to pressure universities to restrict criticism of Israel on campus.

Israeli Divestment Campaign Sees Victories

June 18, 2014 Staff, www.bdsmovement.net Organize! BDS, Israel, Palestine, Racism

Below are links to a series of news stories from the BDS Movement for Freedom, Justice and Equality. It shows a rapidly growing movement achieving major successes that will greatly impact the Israeli economy. It is reminiscent of the era of the end of South African apartheid when that nation became isolated from the world economy because of the racially discriminatory and unjust policies. More is coming, right now the Presbyterian Church is considering divestment from US corporations contributing to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. In recent years, there have been widespread protests in Israel over their economy which is already not working for many Israelis. The security state expenditures for the Palestinian control and land theft policies were already creating a dysfunctional economy, now that people around the world are refusing to be part of Israel because of its abusive Palestinian problems, Israel may finally be forced to face up to its serious mistakes and find a solution to the issue -- whether it is a one-state or two-state solution -- the bottom line is Israeli apartheid must end.

BDS: Gates Foundation Pulls Investment

June 13, 2014 Staff, www.worldbulletin.net Resist! BDS, Gates Foundation, Israel, Palestine

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will divest $184 million of its holdings in G4S, a British security firm contracted by Israel. "Bill Gates' divestment [decision] is an indication that the Palestinian struggle and boycott of Israel is gaining new heights," Mohamed Desai of BDS South Africa told Anadolu Agency. John Pinnette, a spokesman for the Gates family, has announced the liquidation of the foundation's entire stake in G4S. A global integrated-security company, G4S has been the target of several successful international boycott campaigns in recent years over accusations of its involvement in Israeli human rights abuses. Desai said it was humbling that a group of committed activists could bring change to the world.

First US Catholic University To Divest

March 26, 2014 Adam Horowitz www.mondoweiss.net Resist! BDS, Catholic, Israel, Palestine

The first corporation listed, Caterpillar, sustains the occupation by providing tools and bulldozers to destroy Palestinian infrastructure such as homes, neighborhoods, and agricultural fields. Caterpillar tools also aid in the expansion of illegal settlements as declared by the United Nations. The second corporation, General Electric (GE), manufactures engines used for the same helicopters that violate human rights violations by attacking Palestinian civilians. Hewlitt-Packard Company (HP), similar to the aforementioned companies, also aids in the systemic oppression of Palestine. HP provides discriminatory identification systems used by the Israeli military checkpoints and profits from mass incarceration. Group 4 Securicor (G4S), Raytheon, Elbit Systems, SodaStream, and Veolia are the remaining companies that complete the list.

Netanyahu Attacks Help Israeli Boycott Movement Grow

March 23, 2014 Staff www.therealnews.com Educate! BDS, Israel

WARSCHAWSKI: It means they've decided--and I still need to see proof of this--to apply pressure on Israel. If when Kerry came here he means business, and he says, okay, propose what you want but this is the framework and now we're moving forward, if that is indeed true, then the year or two ahead of us, we're going to see a conflict, a tension with the U.S., the likes of which we haven't seen in a long, long time, if ever. TARACHANSKY: Kerry has not been alone in visiting the Middle East. This month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Jerusalem and signed a deal with Israel that tightened the two nations' diplomatic ties. German embassies will now help represent Israeli tourists abroad, and Israelis wishing to live in Germany for extended periods of time will be allowed to work.

South African Church Leaders Endorse Israeli Apartheid Week

March 10, 2014 Ali Abunimah, www.electronicintifada.net Resist! Apartheid, BDS, Middle East, Palestine, Racism

"On Sunday, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town Desmond Tutu reiterated his support for IAW and for the Palestinian-led campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on Israel. “People who are denied their dignity and rights deserve the solidarity of their fellow human beings,” Tutu said in a statement. “I have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing in the Holy Land that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under Apartheid,” Tutu added. “Their humiliation is familiar to all black South Africans who were corralled and harassed and insulted and assaulted by the security forces of the Apartheid government.” Recalling the role of BDS in ending apartheid in South Africa, Tutu said the “same issues of inequality and injustice today motivate the divestment movement trying to end Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory and the unfair and prejudicial treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government ruling over them.”

Battle Over Maryland’s Anti-Boycott Israel Bill Heats Up

March 10, 2014 Alex Kane, www.mondoweiss.net Organize! BDS, Human Rights, Palestine

"Maryland state politicians are likely unaware that Palestinian children in Hebron have to cross checkpoints to get to school. But that’s the reality that supporters of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement brought into recent legislative hearings in an effort to fight back against anti-boycott legislation[…]Proponents and opponents of the bill testified at both hearings on March 5th and March 6th. Israel advocates, like members of the Baltimore Jewish Council (BJC), said the BDS movement was discriminatory and anti-Semitic and that public funds should not be spent on groups that support the movement. Opponents of the legislation, including members of Jewish Voice for Peace and the Christian Peacemaker Team, shot back by pointing to Israeli human rights abuses and why the bill would chill speech and infringe on academic freedom in the state. Tarek Abuata, a coordinator for the Christian Peacemaker Team, told legislators of how, as a ten-year old, he was home-schooled in Palestine because the Israeli military closed down schools. Legislators interjected, and told Abuata and other opponents to stick to the bill at hand."

Interview: Palestinian Poet Remi Kenazi on BDS and ‘Hurt Feelings’

March 8, 2014 Alex Shams www.maannews.com Create! BDS, Israel, Palestine

I'm not trying to win over right-wing racists or "liberal" Zionists who promote ethnocracy in coded language, while fervently advocating against the right of return. It is more effective to build and work with those challenging Stop and Frisk, prisons, racist drug laws, police brutality, drones, US militarism, the expulsion of undocumented people, and the persistent attacks on indigenous communities, whose land and resources continue to stripped away on this continent. I believe in building with those who are firmly anti-oppression and swaying those who may not yet know enough about the situation.

Opponents of Unconstitutional Anti-BDS Bill Make Their Voices Heard

March 7, 2014 Kate S. Alexander, www.gazette.net Organize! BDS, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Palestine

"The bill reacts to a recent boycott of Israeli academic institutions by the American Studies Association — a national organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of American culture and history — as well as a decision by the Department of American Studies at University of Maryland, Baltimore County to maintain its annual membership in the association. At a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee, Sara N. Love, public policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said the ACLU opposes the bill because it is “inimical to democratic principles.” Under a guise of protecting academic freedom, the bill penalizes a particular viewpoint as unacceptable and acts as a censor in an academic controversy, Love said in her testimony. She also said the Supreme Court has found similar actions by governments unconstitutional."

Remi Kanazi On BDS And ‘Hurt Feelings’

March 7, 2014 Alex Shams, www.maannews.net Create! Apartheid, Arts, BDS, Palestine

"This Divestment Bill Hurts My Feelings" is a video collaboration with Palestinian director, animator, and co-founder of Palestinian hip-hop group DAM, Suhel Nafar. The video, based on a poem I wrote, attempts to deconstruct and debunk the spurious arguments against divestment on college campuses. Integrating animation, typography, and motion graphics, we attempted to present a visually stimulating experience, while concretely laying out the case for divestment. Zionist students on campus inspired the title. In an effort to derail divestment resolutions, students would often profess that divestment "hurt their feelings." My hope is that the video educates, pushes people to act, sways people on the fence, and ultimately serves as a resource for those promoting divestment on campus."

9 Brands To Boycott To Hold Israel Accountable

February 20, 2014 Beth Perry, www.policymic.com Resist! BDS, Israel, Middle East, Palestine

"Boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) are big news in 2014. If Scarlett Johansson's Sodastream fiasco didn't grab your attention, perhaps the American Studies Association's boycott of Israeli universities did, or Netanyahu's increasing talk of million-dollar PR campaigns, legal offensives and diplomacy efforts to counter the BDS threat. Opinion pages are filled with debate, John Kerry has warned Israel that it could be facing a delegitimization campaign "on steroids" and voices from all sides are speculating that a boycott movement against Israel could be about to break into the mainstream."

The Last Apartheid State

February 13, 2014 Bill Mullen, www.socialistworker.org Resist! BDS, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, Wars and Militarism

"The American Studies Association (ASA) passed a resolution in mid-December announcing its intention to honor the academic and cultural boycott of Israeli institutions called for by the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The ASA vote helped to catapult discussion of BDS and Israel's denial of rights to Palestinians into the mainstream. On February 3, Students for Justice in Palestine at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., held a forum on "Why the Boycott? Panel on the ASA Decision and Academic Freedom." Bill Mullen is a professor of English and American Studies at Purdue University and member of the ASA's Caucus on Academic and Community Activism, which made the initial motion for the ASA to consider an academic boycott. Here, we print an edited version of his speech."

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