BNC News Compilation – July-September 2012

No more tax deductibles for funding settlements in occupied territory

September 21, 2012 — Following advocacy-work and pressure from Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees (NUMGE), the Norwegian Ministry of Finance announced their decision to exclude the Norwegian organization “Karmel-instituttet” from the list of organizations that the Norwegian public may get tax deductions for providing funds to. The reason behind the decision is that the organization provides financial support to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

 

California’s Largest Student Union Votes to Condemn California Assembly Resolution HR 35, Tells the UC Regents to Stop Profiting from Israeli Human Rights Abuses

BERKELEY, CA, September 17, 2012 — The University of California Student Association, which represents hundreds of thousands of students at all 10 UC campuses, passed a resolution today condemning recent attempts to censure boycott and divestment efforts by Palestinian human rights activists on campus, and demanding that the UC stop profiting from Israel’s human rights violations.  The motion passed without opposition by a vote of 12 to 0 (2 abstensions).

New report exposes South Korea’s complicity with Israeli apartheid

September 7, 2012 — Palestine Peace & Solidarity in South Korea (PPS), a Seoul-based group part of the global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, launched a report denouncing South Korea’s complicity with Israel’s regime of occupation, colonization and apartheid against the Palestinian people. The report details Korea’s ties with Israel at the military, economic, academic and cultural levels. This relationship, the report contends, has contributed to Israel’s impunity and lack of accountability.

In Response to Student and Faculty Concerns, Earlham College’s Dining Services Decides to Stop Selling Sabra Products

Richmond, Indiana, USA, September 5, 2012 — On the 5th of September, Earlham College’s (Richmond, Indiana, USA) dining service agreed to have Sabra Hummus removed from the coffee shop after being informed of the involvement in Israeli human rights violations in Palestine by Strauss Group Ltd., of which Sabra Dipping Company, LLC is a subsidiary. The decision comes after a group of concerned students and faculty approached Earlham’s dining services requesting the removal of the product from the college’s facilities. Strauss Group Ltd. provides financial support and supplies to the Golani and Givati brigades of the Israeli army, which is responsible for enforcing Israel’s illegal, 45-year-old military occupation and colonization of Palestinian lands, and other grave and systematic human rights abuses.

University of the Witwatersrand student council passes boycott resolution

Johannesburg, South Africa, August 29, 2012 — On 27 July 2012, The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) Student Representative Council (SRC) passed a resolution that called for a cultural and academic boycott of Israeli institutions. The resolution was brought forth to the SRC by the Wits Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) and was unanimously adopted by present SRC representatives. The resolution states that the University will “not participate in any form of cultural or academic collaboration or joint projects with Israeli institutions and will not provide support to Israeli cultural or academic institutions”.

Independent Jewish Voices commends United Church for finalizing stand against Israeli occupation

Canada, August 20, 2012 — “Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) congratulates the United Church of Canada for finalizing its decision to boycott goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem,” says Sid Shniad, the group’s spokesperson.

“Facing charges of bias and anti-Semitism for even considering such action, Church members assembled at their triennial national conference went out of their way to make it clear that they were not acting against Israel or Jews, but rather taking a focused stand against Israel’s decades-old occupation of Palestinian territory,” Shniad continued.

“By taking this stand, the Church has joined a growing movement of faith-based organizations, trade unions, and other groups in Canada and around the world that are boycotting Israel’s illegal settlements. They are making it clear that it is not anti-Semitic to criticize Israel. In fact, levying such criticism and taking such action should be seen as a moral imperative. We look forward to working with Church members to move this important human rights work forward,” said Shniad.

IJV spokesperson Rabbi David Mivasair echoed Shniad’s remarks, explaining that “We are grateful to the United Church for taking this careful and principled stand. We endorse its thoughtful recommendations for ethical action to support justice for both Palestinians and Israelis.”

Largest Protestant church in Canada votes for Israeli settlements boycott

Canada, August 16, 2012 — Members of the United Church of Canada, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, voted Wednesday to affirm a controversial motion supporting a boycott of goods produced in Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem.

Wednesday’s vote was preceded by nearly six hours of contentious debate, in which the church’s general council members nitpicked the proposal’s wording and heard drawn-out testimonies from representatives on both sides of the issue.

The motion was one of several recommended by a report released by a church working group last May. Along with calling on church hierarchy to accept a comprehensive boycott, the report named the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory as a major challenge to a two-state solution in the Middle East.

Energy firm ditches occupation profiteer G4S

August 10, 2012 — British firm Good Energy has announced that it will end its business relationship with G4S, the private security giant with a track record of complicity in Israel’s human rights abuses.

Good Energy claims to be committed to high ethical standards but had contracted a G4S company to conduct door-to-door energy meter readings since 2008. G4Sprovides equipment and services to Israeli prisons and checkpoints in the occupied West Bank and has been involved in serious abuses in the UK deportation system and other privatized services that were previously in public ownership.

Amnesty International: EU fails to put human rights at the heart of its relations with Israel

Brussels, July 30, 2012 — This week the EU announced it would strengthen its bilateral relations with Israel by endorsing a package of 60 new areas of cooperation. Amnesty International regrets that this decision has been taken without giving due consideration to the need to seriously address ongoing violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. This move is at odds with both commitments made by the EU in its revised European Neighbourhood Policy and the recently approved Human Rights package.