BDS Campaign Updates (June - September 2011)
IGLYO moves out of Israel!
29th July 2011 - Palestinian queer groups welcome the decision by
the board of IGLYO to withdraw their annual General Assembly
conference from Tel Aviv, Israel. Since June 1st, a campaign to get
'IGLYO Out of
Israel' was launched by Palestinian Queer Groups to protest the
organization’s decision to hold its General Assembly in Tel Aviv,
and accept funding from the Israeli government, followed by a call
to boycott the conference after IGLYO declined to change its location.
Indian artists boycott show at Tel Aviv art
museum
1st August 2011 - Indian artists, invited by the curators of the
Tel Aviv Museum of Art to participate in an exhibition of work from
India next Spring, have signed a public statement refusing the
invitation in solidarity with the Palestinian-led call for
BDS. In a
statement published on the website for PACBI, the Palestinian Campaign for
the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, the artists said they
“refuse to legitimize the illegal racist and apartheid policies of
the Israeli Government against the people of Palestine and to
become a part of ‘Brand Israel’.
Students outraged by Israel mission
12th August 2011 - South African students have spoken out against
what they call "Israeli apartheid agents" who plan to visit South
African universities in an effort to improve the country's
image.
The delegation of 22 Israeli twenty-somethings from a group called What Is Rael will arrive in South Africa next week. The group will visit universities in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, with a focus on the University of Johannesburg, which earlier this year cut research ties with Ben Gurion University in the Naqab.
But South African student groups, including the South African Union of Students, the South African Student Congress and the Young Communist League of South Africa, are unhappy about their arrival, claiming that they are coming to "deceive" South African students about the situation in Israel.
"Don't patronize us," reads a statement issued by the groups. "We lived apartheid, we suffered apartheid, we know what apartheid is, we recognise apartheid when we see it. And when we see Israel, we see a regime that practices apartheid. Israel's image needs no changing, its policies do. We urge Israeli students to instead join the growing and inspiring internal resistance to their regime, particularly the boycott-from-within movement, rather than waste time and money on these propaganda trips."
Tuba Skinny cancels show at jazz festival in
Israel
20th August 2011 - Tuba Skinny, a traditional jazz and blues band
from New Orleans, planned to perform at the Red Sea Jazz Festival
in Eilat,
Israel on 21 August. The international campaign “Don’t Play
Apartheid Israel,” and the Israeli group “Boycott From Within”
approached Tuba Skinny with the request to honor
PACBI’s
call for a cultural boycott of Israel. One week before the show,
Tuba Skinny received an open letter with information about the
cultural boycott of Israel and decided to adhere to the
boycott.
Community radio broadcasters pass BDS motion across
Canada
24th August 2011 - Independent and community media makers in Canada
have passed a groundbreaking national motion to join the
Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment and sanctions
(BDS) against
Israel. This past June, the National Campus and Community Radio
Association of Canada (NCRA) - an umbrella organization representing more than
80 radio stations across Canada - adopted the motion at its annual
meeting. “In doing so, the NCRA is proudly the first national media
organization in Canada to join the global movement for
BDS” stated a
press release from the NCRA posted to the BDS movement website.
Swedish chain kicks out drink machines made in Israeli
settlements
29th August 2011 - in Sweden, the Israeli maker of home carbonation
devices, Sodastream, took a direct hit when the Coop supermarket
chain announced on 19 July that it would stop all purchases of its
products due to the company’s activity in illegal Israeli
settlements. This marked another important victory for the
BDS movement,
as Sweden is Sodastream’s largest market, with an estimated one in
five households owning a Sodastream product.
London Protesters Disrupt Israeli Orchestra’s
Concert
2nd September 2011 – The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, marking its
75th anniversary, was repeatedly disrupted during its concert at
the Royal Albert Hall in London on Thursday night by
pro-Palestinian demonstrators, to the point that the BBC cut off
its live broadcast and played recordings of the evening’s program
instead.
Palestinian civil society welcomes Turkey’s Decision to Suspend
All Military Ties with Israel and Lower Diplomatic Relations
7th September 2011 - The Turkish foreign minister
Ahmet
Davutoglu announced that the Turkish government would
downgrade its diplomatic relations and suspend all military
relations with Israel. Davutoglu gave September 7th as the
deadline for Israel to withdraw all diplomatic personnel above the
second-secretary level. The move was welcomed by the BNC.
MRTI recommends PC(USA) divestment of three
companies
12th September 2011 - After seven years of apparently futile
corporate engagement with Caterpillar over its business practices
in Israel/Palestine, the Mission Responsibility Through Investment
committee is recommending that the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) add
the company to its divestment list. MRTI is also recommending that the
220th
General Assembly (2012) add Motorola Solutions and Hewlett-Packard
to the list.
Palestinian civil society welcomes Agrexco liquidation, calls for
celebration of this BDS victory
12th September 2011 - Campaigners for Palestinian rights are
celebrating after the primary Israeli agricultural produce export
company Agrexco, a key BDS target, has been ordered into
liquidation after being unable to pay its creditors.
Agrexco is
a partially state-owned Israeli exporter responsible for the export
of a large proportion of fresh Israeli produce, including 60-70% of
the agricultural produce grown in Israel’s illegal settlements in
Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). The victory came after a
coordinated transnational campaign from activists across
Europe.
'Queer Lisboa' drops Israeli sponsorship following boycott
campaign
12 September 2011 - Portugal - 'Queer Lisboa', Lisbon's gay and lesbian
film festival, dropped its long-standing sponsorship from the
Israeli Embassy following a sustained campaign by activists
advocating for the boycott of Israel until it abides by its
obligations under international law and respects Palestinian human
rights. The Israeli embassy has sponsored the festival for the past
many years as part of its "Brand Israel" campaign launched in 2005,
which aims to divert attention from Israel's violations of
international law and Palestinian rights to its artistic and
scientific achievements.
The Trade Union Congress passes policy Renewing
Commitment to Implement BDS Campaigns and Urging Unions to Review Relations
with the Histadrut
15th September 2011 – The Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for
BDS
(PTUC-BDS), the broadest and most representative
alliance of Palestinian trade and professional unions, salutes the
Trades Union Congress (TUC), representing 6.5 million workers in the UK, for
their most recent policy in support of Palestinian human rights.
The TUC voted
overwhelmingly to “work closely with the Palestine Solidarity
Campaign to actively encourage affiliates, employers and pension
funds to disinvest from, and boycott the goods of, companies who
profit from illegal settlements, the Occupation and the
construction of the Wall”. Importantly, TUC also called on “all unions on the
basis of this policy to review their bi-lateral relations with all
Israeli organisations, including Histadrut”.
French Court ruling affirms legality of
BDS
campaign
17th September 2011 - The tribunal of the 17th magistrate’s court
of the Paris law courts has given a most important and clear ruling
on the right of citizens and consumers to call for a boycott of
Israel and its products. The ruling concluded that the call for the
boycott of the products of a State by a citizen is not forbidden
under French law and that criticism of a State or its policies
cannot be regarded, in principle, as infringing the rights or
dignity of its nationals.
PACBI Salutes Iain EWOK Robinson's Principled
Stance
17th September 2011 - The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and
Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes the South African hip hop
performer Iain EWOK Robinson, for his recent decision to cancel his
participation in the Hilton Arts Festival. In his letter to the
festival organizers, Iain EWOK Robinson noted that “As a signatory
of the South African Artists Against Apartheid declaration
(www.southafricanartistsagainstapartheid.com), in
support of the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions of the Apartheid Israeli Government, I cannot in good
conscience willingly participate in any event that enjoys the
support and patronage of the Israeli Government in any form. I
believe that this is an endorsement of the criminal acts of
oppression and human rights abuses consistently perpetrated by this
entity against the Palestinian people.’
Ahava finally closes its doors in London
27th September 2011 - Cosmetics company Ahava has finally closed its
controversial Covent Garden store this week. Manager
Odelia
Haroush
said that the company has no plans to move elsewhere in the city,
at least for the foreseeable future. Demonstrations by
pro-Palestinian activists have dogged the store for years.
Protesters claim the products sold in the store are manufactured in
a factory in Mitzpe Shalom, an Israeli settlement.
International star Natacha Atlas announces Israel
boycott
29th September 2011 - International singer and songwriter
Natacha
Atlas has announced publicly that she is canceling a planned
concert in Israel and will boycott the country “until this
systemised apartheid is abolished once and for
all.”
Academics sign Call for a Swedish academic boycott of
Israel
2nd October 2011 – 218 Swedish academics have signed a public
letter calling on universities not to participate in research or
any other type of cooperation with Israeli academic institutions.
The Swedish government should act for the cessation of EU’s
research support to Israel, which will inevitably strengthen the
continued occupation of Palestine. This is what 218 Swedish persons
demand in a Call for academic boycott of Israel. Twelve of the
signatories are professors, while 14 are associate professors, 23
senior lecturers or researchers and 70 are students.