27 may 2014
A view of Ramallah
Amnesty International has urged the Palestinian Authority to drop charges filed against four BDS activists detained since April.
According to Ma'an News Agency, PA security officers and men in civilian clothes attacked and arrested Zaid Shuaibi, Fajer Harb, Fadi Quran, and Abed al-Fatah Hamayel during a peaceful protest in Ramallah's al-Qasaba Theatre on April 12.
Zaid Shuaibi told Amnesty International that he and fellow activists entered the theater in protest of a show by a dance group which had performed in Israel on the 11th.
Prior to the show, Shuaibi stood up and explained to performers and attendees the nature of their protest, only to be surrounded, soon after, by men in civilian clothes who demanded he leave the venue.
Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch also condemned the mistreatment and prosecution of the men who have come to be known as the "BDS Four", according to the Electronic Intifada (EI):
"Multiple witnesses gave consistent accounts of the police using unnecessary and disproportionate force against two men who were involved in the peaceful protest at a theater in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and two other men and a woman who tried to help them," Human Rights Watch said. "Police detained the four men overnight, and they were charged the next day with ‘disturbing the peace’ and ‘provoking a riot.’"
Amnesty’s statement, which further details the circumstances of the violent arrest, is called on by EI to be seen in light of Abbas’ recent decision to sign the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights among other international human rights treaties.
The full statement can be read at the Electronic Intifada's official site.
Amnesty International has urged the Palestinian Authority to drop charges filed against four BDS activists detained since April.
According to Ma'an News Agency, PA security officers and men in civilian clothes attacked and arrested Zaid Shuaibi, Fajer Harb, Fadi Quran, and Abed al-Fatah Hamayel during a peaceful protest in Ramallah's al-Qasaba Theatre on April 12.
Zaid Shuaibi told Amnesty International that he and fellow activists entered the theater in protest of a show by a dance group which had performed in Israel on the 11th.
Prior to the show, Shuaibi stood up and explained to performers and attendees the nature of their protest, only to be surrounded, soon after, by men in civilian clothes who demanded he leave the venue.
Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch also condemned the mistreatment and prosecution of the men who have come to be known as the "BDS Four", according to the Electronic Intifada (EI):
"Multiple witnesses gave consistent accounts of the police using unnecessary and disproportionate force against two men who were involved in the peaceful protest at a theater in the West Bank city of Ramallah, and two other men and a woman who tried to help them," Human Rights Watch said. "Police detained the four men overnight, and they were charged the next day with ‘disturbing the peace’ and ‘provoking a riot.’"
Amnesty’s statement, which further details the circumstances of the violent arrest, is called on by EI to be seen in light of Abbas’ recent decision to sign the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights among other international human rights treaties.
The full statement can be read at the Electronic Intifada's official site.
24 may 2014
Supporters of the DePaul Divest campaign dropped the Palestinian flag in the Arts and Letters building Wednesday, May 21.
Hats off to the students of DePaul University in Chicago, USA.
According to the university students’ newspaper, Depaulia, a majority of students approved in a referendum a resolution calling for divestment from Israel.
Students voted in favour of an SGA [Student Government Association] referendum calling on DePaul to withdraw its investments in companies that do business with Israel’s military and corporations that work in the West Bank and Gaza, easily passing by 54.2 per cent. A total of 2,908 votes were cast, with 45.8 per cent against the referendum.
The vote, dubbed “DePaul Divest”, followed weeks of campaigning by the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and counter demonstrations by several campus Jewish groups opposed to the measure.
According to the Electronic Intifada news website,
The question approved by students calls on the university to divest its funds from “corporations that manufacture weapons and provide surveillance technology to the Israeli government, army and prison services,” including Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Caterpillar.
These companies, the question states, “profit from Israel’s violation of the human rights of Palestinians and minorities within Israel” and help “violate people’s rights to life, movement, healthcare, education and freedom.”
“It is clear that Palestinian human rights, the rights of minorities within Israel and ethical investment are issues that concern the DePaul student body,” DePaul Divest, the student coalition supporting the initiative, state in a press release sent to The Electronic Intifada.
“This victory did not come without immense outside interference by pro-Israel lobbyist group StandWithUs, whose paid staff frequently presented themselves as individuals affiliated with DePaul University, canvassed the student body in a counter campaign to DePaul Divest,” the release states.
“Scare tactics were used to deter the student body from voting to affirm the human rights of Palestinians, but our victory today is evidence that this was not enough to stop DePaul students from standing on the side of justice,” campaign organizer and DePaul Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) member Areej Hamdan is quoted as saying in the release.
The noose is tightening on the world’s only surviving apartheid state.
That is clear to anyone who cares to look.
Hats off to the students of DePaul University in Chicago, USA.
According to the university students’ newspaper, Depaulia, a majority of students approved in a referendum a resolution calling for divestment from Israel.
Students voted in favour of an SGA [Student Government Association] referendum calling on DePaul to withdraw its investments in companies that do business with Israel’s military and corporations that work in the West Bank and Gaza, easily passing by 54.2 per cent. A total of 2,908 votes were cast, with 45.8 per cent against the referendum.
The vote, dubbed “DePaul Divest”, followed weeks of campaigning by the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and counter demonstrations by several campus Jewish groups opposed to the measure.
According to the Electronic Intifada news website,
The question approved by students calls on the university to divest its funds from “corporations that manufacture weapons and provide surveillance technology to the Israeli government, army and prison services,” including Hewlett-Packard, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Caterpillar.
These companies, the question states, “profit from Israel’s violation of the human rights of Palestinians and minorities within Israel” and help “violate people’s rights to life, movement, healthcare, education and freedom.”
“It is clear that Palestinian human rights, the rights of minorities within Israel and ethical investment are issues that concern the DePaul student body,” DePaul Divest, the student coalition supporting the initiative, state in a press release sent to The Electronic Intifada.
“This victory did not come without immense outside interference by pro-Israel lobbyist group StandWithUs, whose paid staff frequently presented themselves as individuals affiliated with DePaul University, canvassed the student body in a counter campaign to DePaul Divest,” the release states.
“Scare tactics were used to deter the student body from voting to affirm the human rights of Palestinians, but our victory today is evidence that this was not enough to stop DePaul students from standing on the side of justice,” campaign organizer and DePaul Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) member Areej Hamdan is quoted as saying in the release.
The noose is tightening on the world’s only surviving apartheid state.
That is clear to anyone who cares to look.
22 may 2014
The European Union has banned the import of poultry and eggs from Jewish squatter colonies in the occupied West Bank, including annexed East Jerusalem, the Gulf News website reported, citing the Israeli news website Walla.
An EU official in Tel Aviv confirmed the report and said the ruling was issued “in the spirit” of guidelines that came into force in January prohibiting dealings with firms and bodies based in Jewish squatter colonies.
The colonies are illegal under international law and their continued expansion in the face of EU and US criticism was a prime factor in the collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
An EU official in Tel Aviv confirmed the report and said the ruling was issued “in the spirit” of guidelines that came into force in January prohibiting dealings with firms and bodies based in Jewish squatter colonies.
The colonies are illegal under international law and their continued expansion in the face of EU and US criticism was a prime factor in the collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
20 may 2014
There’s been another setback for the apartheid state of Israel, this time in Britain.
The Black Students Campaign (BSC), which represents over one million Asian, Caribbean, African and other ethnic minority students, has voted by an overwhelming majority in favour of a motion (see appendix below) calling for the boycott of, divestment from and sanctions against Israel.
The BSC is a self-governing sub-section of the National Union of Students, which represents the majority of student unions in Britain.
The motion, No. 403, commits the BSC to lobby for an “academic boycott of Israeli universities”, to “support the annual Israeli Apartheid Week initiative”, and advocates for divestment from “key BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] target companies, including G4S, Veolia and Eden Springs”.
It also describes “Israeli expansion on Palestinian land” as “a settler-colonial project, predicated on the ethnic cleansing and expulsion of its indigenous people”.
Mindful of Israel’s persecution of its Palestinian citizens, its occupation of Palestinian lands and its history of aggression against its neighbours – in 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, 2006, 2008 and 2012, among others – the motion slams the “ongoing 66-year long occupation of Palestine, Israel’s multitude of human rights and international law violations, its flagrancy and unaccountability to the international community”.
Slowly but surely, the world is waking up to the longest-running lie that is Israel.
We salute the Black Students Campaign for its principled stand on the side of justice.
Appendix Motion 402: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [PDF] Submitted by Bradford Students’ Union
Speech for: waived to Kings College London
Speech Against: Free
Summation: waived to Sheffield University Students’ Union
Conference believes:
The Black Students Campaign (BSC), which represents over one million Asian, Caribbean, African and other ethnic minority students, has voted by an overwhelming majority in favour of a motion (see appendix below) calling for the boycott of, divestment from and sanctions against Israel.
The BSC is a self-governing sub-section of the National Union of Students, which represents the majority of student unions in Britain.
The motion, No. 403, commits the BSC to lobby for an “academic boycott of Israeli universities”, to “support the annual Israeli Apartheid Week initiative”, and advocates for divestment from “key BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] target companies, including G4S, Veolia and Eden Springs”.
It also describes “Israeli expansion on Palestinian land” as “a settler-colonial project, predicated on the ethnic cleansing and expulsion of its indigenous people”.
Mindful of Israel’s persecution of its Palestinian citizens, its occupation of Palestinian lands and its history of aggression against its neighbours – in 1956, 1967, 1978, 1982, 2006, 2008 and 2012, among others – the motion slams the “ongoing 66-year long occupation of Palestine, Israel’s multitude of human rights and international law violations, its flagrancy and unaccountability to the international community”.
Slowly but surely, the world is waking up to the longest-running lie that is Israel.
We salute the Black Students Campaign for its principled stand on the side of justice.
Appendix Motion 402: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [PDF] Submitted by Bradford Students’ Union
Speech for: waived to Kings College London
Speech Against: Free
Summation: waived to Sheffield University Students’ Union
Conference believes:
- The ongoing 66-year long occupation of Palestine, Israel’s multitude of human rights and international law violations, its flagrancy and unaccountability to the international community.
- The Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS) campaign called for by Palestinian civil society in 2005 to pressure Israel into complying with international law.
- The repression used against BDS campaigners both in the UK and abroad, including the recent suspension of students at Witwatersrand University, South Africa for protesting a concert recital on campus.
- The numerous BDS successes on campuses this past year, including those against G4S at Southampton, King’s College, Birmingham and Kent University.
- The racism directed against Africans and African migrants and refugees within Israel, including internment- without-trial of asylum seekers and anti-African riots.
- Israeli expansion on Palestinian land to be a settler-colonial project, predicated on the ethnic cleansing and expulsion of its indigenous people.
- That racism is systemic within Israeli state policy, with anti-Arab, anti-African and anti-migrant discrimination.
- The success in dismantling South African apartheid was due in part to international pressure and sanctions against that regime.
- That international solidarity from students is a crucial part of the Palestine liberation struggle.
- That international solidarity should be conducted on the terms set by the Palestinian people, as per the BDS campaign.
- That the three aims of the BDS campaign are the necessary preconditions for any true peace in the Middle East.
- That the Israeli government is feeling the pressure from international BDS.
- That all other methods of pressuring Israel and the ending the occupation have failed.
- To continue the Campaign’s long-standing commitment to the Palestinian cause and anti-colonialism.
- To support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns initiated by students.
- To lobby Institutions and Unions to divest from key BDS target companies, including G4S, Veolia and Eden Springs.
- To work with BRICUP and lobby institutions to adopt academic boycott of Israeli universities.
- To disseminate resources and materials on how to run successful BDS campaigns.
- To support the annual Israeli Apartheid Week initiative.
16 may 2014
A group of Palestinian and international NGOs have urged a Belgian firm to pull out of a project to build port facilities in Israel, citing concerns about Israel's continued human rights violations.
On Wednesday, the Palestinian BDS National Committee published an open letter on its website urging the Belgian Jan De Nul Group to reconsider involvement in a project to build new port facilities in Haifa and Ashdod.
According to the group, two other unnamed European firms are already believed to have pulled out of the bidding due to boycott pressure fears.
The open letter stated that "by constructing and operating ports that facilitate the movement of produce from illegal Israeli settlements and weaponry used in Israeli massacres, the Jan De Nul Group would be be making a political decision to become deeply complicit with Israel's violations of international law and Israel’s oppression of Palestinian rights."
"As such, the Jan De Nul Group would become a legitimate target for popular boycotts, protests and campaigns aimed at persuading governments and private sector bodies not to award your business lucrative contracts."
The letter urged the Jan De Nul Group to abandon its plans to operate port facilities in Israel, saying that the project would "enable Israel to continue to violate international law with impunity."
The letter was signed by the following NGOs:
Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, Palestine
Kuwait Democratic Forum, Kuwait
Women Cultural Social & Society, Kuwait
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Kuwait, Kuwait
Freedom Now Association, Morocco
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Morocco, Morocco
Union nationale des ingenieurs Unim (National Union of Moroccan Engineers), Morocco
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights, Morocco
Solidarité Maroc Palestine, Morocco
Algemene Centrale van het ABVV, Belgium
Intal, Belgium
Vredesactie, Belgium
Palestina Solidariteit vzw, Belgium
Nordine Saïdi pour le Mouvement Citoyen Palestine, BelgiumLe Comité Verviers Palestine, Belgium
Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche Orient, Luxembourg
On Wednesday, the Palestinian BDS National Committee published an open letter on its website urging the Belgian Jan De Nul Group to reconsider involvement in a project to build new port facilities in Haifa and Ashdod.
According to the group, two other unnamed European firms are already believed to have pulled out of the bidding due to boycott pressure fears.
The open letter stated that "by constructing and operating ports that facilitate the movement of produce from illegal Israeli settlements and weaponry used in Israeli massacres, the Jan De Nul Group would be be making a political decision to become deeply complicit with Israel's violations of international law and Israel’s oppression of Palestinian rights."
"As such, the Jan De Nul Group would become a legitimate target for popular boycotts, protests and campaigns aimed at persuading governments and private sector bodies not to award your business lucrative contracts."
The letter urged the Jan De Nul Group to abandon its plans to operate port facilities in Israel, saying that the project would "enable Israel to continue to violate international law with impunity."
The letter was signed by the following NGOs:
Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee, Palestine
Kuwait Democratic Forum, Kuwait
Women Cultural Social & Society, Kuwait
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Kuwait, Kuwait
Freedom Now Association, Morocco
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Morocco, Morocco
Union nationale des ingenieurs Unim (National Union of Moroccan Engineers), Morocco
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights, Morocco
Solidarité Maroc Palestine, Morocco
Algemene Centrale van het ABVV, Belgium
Intal, Belgium
Vredesactie, Belgium
Palestina Solidariteit vzw, Belgium
Nordine Saïdi pour le Mouvement Citoyen Palestine, BelgiumLe Comité Verviers Palestine, Belgium
Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche Orient, Luxembourg
14 may 2014
Danny Glover and other actors featured in a US documentary on a prominent social justice activist protested the film's screening at a Tel Aviv festival this week, announcing their support for the cultural boycott of Israel.
In a statement released on Monday, the group said they "stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and support their call for cultural and academic boycott of Israel" and were "shocked to find the film slated to be screened" at an Israeli festival.
"We immediately took action to have the film withdrawn from the festival," the statement added, but highlighted that festival organizers say it was not "possible" to change the schedule that they would "move forward with the screening, over our objections."
The film "American Revolutionary: the Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs," is scheduled to be shown in Tel Aviv at DocAviv, a festival dedicated to documentary film which runs through May 17 and purports to be the largest film festival in Israel.
The group, however, stressed their support for the Palestinian call for Academic and Cultural Boycott, which was launched in 2004 as part of the global campaign to boycott, sanction, and divest from the state of Israel in order to pressure it to end its long-standing occupation of the Palestinian territories and history of human rights abuses against Palestinians.
Grace Lee Boggs, the subject of the documentary film, also added her name to the statement supporting the cultural boycott.
As a long-time advocate of social and racial justice in the United States, the statement highlighted that she said that screening the film in Israel "is in direct contradiction to her legacy and ongoing work as a revolutionary."
"We will pursue opportunities for this film and the ideas within it to be made available in Palestine in a way that supports the movement," the statement added.
The campaign has scored a number of notable successes in recent years, with leading US academic and cultural figures coming out in support despite widespread pro-Israel sentiment in North America.
Supporters of the boycott believe that after decades of occupation and ethnic cleansing, international pressure is one of the few ways left to force Israel to respect Palestinian rights.
In a statement released on Monday, the group said they "stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and support their call for cultural and academic boycott of Israel" and were "shocked to find the film slated to be screened" at an Israeli festival.
"We immediately took action to have the film withdrawn from the festival," the statement added, but highlighted that festival organizers say it was not "possible" to change the schedule that they would "move forward with the screening, over our objections."
The film "American Revolutionary: the Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs," is scheduled to be shown in Tel Aviv at DocAviv, a festival dedicated to documentary film which runs through May 17 and purports to be the largest film festival in Israel.
The group, however, stressed their support for the Palestinian call for Academic and Cultural Boycott, which was launched in 2004 as part of the global campaign to boycott, sanction, and divest from the state of Israel in order to pressure it to end its long-standing occupation of the Palestinian territories and history of human rights abuses against Palestinians.
Grace Lee Boggs, the subject of the documentary film, also added her name to the statement supporting the cultural boycott.
As a long-time advocate of social and racial justice in the United States, the statement highlighted that she said that screening the film in Israel "is in direct contradiction to her legacy and ongoing work as a revolutionary."
"We will pursue opportunities for this film and the ideas within it to be made available in Palestine in a way that supports the movement," the statement added.
The campaign has scored a number of notable successes in recent years, with leading US academic and cultural figures coming out in support despite widespread pro-Israel sentiment in North America.
Supporters of the boycott believe that after decades of occupation and ethnic cleansing, international pressure is one of the few ways left to force Israel to respect Palestinian rights.
10 may 2014
A UN official on Friday called for solidarity with Palestinians though boycott and divestment from companies that benefit from settlements.
In a report published in Arabic on the UN's website, Richard Falk, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, urged organizations and companies around the world to join the "increasingly international solidarity movement against Israeli occupation."
"Now is the best opportunity for the Palestinians to achieve self-determination through pressures at the grassroots level" and "nonviolent resistance," Falk said.
He expressed disappointment over Israel's continued settlement expansion throughout the US-brokered peace negotiations that lasted from July 2013 to April 2014.
"The last round of talks created false hopes once again and fed frustration," Falk said in the report, which was not translated into English.
Additionally, the official warned UN member states against complicity in Israeli human rights violations in occupied Palestine.
Falk, a Princeton University international law professor who has labelled Israel's 2008 offensive against Gaza as "war crimes" has been met with harsh US and Israeli criticism for supporting the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, especially targeting Israel's settlement enterprise.
Hamas praises UN Special Rapporteur Falk's statements
Hamas movement has praised United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk for his statements that called for boycotting Israel. Falk has called for supporting the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel and popular pressure on it so as to stop its violations against the Palestinian people.
Spokesman for Hamas movement, Fawzi Barhoum, said in a statement on Saturday that such positions help to expose Israeli continued crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.
Barhoum described as blatant intervention in internal Palestinian affairs the demand by U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas that any future Palestinian government should recognize Israel.
Rice's statements prove US biased policy in favor of Israel, he said.
He added that Rice's visit to the region came to undermine the national reconciliation efforts, calling for accelerating the implementation of the reconciliation agreement to meet the Palestinian people's aspirations regardless of external interventions or challenges.
In a report published in Arabic on the UN's website, Richard Falk, special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, urged organizations and companies around the world to join the "increasingly international solidarity movement against Israeli occupation."
"Now is the best opportunity for the Palestinians to achieve self-determination through pressures at the grassroots level" and "nonviolent resistance," Falk said.
He expressed disappointment over Israel's continued settlement expansion throughout the US-brokered peace negotiations that lasted from July 2013 to April 2014.
"The last round of talks created false hopes once again and fed frustration," Falk said in the report, which was not translated into English.
Additionally, the official warned UN member states against complicity in Israeli human rights violations in occupied Palestine.
Falk, a Princeton University international law professor who has labelled Israel's 2008 offensive against Gaza as "war crimes" has been met with harsh US and Israeli criticism for supporting the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, especially targeting Israel's settlement enterprise.
Hamas praises UN Special Rapporteur Falk's statements
Hamas movement has praised United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Palestinian territories Richard Falk for his statements that called for boycotting Israel. Falk has called for supporting the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel and popular pressure on it so as to stop its violations against the Palestinian people.
Spokesman for Hamas movement, Fawzi Barhoum, said in a statement on Saturday that such positions help to expose Israeli continued crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.
Barhoum described as blatant intervention in internal Palestinian affairs the demand by U.S. national security adviser Susan Rice to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas that any future Palestinian government should recognize Israel.
Rice's statements prove US biased policy in favor of Israel, he said.
He added that Rice's visit to the region came to undermine the national reconciliation efforts, calling for accelerating the implementation of the reconciliation agreement to meet the Palestinian people's aspirations regardless of external interventions or challenges.
30 apr 2014
Map of divestment actions at universities
Four universities in California held lengthy sessions over the past week as their student senates considered divesting from companies involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, while students at the University of South Florida submitted the largest petition in the university’s history calling on the university to divest.
The University of California (UC) Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and San Diego State held simultaneous student senate sessions last Wednesday to consider resolutions to divest. The sessions lasted into the night, and the votes were close at all three schools. UC Riverside voted in favor of divestment, while the other two schools voted down the resolution, in very close votes.
When the vote was announced at UC Riverside that the divestment resolution had passed, the room erupted in cheers. Students supporting the resolution were holding signs reading “Don’t make me fund the oppression of my family” and “Divest Now”.
A similar resolution was considered on Tuesday night April 29th at UC Davis, where it failed by one vote.
In Florida, students organizing a divestment petition said they drew inspiration from the words of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. engraved on the center of the campus, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” They submitted a petition of more than 10,000 signatures calling on the University of South Florida Foundation to divest from companies complicit in human rights violations in Palestine.
The students’ petition listed three direct demands: transparency, ethical investment, and divestment. “We support SJP’s petition to make USF a [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] school,” said Gage Lacharite, president of Students for a Democratic Society. “Boycotts have historically been used in movements against oppression, such as the UFW strikes of the 70′s and the anti-South African apartheid movements of the 80′s. The occupation of Palestine by Israel is a criminal act that must be stopped.”
Loyola University in Chicago also passed a divestment resolution this year as well, but the implementation of the resolution was impeded by a veto from the university’s student president.
The companies targeted by the campus divestment campaign include Caterpillar, General Electric, Motorola and Hewlett Packard. These companies are all contracted with the Israeli military to supply weapons and other supplies used in the military occupation of Palestine.
Four universities in California held lengthy sessions over the past week as their student senates considered divesting from companies involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, while students at the University of South Florida submitted the largest petition in the university’s history calling on the university to divest.
The University of California (UC) Santa Barbara, UC Riverside and San Diego State held simultaneous student senate sessions last Wednesday to consider resolutions to divest. The sessions lasted into the night, and the votes were close at all three schools. UC Riverside voted in favor of divestment, while the other two schools voted down the resolution, in very close votes.
When the vote was announced at UC Riverside that the divestment resolution had passed, the room erupted in cheers. Students supporting the resolution were holding signs reading “Don’t make me fund the oppression of my family” and “Divest Now”.
A similar resolution was considered on Tuesday night April 29th at UC Davis, where it failed by one vote.
In Florida, students organizing a divestment petition said they drew inspiration from the words of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. engraved on the center of the campus, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” They submitted a petition of more than 10,000 signatures calling on the University of South Florida Foundation to divest from companies complicit in human rights violations in Palestine.
The students’ petition listed three direct demands: transparency, ethical investment, and divestment. “We support SJP’s petition to make USF a [Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions] school,” said Gage Lacharite, president of Students for a Democratic Society. “Boycotts have historically been used in movements against oppression, such as the UFW strikes of the 70′s and the anti-South African apartheid movements of the 80′s. The occupation of Palestine by Israel is a criminal act that must be stopped.”
Loyola University in Chicago also passed a divestment resolution this year as well, but the implementation of the resolution was impeded by a veto from the university’s student president.
The companies targeted by the campus divestment campaign include Caterpillar, General Electric, Motorola and Hewlett Packard. These companies are all contracted with the Israeli military to supply weapons and other supplies used in the military occupation of Palestine.
26 apr 2014
Benjamin Netanyahu with French MP Meyer
New French prime minister “eternally tied” to Israel
The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported, on Wednesday, that the French government has halted the transfer of donations worth €3,000 to an Israeli association operating in the Gilo settlement, in occupied Jerusalem.
According to the newspaper, the Middle East Monitor reports, French parliamentarian Meyer Habib, who was elected to a seat representing French citizens living in several foreign countries, including Israel, said that he had previously received permission from the French government to support the Israeli association; therefore, he was surprised at the latest decision to prevent the transfer of funds on the grounds that the association in Gilo is located beyond the 1967 borders.
In December, Habib reportedly received an approval to make a financial contribution to the Daat Menachem association that supports French-Israeli students studying in Jerusalem.
Curiously, in recent news, with his appointment as France’s new prime minister, there has been renewed attention to a 2011 video of Manuel Valls declaring that he is “eternally tied” to Israel, and expressing Islamophobic views.
Valls, who served as interior minister until his promotion to prime minister, has gained considerable international attention because he was born in the Catalonia region in Spain.
New French prime minister “eternally tied” to Israel
The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported, on Wednesday, that the French government has halted the transfer of donations worth €3,000 to an Israeli association operating in the Gilo settlement, in occupied Jerusalem.
According to the newspaper, the Middle East Monitor reports, French parliamentarian Meyer Habib, who was elected to a seat representing French citizens living in several foreign countries, including Israel, said that he had previously received permission from the French government to support the Israeli association; therefore, he was surprised at the latest decision to prevent the transfer of funds on the grounds that the association in Gilo is located beyond the 1967 borders.
In December, Habib reportedly received an approval to make a financial contribution to the Daat Menachem association that supports French-Israeli students studying in Jerusalem.
Curiously, in recent news, with his appointment as France’s new prime minister, there has been renewed attention to a 2011 video of Manuel Valls declaring that he is “eternally tied” to Israel, and expressing Islamophobic views.
Valls, who served as interior minister until his promotion to prime minister, has gained considerable international attention because he was born in the Catalonia region in Spain.
