Category: Press Releases

60 Years of Nakba: 21,915 Black Balloons Over Jerusalem

Click here to visit website of ’60 Years of Nakba’

To celebrate 60 years of independence, Israel is planning a large-scale birthday bash with events taking place in many different countries around the world. In Jerusalem, a 3-day conference, under the title “Facing Tomorrow” is planned from May 13 – 15, to which many world leaders, such as U.S. President Bush, and French President Sarkozy, and celebrities such Steven Spielberg have been invited and plan to attend.

It is wrong to celebrate and we need to do something BIG to make the world, and those gathered to celebrate Israel, see and hear us. We* have this idea and we need your help to make it happen! On May 15, we will launch 21,915 (365 days x 60 years) black balloons over the skies of Jerusalem. We aim to turn the skies over Israel’s celebrations black to let people know that there is another side of the story, a side of heartache, suffering and dispossession. At the same time, each balloon will carry a letter from a Palestinian child expressing his/her hope for the future, to let the world know that we believe in and dream of justice.

Please help us make this happen by buying a balloon! $1.00 will help us cover the cost of 3 balloons. Please buy 3, 6, or 9 balloons (or more!) and be part of our action. Donation information below.

Other things that you can do:

* On May 15, we are asking everyone, wherever he or she is, to wear back. PLEASE WEAR BLACK!
* WRITE LETTERS, or help collect letters from Palestinian children. You can email us the letters and we will print them out and attach to the balloons that we will launch;
* If you are in Palestine, volunteer to help us inflate and LAUNCH the balloons on May 15;
* Wherever you are, consider doing an action in SOLIDARITY with our action (in addition to whatever else you may be planning). For example, you can launch your own balloons, fly black kites, march with black banners, etc.

To donate to the cost of the balloons, you can:

* Use Paypal: Donate online at www.60yearsofnakba.org or at www.paypal.com and list the beneficiary as balloons@60yearsofnakba.org

* Make a bank transfer:
+ HSBC Bank — Ramallah
Account name: Palestinian Strategic Initiative
Acct No: 011-026630-087
Swift Code: BBMEPS22
Contact Number: +970-599-130-426

Ha’aretz: Senior official in Dubai government: Leviev has no license for opening a store in the Emirates

Senior official in Dubai government: Leviev has no license for opening a store in the Emirates

The Marker: Ha’aretz Daily’s Hebrew-language business magazine (Israel), click here to view

(Translated by Adalah-NY)

May 1, 2008

By Ora Coren and Michal Ramati

The “Gulf News” reported yesterday that the Leviev jewelry chain has no license to open a store in Dubai. Leviev has recently announced his intention to open two stores in Dubai.

“We are aware of the reports but we have not granted a license to a business by the name of ‘Leviev,'” said Ali Ebrahim, deputy manager for foreign affairs in Dubai to the “Gulf News.” In light of the Arab boycott of Israel, Israeli businesses are not allowed in the Gulf Emirates. Ebrahim has told “Gulf News” that measures were taken to make sure that Israelis will not operate in Dubai even through the use of non-Israeli partners.

However, Leviev already owns a store in Dubai through a local partner under the name “Levant.” The store opened on March 18 at the Al Qasr hotel in the Emirate. The two additional stores are expected to be opened with the help of the Moroccan-Palestinian agent who opened the first store, Arif Bin Khadra. When asked if he knows about Leviev’s involvement in construction in the West Bank, he told “Gulf News” that “such questions are not asked in the diamond world.”

Dubai has become a diamond trading center in recent years and opened its doors to Israeli businessmen as well, including Idan Ofer, but tried to keep the contacts relatively secret. However, it seems that Leviev’s public declaration has caused pro-Palestinian and perhaps business competitors to apply pressure which led to the recent statements.

A spokesperson for the Leviev brand in Israel said that Leviev has opened two flagship stores in Dubai a year ago through a local licensed businessman who got a permit for operating the stores: “We regret that commercial interests are constantly making use of political bodies to advance their interests.”

Following boycott call, Dubai says Leviev has no license for planned jewelry stores

Adalah-NY Contact: info@adalahny.org, www.adalahny.org

New York, NY, April 30 – In a sudden reversal, just 16 days after Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev publicly announced plans to open two new jewelry stores in Dubai this year, a high-level Dubai government official said that Leviev had no trade license to open a store in the Emirate. The report today in Dubai’s Gulf News, followed a flurry of media coverage of the April 18 call by Palestinians and New York activists for Dubai to boycott Leviev’s businesses over his companies’ settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Issa Ayoub, a spokesperson for Adalah-NY, an activist group leading a boycott campaign against Leviev, commented, “We’re gratified that, by refusing trade licenses for Leviev, Dubai has joined the growing movement to boycott Leviev’s companies due to their violations of international law and human rights abuses in Palestine and Angola. We repeat our call to the people of Dubai to stop entirely the sale of Leviev’s jewelry, even in local stores. Israeli businesses like Leviev’s need to be held accountable for their role oppressing the Palestinian people.”

An April 30th article, “Israeli has no trade license to open shop in Dubai”, by Abbas Al Luwati in Dubai’s Gulf News (archive.gulfnews.com/nation/General/10209492.html) quoted Ali Ebrahim, Deputy Director General for Executive Affairs in Dubai saying, “We are aware of these reports and have not granted a trade licence to any business of this name. If such an application does come to us we will deal with it accordingly.” According to the article, “Ebrahim said Israeli citizens were not allowed to operate in Dubai, adding that “precautionary measures” are taken to ensure that they do not. He added that Israeli businesses would be prevented from operating in Dubai through non-Israeli partners.”

The article dwelt on Adalah-NY’s exposure of Leviev’s companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in violation of international law. Danya-Cebus, a subsidiary of Leviev’s company Africa-Israel, has recently built settlement homes in Mattityahu East on the land of the West Bank village of Bil’in, as well as in Har Homa on Jabal Abu Ghneim, and in Maale Adumim, two settlements which aim to isolate East Jerusalem from the West Bank, and ensure Israeli control of the city. Additionally, Leviev’s company Leader operates and develops the settlement of Zufim on the village of Jayyous’ land. Leviev has also been an important donor to the settler organization the Land Redemption Fund that has used deceit and strong-arm tactics to secure land for settlement expansion.

A widely reported April 14th press release from Leviev’s publicist had announced “the opening of two new LEVIEV stores in Dubai in 2008.” The release claimed that, “One LEVIEV store will be a flagship boutique located in the most prestigious section of the Burj Dubai Mall… The LEVIEV Dubai flagship will be a full-fledged LEVIEV store.” The second store was described as “a LEVIEV mini-boutique in the lobby of the new and exclusive Atlantis Hotel resort on the world-famous Jumeirah Palm Island”, with “key attributes of the LEVIEV stores in London, New York and Moscow.” Leviev’s jewelry has been sold at Levant Jewelers in the Al-Qasr Hotel since March, 2008. Leviev claimed that the planned store openings were, “the next step for the evolution of our brand as Dubai is another epicenter of what we are witnessing in the world today:”

Daniel Lang/Levitsky of Jews Against the Occupation-NYC noted, “We’ve found support from New York to Dubai for the call to boycott Leviev’s businesses as soon as people know that his companies are destroying Palestinian villages, and extracting tens of millions of dollars of diamonds in Angola while committing severe human rights violations there and leaving local communities in poverty. Leviev claimed on one of his websites that he supported the charity Oxfam; when we brought this to Oxfam’s attention they immediately denied any ties to Leviev and repudiated him due to his violations of international law. We believe others will do the same until Leviev’s companies cease their attacks on human rights in Palestine, Angola, and elsewhere.”

New Yorkers & Palestinians call on Dubai to boycott Leviev jewelry

New York, NY, April 18 – New York human rights activists, and representatives of the West Bank Palestinian villages of Bil’in and Jayyous called on the government and the people of the United Arab Emirates to boycott the jewelry stores of Israeli billionaire and diamond magnate Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements. According to a flurry of recent media reports, Leviev is opening jewelry stores in Dubai during 2008.

“We call on the government and people of the United Arab Emirates to join the growing international campaign to boycott Lev Leviev’s companies due to their construction of Israeli colonial settlements, and their human rights violations in Angola,” declared Daniel
Lang-Levitsky of Jews Against the Occupation-NYC. “A major Israeli violator of Palestinian rights and international law should not be opening jewelry stores in Dubai,” added Adalah-NY spokesperson Issa Ayoub. Adalah-NY has organized eight boycott protests outside Leviev’s new Madison Avenue jewelry store over the last five months.

In the last few days, media have reported that Lev Leviev Diamonds will open two stores in Dubai this year. In the fourth quarter of 2008, construction will begin on a store to be located in the Burj Dubai Mall. The second will open in September in the new Atlantis Hotel on Jumeirah Palm Island. Leviev has already opened one store in Dubai in March, 2008 in the lobby of Al-Qasr Hotel on Madinat Jumeirah.

Leviev’s company Leader is building the settlement of Zufim on the land of the West Bank village of Jayyous. The company Danya Cebus, a subsidiary of Leviev’s Africa-Israel, has also built Israeli settlements on the land of the village of Bil’in, and has built homes in Maale Adumim and Har Homa on Jabal Abu Ghneim, encircling and cutting off East Jerusalem from the West Bank. Israel is building its wall to the east of all these settlements, with the aim of annexing them to Israel. Leviev also donates to the Land Redemption Fund, an Israeli settler organization which has used deceit and strong-arm tactics to secure Israeli-occupied Palestinian land for settlements in villages like Bil’in and Jayyous.

Israeli settlements directly violate international law according to the UN, all major human rights organizations and the International Court of Justice’s 2004 advisory opinion on Israel’s wall. The IJC’s opinion also said that states are responsible for ensuring that Israel complies with international law.

Abdullah Abu-Rahme from Bil’in and Sharif Omar from Jayyous explained, “Leviev’s companies are destroying the olive groves and farms that have sustained our villages for centuries, and are
profiting from human rights abuses.” The growing international movement to boycott Israel has developed in response to the 2005 Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) call by 171 Palestinian civil society organizations (www.bds-palestine.net) asking for “people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to” apartheid South Africa in order to end “Israel’s
persistent violations of international law,” and “colonial and discriminatory policies.”

In Angola, Leviev works closely with the repressive Dos Santos regime to mine and sell the country’s diamonds, and he employs the private security firm K&P Mineira, which has been accused of torturing, sexually abusing and even murdering Angolans. According to the
non-profit watchdog group Partnership Africa Canada, around 10% of the diamonds sold from Angola, including some of Leviev’s, fail to comply with the Kimberley Process which was created to end the trade in “blood diamonds.”

For more information: www.adalahny.org,
info@adalahny.org

CPT: Hebron orphanages and schools for 7,000 children ordered closed

For more information about CPT’s work in Palestine click here

Last night (April 1st 2008) approximately 300 women, including teachers, mothers and students, protested the shut down of their school and orphanages by the Israeli government. This is one of several schools and orphanages serving 7,000 orphans and students in the Hebron area. Internationals, including Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and others committed to non-violence, slept in the school expecting armed Israeli soldiers to come and seal up the doors.

The Israeli High Court have just extended the order by one week. This evening internationals have arrived to stay in the school for the night because no one has seen a copy of the written order. There’s also a presence at one of the boys schools by the men and boys of the community. Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh, an articulate defender of her school and friends who will become
homeless, joined her classmates in last night’s protest. Her descriptive letter to Oprah is below.

Dianne Roe, who works with the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) in Hebron, cried when she was interviewing sixteen-year-old Rabina. Below is a news release distributed by CPT and a letter that Rabina,
who was raised in Houston, Texas, who wrote to Oprah last week.

Sixteen year-old American-born Rabiha Abu Sneineh will join her classmates tonight in facing armed Israeli soldiers if the Israeli army carries out the order effective 1 April closing orphanages and schools funded by Islamic Charities that serves 7,000 children.

Two years ago Rabiha was a teenager in Houston, Texas where she was treasurer of the student council and loved going to the mall with her friends. Her new friends are her classmates at the Girls’ orphanage
school in Hebron. Last year they helped her learn Arabic and integrate into her new surroundings. Now she wants to help them.

Dear Oprah,

My name is Rabiha Abusnineh and I am 16 and a half years old. For the first fifteen years of my life, I have lived in Houston, Texas in the United States of America. I was really happy there because I had everything I wanted. For instance, I had a 3.9 GPA and I had awesome friends and went to a really good school (North Shore High School). But all that changed when I moved to Hebron, Palestine in August of 2006. I didn’t know the Arabic language at all but over time and practice and a lot of repetition I have learned it and become the highest ranking in my class due to endless cooperation from my school.

I go to Al-Shar’iya Secondary School for Girls but it is not just any normal school. It is a school of 650 girls, 500 of them being orphans that depend on the school for a place to study, to eat, to sleep, to
get treated if they’re sick, to get school supplies, and probably every other necessity they need to live. And now for some reason the Israeli Occupation wants to close it down along with its other branches that include a school for orphaned boys and an elementary school for orphaned children. What they do not realize is that if they were to close the Islamic Charitable Society which funds these orphanage schools, they would be kicking some of these orphans into the street with no one to care or to spend on them.

They say that these orphans practice terrorism and due to their false accusations they have confiscated all of the properties and the income that are required to care for the orphans and the buses that transport them from their homes to the school and they’ve closed down the bakery that extends bread to the orphans to sustain their hunger and they’ve stolen all the food in the food pantry that contains canned goods and meats for the orphans and they’ve confiscated the warehouse that contains school supplies and clothes for the orphans. I declare that these are not things used for terrorism so why have they taken them? And now they have given the different orphan schools warning to be closed by April the first.

My school and the Palestinian people have done plenty of things to stop this decision that came out about a month ago. We have marched and protested all with out any result. I ask you Oprah as a last resort to please please please help! I am asking you not for money but to help spread awareness on this situation and to help people see that the students of this school are orphans that have lost their fathers or mothers or both and in that lost their main source of income and their main source of love and care. This is not a political situation but rather it is a humanitarian one. Ever since I was a kindergarten in America I have learned that “All men were created equally” and that the American people have “the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”. If we were all created equally then us striving for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness shouldn’t differ between Americans, Palestinians, Africans or any one else.

I have been taught to stand up for what I believe in and what I believe has nothing to do with politics because I’ve always been neutral but Oprah by studying at this school and seeing everything that is provided I can not imagine what life is going to be like if it closes down so I will stand by them to the very end until they get back their rights. I ask you Oprah to please respond to this message as soon as possible because there is roughly a week left until the Israeli Occupation decide to carry out their inhumane and heartless plan. I watch your show about every week day here from Saturday-Wednesday and so does practically every other girl in my school. They see you as a source of kindness and compassion due to your help with building the African Schools and your help with a lot of different things. Please help them see that personally by helping them. Again all I ask for is coverage and awareness and hopefully a visit from you. Your reward will be in heaven. God Bless You for you are surely one of my role models and what I strive to be like when I’m older.

Thank you again for being my role model and for any help that you can offer.

Sincerely,
Rabiha Abusnineh

P.S. Please hurry!! God Bless You and all of your staff and crew!