21 feb 2014
Anadolu news agency quoted economic experts as saying that economic boycott would cost Israel U.S. $ 8 billion, in addition to the dismissal of more than 10 thousand Israeli workers.
The EU, which is considered Israel's second largest market for exports (32% of the export market), has officially started academic, commercial and investment boycott to Israel. European countries have started since the beginning of 2014 banning Israeli settlements' products, according to John Gatt-Rutter, the EU representative to the West Bank.
Three European companies bidding to build private seaports in Haifa and Ashdod dropped out this week of the Israeli government’s tender due to economic boycott. For its part Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, declared its boycott to Israel's Hapoalim Bank.
Gracie Barhoum, specialist in Israeli economy, stated that European boycott to Israel is still individual cases carried out by EU companies and institutions, but it has achieved an important part of its aims, and caused a state of panic within the Israeli government.
Gracie quoted Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid as saying that the boycott campaign could cost the economy nearly $8 billion annually, in addition to the dismissal of more than 10 thousand Israeli workers.
Israeli Export Institute has expressed fears earlier this year of declining GDP and Israeli exports to the EU countries that represent 32% of Israel's export market.
For his part, Antoine Shalhat, a Palestinian political analyst at the Palestinian Center for Israeli Studies, said the Israeli will witness larger declines in gross domestic product and labor market.
According to Gracie and Shalhat, Israeli government will start dismissing Arab workers as a response to EU decision to boycott Israeli exports.
According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 25% of Palestinians living in the OPT are unemployed.
The EU, which is considered Israel's second largest market for exports (32% of the export market), has officially started academic, commercial and investment boycott to Israel. European countries have started since the beginning of 2014 banning Israeli settlements' products, according to John Gatt-Rutter, the EU representative to the West Bank.
Three European companies bidding to build private seaports in Haifa and Ashdod dropped out this week of the Israeli government’s tender due to economic boycott. For its part Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest bank, declared its boycott to Israel's Hapoalim Bank.
Gracie Barhoum, specialist in Israeli economy, stated that European boycott to Israel is still individual cases carried out by EU companies and institutions, but it has achieved an important part of its aims, and caused a state of panic within the Israeli government.
Gracie quoted Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid as saying that the boycott campaign could cost the economy nearly $8 billion annually, in addition to the dismissal of more than 10 thousand Israeli workers.
Israeli Export Institute has expressed fears earlier this year of declining GDP and Israeli exports to the EU countries that represent 32% of Israel's export market.
For his part, Antoine Shalhat, a Palestinian political analyst at the Palestinian Center for Israeli Studies, said the Israeli will witness larger declines in gross domestic product and labor market.
According to Gracie and Shalhat, Israeli government will start dismissing Arab workers as a response to EU decision to boycott Israeli exports.
According to Israel Central Bureau of Statistics, approximately 25% of Palestinians living in the OPT are unemployed.
20 feb 2014
More than 130 Irish academics have signed a pledge to boycott Israeli institutions in the latest move from the international campaign for the academic boycott of Israel.
The 138 signatories, who hail from a diverse variety of academic fields, pledged "not to engage in any professional association with Israeli academic, research and state institutions ... until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights."
The pledge [PDF] was organized by the activist group Academics for Palestine and includes signatories both in the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland, which is controlled by the United Kingdom and has been the site of intermittent national conflict for nearly a century.
The pledge was launched on the occasion of the visit of major Israel and Palestinian supporters of boycott, divestment, and sanctions of Israel to Ireland to launch the group "Academics for Palestine."
"Israeli society has been united in its denial and rejection of international law and UN resolutions on the 1967 occupation. For five decades it had shunned the international community on these and many other issues," Israeli scholar Professor Haim Bresheeth told an audience on Wednesday at Queen's University in Belfast.
He added: "It is time for the international community to shun Israeli society through BDS."
Palestinian academic Ghada Karmi also took park in the event, stressing that BDS does not target individual Israeli citizens but institutions.
"Coming to Ireland, where the term was invented, reminds us that, far from being a form of oppression or bullying, 'boycott' is the weapon of the weak," she said. "Its chief importance lies in its ability to raise public awareness and arouse disapproval."
The move follows a series of successes for the international BDS movement, and in particular the academic boycott. In December, the 5,000-member American Studies Association endorsed the boycott of Israel, following a similar move by the Association for Asian American Studies in April.
Similarly in April, the Teachers' Union of Ireland became the first academic union in Europe to endorse the boycott of Israel, which it referred to as an "apartheid state."
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel was officially launched in 2004 by Palestinian civil society in order to pressure the state of Israel to end its systematic violations of Palestinian human rights, including the right to education.
Activists argue that extensive institutional collaboration between Israeli universities and the Israeli military warrant an international boycott campaign, as part of a broader movement of boycott, divestment, and sanctions targeting the State of Israel in order to end the occupation and its extensive human rights violations.
The 138 signatories, who hail from a diverse variety of academic fields, pledged "not to engage in any professional association with Israeli academic, research and state institutions ... until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights."
The pledge [PDF] was organized by the activist group Academics for Palestine and includes signatories both in the Republic of Ireland as well as Northern Ireland, which is controlled by the United Kingdom and has been the site of intermittent national conflict for nearly a century.
The pledge was launched on the occasion of the visit of major Israel and Palestinian supporters of boycott, divestment, and sanctions of Israel to Ireland to launch the group "Academics for Palestine."
"Israeli society has been united in its denial and rejection of international law and UN resolutions on the 1967 occupation. For five decades it had shunned the international community on these and many other issues," Israeli scholar Professor Haim Bresheeth told an audience on Wednesday at Queen's University in Belfast.
He added: "It is time for the international community to shun Israeli society through BDS."
Palestinian academic Ghada Karmi also took park in the event, stressing that BDS does not target individual Israeli citizens but institutions.
"Coming to Ireland, where the term was invented, reminds us that, far from being a form of oppression or bullying, 'boycott' is the weapon of the weak," she said. "Its chief importance lies in its ability to raise public awareness and arouse disapproval."
The move follows a series of successes for the international BDS movement, and in particular the academic boycott. In December, the 5,000-member American Studies Association endorsed the boycott of Israel, following a similar move by the Association for Asian American Studies in April.
Similarly in April, the Teachers' Union of Ireland became the first academic union in Europe to endorse the boycott of Israel, which it referred to as an "apartheid state."
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel was officially launched in 2004 by Palestinian civil society in order to pressure the state of Israel to end its systematic violations of Palestinian human rights, including the right to education.
Activists argue that extensive institutional collaboration between Israeli universities and the Israeli military warrant an international boycott campaign, as part of a broader movement of boycott, divestment, and sanctions targeting the State of Israel in order to end the occupation and its extensive human rights violations.
19 feb 2014
Photo: Deutsche Bank said Hapoalim does not abide by ethical standards, and that the bank's work in settlements is no different from selling explosives or other acts that violate human rights.
Germany's largest bank, Deutsche Bank (DB), has included the Israeli Hapoalim bank in a blacklist of "unethical companies" reportedly because of its involvement in funding settlement activities in the West Bank.
Middle East Monitor -- Deutsche Bank said that Hapoalim does not abide by ethical standards, and that the bank's work in settlements is no different from selling explosives or other acts that violate human rights, Maariv newspaper reported.
Based on the same classification, DB blacklisted 16 international companies which it pledged not to deal with or invest in. The list includes 13 companies involved in arms and explosives sales. It also includes a mining company and the Japanese Nissan automobile company.
Germany's largest bank, Deutsche Bank (DB), has included the Israeli Hapoalim bank in a blacklist of "unethical companies" reportedly because of its involvement in funding settlement activities in the West Bank.
Middle East Monitor -- Deutsche Bank said that Hapoalim does not abide by ethical standards, and that the bank's work in settlements is no different from selling explosives or other acts that violate human rights, Maariv newspaper reported.
Based on the same classification, DB blacklisted 16 international companies which it pledged not to deal with or invest in. The list includes 13 companies involved in arms and explosives sales. It also includes a mining company and the Japanese Nissan automobile company.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Wednesday, denounced the Israeli prime minister’s campaign of intimidation against companies and organizations which boycott Israeli businesses involved in supporting settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian Territories.
It described the accusing of boycotters as “anti-Semitic” as racist and a demonstration that the Israeli government is determined to proceed with settlement construction, offering the settlers support and incentives and encouraging them to proceed with seizing Palestinian land, WAFA reports.
The ministry applauded the commitment of the European and international organizations and businesses to the boycott of the Israeli settlement products, as well as those involved and investing in settlement construction, which is in compliance with the relevant UN resolutions.
It described the accusing of boycotters as “anti-Semitic” as racist and a demonstration that the Israeli government is determined to proceed with settlement construction, offering the settlers support and incentives and encouraging them to proceed with seizing Palestinian land, WAFA reports.
The ministry applauded the commitment of the European and international organizations and businesses to the boycott of the Israeli settlement products, as well as those involved and investing in settlement construction, which is in compliance with the relevant UN resolutions.
18 feb 2014
Haifa port
Three leading international companies have decided to drop out of an Israeli bidding to build private seaports, due to concerns over political repercussions, and as a result of the increased boycott pressure on Israel, Haaretz has reported.
(PNN/Haaretz) The Israeli government published, last week, an international bid to build new seaports in Haifa and Ashdod. According to Haaretz, several companies submitted a proposal for the bid, but dropped out shortly thereafter.
The newspaper said that the Royal Boskalis Westminster, a Dutch operator of ports has first dropped out from the bidding and was, then, followed by Italy's Condote de Agua and Jan De Nul from Belgium.
Israel Finance Minister Yair Lapid said, in regard to the boycott issue, Monday, that if current peace talks with the Palestinians collapse, it will be "nothing less than devastating" to the welfare of Israeli citizens.
Three leading international companies have decided to drop out of an Israeli bidding to build private seaports, due to concerns over political repercussions, and as a result of the increased boycott pressure on Israel, Haaretz has reported.
(PNN/Haaretz) The Israeli government published, last week, an international bid to build new seaports in Haifa and Ashdod. According to Haaretz, several companies submitted a proposal for the bid, but dropped out shortly thereafter.
The newspaper said that the Royal Boskalis Westminster, a Dutch operator of ports has first dropped out from the bidding and was, then, followed by Italy's Condote de Agua and Jan De Nul from Belgium.
Israel Finance Minister Yair Lapid said, in regard to the boycott issue, Monday, that if current peace talks with the Palestinians collapse, it will be "nothing less than devastating" to the welfare of Israeli citizens.
16 feb 2014
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Israelis heading to Palestinian Authority Headquarters in Ramallah to meet Abbas (Safa Images: February 16, 2014)
Hamas Movement condemned Palestinian President Abbas meeting with dozens of Israelis on Sunday at the headquarters of Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, considering it a form of normalization. Spokesman for the movement Sami Abu Zuhri said in a brief statement that “Abbas’s meeting with Israelis polishes the public image of Israel,” dismissing these meetings which “reflect a serious breakdown in the political positions of Palestinian Authority." |
President Abbas on Sunday met with an Israeli delegation of 270 youths at his the PA headquarters in the West bank central city of Ramallah.
The meeting has attracted popular discontent, while PA security forces prevented journalists from covering a sit-in staged in Ramallah to protest the event.
A Palestinian student body inside the occupied 1948 territories condemned the Abbas’s initiative as a blow to the academic boycott of Israel, Quds News reported.
Student Democratic Assembly said in a statement that “Israel takes advantage of such meetings to whiten its bleak images in front of the world, and to weaken the boycott movement,”
Israel uses such events to signify that a Palestinian-Israeli dialogue is going on and that the world not entitled to boycott Israel.
The statement stressed that this move comes within the futile, unpopular peace process, and provides a cover for Israel's crimes and racist policies, adding that it undermines Palestinian struggle.
The meeting has attracted popular discontent, while PA security forces prevented journalists from covering a sit-in staged in Ramallah to protest the event.
A Palestinian student body inside the occupied 1948 territories condemned the Abbas’s initiative as a blow to the academic boycott of Israel, Quds News reported.
Student Democratic Assembly said in a statement that “Israel takes advantage of such meetings to whiten its bleak images in front of the world, and to weaken the boycott movement,”
Israel uses such events to signify that a Palestinian-Israeli dialogue is going on and that the world not entitled to boycott Israel.
The statement stressed that this move comes within the futile, unpopular peace process, and provides a cover for Israel's crimes and racist policies, adding that it undermines Palestinian struggle.
14 feb 2014
More than 120 Irish academics have signed a pledge to boycott Israeli institutions until Palestinian rights are respected, Academics for Palestine said in a press release Friday.
It added, the number is expected to increase as more lecturers learn about the growing campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel – a campaign led by Palestinians that is gaining global support.
"The conflict in Palestine has now reached its 'South African moment' – the point at which Israeli apartheid has been recognised as such by the international community," Prof Haim Bresheeth, a noted London-based film-maker and academic from Israel, said Friday.
Prof Bresheeth and Dr. Ghada Karmi, a Palestinian doctor of medicine, scholar and lecturer at the University of Exeter, will be in Belfast and Dublin next week to help launch a new Irish campaign to support the academic-boycott pledge, Academics for Palestine declared.
Dr. Karmi emphasised that the boycott does not target Israeli individuals but institutions. Far from being a threat to academic freedom, she said, BDS affirms its importance for Palestinians.
"Israel's well-documented repression of Palestinian academic life and victimisation of Palestinian teachers and students is a scandal to be denounced by all those who claim to care about academic freedom," she said.
Dr. Conor McCarthy, lecturer in English in NUI Maynooth and a long-time campaigner for Palestinian rights, welcomed the initiative.
"The recent endorsement of the boycott campaign by the 5,000-member American Studies Association in the US, along with positive moves by the Modern Language Association and the controversy over Scarlett Johansson, showed that BDS is now very much part of a mainstream international debate," Dr McCarthy said.
Nearly a year ago the Teachers Union of Ireland, which represents lecturers at institutes of technology across the State, became one of the first academic unions in the world to endorse the boycott.
"The TUI's historic decision was the impetus for building a broader academic-boycott campaign in Ireland," AFP chair Jim Roche said today. Roche, who teaches architecture at DIT, was instrumental in securing passage of the TUI motion.
EU-funded research partnerships involving Israeli institutions and worth billions of euro mean that this boycott campaign is not mere posturing: many Irish researchers are involved in such projects, including ones with military/security applications. AFP will be providing detailed information about these partnerships.
"The US, EU and other states have protected Israel and financed its occupation ever since 1967, making it impossible to resolve the conflict through the UN or international diplomatic channels," Prof Bresheeth said. "It puts a special responsibility on international civil society, and BDS is its main tool to resolve the conflict in a just and peaceful way."
The text of the boycott pledge reads:
"In response to the call from Palestinian civil society for an academic boycott of Israel, we pledge not to engage in any professional association with Israeli academic, research and state institutions and with those representing these institutions, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights."
It added, the number is expected to increase as more lecturers learn about the growing campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel – a campaign led by Palestinians that is gaining global support.
"The conflict in Palestine has now reached its 'South African moment' – the point at which Israeli apartheid has been recognised as such by the international community," Prof Haim Bresheeth, a noted London-based film-maker and academic from Israel, said Friday.
Prof Bresheeth and Dr. Ghada Karmi, a Palestinian doctor of medicine, scholar and lecturer at the University of Exeter, will be in Belfast and Dublin next week to help launch a new Irish campaign to support the academic-boycott pledge, Academics for Palestine declared.
Dr. Karmi emphasised that the boycott does not target Israeli individuals but institutions. Far from being a threat to academic freedom, she said, BDS affirms its importance for Palestinians.
"Israel's well-documented repression of Palestinian academic life and victimisation of Palestinian teachers and students is a scandal to be denounced by all those who claim to care about academic freedom," she said.
Dr. Conor McCarthy, lecturer in English in NUI Maynooth and a long-time campaigner for Palestinian rights, welcomed the initiative.
"The recent endorsement of the boycott campaign by the 5,000-member American Studies Association in the US, along with positive moves by the Modern Language Association and the controversy over Scarlett Johansson, showed that BDS is now very much part of a mainstream international debate," Dr McCarthy said.
Nearly a year ago the Teachers Union of Ireland, which represents lecturers at institutes of technology across the State, became one of the first academic unions in the world to endorse the boycott.
"The TUI's historic decision was the impetus for building a broader academic-boycott campaign in Ireland," AFP chair Jim Roche said today. Roche, who teaches architecture at DIT, was instrumental in securing passage of the TUI motion.
EU-funded research partnerships involving Israeli institutions and worth billions of euro mean that this boycott campaign is not mere posturing: many Irish researchers are involved in such projects, including ones with military/security applications. AFP will be providing detailed information about these partnerships.
"The US, EU and other states have protected Israel and financed its occupation ever since 1967, making it impossible to resolve the conflict through the UN or international diplomatic channels," Prof Bresheeth said. "It puts a special responsibility on international civil society, and BDS is its main tool to resolve the conflict in a just and peaceful way."
The text of the boycott pledge reads:
"In response to the call from Palestinian civil society for an academic boycott of Israel, we pledge not to engage in any professional association with Israeli academic, research and state institutions and with those representing these institutions, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights."
12 feb 2014
In a meeting headed by Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu and Israeli senior officials to discuss ways to combat European boycott of Israel, Netanyahu recommended that the EU countries should enact laws prohibiting any future boycott of Israel. Maariv Newspaper reported on Wednesday that the proposal came in light of attitudes of European leaders who declared that their criticism of Israeli policy does not mean accepting boycott.
Rest of the proposals are still under wraps specially after the exclusion of two ministers Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni for their negative attitudes, while other participants refused to disclose the nature of the activities which will be conducted to rebel boycott, according to the Newspaper.
Israeli occupation joined two important international organizations, Geskins forum which works on the development of initiatives and actions in the field of human right, and Pacific Alliance.
By joining the Pacific Alliance, Netanyahu aimed to open the Israeli commercial market with this bloc which has the eighth largest economy in the world.
Israeli Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said, “ when you hear calls for boycott Israel, then you have to know that the reality is far from that.” “ we will continue to strengthen our relations with the international community.”
European Parliament President Martin Schultz, who is in a visit to Israel now, said recently, “ there is no European boycott of Israel” “a boycott is not a solution for anything.”
Rest of the proposals are still under wraps specially after the exclusion of two ministers Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni for their negative attitudes, while other participants refused to disclose the nature of the activities which will be conducted to rebel boycott, according to the Newspaper.
Israeli occupation joined two important international organizations, Geskins forum which works on the development of initiatives and actions in the field of human right, and Pacific Alliance.
By joining the Pacific Alliance, Netanyahu aimed to open the Israeli commercial market with this bloc which has the eighth largest economy in the world.
Israeli Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said, “ when you hear calls for boycott Israel, then you have to know that the reality is far from that.” “ we will continue to strengthen our relations with the international community.”
European Parliament President Martin Schultz, who is in a visit to Israel now, said recently, “ there is no European boycott of Israel” “a boycott is not a solution for anything.”
11 feb 2014
Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) hailed the recommendations issued by South African Parliament in support of Palestinian people, calling for an international Parliamentary lobby to isolate the Israeli entity. Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the PLC First Deputy Speaker, praised the South African Parliament's recommendations in support of Palestinian cause and national reconciliation, and in particular its resolutions to boycott Israeli settlements' products and to facilitate Palestinians' travel to South Africa.
He said that these recommendations prove the Palestinian and South African good relations, and emphasize the justice of the Palestinian cause and legitimate rights.
South Africa's Parliamentary Portfolio Committee had held a "Solidarity Conference in Support of the Peoples of Palestine, Western Sahara and Cuba" on Thursday, 6th February. The conference issued a number of resolutions and recommendations on Palestine:
1. South Africa has a legal obligation under the Rome Statute to set up a special court to deal with war crimes, this needs to be urgently set up. South Africa must expeditiously deal with the "Gaza Docket" and deal with South Africans serving in the Israeli Army.
2. The 2009 Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) report that found Israel guilty of Apartheid should be adopted by South Africa's Parliament and by the South African government. The HSRC report must also be referred to international bodies including the International Parliamentary Union, the International Criminal Court, the United Nations and the African Union.
3. South Africa has a legal obligation and must stop all financial transactions with Israeli settlement companies as well as banks and companies involved in the Israeli settlements. This would be in line with developments in Europe and other countries.
4. On the global arena South Africa must lobby for the financial and other support of the Palestinians for socioeconomic development after the end of the illegal Israeli occupation.
5. The South African government must support Palestinian students, as a concrete act of solidarity, similar to how India, Cuba and other countries supported South Africa during the 1980s.
6. Entrance into South Africa for Palestinians must be made easier.
7. The Palestinian health system must be supported beyond people capacity. Infrastructure in Gaza, West Bank and refugee camps must be supported.
8. Conference supports the Robben Island Declaration for the freedom of Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian Political prisoners.
9. Conference supports the Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) issued by the majority of Palestinians. Complete military, financial and political sanctions must be applied against Israel until it complies with all applicable UN resolutions and international law and ends its occupation.
10. All South African political parties must clearly communicate their stance on the plight of the Palestinian people and make it timorously known in the build-up to 2014 elections.
11. Witness and solidarity visits to Palestine should be encouraged, for example, through the World Council of Churches EAPPI program.
12. South Africa should build and strengthen an international diplomatic block in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
13. The South African government and parliament must campaign for Israel to be suspended from the SWIFT banking network.
14. Palestinian reconciliation efforts must be encouraged and supported.
15. Our government and parliament must table the above at the AU, UN and IPU.
He said that these recommendations prove the Palestinian and South African good relations, and emphasize the justice of the Palestinian cause and legitimate rights.
South Africa's Parliamentary Portfolio Committee had held a "Solidarity Conference in Support of the Peoples of Palestine, Western Sahara and Cuba" on Thursday, 6th February. The conference issued a number of resolutions and recommendations on Palestine:
1. South Africa has a legal obligation under the Rome Statute to set up a special court to deal with war crimes, this needs to be urgently set up. South Africa must expeditiously deal with the "Gaza Docket" and deal with South Africans serving in the Israeli Army.
2. The 2009 Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) report that found Israel guilty of Apartheid should be adopted by South Africa's Parliament and by the South African government. The HSRC report must also be referred to international bodies including the International Parliamentary Union, the International Criminal Court, the United Nations and the African Union.
3. South Africa has a legal obligation and must stop all financial transactions with Israeli settlement companies as well as banks and companies involved in the Israeli settlements. This would be in line with developments in Europe and other countries.
4. On the global arena South Africa must lobby for the financial and other support of the Palestinians for socioeconomic development after the end of the illegal Israeli occupation.
5. The South African government must support Palestinian students, as a concrete act of solidarity, similar to how India, Cuba and other countries supported South Africa during the 1980s.
6. Entrance into South Africa for Palestinians must be made easier.
7. The Palestinian health system must be supported beyond people capacity. Infrastructure in Gaza, West Bank and refugee camps must be supported.
8. Conference supports the Robben Island Declaration for the freedom of Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian Political prisoners.
9. Conference supports the Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) issued by the majority of Palestinians. Complete military, financial and political sanctions must be applied against Israel until it complies with all applicable UN resolutions and international law and ends its occupation.
10. All South African political parties must clearly communicate their stance on the plight of the Palestinian people and make it timorously known in the build-up to 2014 elections.
11. Witness and solidarity visits to Palestine should be encouraged, for example, through the World Council of Churches EAPPI program.
12. South Africa should build and strengthen an international diplomatic block in solidarity with the Palestinian people.
13. The South African government and parliament must campaign for Israel to be suspended from the SWIFT banking network.
14. Palestinian reconciliation efforts must be encouraged and supported.
15. Our government and parliament must table the above at the AU, UN and IPU.
10 feb 2014
International peace activists hold posters in Jerusalem calling for a boycott of Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with three of his top ministers to discuss ways to deal with the threat of economic boycotts against Israel, media reported Monday.
The meeting on Sunday night was attended by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, the reports said.
The meeting comes less than a fortnight after US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Israel was facing a growing campaign of delegitimisation which could worsen if peace talks with the PLO collapsed.
Maariv newspaper noted that Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who echoed Kerry's sentiment in recent remarks, were not invited to Sunday's meeting.
Israeli officials have refused to comment on the reports.
A growing number of governments and international businesses have said they will not trade with Israeli firms with ties to illegal settlements, highlighting the creeping success of a Palestinian-led boycott campaign.
The BDS movement -- boycott, divestment and sanctions -- works to convince governments, businesses and celebrities to cut ties with Israeli companies active in the occupied Palestinian territories, in a bid to repeat the success of the boycott which ended apartheid in South Africa.
In late January, US actress Scarlett Johansson was forced to choose between being an ambassador for Oxfam and taking on a new role as the public face of Israel's SodaStream, which has a factory in the occupied West Bank, after the international aid group said the two roles were "incompatible."
She resigned her position at Oxfam.
On the same day, Norway's sovereign wealth fund blacklisted two Israeli companies involved in construction in annexed East Jerusalem.
Since Jan. 1, the European Union has blocked all grants and funding to Israeli entities operating beyond the pre-1967 war lines, sparking growing alarm in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with three of his top ministers to discuss ways to deal with the threat of economic boycotts against Israel, media reported Monday.
The meeting on Sunday night was attended by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, the reports said.
The meeting comes less than a fortnight after US Secretary of State John Kerry warned that Israel was facing a growing campaign of delegitimisation which could worsen if peace talks with the PLO collapsed.
Maariv newspaper noted that Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid, who echoed Kerry's sentiment in recent remarks, were not invited to Sunday's meeting.
Israeli officials have refused to comment on the reports.
A growing number of governments and international businesses have said they will not trade with Israeli firms with ties to illegal settlements, highlighting the creeping success of a Palestinian-led boycott campaign.
The BDS movement -- boycott, divestment and sanctions -- works to convince governments, businesses and celebrities to cut ties with Israeli companies active in the occupied Palestinian territories, in a bid to repeat the success of the boycott which ended apartheid in South Africa.
In late January, US actress Scarlett Johansson was forced to choose between being an ambassador for Oxfam and taking on a new role as the public face of Israel's SodaStream, which has a factory in the occupied West Bank, after the international aid group said the two roles were "incompatible."
She resigned her position at Oxfam.
On the same day, Norway's sovereign wealth fund blacklisted two Israeli companies involved in construction in annexed East Jerusalem.
Since Jan. 1, the European Union has blocked all grants and funding to Israeli entities operating beyond the pre-1967 war lines, sparking growing alarm in Israel.
Sharif Nashashibi
The pro-Israel camp - and some supporters of the Palestinian cause - are viewing the Scarlett Johansson / SodaStream saga as a defeat for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. I fundamentally disagree.
Yes, the actress refused to bow to pressure to stop being the poster girl for the Israeli company, which has a factory on occupied Palestinian territory. And yes, she stepped down as an ambassador for Oxfam at the end of January because of the charity’s contribution to that pressure.
However, SodaStream shares sank to their lowest level since 2012 following the spat. Much more importantly, the actions and reactions of the company, and to a far greater extent Johansson, unwittingly gave BDS a massive - and free - publicity boost, with weeks of global media coverage that is ongoing.
“The Lost in Translation star has accidentally turned a searchlight on an important issue – whether it is right or lawful to do business with companies that operate in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land – as well as inadvertently sprinkling stardust on the campaign to boycott Israel until it withdraws from the occupied West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem,” the Financial Times wrote in an editorial.
Furthermore, the involvement of a Hollywood star and international sex symbol got the attention of many people who may have been hitherto unfamiliar with BDS, and even the Palestinian cause in general. As such, those of us who have never been particularly impressed by her acting finally have something to thank her for.
Fringe to mainstream
Even if one views the SodaStream affair as a setback, BDS has made great and undeniable strides since its establishment almost a decade ago, modelled along the campaign that was pivotal to ending apartheid in South Africa. Initially mocked and dismissed as fringe fanaticism, it is becoming mainstream, garnering greater support worldwide.
It is causing alarm in Israel, not least because BDS is gaining traction in countries and regions that are key trading partners and allies of Tel Aviv - particularly the United States and Europe - and because the movement is being backed by an increasing number of Jews, such that Israel passed a law in 2011 banning support for boycotts.
BDS “is moving and advancing uniformly and exponentially,” Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said in December. “Those who don’t want to see it will end up feeling it.” Israeli parliament member Ayelet Shaked last month described the campaign as “the greatest threat faced by the country.”
They are both right. BDS is proving to be the most effective means of achieving Palestinian rights and national aspirations in the face of Israel’s intransigence. The movement is succeeding where negotiations, arms, and even other forms of peaceful resistance have failed.
Recent achievements Its achievements are far too long to list, but highlighting just some of those from this year alone shows the impact it is having, particularly impressive given the short period of time:
- Danske Bank, the largest in Denmark, has blacklisted Israel’s Bank Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement construction. Danske Bank had already decided to pull its investments from Africa Israel Investments Ltd and Danya Cebus for the same reason.
- The latter two companies have been excluded from Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, which holds 1% of global equity markets. The Finance Ministry had received a recommendation from the Council of Ethics to exclude the companies “due to contribution to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem.”
- Sweden’s Nordea Bank, the largest in Scandinavia, said it will boycott Israeli banks that operate in the occupied territories.
- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will reportedly investigate British security company G4S for its supply of surveillance equipment at Israeli checkpoints in the occupied territories.
- Dutch pension fund PGGM has withdrawn investments worth tens of millions of euros from five Israeli banks. “Given the day-to-day reality and domestic legal framework they operate in, the banks have limited to no possibilities to end their involvement in the financing of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,” said PGGM.
- Germany, one of Israel’s staunchest allies, is conditioning research support and cooperation on the exclusion of settlements. This “represents a significant escalation in European measures against the settlements,” Agence France Presse reported.
- The boycott of settlement products resulted in the income of Israeli farmers in the Jordan Valley falling by more than 14% last year, the Associated Press reported. “The damage is enormous,” said David Elhayani, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, which represents about 7,000 settlers. “In effect, today, we are almost not selling to the European market anymore.”
Unheeded warnings Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid warned last month that even a partial European boycott would cost the country some $5.7 billion in exports annually, and almost 10,000 jobs. “The Israeli economy will retreat, every Israeli citizen will be hit directly in his pocket, the cost of living will rise, budgets for education, health, welfare and security will be cut, and many international markets will be closed to us,” he said.
Similarly, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said if current peace talks fail (and they almost certainly will), Israel will likely face an international boycott “on steroids.” Predictably, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ignoring internal and external warnings. In so doing, he is supplying and injecting the steroids.
Israel’s traditionally fearsome PR machine is proving increasingly impotent as the country grows more isolated. Justifying the unjustifiable is looking more and more ridiculous and abhorrent to more and more people, companies, institutions and governments.
Given Israel’s vast military superiority, and the diplomatic immunity the United States provides at the U.N. Security Council, BDS is hitting where it hurts: the economy, whose “vulnerability is now greater than the threat of war,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said last month.
“Today, the economy is managed by multinationals... Today, you don’t need a boycott from above, a boycott by countries; it's enough for a certain company to turn up its nose,” Peres added. They are doing just that, often beyond the reach of governments that would rather avoid the issue.
South Africa “didn’t realize until well after the fact the severity of the sanctions against it,” said Lapid. Time will tell whether Israel will do the same. Two things are certain: the price of its occupation, colonization and repression is rising fast; and the scenario predicted by the finance minister can be avoided by granting the Palestinians their inalienable rights.
Instead, announcements of settlement construction continue unabated, and demolition of Palestinian homes is at a five-year high, not to mention a raft of other daily violations. The ball is in Israel’s court, but it can no longer play according to its own rules. Whether its leadership realizes this yet is another matter.
Sharif Nashashibi, a regular contributor to Al Arabiya English, The Middle East magazine and the Guardian, is an award-winning journalist and frequent interviewee on Arab affairs.
This article was originally published on Al Arabiya English
The pro-Israel camp - and some supporters of the Palestinian cause - are viewing the Scarlett Johansson / SodaStream saga as a defeat for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel. I fundamentally disagree.
Yes, the actress refused to bow to pressure to stop being the poster girl for the Israeli company, which has a factory on occupied Palestinian territory. And yes, she stepped down as an ambassador for Oxfam at the end of January because of the charity’s contribution to that pressure.
However, SodaStream shares sank to their lowest level since 2012 following the spat. Much more importantly, the actions and reactions of the company, and to a far greater extent Johansson, unwittingly gave BDS a massive - and free - publicity boost, with weeks of global media coverage that is ongoing.
“The Lost in Translation star has accidentally turned a searchlight on an important issue – whether it is right or lawful to do business with companies that operate in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land – as well as inadvertently sprinkling stardust on the campaign to boycott Israel until it withdraws from the occupied West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem,” the Financial Times wrote in an editorial.
Furthermore, the involvement of a Hollywood star and international sex symbol got the attention of many people who may have been hitherto unfamiliar with BDS, and even the Palestinian cause in general. As such, those of us who have never been particularly impressed by her acting finally have something to thank her for.
Fringe to mainstream
Even if one views the SodaStream affair as a setback, BDS has made great and undeniable strides since its establishment almost a decade ago, modelled along the campaign that was pivotal to ending apartheid in South Africa. Initially mocked and dismissed as fringe fanaticism, it is becoming mainstream, garnering greater support worldwide.
It is causing alarm in Israel, not least because BDS is gaining traction in countries and regions that are key trading partners and allies of Tel Aviv - particularly the United States and Europe - and because the movement is being backed by an increasing number of Jews, such that Israel passed a law in 2011 banning support for boycotts.
BDS “is moving and advancing uniformly and exponentially,” Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said in December. “Those who don’t want to see it will end up feeling it.” Israeli parliament member Ayelet Shaked last month described the campaign as “the greatest threat faced by the country.”
They are both right. BDS is proving to be the most effective means of achieving Palestinian rights and national aspirations in the face of Israel’s intransigence. The movement is succeeding where negotiations, arms, and even other forms of peaceful resistance have failed.
Recent achievements Its achievements are far too long to list, but highlighting just some of those from this year alone shows the impact it is having, particularly impressive given the short period of time:
- Danske Bank, the largest in Denmark, has blacklisted Israel’s Bank Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement construction. Danske Bank had already decided to pull its investments from Africa Israel Investments Ltd and Danya Cebus for the same reason.
- The latter two companies have been excluded from Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, which holds 1% of global equity markets. The Finance Ministry had received a recommendation from the Council of Ethics to exclude the companies “due to contribution to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem.”
- Sweden’s Nordea Bank, the largest in Scandinavia, said it will boycott Israeli banks that operate in the occupied territories.
- The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development will reportedly investigate British security company G4S for its supply of surveillance equipment at Israeli checkpoints in the occupied territories.
- Dutch pension fund PGGM has withdrawn investments worth tens of millions of euros from five Israeli banks. “Given the day-to-day reality and domestic legal framework they operate in, the banks have limited to no possibilities to end their involvement in the financing of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,” said PGGM.
- Germany, one of Israel’s staunchest allies, is conditioning research support and cooperation on the exclusion of settlements. This “represents a significant escalation in European measures against the settlements,” Agence France Presse reported.
- The boycott of settlement products resulted in the income of Israeli farmers in the Jordan Valley falling by more than 14% last year, the Associated Press reported. “The damage is enormous,” said David Elhayani, head of the Jordan Valley Regional Council, which represents about 7,000 settlers. “In effect, today, we are almost not selling to the European market anymore.”
Unheeded warnings Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid warned last month that even a partial European boycott would cost the country some $5.7 billion in exports annually, and almost 10,000 jobs. “The Israeli economy will retreat, every Israeli citizen will be hit directly in his pocket, the cost of living will rise, budgets for education, health, welfare and security will be cut, and many international markets will be closed to us,” he said.
Similarly, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said if current peace talks fail (and they almost certainly will), Israel will likely face an international boycott “on steroids.” Predictably, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ignoring internal and external warnings. In so doing, he is supplying and injecting the steroids.
Israel’s traditionally fearsome PR machine is proving increasingly impotent as the country grows more isolated. Justifying the unjustifiable is looking more and more ridiculous and abhorrent to more and more people, companies, institutions and governments.
Given Israel’s vast military superiority, and the diplomatic immunity the United States provides at the U.N. Security Council, BDS is hitting where it hurts: the economy, whose “vulnerability is now greater than the threat of war,” Israeli President Shimon Peres said last month.
“Today, the economy is managed by multinationals... Today, you don’t need a boycott from above, a boycott by countries; it's enough for a certain company to turn up its nose,” Peres added. They are doing just that, often beyond the reach of governments that would rather avoid the issue.
South Africa “didn’t realize until well after the fact the severity of the sanctions against it,” said Lapid. Time will tell whether Israel will do the same. Two things are certain: the price of its occupation, colonization and repression is rising fast; and the scenario predicted by the finance minister can be avoided by granting the Palestinians their inalienable rights.
Instead, announcements of settlement construction continue unabated, and demolition of Palestinian homes is at a five-year high, not to mention a raft of other daily violations. The ball is in Israel’s court, but it can no longer play according to its own rules. Whether its leadership realizes this yet is another matter.
Sharif Nashashibi, a regular contributor to Al Arabiya English, The Middle East magazine and the Guardian, is an award-winning journalist and frequent interviewee on Arab affairs.
This article was originally published on Al Arabiya English
