3 oct 2019
The German city of Aachen denied yesterday Lebanese artist Walid Raad the Nelly Sachs literature prize worth 10,000 euros because of his support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, reported the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar.
Raad was selected for this prize for his work The Atlas Group on the history of the civil war in Lebanon between 1989 and 2004.
Al-Akhbar said Aachen Mayor Marcel Philipp said in a statement that “according to research, we have to assume that the nominated prize-winner is a follower of the BDS movement and has participated in several measures in the cultural boycott of Israel.”
When Raad refused to distance himself from the BDS movement, the prize was taken away from him.
Raad is considered one of the most important Lebanese artists who dealt with the modern history of Lebanon in a new and creative way.
Another German city, Dortmund, withdrew last month its decision to award British Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie the Nelly Sachs literature prize after awarding her the prize also citing her support for the BDS movement.
The latest steps came after the German parliament passed a law in May equating BDS with anti-Semitism.
Raad was selected for this prize for his work The Atlas Group on the history of the civil war in Lebanon between 1989 and 2004.
Al-Akhbar said Aachen Mayor Marcel Philipp said in a statement that “according to research, we have to assume that the nominated prize-winner is a follower of the BDS movement and has participated in several measures in the cultural boycott of Israel.”
When Raad refused to distance himself from the BDS movement, the prize was taken away from him.
Raad is considered one of the most important Lebanese artists who dealt with the modern history of Lebanon in a new and creative way.
Another German city, Dortmund, withdrew last month its decision to award British Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie the Nelly Sachs literature prize after awarding her the prize also citing her support for the BDS movement.
The latest steps came after the German parliament passed a law in May equating BDS with anti-Semitism.
29 sept 2019
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by Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)
Support is growing for the Palestinian civil society call for a boycott to pressure Israel to respect Palestinian human rights. Artists such as Lana Del Rey, Lorde, Tunde Adebimpe, Peter Gabriel, Lauryn Hill, Talib Kweli, and Mark Ruffalo are taking courageous public stands for freedom, justice and equality, and refusing to cross our nonviolent boycott picket line. Israel’s repressive, right-wing government and its allies are desperately attempting to repress support for Palestinian rights. As part of those attempts, a group called “Creative Community for Peace” (CCFP) is lobbying artists to perform in Israel. CCFP claims to be an entertainment industry organization advocating for artistic freedom and building bridges. But CCFP carefully hides from artists that it is actually a front group [pdf] for StandWithUs (SWU), a long-established right-wing, anti-Palestinian, pro-Israeli settler lobby group with long-time ties to Israel’s far-right government. Registration [pdf] and tax documents [pdf] show that StandWithUs and |
Creative Community for Peace are simply alternate names for a single IRS-registered non-profit, “Israel Emergency Alliance.”
CCFP staff works from StandWithUs’ longstanding LA office, and SWU manages many CCFP functions. CCFP and SWU founders and board leaders, David and Esther Renzer [pdf], are married.
Examples of SWU and CCFP‘s history of partnership with the Israeli government include convening an organizing meeting with Israeli government officials and music industry executives, and producing a pro-settler video series with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
SWU even announced they were awarded a grant from Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office.
SWU and CCFP also regularly echo the Israeli government’s racist positions, dehumanizing all Palestinians. CCFP never speaks out against Israel’s growing repression of both Palestinian and Jewish Israeli cultural workers who are critical of the State.
CCFP is no supporter of racial and social justice. A key SWU partner is Christians United for Israel (CUFI), headed by the homophobic, racist and sexist pastor John Hagee.
In a confidential, leaked 2018 report, CCFP depicted movements for social justice as a dire threat to Israel. It claimed that support for intersectionality – which attempts to identify how interlocking systems of power impact those who are most marginalized – is allowing Palestinian rights groups, to “hijack other political movements, Black Lives Matter (BLM) and feminist groups in particular.”
In their confidential report, CCFP did accurately characterize the boycott movement as “constantly growing and changing, developing new and innovative tactics to reach artists.”
Artists who support justice for all and oppose racism in all forms should be aware of CCFP’s deception and steer clear of its lobbying agenda.
At BDS official: Boycott InDnegev Festival 2019
CCFP staff works from StandWithUs’ longstanding LA office, and SWU manages many CCFP functions. CCFP and SWU founders and board leaders, David and Esther Renzer [pdf], are married.
Examples of SWU and CCFP‘s history of partnership with the Israeli government include convening an organizing meeting with Israeli government officials and music industry executives, and producing a pro-settler video series with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
SWU even announced they were awarded a grant from Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office.
SWU and CCFP also regularly echo the Israeli government’s racist positions, dehumanizing all Palestinians. CCFP never speaks out against Israel’s growing repression of both Palestinian and Jewish Israeli cultural workers who are critical of the State.
CCFP is no supporter of racial and social justice. A key SWU partner is Christians United for Israel (CUFI), headed by the homophobic, racist and sexist pastor John Hagee.
In a confidential, leaked 2018 report, CCFP depicted movements for social justice as a dire threat to Israel. It claimed that support for intersectionality – which attempts to identify how interlocking systems of power impact those who are most marginalized – is allowing Palestinian rights groups, to “hijack other political movements, Black Lives Matter (BLM) and feminist groups in particular.”
In their confidential report, CCFP did accurately characterize the boycott movement as “constantly growing and changing, developing new and innovative tactics to reach artists.”
Artists who support justice for all and oppose racism in all forms should be aware of CCFP’s deception and steer clear of its lobbying agenda.
At BDS official: Boycott InDnegev Festival 2019
27 sept 2019
The highest decision-making body of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa (ACSA) on Thursday unanimously resolved to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel until that state ended its military occupation of Palestine.
The resolution was passed in Johannesburg at the Church’s Provincial Synod, which takes place every three years and represents Anglican communities in South Africa as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini (Swaziland), Mozambique, Angola and St Helena.
According to the resolution, “the situation in the Holy Land demands the attention of the Christian Church precisely because that is the place where Jesus Christ was born, nurtured, crucified and raised.”
The resolution also cautions against conflating the current nation-state of Israel with Biblical Israel. A differentiation was also made between the political ideology of Zionism and the religion of Judaism.
Condemning anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the strongest terms, the ACSA resolution also acknowledged that there were similarities between Apartheid South Africa and what is happening in occupied Palestine and that in some respects the situation there can be described as worse than Apartheid.
It is for this reason, the resolution notes that “Southern Africans have a special responsibility to stand by the oppressed in the same way that others in the international community stood with us during our own oppression.”
According to the Anglican Bishop of Namibia, Luke Pato, the resolution was introduced at the Synod to develop practical ways of ending the occupation. “It is the right time, it is God’s time for the occupation to end and for Palestinians to be liberated,” Pato told the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service.
Pato - who seconded the resolution - explained that the resolution was a continuation of the Anglican Church’s long-standing support of the Palestinian liberation struggle, when Archbishop Desmond Tutu first led a delegation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in the 1980's.
Southern African delegates will also request that the Anglican Communion Office in the United Kingdom consider a similar resolution for inclusion on the agenda of the Lambeth 2020 Conference, which next year brings together active Anglican bishops from 165 countries worldwide.
The resolution also encourages every diocese within the Anglican Church to pass a similar resolution at their next Synod and to work with the South African Council of Churches to achieve justice for the Palestinians.
Palestinians have welcomed the passing of the resolution.
“Palestinians simply want to achieve peace, freedom, justice and dignity, and this resolution is an important step in forcing Israel to comply with international law and end its illegal occupation of Palestine,” Palestinian ambassador to South Africa, Hashem Dajani, told the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service. Dajani hoped that other denominations and groups would replicate the Anglican Church resolution.
Speaking from the besieged Gaza Strip, Hamas spokesperson, Basem Naim, said that the resolution was an important show of solidarity with the Palestinian people and their cause and “encourages us to continue our struggle against the occupation.”
The resolution was passed in Johannesburg at the Church’s Provincial Synod, which takes place every three years and represents Anglican communities in South Africa as well as Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini (Swaziland), Mozambique, Angola and St Helena.
According to the resolution, “the situation in the Holy Land demands the attention of the Christian Church precisely because that is the place where Jesus Christ was born, nurtured, crucified and raised.”
The resolution also cautions against conflating the current nation-state of Israel with Biblical Israel. A differentiation was also made between the political ideology of Zionism and the religion of Judaism.
Condemning anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in the strongest terms, the ACSA resolution also acknowledged that there were similarities between Apartheid South Africa and what is happening in occupied Palestine and that in some respects the situation there can be described as worse than Apartheid.
It is for this reason, the resolution notes that “Southern Africans have a special responsibility to stand by the oppressed in the same way that others in the international community stood with us during our own oppression.”
According to the Anglican Bishop of Namibia, Luke Pato, the resolution was introduced at the Synod to develop practical ways of ending the occupation. “It is the right time, it is God’s time for the occupation to end and for Palestinians to be liberated,” Pato told the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service.
Pato - who seconded the resolution - explained that the resolution was a continuation of the Anglican Church’s long-standing support of the Palestinian liberation struggle, when Archbishop Desmond Tutu first led a delegation to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in the 1980's.
Southern African delegates will also request that the Anglican Communion Office in the United Kingdom consider a similar resolution for inclusion on the agenda of the Lambeth 2020 Conference, which next year brings together active Anglican bishops from 165 countries worldwide.
The resolution also encourages every diocese within the Anglican Church to pass a similar resolution at their next Synod and to work with the South African Council of Churches to achieve justice for the Palestinians.
Palestinians have welcomed the passing of the resolution.
“Palestinians simply want to achieve peace, freedom, justice and dignity, and this resolution is an important step in forcing Israel to comply with international law and end its illegal occupation of Palestine,” Palestinian ambassador to South Africa, Hashem Dajani, told the Afro-Palestine Newswire Service. Dajani hoped that other denominations and groups would replicate the Anglican Church resolution.
Speaking from the besieged Gaza Strip, Hamas spokesperson, Basem Naim, said that the resolution was an important show of solidarity with the Palestinian people and their cause and “encourages us to continue our struggle against the occupation.”
26 sept 2019
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The report included a large number of examples the ministry of strategic affairs said were gathered from activists’ social media, such as a cartoon of Netanyahu holding a butcher’s axe flanked by Orthodox Jews and confronting Palestinian stone throwers
Israeli and U.S. officials warned Wednesday of a rise in attacks on Jews in western Europe and urged European Union leaders to stop funding organizations that support an international boycott of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians. Gilad Erdan, Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, said before meeting with a group of European lawmakers that the EU should make sure its money does not go to groups that support the Palestinian-led boycott movement. |
In Brussels, Erdan also released a report cataloguing alleged examples of BDS branches or activists using anti-Semitic content in their campaigns.
He accused movement activists of hiding their true agenda behind liberal values such as protecting human rights and freedom of expression.
The grassroots BDS campaign, founded in 2005, calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israeli businesses, cultural institutions and universities.
The campaign compares itself to the anti-apartheid movement targeting South Africa in the second half of the 20th century and its nonviolent message has resonated with audiences around the world.
But Israel says the movement, which has among its goals the return of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to former homes in Israel, masks a deeper aim of delegitimizing or even destroying the country.
“We have proven beyond a doubt that BDS is an anti-Semitic campaign led by supporters of terror with one purpose: the elimination of the Jewish state,” Erdan said.
The report included a large number of examples the ministry of strategic affairs said were gathered from BDS activists’ social media, for instance a cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding a butcher’s axe flanked by Orthodox Jews and confronting Palestinian stone throwers.
BDS leaders deny allegations of anti-Semitism, saying their campaign is against Israeli policies.
“With its alliances with fascist and anti-Semitic forces around the world, Israel’s far-right regime is in no position to preach about fighting anti-Jewish bigotry,” Omar Barghouti, a BDS founder, said.
“Its propaganda claims against the anti-racist BDS movement for Palestinian rights are as credible as Trump’s climate protection credentials.”
Erdan spoke alongside U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Elan Carr at a news conference to launch the report, titled “Behind the Mask: The Anti-Semitic Nature of BDS Exposed,” that urges world leaders to stop funding groups linked to the movement.
“I am here to express the United States’ position that this is anti-Semitism, and we stand unequivocally with the State of Israel in combatting this scourge,” Carr said.
AdvertisementIsrael called on the EU last year to stop funding more than a dozen European and Palestinian non-governmental organizations, alleging some of the NGOs had links to militant groups.
The European Union opposes the BDS movement and denies funding boycott activities but has defended the movement’s activities as falling under the right to free speech.
Erdan said he hopes the EU’s departing foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, will cut ties with BDS-linked organizations before leaving her post. In July, she said the bloc was not funding work related to boycott activities.
In a statement released Wednesday, the EU said it has not changed its position regarding the BDS.
“While it upholds its policy of clearly distinguishing between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied by it since 1967, the EU rejects any attempts to isolate Israel and does not support calls for a boycott,” it said.
According to numbers compiled by Tel Aviv University, anti-Semitic attacks worldwide rose 13% from 2017 to in 2018. The United States, France, Britain and Germany had the most attacks.
In a survey last year for the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency, nearly 85 percent of the Jewish respondents said they considered hate crimes to be a serious problem.
Carr said anti-Semitism has become a major enough issue in Europe that many Jews are thinking about emigrating.
“These numbers should be disturbing to absolutely everybody,” Carr said.
“Not just to Jews. This isn’t Right or Left, it’s not Jews or non-Jews. Nobody, no normal person should think this is acceptable.”
He accused movement activists of hiding their true agenda behind liberal values such as protecting human rights and freedom of expression.
The grassroots BDS campaign, founded in 2005, calls for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israeli businesses, cultural institutions and universities.
The campaign compares itself to the anti-apartheid movement targeting South Africa in the second half of the 20th century and its nonviolent message has resonated with audiences around the world.
But Israel says the movement, which has among its goals the return of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants to former homes in Israel, masks a deeper aim of delegitimizing or even destroying the country.
“We have proven beyond a doubt that BDS is an anti-Semitic campaign led by supporters of terror with one purpose: the elimination of the Jewish state,” Erdan said.
The report included a large number of examples the ministry of strategic affairs said were gathered from BDS activists’ social media, for instance a cartoon of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding a butcher’s axe flanked by Orthodox Jews and confronting Palestinian stone throwers.
BDS leaders deny allegations of anti-Semitism, saying their campaign is against Israeli policies.
“With its alliances with fascist and anti-Semitic forces around the world, Israel’s far-right regime is in no position to preach about fighting anti-Jewish bigotry,” Omar Barghouti, a BDS founder, said.
“Its propaganda claims against the anti-racist BDS movement for Palestinian rights are as credible as Trump’s climate protection credentials.”
Erdan spoke alongside U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism Elan Carr at a news conference to launch the report, titled “Behind the Mask: The Anti-Semitic Nature of BDS Exposed,” that urges world leaders to stop funding groups linked to the movement.
“I am here to express the United States’ position that this is anti-Semitism, and we stand unequivocally with the State of Israel in combatting this scourge,” Carr said.
AdvertisementIsrael called on the EU last year to stop funding more than a dozen European and Palestinian non-governmental organizations, alleging some of the NGOs had links to militant groups.
The European Union opposes the BDS movement and denies funding boycott activities but has defended the movement’s activities as falling under the right to free speech.
Erdan said he hopes the EU’s departing foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, will cut ties with BDS-linked organizations before leaving her post. In July, she said the bloc was not funding work related to boycott activities.
In a statement released Wednesday, the EU said it has not changed its position regarding the BDS.
“While it upholds its policy of clearly distinguishing between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied by it since 1967, the EU rejects any attempts to isolate Israel and does not support calls for a boycott,” it said.
According to numbers compiled by Tel Aviv University, anti-Semitic attacks worldwide rose 13% from 2017 to in 2018. The United States, France, Britain and Germany had the most attacks.
In a survey last year for the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency, nearly 85 percent of the Jewish respondents said they considered hate crimes to be a serious problem.
Carr said anti-Semitism has become a major enough issue in Europe that many Jews are thinking about emigrating.
“These numbers should be disturbing to absolutely everybody,” Carr said.
“Not just to Jews. This isn’t Right or Left, it’s not Jews or non-Jews. Nobody, no normal person should think this is acceptable.”
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