15 dec 2018
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A Canadian Court has ruled that Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) activists were denied free speech and campaigning rights when the city of Montreal tore down their posters highlighting an Israeli atrocity, during an election campaign in Canada. TRNN discusses the case with Bruce Katz, one of the main plaintiffs in the case.
Gregory Wilpert a German-American sociologist who earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Brandeis University in 1994. Between 2000 and 2008 he lived in Venezuela, where he taught at the Central University of Venezuela and then worked as a freelance journalist, writing on Venezuelan politics for a wide range of publications and also founded Venezuelanalysis.com, an English-language website about Venezuela. In 2007 he published the book Changing Venezuela by Taking Power: The History and Policies of the |
Chavez Government (Verso Books). He moved back to the U.S. in 2008 because his wife was named Consul General of Venezuela in New York. Since returning to the U.S. he has been working as an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College.
TRNN Video & Transcript
GREG WILPERT: It’s The Real News Network and I’m Greg Wilpert.
The Boycott Sanctions and Divestment movement, or BDS movement, which targets Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, was able to register an important court win last month in Canada. A court in Montreal ruled in favor of BDS Quebec and the Canadian Communist Party when it said that the city of Montreal violated election campaign rules and must pay damages to the two organizations.
The case began when Montreal City officials removed BDS and Communist Party posters during a federal election campaign that took place in Canada in 2015. The posters called attention to a 2014 Israeli bombing that killed four Palestinian children and featured a picture of one of the dead children. According to the ruling, city officials acted illegally when they removed the posters.
Joining me now from Montreal, Canada is one of the main plaintiffs in the case. Bruce Katz. Bruce is the official agent of BDS Quebec. Welcome to The Real News Network, Bruce.
BRUCE KATZ: Thank you.
GREG WILPERT: So the court ruled that the city needs to pay twelve thousand dollars in Canadian dollars in punitive damages to your organization, BDS Quebec, in addition to the cost of the posters that they removed. How do you feel about this result and what does it mean for the BDS movement?
BRUCE KATZ: Well, we’re extremely pleased by the fact that we’ve managed to win a jurisprudence, and that was the overall objective in the first place. The jurisprudence is important because for one thing, it is something that enhances or reinforces the integrity of the electoral law of Canada, which the city of Montreal stepped all over during the federal campaign in 2015. It’s also a victory, as far as we’re concerned, for freedom of expression since the city of Montreal took down our posters arbitrarily and actually were condemned by Elections Canada a couple of months after the incident. Because I had kept Elections Canada informed on a regular basis of exactly what was going on.
Also, for us, this is a victory for the legitimacy of BDS Quebec and its campaign against Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, and also as something that underscores the fact that the federal government under Justin Trudeau has recently condemned BDS as being synonymous with anti-Semitism. This is, of course, not the case. As a matter of fact, I think it’s a defamatory statement to begin with. But the victory for us in the Quebec Superior Court is a victory also for the legitimacy of BDS Quebec and for the legitimacy of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. And as I said, and I repeat, it is a victory for freedom of expression in this country and will be applicable, since it concerns the electoral law of Canada, it is applicable in all provinces and we’re very pleased with that result.
GREG WILPERT: Did you ever find out who was exactly behind the decision to remove the posters or why they were removed?
BRUCE KATZ: No. The only thing that our lawyer, and I would like to take a moment to express our gratitude for his excellent work. And what he was able to do in examinations called discovery, was the fact that the city had issued a blank order, it was a general order to take down BDS Quebec posters. And these were large posters, they were hard-hitting posters, four feet by four feet, and translated from French, what we had written in bold letters on the posters with a depiction, a photograph of one of the Palestinian children who was killed on the beach in Gaza. We printed on the posters that Israel assassinated Palestinian children. Harper, who was prime minister at that point in time, applauds, what do the other parties have to say?
Well, obviously, that ruffled some feathers, despite the fact that we had done all of the necessary documentation to back up what we printed on that poster so that the poster was absolutely true in its comments about Israeli killing of Palestinian children. Despite the veracity of it, the City of Montreal took the posters down. They have been shown to have trampled on fundamental rights, really, rights and freedom of expression, the integrity of electoral law in Canada, and in a way, defamed us, although the court did not give the individual members of BDS movement or of the Communist Party, for that matter, did not award them punitive damages. Nevertheless, as I’ve said, we’re elated by the victory we achieved for BDS movement and for freedom of expression.
GREG WILPERT: Now, how have city officials and pro-Israeli lobby groups reacted to this court decision?
BRUCE KATZ: For the time being, the decision itself is fairly recent, we have not heard of any reaction to this point. I’m sure that their reaction will come and that the pro-Israel elements and certain elements of the political class will continue to say that BDS equals anti-Semitism, although it’s clear that this is merely a sophism. And as a matter of fact, there have been reactions even from people in Israel, from academics here in Canada, criticizing the manipulation of the notion of anti-Semitism, which has nothing to do with criticizing Israel.
GREG WILPERT: Certainly a story we’ve been following for quite some time. And I thank you very much for having joined us today, Bruce. I was speaking to Bruce Katz, official agent of BDS Quebec. Thanks again, Bruce, for having joined us.
BRUCE KATZ: Very welcome.
GREG WILPERT: And thank you for joining The Real News Network.
Opinion/Analysis 12/08/18 Former Israeli PM Ordered Targeting of Densely Populated Areas in 2008
TRNN Video & Transcript
GREG WILPERT: It’s The Real News Network and I’m Greg Wilpert.
The Boycott Sanctions and Divestment movement, or BDS movement, which targets Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, was able to register an important court win last month in Canada. A court in Montreal ruled in favor of BDS Quebec and the Canadian Communist Party when it said that the city of Montreal violated election campaign rules and must pay damages to the two organizations.
The case began when Montreal City officials removed BDS and Communist Party posters during a federal election campaign that took place in Canada in 2015. The posters called attention to a 2014 Israeli bombing that killed four Palestinian children and featured a picture of one of the dead children. According to the ruling, city officials acted illegally when they removed the posters.
Joining me now from Montreal, Canada is one of the main plaintiffs in the case. Bruce Katz. Bruce is the official agent of BDS Quebec. Welcome to The Real News Network, Bruce.
BRUCE KATZ: Thank you.
GREG WILPERT: So the court ruled that the city needs to pay twelve thousand dollars in Canadian dollars in punitive damages to your organization, BDS Quebec, in addition to the cost of the posters that they removed. How do you feel about this result and what does it mean for the BDS movement?
BRUCE KATZ: Well, we’re extremely pleased by the fact that we’ve managed to win a jurisprudence, and that was the overall objective in the first place. The jurisprudence is important because for one thing, it is something that enhances or reinforces the integrity of the electoral law of Canada, which the city of Montreal stepped all over during the federal campaign in 2015. It’s also a victory, as far as we’re concerned, for freedom of expression since the city of Montreal took down our posters arbitrarily and actually were condemned by Elections Canada a couple of months after the incident. Because I had kept Elections Canada informed on a regular basis of exactly what was going on.
Also, for us, this is a victory for the legitimacy of BDS Quebec and its campaign against Israeli aggression against the Palestinians, and also as something that underscores the fact that the federal government under Justin Trudeau has recently condemned BDS as being synonymous with anti-Semitism. This is, of course, not the case. As a matter of fact, I think it’s a defamatory statement to begin with. But the victory for us in the Quebec Superior Court is a victory also for the legitimacy of BDS Quebec and for the legitimacy of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions campaign against Israel. And as I said, and I repeat, it is a victory for freedom of expression in this country and will be applicable, since it concerns the electoral law of Canada, it is applicable in all provinces and we’re very pleased with that result.
GREG WILPERT: Did you ever find out who was exactly behind the decision to remove the posters or why they were removed?
BRUCE KATZ: No. The only thing that our lawyer, and I would like to take a moment to express our gratitude for his excellent work. And what he was able to do in examinations called discovery, was the fact that the city had issued a blank order, it was a general order to take down BDS Quebec posters. And these were large posters, they were hard-hitting posters, four feet by four feet, and translated from French, what we had written in bold letters on the posters with a depiction, a photograph of one of the Palestinian children who was killed on the beach in Gaza. We printed on the posters that Israel assassinated Palestinian children. Harper, who was prime minister at that point in time, applauds, what do the other parties have to say?
Well, obviously, that ruffled some feathers, despite the fact that we had done all of the necessary documentation to back up what we printed on that poster so that the poster was absolutely true in its comments about Israeli killing of Palestinian children. Despite the veracity of it, the City of Montreal took the posters down. They have been shown to have trampled on fundamental rights, really, rights and freedom of expression, the integrity of electoral law in Canada, and in a way, defamed us, although the court did not give the individual members of BDS movement or of the Communist Party, for that matter, did not award them punitive damages. Nevertheless, as I’ve said, we’re elated by the victory we achieved for BDS movement and for freedom of expression.
GREG WILPERT: Now, how have city officials and pro-Israeli lobby groups reacted to this court decision?
BRUCE KATZ: For the time being, the decision itself is fairly recent, we have not heard of any reaction to this point. I’m sure that their reaction will come and that the pro-Israel elements and certain elements of the political class will continue to say that BDS equals anti-Semitism, although it’s clear that this is merely a sophism. And as a matter of fact, there have been reactions even from people in Israel, from academics here in Canada, criticizing the manipulation of the notion of anti-Semitism, which has nothing to do with criticizing Israel.
GREG WILPERT: Certainly a story we’ve been following for quite some time. And I thank you very much for having joined us today, Bruce. I was speaking to Bruce Katz, official agent of BDS Quebec. Thanks again, Bruce, for having joined us.
BRUCE KATZ: Very welcome.
GREG WILPERT: And thank you for joining The Real News Network.
Opinion/Analysis 12/08/18 Former Israeli PM Ordered Targeting of Densely Populated Areas in 2008
14 dec 2018
Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman said, according to Israeli daily Haaretz, that Israel’s nation-state law is “racist” and a “mistake”, and that she does not agree with it, in an interview she gave to London-based Arabic daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, published Thursday.
Israel’s controversial nation-state law, which the Knesset passed in July, states that “Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people,” which has exclusive right to self-determination in the country. It defines Hebrew as the country’s sole official language, designating Arabic as a language with special status, although adding that Arabic’s status would not be harmed in practice.
Critics of the nation-state legislation, which, as a Basic Law, bears constitutional weight, object in part to the fact that it does not include a provision stating that all Israeli citizens are equal under the law, whereas Israel’s 1948 Declaration of Independence ensured “complete equality of social and political rights” for “all its inhabitants” no matter their religion, race or sex.
Following decades of egregious human rights violations against Palestinians, Israel’s massacre of peaceful protesters in Gaza, this past spring, has made its brand so toxic that even well-known Israeli-American cultural figures, like Natalie Portman, now refuse to blatantly whitewash, or art-wash, Israeli crimes and apartheid policies.
In April, Portman pulled out of an Israeli award ceremony, upon which right-wing activist Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, whose World Values Network and conservative activism is bankrolled by casino magnate and political financier Sheldon Adelson, bought a full-page New York Times ad to attack the actress.
Human Interest 12/06/18 “Occupying Hebron 2011-2017” – New Booklet of Testimonies
Israel’s controversial nation-state law, which the Knesset passed in July, states that “Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people,” which has exclusive right to self-determination in the country. It defines Hebrew as the country’s sole official language, designating Arabic as a language with special status, although adding that Arabic’s status would not be harmed in practice.
Critics of the nation-state legislation, which, as a Basic Law, bears constitutional weight, object in part to the fact that it does not include a provision stating that all Israeli citizens are equal under the law, whereas Israel’s 1948 Declaration of Independence ensured “complete equality of social and political rights” for “all its inhabitants” no matter their religion, race or sex.
Following decades of egregious human rights violations against Palestinians, Israel’s massacre of peaceful protesters in Gaza, this past spring, has made its brand so toxic that even well-known Israeli-American cultural figures, like Natalie Portman, now refuse to blatantly whitewash, or art-wash, Israeli crimes and apartheid policies.
In April, Portman pulled out of an Israeli award ceremony, upon which right-wing activist Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, whose World Values Network and conservative activism is bankrolled by casino magnate and political financier Sheldon Adelson, bought a full-page New York Times ad to attack the actress.
Human Interest 12/06/18 “Occupying Hebron 2011-2017” – New Booklet of Testimonies
pro-Israel lobby organization that targets the entertainment and art industry, a leaked report from this group reveals that the cultural boycott against Israel has an even deeper impact than was previously recognized.
The CCFP was recently exposed by the progressive organization Jewish Voice for Peace to be a front organization for Stand With Us. Stand With Us is a staunchly right-wing pro-Israel lobby group that is, in fact, partially funded by the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, so it receives money from the Israeli government. And CCFP, its goal is to attack and organize smear campaigns against artists who participate in the cultural boycott of Israel.
So joining us to talk about what this means for the International BDS, Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, movement against Israel is Ali Abunimah. Ali is co-founder of the award-winning online publication The Electronic Intifada, and he’s the author of One Country and The Battle for Justice in Palestine. Thanks for joining us, Ali.
ALI ABUNIMAH: Thank you, Ben.
BEN NORTON: So, Ali, can you walk us through who CCFP is, and specifically what its links are to Stand With Us? These are right-wing, pro-Israel lobby organizations. Can you explain to the viewers what the cultural boycott is, and why these groups are so aggressive against the cultural boycott?
ALI ABUNIMAH: CCFP, Creative Communities for Peace, poses as a sort of a nonprofit peace group that tries to counter the cultural boycott of Israel by telling artists who have been approached by Palestinian rights campaigners and asked not to go to Israel, then CCFP steps in and tries to tell them, you know, music is the universal language, and dialogue is better than boycotts. And so it tries to give this soft, you know, lovey-dovey image that it’s a peace group, and that it just wants everyone to come together in peace and love.
The reality, as you’ve mentioned, is that it’s a front for Stand With Us. Now, Stand With Us is a far-right pro-Israel group that a few years ago, the Prime Minister’s Office in Israel, the office of Benjamin Netanyahu, decided to fund directly in order to do propaganda for Israel. Now, it’s not clear if that funding ever went through. It was widely reported that the funding was awarded, but then Stand With Us subsequently denied ever receiving the funding. But nonetheless, Stand With Us is part and parcel of the network of propaganda organizations that work closely with the Israeli government to spread an anti-Palestinian message and try to sabotage and thwart the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
BEN NORTON: Now let’s look at the specific report. This report, that was a confidential report from CCFP and has been cited by Jewish Voice for Peace, it really clearly spells out the organization’s politics. One of the things that the report does is condemn intersectionality, which is the idea that multiple systems of oppression are linked together. And specifically the report is very critical of the fact that there are a lot of civil rights organizations and black American organizations and feminist groups in the United States that are increasingly in solidarity with Palestine. In fact, CCFP describes the growing black Palestine solidarity and the growing feminist support for Palestine as a, quote, “troubling and growing trend.” So it’s very clear that this is a right-wing organization. So can you talk about why this report was confidential, and what CCF has to hide?
ALI ABUNIMAH: Right. Well, there’s a couple of really important things that need to be kind of teased out. One is the the observation–which is not unique to CCFP. Other Israel lobby groups, and in fact the Israeli government, have said very clearly time and again that they view growing black solidarity with Palestine to be a real threat to their efforts to shore up support for Israel in the United States. Why? Because black support for Palestine is rooted in such historic struggles; the identification was the Palestinian struggle based on the black struggle for liberation from American state racism, apartheid, and Jim Crow, and of course the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. So Israel fears that black support not only widens the base of support for Palestinians, but gives the Palestinian cause much more progressive credibility. That’s exactly what the CCFP report is saying.
But you’ll remember, Ben, that the recently-leaked Al-Jazeera film on the Israel lobby, in that film you hear an Israeli official saying the same thing, that Black Lives Matter is a threat. Now, where this really concerns CCFP is that, because they’re intent on fighting cultural boycott, is that they see many black cultural figures really being in the forefront of speaking out on Palestinian rights. And that’s artists in the hip hop community. It is also not just in music, but also in sports. We’ve seen NFL players refusing to go on propaganda junkets to Israel, or speaking out for Palestinians.
So they fear that black support for Palestine combined with the willingness of black cultural figures to speak out is really something very dangerous for Israel’s efforts to whitewash its apartheid regime.
BEN NORTON: Yeah. And then finally can we talk, maybe, about some of the specific performances and cancellations from artists that CCFP have targeted? This report cites a few different incidents, including the German pop culture festival. They also talk about a dance group called Batsheva. But we’ve also seen that in the past CCFP has really gone after artists like Roger Waters, and other pop stars who have canceled performances in Israel. Sometimes these artists, like Roger Waters, have explicitly done so in support of Palestinian rights. Sometimes other artists, like Ariana Grande and others, have not necessarily said it was because of the conflict in Israel-Palestine and the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, but it’s clear that that was one of the reasons they canceled. So maybe can you talk about some of the specific artists that CCFP has targeted?
BEN NORTON: Yeah. Well, over the past year in general we’ve seen a massive growth of the cultural boycott. We saw, you know, just over a year ago we saw Lorde, the New Zealand pop star, cancel a performance in Tel Aviv, which was huge international news. In the past year we’ve seen Gilberto Gil, we’ve seen Shakira, and other big names refusing to go. And you mentioned the German pop culture festival, where a number of bands refused to participate for the second or third year running in that festival because of sponsorship from the Israeli government. And we’ve seen literally hundreds of independent artists and bands and deejays stating publicly that they will abide by the boycott. All this has happened in the last year.
Now, what’s significant is Israel has really tried to thwart this through a carrot and stick approach. The carrot is offering artists very large paydays–and of course, also, Lana Del Rey canceled recently, despite reportedly being offered a massive amount of money to go and play at the festival in Israel. But she canceled after a campaign. So that’s the carrot approach, is offering large paydays for these artists. And the stick is to really smear them and go after them, as has happened to Roger Waters, where there have been efforts to prevent him from performing in public stadiums, or to have his shows canceled, or just generally to smear him. But what this report shows is that neither approach is working, neither the carrot nor the stick.
And the report says very clearly that this, what they call the ‘silent boycott,’ is growing. You mentioned Ariana Grande and others, where they just refuse to go to Israel. They don’t necessarily come out with a statement saying, you know, I’m taking a stance in solidarity with the Palestinians. They just view Israel as toxic. They don’t see it worth the the public relations nightmare. Or perhaps they even agree with the view that Palestinians should have full human rights, but they just don’t want to say it. But for whatever reason, the silent boycott is seen by Israel as really an even bigger threat than, let’s call it, the vocal boycott. And this was something that was also stated very clearly and explicitly in another leaked report which was written by the ADL, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Israeli think tank the Reut Institute that also leaked last year, and was published by the Electronic Intifada, where they said clearly that they view one of the biggest threats and one of the fastest-growing threats to be the silent boycott. And by the way, that silent boycott is not just in terms of culture and music and art, but also academia and scientific research, as well.
BEN NORTON: We’ll have to end our conversation there. We were speaking with Ali Abunimah, who is an award-winning journalist and the co-founder of the Electronic Intifada. He is also the author of One Country and The Battle for Justice in Palestine. As always, thanks for joining us, Ali.
ALI ABUNIMAH: My pleasure. Thank you, Ben.
BEN NORTON: For The Real News Network. I’m Ben Norton.
Opinion/Analysis 12/08/18 Insidious Colonial Strategy
The CCFP was recently exposed by the progressive organization Jewish Voice for Peace to be a front organization for Stand With Us. Stand With Us is a staunchly right-wing pro-Israel lobby group that is, in fact, partially funded by the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs, so it receives money from the Israeli government. And CCFP, its goal is to attack and organize smear campaigns against artists who participate in the cultural boycott of Israel.
So joining us to talk about what this means for the International BDS, Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions, movement against Israel is Ali Abunimah. Ali is co-founder of the award-winning online publication The Electronic Intifada, and he’s the author of One Country and The Battle for Justice in Palestine. Thanks for joining us, Ali.
ALI ABUNIMAH: Thank you, Ben.
BEN NORTON: So, Ali, can you walk us through who CCFP is, and specifically what its links are to Stand With Us? These are right-wing, pro-Israel lobby organizations. Can you explain to the viewers what the cultural boycott is, and why these groups are so aggressive against the cultural boycott?
ALI ABUNIMAH: CCFP, Creative Communities for Peace, poses as a sort of a nonprofit peace group that tries to counter the cultural boycott of Israel by telling artists who have been approached by Palestinian rights campaigners and asked not to go to Israel, then CCFP steps in and tries to tell them, you know, music is the universal language, and dialogue is better than boycotts. And so it tries to give this soft, you know, lovey-dovey image that it’s a peace group, and that it just wants everyone to come together in peace and love.
The reality, as you’ve mentioned, is that it’s a front for Stand With Us. Now, Stand With Us is a far-right pro-Israel group that a few years ago, the Prime Minister’s Office in Israel, the office of Benjamin Netanyahu, decided to fund directly in order to do propaganda for Israel. Now, it’s not clear if that funding ever went through. It was widely reported that the funding was awarded, but then Stand With Us subsequently denied ever receiving the funding. But nonetheless, Stand With Us is part and parcel of the network of propaganda organizations that work closely with the Israeli government to spread an anti-Palestinian message and try to sabotage and thwart the nonviolent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
BEN NORTON: Now let’s look at the specific report. This report, that was a confidential report from CCFP and has been cited by Jewish Voice for Peace, it really clearly spells out the organization’s politics. One of the things that the report does is condemn intersectionality, which is the idea that multiple systems of oppression are linked together. And specifically the report is very critical of the fact that there are a lot of civil rights organizations and black American organizations and feminist groups in the United States that are increasingly in solidarity with Palestine. In fact, CCFP describes the growing black Palestine solidarity and the growing feminist support for Palestine as a, quote, “troubling and growing trend.” So it’s very clear that this is a right-wing organization. So can you talk about why this report was confidential, and what CCF has to hide?
ALI ABUNIMAH: Right. Well, there’s a couple of really important things that need to be kind of teased out. One is the the observation–which is not unique to CCFP. Other Israel lobby groups, and in fact the Israeli government, have said very clearly time and again that they view growing black solidarity with Palestine to be a real threat to their efforts to shore up support for Israel in the United States. Why? Because black support for Palestine is rooted in such historic struggles; the identification was the Palestinian struggle based on the black struggle for liberation from American state racism, apartheid, and Jim Crow, and of course the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. So Israel fears that black support not only widens the base of support for Palestinians, but gives the Palestinian cause much more progressive credibility. That’s exactly what the CCFP report is saying.
But you’ll remember, Ben, that the recently-leaked Al-Jazeera film on the Israel lobby, in that film you hear an Israeli official saying the same thing, that Black Lives Matter is a threat. Now, where this really concerns CCFP is that, because they’re intent on fighting cultural boycott, is that they see many black cultural figures really being in the forefront of speaking out on Palestinian rights. And that’s artists in the hip hop community. It is also not just in music, but also in sports. We’ve seen NFL players refusing to go on propaganda junkets to Israel, or speaking out for Palestinians.
So they fear that black support for Palestine combined with the willingness of black cultural figures to speak out is really something very dangerous for Israel’s efforts to whitewash its apartheid regime.
BEN NORTON: Yeah. And then finally can we talk, maybe, about some of the specific performances and cancellations from artists that CCFP have targeted? This report cites a few different incidents, including the German pop culture festival. They also talk about a dance group called Batsheva. But we’ve also seen that in the past CCFP has really gone after artists like Roger Waters, and other pop stars who have canceled performances in Israel. Sometimes these artists, like Roger Waters, have explicitly done so in support of Palestinian rights. Sometimes other artists, like Ariana Grande and others, have not necessarily said it was because of the conflict in Israel-Palestine and the illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories, but it’s clear that that was one of the reasons they canceled. So maybe can you talk about some of the specific artists that CCFP has targeted?
BEN NORTON: Yeah. Well, over the past year in general we’ve seen a massive growth of the cultural boycott. We saw, you know, just over a year ago we saw Lorde, the New Zealand pop star, cancel a performance in Tel Aviv, which was huge international news. In the past year we’ve seen Gilberto Gil, we’ve seen Shakira, and other big names refusing to go. And you mentioned the German pop culture festival, where a number of bands refused to participate for the second or third year running in that festival because of sponsorship from the Israeli government. And we’ve seen literally hundreds of independent artists and bands and deejays stating publicly that they will abide by the boycott. All this has happened in the last year.
Now, what’s significant is Israel has really tried to thwart this through a carrot and stick approach. The carrot is offering artists very large paydays–and of course, also, Lana Del Rey canceled recently, despite reportedly being offered a massive amount of money to go and play at the festival in Israel. But she canceled after a campaign. So that’s the carrot approach, is offering large paydays for these artists. And the stick is to really smear them and go after them, as has happened to Roger Waters, where there have been efforts to prevent him from performing in public stadiums, or to have his shows canceled, or just generally to smear him. But what this report shows is that neither approach is working, neither the carrot nor the stick.
And the report says very clearly that this, what they call the ‘silent boycott,’ is growing. You mentioned Ariana Grande and others, where they just refuse to go to Israel. They don’t necessarily come out with a statement saying, you know, I’m taking a stance in solidarity with the Palestinians. They just view Israel as toxic. They don’t see it worth the the public relations nightmare. Or perhaps they even agree with the view that Palestinians should have full human rights, but they just don’t want to say it. But for whatever reason, the silent boycott is seen by Israel as really an even bigger threat than, let’s call it, the vocal boycott. And this was something that was also stated very clearly and explicitly in another leaked report which was written by the ADL, the Anti-Defamation League, and the Israeli think tank the Reut Institute that also leaked last year, and was published by the Electronic Intifada, where they said clearly that they view one of the biggest threats and one of the fastest-growing threats to be the silent boycott. And by the way, that silent boycott is not just in terms of culture and music and art, but also academia and scientific research, as well.
BEN NORTON: We’ll have to end our conversation there. We were speaking with Ali Abunimah, who is an award-winning journalist and the co-founder of the Electronic Intifada. He is also the author of One Country and The Battle for Justice in Palestine. As always, thanks for joining us, Ali.
ALI ABUNIMAH: My pleasure. Thank you, Ben.
BEN NORTON: For The Real News Network. I’m Ben Norton.
Opinion/Analysis 12/08/18 Insidious Colonial Strategy
Pro-Palestine solidarity is growing across Nigeria, as thousands are expected to attend a rally and walk for Palestine in Iwo, Osun State, on Sunday.
Organized by Nigerian Friends of Palestine (NFP), the event will be addressed by Iwo leader, Oba Abdurasheed Adewale Akanbi Telu.
Also in attendance will be Yoruba religious leader, Sheikh Yahqub Abdul-Baqi Muhammad, and the head of the Islahudeen Missionary Association of Nigeria, Sheikh Muslim Muqoddam Husain.
The event is the brainchild of Sheikh Daood Imran Molaasan, the founder of NFP, and aims to raise awareness about the illegal occupation of Palestine and its holy sites, particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The event will also draw attention to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – a move that is illegal under international law.
“The Palestinians are oppressed. We must unite against Israeli oppression and seek their freedom. The Palestinian cause is not for them alone, it is not only a Muslim cause, but it is a cause for every revolutionary,” Molaasan told the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service.
According to NFP spokesperson, Abubakr Imran, education about the Palestinian liberation struggle will be an important feature of the event, and the group intends holding several other events to raise awareness about the Palestinian cause.
There has been growing criticism in Nigeria of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Less than a month ago, thousands of activists in Lagos called on the international community to boycott Israel for its ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights and international law.
Organized by the Muslim Awareness International (MAI) group, speakers stressed the importance of supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, in the same way in which the world boycotted and isolated South Africa’s apartheid government.
The Lagos event came just days after Nigeria’s representative at the UN, Ibrahim Umar, condemned the Israeli government’s oppression of the Palestinian people. “The demolition of Palestinian homes, forced evictions, and threat of violence from Israeli settlers infringes on the Palestinian right to life, liberty and the security of the Palestinian people,” said Umar.
Abuja’s UN representative also called for an end to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. “The situation in the Gaza Strip and the near collapse of its infrastructure being enforced by the Israeli blockade and military action should be of grave concern to the international community,” Umar said.
Africa’s support for the Palestinian cause has been strong recently. While observing International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at the UN on 29 November, African Union (AU) Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, said:
“The African Union’s support of the Palestinian cause is…premised on the values of freedom, justice and humanitarian principles that Africa defends in international fora alongside all those striving to ensure that Palestine regains its right to exist as a key State…”
Organized by Nigerian Friends of Palestine (NFP), the event will be addressed by Iwo leader, Oba Abdurasheed Adewale Akanbi Telu.
Also in attendance will be Yoruba religious leader, Sheikh Yahqub Abdul-Baqi Muhammad, and the head of the Islahudeen Missionary Association of Nigeria, Sheikh Muslim Muqoddam Husain.
The event is the brainchild of Sheikh Daood Imran Molaasan, the founder of NFP, and aims to raise awareness about the illegal occupation of Palestine and its holy sites, particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The event will also draw attention to US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – a move that is illegal under international law.
“The Palestinians are oppressed. We must unite against Israeli oppression and seek their freedom. The Palestinian cause is not for them alone, it is not only a Muslim cause, but it is a cause for every revolutionary,” Molaasan told the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service.
According to NFP spokesperson, Abubakr Imran, education about the Palestinian liberation struggle will be an important feature of the event, and the group intends holding several other events to raise awareness about the Palestinian cause.
There has been growing criticism in Nigeria of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Less than a month ago, thousands of activists in Lagos called on the international community to boycott Israel for its ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights and international law.
Organized by the Muslim Awareness International (MAI) group, speakers stressed the importance of supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, in the same way in which the world boycotted and isolated South Africa’s apartheid government.
The Lagos event came just days after Nigeria’s representative at the UN, Ibrahim Umar, condemned the Israeli government’s oppression of the Palestinian people. “The demolition of Palestinian homes, forced evictions, and threat of violence from Israeli settlers infringes on the Palestinian right to life, liberty and the security of the Palestinian people,” said Umar.
Abuja’s UN representative also called for an end to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip. “The situation in the Gaza Strip and the near collapse of its infrastructure being enforced by the Israeli blockade and military action should be of grave concern to the international community,” Umar said.
Africa’s support for the Palestinian cause has been strong recently. While observing International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People at the UN on 29 November, African Union (AU) Commission chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, said:
“The African Union’s support of the Palestinian cause is…premised on the values of freedom, justice and humanitarian principles that Africa defends in international fora alongside all those striving to ensure that Palestine regains its right to exist as a key State…”