8 apr 2015
Palestinian civil society activists have heralded the decision by French corporate giant Veolia to sell off nearly all of its business activity in Israel as a huge victory for the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The sale follows a worldwide campaign against the company’s role in illegal Israeli settlements that cost the firm billions of dollars of lost contracts.
The boycott Veolia campaign was launched in Bilbao, the Basque Country, in November 2008, to pressure the company to end its involvement in illegal Israeli projects that serve settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT).
Under BDS pressure, Veolia has failed to win massive contracts with local authorities across Europe, the US and Kuwait. City councils across Europe have passed resolutions excluding the firm from tenders due to its involvement in Israeli human rights violations.
Veolia executives have admitted that the campaign has cost the company “important contracts”, and financial analysts have repeatedly spoken about the financial cost of the campaign to Veolia.
Veolia has now reported that the sale of its water, waste and energy contracts to Oaktree Capital, a Los Angles based investment firm, has been completed, leaving its stake in the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail as its only business interest in Israel.
Mahmoud Nawajaa, the general coordinator of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), a broad Palestinian civil society coalition that leads the global BDS movement, said:
“Grassroots BDS activism across the world made it very difficult for Veolia to win public contracts in some parts of Europe, the US and the Middle East, leaving the company no choice but to significantly scale back its involvement in illegal Israeli projects.”
“The BDS movement is showing that there is a price to pay for participating in Israel’s colonisation of Palestinian land. One of Europe’s biggest companies has been forced to sell its businesses in Israel that violate international law.”
Around 10 authorities in Ireland and the UK introduced official policy barring Veolia from public contracts. Councils in at least 25 cities including London, Stockholm and Boston opted not to award or renew contracts with Veolia following public campaigns that were backed by local community leaders, churches, trade unions and mainstream political parties.
Many investors including the Dutch ASN Bank and the Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation have divested from Veolia over its role in Israeli settlements, while other major banks and the Swedish AP pension fund have issued public statements condemning Veolia’s role in the settlements. Several “socially responsible investment” information providers have told campaigners they have listed the firm as having serious human rights concerns.
Veolia continues to remain involved in the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail that links Israeli colonies to west Jerusalem through its holdings in Veolia Transdev, but has announced its intention to sell its holding in the railway.
In 2014, Veolia stated in letters to BDS organizers that it had also “terminated its involvement in the Tovlan landfill … over three years ago.” Tovlan processes waste from Israel and its illegal settlements in the OPT. This claim was proven to be false, however, by official records obtained from the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection in September 2013, which show beyond doubt that the operator of the illegal Tovlan landfill at the time was still Veolia’s subsidiary, T.M.M. Integrated Recycling Services.
Ownership of the Tovlan site and wastewater treatment contracts for illegal Israeli settlements is now expected to transfer to Oaktree.
“By buying up these businesses, Oaktree has become an active accomplice in Israel’s ongoing violations of international law,” Nawajaa added.
Mainly due to boycott pressure on it in the US and Europe, and particularly the campaign’s focus on its “apartheid bus operations," which served Israel’s illegal settlements, Veolia had sold its entire bus operations in Israel in 2013.
Nawajaa explained that the campaign against Veolia would continue because the firm remains a shareholder in the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail project.
“The sole purpose of the Jerusalem Light Rail is to increase the appeal and facilitate the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements through the theft of Palestinian land. We will continue to boycott Veolia until it ends its participation in the Light Rail project and pays reparations to those Palestinian communities impacted by its support for Israel’s colonization of Palestinian land.
International corporations cannot simply profit from Israel’s war crimes and then leave when the going gets tough, without being held accountable,” Nawajaa added.
“We warmly thank the impressive number of principled activists and civil society organizations around the world whose dedicated and strategic efforts have made the campaign against Veolia such a success,” Nawajaa concluded.
The boycott Veolia campaign was launched in Bilbao, the Basque Country, in November 2008, to pressure the company to end its involvement in illegal Israeli projects that serve settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT).
Under BDS pressure, Veolia has failed to win massive contracts with local authorities across Europe, the US and Kuwait. City councils across Europe have passed resolutions excluding the firm from tenders due to its involvement in Israeli human rights violations.
Veolia executives have admitted that the campaign has cost the company “important contracts”, and financial analysts have repeatedly spoken about the financial cost of the campaign to Veolia.
Veolia has now reported that the sale of its water, waste and energy contracts to Oaktree Capital, a Los Angles based investment firm, has been completed, leaving its stake in the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail as its only business interest in Israel.
Mahmoud Nawajaa, the general coordinator of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), a broad Palestinian civil society coalition that leads the global BDS movement, said:
“Grassroots BDS activism across the world made it very difficult for Veolia to win public contracts in some parts of Europe, the US and the Middle East, leaving the company no choice but to significantly scale back its involvement in illegal Israeli projects.”
“The BDS movement is showing that there is a price to pay for participating in Israel’s colonisation of Palestinian land. One of Europe’s biggest companies has been forced to sell its businesses in Israel that violate international law.”
Around 10 authorities in Ireland and the UK introduced official policy barring Veolia from public contracts. Councils in at least 25 cities including London, Stockholm and Boston opted not to award or renew contracts with Veolia following public campaigns that were backed by local community leaders, churches, trade unions and mainstream political parties.
Many investors including the Dutch ASN Bank and the Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation have divested from Veolia over its role in Israeli settlements, while other major banks and the Swedish AP pension fund have issued public statements condemning Veolia’s role in the settlements. Several “socially responsible investment” information providers have told campaigners they have listed the firm as having serious human rights concerns.
Veolia continues to remain involved in the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail that links Israeli colonies to west Jerusalem through its holdings in Veolia Transdev, but has announced its intention to sell its holding in the railway.
In 2014, Veolia stated in letters to BDS organizers that it had also “terminated its involvement in the Tovlan landfill … over three years ago.” Tovlan processes waste from Israel and its illegal settlements in the OPT. This claim was proven to be false, however, by official records obtained from the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection in September 2013, which show beyond doubt that the operator of the illegal Tovlan landfill at the time was still Veolia’s subsidiary, T.M.M. Integrated Recycling Services.
Ownership of the Tovlan site and wastewater treatment contracts for illegal Israeli settlements is now expected to transfer to Oaktree.
“By buying up these businesses, Oaktree has become an active accomplice in Israel’s ongoing violations of international law,” Nawajaa added.
Mainly due to boycott pressure on it in the US and Europe, and particularly the campaign’s focus on its “apartheid bus operations," which served Israel’s illegal settlements, Veolia had sold its entire bus operations in Israel in 2013.
Nawajaa explained that the campaign against Veolia would continue because the firm remains a shareholder in the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail project.
“The sole purpose of the Jerusalem Light Rail is to increase the appeal and facilitate the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements through the theft of Palestinian land. We will continue to boycott Veolia until it ends its participation in the Light Rail project and pays reparations to those Palestinian communities impacted by its support for Israel’s colonization of Palestinian land.
International corporations cannot simply profit from Israel’s war crimes and then leave when the going gets tough, without being held accountable,” Nawajaa added.
“We warmly thank the impressive number of principled activists and civil society organizations around the world whose dedicated and strategic efforts have made the campaign against Veolia such a success,” Nawajaa concluded.
5 apr 2015
An Israeli manufacturer based in an illegal West Bank settlement has changed its product labeling due to complaints from human rights activists. The Israeli SodaStream corporation, maker of home beverage carbonation systems, recently changed the labels on its products to say “Made in the West Bank.”
SodaStream made the change following a complaint to the Oregon Department of Justice by a group of Oregon human rights activists who accused the company of violating Oregon’s Fair Trade Practices Act by labeling its products as “Made in Israel,” when in fact its principal production facility is located in the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
Oregon’s Fair Trade Practices Act is a consumer protection law that makes false representations and false advertising of a consumer product illegal. The Act also holds retail stores responsible if they knowingly sell a product that is “misrepresented.”
“This appears to be the first time that an Israeli settlement manufacturer has corrected its labels for products sold in the United States,” said activist Rod Such of the PDX Boycott Occupation Soda! Coalition based in Portland, Oregon. "Many people of conscience refuse to purchase products made in Israel's illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, but in the case of SodaStream they were deceived by false labeling that claimed the products were produced within Israel’s internationally recognized borders.”
The complaint to the Oregon Department of Justice was filed in May 2014. It was prepared by two coalitions of religious, social justice, and human rights advocates--the PDX Boycott Occupation Soda! Coalition and the Mid-Valley BDS coalition of Oregon’s Willamette River Valley.
The Department’s enforcement officer for the Fair Trade Practices Act forwarded the complaint to SodaStream's corporate office in the United States. SodaStream's legal counsel in Israel replied by saying that the labels would be changed to Made in the West Bank "effective immediately." The new labels have now begun appearing on SodaStream boxes in Oregon retail outlets.
The local groups calling for the change hailed the new labels as a victory for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement (www.sodastreamboycott.org) , a nonviolent strategy aimed at pressuring Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian land, grant equal rights and protections to Palestinian citizens of Israel, and allow Palestinian refugees the right to return to homes and lands they were expelled from during Israel’s creation in 1948 and up through the present day.
“Many people believe that all products from Israel should be boycotted because the entire Israeli economy is enmeshed in the occupation and profits from it,” Such added. “But for those who only believe in boycotting settlement products, this label change will help them identify the settlement-based companies.”
An attorney for the two coalitions has also filed an official complaint with the U.S. Customs & Border Control Agency, on the grounds that the false labeling also violates U.S. Customs regulations. That complaint, filed in November 2014, is presently under investigation.
SodaStream made the change following a complaint to the Oregon Department of Justice by a group of Oregon human rights activists who accused the company of violating Oregon’s Fair Trade Practices Act by labeling its products as “Made in Israel,” when in fact its principal production facility is located in the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the occupied Palestinian West Bank.
Oregon’s Fair Trade Practices Act is a consumer protection law that makes false representations and false advertising of a consumer product illegal. The Act also holds retail stores responsible if they knowingly sell a product that is “misrepresented.”
“This appears to be the first time that an Israeli settlement manufacturer has corrected its labels for products sold in the United States,” said activist Rod Such of the PDX Boycott Occupation Soda! Coalition based in Portland, Oregon. "Many people of conscience refuse to purchase products made in Israel's illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, but in the case of SodaStream they were deceived by false labeling that claimed the products were produced within Israel’s internationally recognized borders.”
The complaint to the Oregon Department of Justice was filed in May 2014. It was prepared by two coalitions of religious, social justice, and human rights advocates--the PDX Boycott Occupation Soda! Coalition and the Mid-Valley BDS coalition of Oregon’s Willamette River Valley.
The Department’s enforcement officer for the Fair Trade Practices Act forwarded the complaint to SodaStream's corporate office in the United States. SodaStream's legal counsel in Israel replied by saying that the labels would be changed to Made in the West Bank "effective immediately." The new labels have now begun appearing on SodaStream boxes in Oregon retail outlets.
The local groups calling for the change hailed the new labels as a victory for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement (www.sodastreamboycott.org) , a nonviolent strategy aimed at pressuring Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian land, grant equal rights and protections to Palestinian citizens of Israel, and allow Palestinian refugees the right to return to homes and lands they were expelled from during Israel’s creation in 1948 and up through the present day.
“Many people believe that all products from Israel should be boycotted because the entire Israeli economy is enmeshed in the occupation and profits from it,” Such added. “But for those who only believe in boycotting settlement products, this label change will help them identify the settlement-based companies.”
An attorney for the two coalitions has also filed an official complaint with the U.S. Customs & Border Control Agency, on the grounds that the false labeling also violates U.S. Customs regulations. That complaint, filed in November 2014, is presently under investigation.
30 mar 2015
The Ramallah-based Palestinian National Office for the defense of land and the resistance of settlement said on Sunday Israel’s decision to resume tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority (PA) will not affect its promotion of the boycott-of-Israel campaign.
The office said in a statement a campaign for boycotting Israeli products has been underway despite Israel’s decision to release frozen tax funds, adding that a new series of Israeli items is to be blacklisted by the campaigners sometime soon.
The statement hailed the decision issued by the doctors’ syndicate binding all Palestinian members to boycott Israeli medicines to keep in line with the spirit of the campaign.
The office said the campaign is never dependent on decisions to either release or withhold Palestinian tax transfers, adding that it rather aims to sever all ties with the Israeli occupation in keeping with the moves lately announced by the PLO Central Council.
Israel had been withholding the tax transfers it collects for the cash-strapped government of the PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as a collective punishment policy acted in retaliation for Palestinians’ application to join the ICC – a move potentially paving the way for a war crimes investigation of Israel.
The Israeli government decided to resume tax transfers a couple of days ago, following the recommendations of the army and the Shabak apparatuses for fear of escalated tension in the West Bank.
The office said in a statement a campaign for boycotting Israeli products has been underway despite Israel’s decision to release frozen tax funds, adding that a new series of Israeli items is to be blacklisted by the campaigners sometime soon.
The statement hailed the decision issued by the doctors’ syndicate binding all Palestinian members to boycott Israeli medicines to keep in line with the spirit of the campaign.
The office said the campaign is never dependent on decisions to either release or withhold Palestinian tax transfers, adding that it rather aims to sever all ties with the Israeli occupation in keeping with the moves lately announced by the PLO Central Council.
Israel had been withholding the tax transfers it collects for the cash-strapped government of the PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as a collective punishment policy acted in retaliation for Palestinians’ application to join the ICC – a move potentially paving the way for a war crimes investigation of Israel.
The Israeli government decided to resume tax transfers a couple of days ago, following the recommendations of the army and the Shabak apparatuses for fear of escalated tension in the West Bank.
25 mar 2015
Palestinian activists today welcomed the news that two French firms, Safege and Puma, have canceled their participation in a Jerusalem cable car project that aims to connect illegal settlements to Israel after being warned about the legal risks involved by the French finance and foreign ministries.
Solidarity networks across Europe had urged the two firms to pull out of the deal.
Mahmoud Nawajaa, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), the broad coalition of Palestinian civil society organisations that works to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, said:
“Safege and Puma has taken the only sensible decision and have avoided participating in Israel’s colonisation of Palestinian land. By doing so they have also avoided becoming targets for the international BDS movement.”
“The BDS campaign against two other French companies, Veolia and Alstom, which has led them to lose billions of dollars worth of contracts worldwide established a precedent for other multinational companies that complicity with Israel’s colonization of Palestinian land will come at a heavy cost.”
“The proactive role that the French government has played in this decision is especially welcome, coming off the back of coordinated action last year by EU governments to warn businesses about the risks of doing business that supports Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.”
“To be consistent with its own policies and legal obligations, the French government should now publicly oppose the participation of Veolia and Alstom in the Jerusalem Light Rail, which has been declared illegal by the UN Human Rights Council.”
“We urge any company considering getting involved in this cable car project not to put the interests of profits above human rights and adherence to international law and reiterate our call.”
“We urge all national and local governments to not contract and end existing contracts with Veolia and Alstom, and call on shareholders to divest from these companies, until they end their participation in these clear breaches of international law.”
French firm pulls out of controversial Jerusalem cable car project
Palestinian Authority complained to Paris about Safege’s involvement in the project. French finance and foreign ministries warned the company about the legal risks, and it pulled out.
Safege of France, which was slated to play a key planning role in the Jerusalem cable car project, has canceled its participation after being warned against it by the French finance and foreign ministries, a Wednesday media report said.
To “avoid giving any political interpretation,” Suez Environnement “has decided not to continue,” Le Figaro on Wednesday quoted a spokesman for Safege’s parent as saying.
Another French company that was mentioned in connection with the Jerusalem cable car has also declined to get involved.
The project, described in detail in Haaretz three weeks ago, is expected to encounter much opposition for its political as well as environmental and urban-planning implications. Many observers are skeptical that the plan will ever come to fruition.
Erekat’s initiative
Le Figaro reported that on March 10, Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, contacted French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to complain about the French company’s willingness to take part in building the cable car in East Jerusalem.
“The plan will lead to the illegal expropriation of private property, some of which belongs to the Waqf,” Erekat wrote to Fabius. The Waqf controls the major Islamic sites around the Old City, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Subsequently, the French administration secretly called a meeting with Safege’s directors. On March 12, the French Finance Ministry warned Safege’s board about the legal risks the project entailed, and the company says it sought a legal opinion on the matter.
Another French company that had expressed interest in the project, Puma, has since declined to get involved, too. On March 10, Puma, a prominent company in cable transportation, said it “did not sign any contract and did not conduct preliminary feasibility inspection for the construction project in Jerusalem,” according to Le Figaro.
Goal: reducing traffic
The Jerusalem plan envisions a cable car system that would substitute for other transport modes to the Western Wall area and other sites in Jerusalem’s historic basin.
A presentation prepared by the planners, and seen by Haaretz, shows four planned cable car stations: at the First Train Station at the end of Emek Refaim Street; next to Dung Gate by the Western Wall; next to the Seven Arches Hotel on the Mount of Olives; and near Gethsemane.
The cost is estimated at NIS 125 million ($31.7 million). Supporters of the project expect the new system to significantly reduce vehicle traffic around the Old City.
The project has yet to be submitted to the planning committees for approval, but it is being energetically promoted by the municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority (a part-government, part-municipal body).
The right-wing organization Elad, which operates the City of David National Park, is also promoting the project.
Budget items
Documents from the JDA’s tenders committee show that in the past year, a budget of more than 1 million shekels was allotted to promote the project. Correspondence with Safege, at a cost of 87,400 euros, was done to advance the detailed planning of the project.
The JDA also approved correspondence with nine Israeli companies, including a management company, building consultants, electrical engineers, land consultants, accessibility consultants, architects and more.
Some 55,000 shekels was allotted for consultations with Seter Security Consulting about securing the cable car machinery, and 412,000 shekels was allotted to the project’s planners, the firm of Rosenfeld Arens.
At the meetings of the tenders committee, some who were present sought to reduce the costs, since if the planning committees do not approve the plans, this money will have been wasted.
Solidarity networks across Europe had urged the two firms to pull out of the deal.
Mahmoud Nawajaa, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), the broad coalition of Palestinian civil society organisations that works to support the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, said:
“Safege and Puma has taken the only sensible decision and have avoided participating in Israel’s colonisation of Palestinian land. By doing so they have also avoided becoming targets for the international BDS movement.”
“The BDS campaign against two other French companies, Veolia and Alstom, which has led them to lose billions of dollars worth of contracts worldwide established a precedent for other multinational companies that complicity with Israel’s colonization of Palestinian land will come at a heavy cost.”
“The proactive role that the French government has played in this decision is especially welcome, coming off the back of coordinated action last year by EU governments to warn businesses about the risks of doing business that supports Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land.”
“To be consistent with its own policies and legal obligations, the French government should now publicly oppose the participation of Veolia and Alstom in the Jerusalem Light Rail, which has been declared illegal by the UN Human Rights Council.”
“We urge any company considering getting involved in this cable car project not to put the interests of profits above human rights and adherence to international law and reiterate our call.”
“We urge all national and local governments to not contract and end existing contracts with Veolia and Alstom, and call on shareholders to divest from these companies, until they end their participation in these clear breaches of international law.”
French firm pulls out of controversial Jerusalem cable car project
Palestinian Authority complained to Paris about Safege’s involvement in the project. French finance and foreign ministries warned the company about the legal risks, and it pulled out.
Safege of France, which was slated to play a key planning role in the Jerusalem cable car project, has canceled its participation after being warned against it by the French finance and foreign ministries, a Wednesday media report said.
To “avoid giving any political interpretation,” Suez Environnement “has decided not to continue,” Le Figaro on Wednesday quoted a spokesman for Safege’s parent as saying.
Another French company that was mentioned in connection with the Jerusalem cable car has also declined to get involved.
The project, described in detail in Haaretz three weeks ago, is expected to encounter much opposition for its political as well as environmental and urban-planning implications. Many observers are skeptical that the plan will ever come to fruition.
Erekat’s initiative
Le Figaro reported that on March 10, Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, contacted French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius to complain about the French company’s willingness to take part in building the cable car in East Jerusalem.
“The plan will lead to the illegal expropriation of private property, some of which belongs to the Waqf,” Erekat wrote to Fabius. The Waqf controls the major Islamic sites around the Old City, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Subsequently, the French administration secretly called a meeting with Safege’s directors. On March 12, the French Finance Ministry warned Safege’s board about the legal risks the project entailed, and the company says it sought a legal opinion on the matter.
Another French company that had expressed interest in the project, Puma, has since declined to get involved, too. On March 10, Puma, a prominent company in cable transportation, said it “did not sign any contract and did not conduct preliminary feasibility inspection for the construction project in Jerusalem,” according to Le Figaro.
Goal: reducing traffic
The Jerusalem plan envisions a cable car system that would substitute for other transport modes to the Western Wall area and other sites in Jerusalem’s historic basin.
A presentation prepared by the planners, and seen by Haaretz, shows four planned cable car stations: at the First Train Station at the end of Emek Refaim Street; next to Dung Gate by the Western Wall; next to the Seven Arches Hotel on the Mount of Olives; and near Gethsemane.
The cost is estimated at NIS 125 million ($31.7 million). Supporters of the project expect the new system to significantly reduce vehicle traffic around the Old City.
The project has yet to be submitted to the planning committees for approval, but it is being energetically promoted by the municipality and the Jerusalem Development Authority (a part-government, part-municipal body).
The right-wing organization Elad, which operates the City of David National Park, is also promoting the project.
Budget items
Documents from the JDA’s tenders committee show that in the past year, a budget of more than 1 million shekels was allotted to promote the project. Correspondence with Safege, at a cost of 87,400 euros, was done to advance the detailed planning of the project.
The JDA also approved correspondence with nine Israeli companies, including a management company, building consultants, electrical engineers, land consultants, accessibility consultants, architects and more.
Some 55,000 shekels was allotted for consultations with Seter Security Consulting about securing the cable car machinery, and 412,000 shekels was allotted to the project’s planners, the firm of Rosenfeld Arens.
At the meetings of the tenders committee, some who were present sought to reduce the costs, since if the planning committees do not approve the plans, this money will have been wasted.
22 mar 2015
Dozens of Palestinian activists and merchants took to Nablus streets on Saturday to join a peaceful rally staged by the popular committee for the boycott of Israeli products.
A PIC correspondent said dozens of activists and children, flocking around Nablus’s commercial central at noontime, lifted banners and posters calling for boycotting Israeli goods and purchasing local ones.
The rally goers addressed, as they walked around the market, the Palestinian masses urging them to recoil from buying Israeli-made goods, one of the primary sources of funding Israeli war machinery unleashed on Palestinians.
The non-violent protesters headed in small groups to the local shops, calling on the merchants to shun Israeli items.
Members of the popular committee to boycott Israeli products urged dealers of Israeli merchandise to immediately cease restocking Palestinian markets.
They further appealed to the unity government to block all economic prospects before Israeli agricultural products, stressing the need to protect local farmers instead.
The committee further urged the Palestinian government to put into effect the decision adopted by the Palestinian Central Council to deactivate the Paris accord.
The activists called on the PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to issue a decision officially outlawing the purchase of Israeli commodities so as to boost up Palestine’s struggle for national liberation and end Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
The rally falls in line with a comprehensive agenda designed by the popular committee to raise awareness of the need to foster the boycott-of-Israel campaigns and promote home economy.
A PIC correspondent said dozens of activists and children, flocking around Nablus’s commercial central at noontime, lifted banners and posters calling for boycotting Israeli goods and purchasing local ones.
The rally goers addressed, as they walked around the market, the Palestinian masses urging them to recoil from buying Israeli-made goods, one of the primary sources of funding Israeli war machinery unleashed on Palestinians.
The non-violent protesters headed in small groups to the local shops, calling on the merchants to shun Israeli items.
Members of the popular committee to boycott Israeli products urged dealers of Israeli merchandise to immediately cease restocking Palestinian markets.
They further appealed to the unity government to block all economic prospects before Israeli agricultural products, stressing the need to protect local farmers instead.
The committee further urged the Palestinian government to put into effect the decision adopted by the Palestinian Central Council to deactivate the Paris accord.
The activists called on the PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to issue a decision officially outlawing the purchase of Israeli commodities so as to boost up Palestine’s struggle for national liberation and end Israel’s occupation of Palestine.
The rally falls in line with a comprehensive agenda designed by the popular committee to raise awareness of the need to foster the boycott-of-Israel campaigns and promote home economy.
21 mar 2015
A Palestinian youth group called “Moving for the Sake of Palestine” launched a boycott campaign against the American Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) for its support of the Israeli occupation.
The group activists distributed on Saturday morning brochures for the campaign in Occupied Jerusalem. The campaign is launched under the theme “Israel sponsored by HP”.
The brochures explained the American company’s offensive practices against the Palestinian people’s right of movement inside homeland.
One of the activists elaborated, in a press statement, that the campaign aims at boycotting HP Company because it provides the Israeli occupation with monitoring systems used at the military checkpoints blocking the traffic of Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, 1948 Occupied Palestine, and Gaza Strip.
It also aims at increasing the awareness of the Palestinian university students about the role of HP Company in this regard. It also targets the Palestinian official institutions by trying to convince them to boycott the company's products and exclude it from public bids and tenders, he said.
The independent Palestinian youth group “Moving for the Sake of Palestine” was established in 2014 within a program called “Youth for Change” in partnership with the American Friends Service Committee (Quaker) in Gaza along with other local organizations.
The group activists distributed on Saturday morning brochures for the campaign in Occupied Jerusalem. The campaign is launched under the theme “Israel sponsored by HP”.
The brochures explained the American company’s offensive practices against the Palestinian people’s right of movement inside homeland.
One of the activists elaborated, in a press statement, that the campaign aims at boycotting HP Company because it provides the Israeli occupation with monitoring systems used at the military checkpoints blocking the traffic of Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, 1948 Occupied Palestine, and Gaza Strip.
It also aims at increasing the awareness of the Palestinian university students about the role of HP Company in this regard. It also targets the Palestinian official institutions by trying to convince them to boycott the company's products and exclude it from public bids and tenders, he said.
The independent Palestinian youth group “Moving for the Sake of Palestine” was established in 2014 within a program called “Youth for Change” in partnership with the American Friends Service Committee (Quaker) in Gaza along with other local organizations.
19 mar 2015
A consortium of Tunisian non-governmental anti-Israel parties and associations on Wednesday announced the establishment of the so-called Tunisian Coalition for Criminalizing Normalization and Fighting Zionism.
The coalition included such parties and organizations as the Tunisian League for Tolerance, Siraj, the People’s Movement, the Unity Party, the National Committee against Normalization and Zionism, among other co-partners.
Salah al-Din al-Masri, from the Tunisian League for Tolerance and a founding member of the new alliance, said in a press conference in the Tunisian Capital, Tunis: “The coalition is entirely independent and aims to organize anti-Israel activities.”
“The Israeli occupation is the Tunisians’ enemy, just as it is to other Arab states,” he added.
He said the coalition is set to stage various activities, including rallies and sit-ins in front of the Tunisian parliament, to push for criminalizing normalization and filing lawsuits against any violations.
He said similar moves might be pursued in the Council of People’s deputies.
“The outcome of the constitution is not completely negative when it comes to fighting Zionism. There has been a reference in the preface to the world’s national liberation movements, most notably the Palestinian,” he maintained, adding: “This is, in itself, a step that reinforces Palestinians’ right to total independence.”
The Tunisian activist further stated that the coalition will work on a resolution bid that would officially criminalize normalization and outlaw it as an act of treason.
Meanwhile, Belhassan al-Yahyawi, from the Unity Party, said: “Whoever dares to say that such initiatives are the least of Tunisia’s concerns, because our people is overloaded with other burdens, is just mistaken. Tunisia’s fight against normalization is also one of sovereignty.”
The Tunisian Coalition for Criminalizing Normalization comprises 13 parties, institutions, and youth organizations. Membership is said to be open to any other potential partner as long as it shows total commitment to the alliance’s agenda and underlying principles.
The coalition included such parties and organizations as the Tunisian League for Tolerance, Siraj, the People’s Movement, the Unity Party, the National Committee against Normalization and Zionism, among other co-partners.
Salah al-Din al-Masri, from the Tunisian League for Tolerance and a founding member of the new alliance, said in a press conference in the Tunisian Capital, Tunis: “The coalition is entirely independent and aims to organize anti-Israel activities.”
“The Israeli occupation is the Tunisians’ enemy, just as it is to other Arab states,” he added.
He said the coalition is set to stage various activities, including rallies and sit-ins in front of the Tunisian parliament, to push for criminalizing normalization and filing lawsuits against any violations.
He said similar moves might be pursued in the Council of People’s deputies.
“The outcome of the constitution is not completely negative when it comes to fighting Zionism. There has been a reference in the preface to the world’s national liberation movements, most notably the Palestinian,” he maintained, adding: “This is, in itself, a step that reinforces Palestinians’ right to total independence.”
The Tunisian activist further stated that the coalition will work on a resolution bid that would officially criminalize normalization and outlaw it as an act of treason.
Meanwhile, Belhassan al-Yahyawi, from the Unity Party, said: “Whoever dares to say that such initiatives are the least of Tunisia’s concerns, because our people is overloaded with other burdens, is just mistaken. Tunisia’s fight against normalization is also one of sovereignty.”
The Tunisian Coalition for Criminalizing Normalization comprises 13 parties, institutions, and youth organizations. Membership is said to be open to any other potential partner as long as it shows total commitment to the alliance’s agenda and underlying principles.
