This weekend the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) conference was held in Jerusalem, despite pressure from human rights groups for it to be held elsewhere or not at all. After their insistence on holding the conference here, ignoring Israel’s blatant violations of international law and colluding with their aspirations to claim Jerusalem as an Israeli capitol, we were forced as activists with conscience to confront the participants with criticism, posters, and a giant banner.
We came upon a detailed schedule for the “Round Table” conference of high profile OECD ambassadors, and were thus able to meet them at the Jerusalem Bird Observatory, 8:30 AM on Friday. Our signs had pictures of ostriches with their heads buried in the sand, and the slogan “Don’t Close Your Eyes to Apartheid” in several different languages. They were surprised to find us there. We were told to stand at the exit, but all of the ambassadors still had to pass us on their way out. A few smiled, but most quickly averted their eyes or glared at us.
click for full sizeSaturday we dropped a ten meter wide banner off the Calatrava bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem, that again said “Don’t Close Your Eyes to Apartheid,” and had an “OECD Approved” stamp over a photo of the Apartheid Wall. As a result of Shebat, there were no police in the area so our banner remained in place for at least a few hours. Some Israeli passersby attempted to untie the banner, but were unsuccessful due to our proficiencies in knotting. A few boys tried to pull the banner back up onto the bridge, but when they saw us filming them they threw it back over and ran away.
click for full sizeDespite Israel’s persistent violation of human rights as protected by International law, the OECD — whose member countries include most of the rich countries of the world — granted Israel membership on May 27th this year. This not only symbolized diplomatic approval of Israel’s policies on the part of the most powerful countries in the international community, but also brought many potential economic benefits to Israel.
Turkey will not send any delegation to a biannual tourism conference in Israel later this month, the country’s culture minister said Tuesday, marking the first boycott of Israel on a multilateral level since a deadly raid on a Turkish aid ship in May.
Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay told a group of reporters Tuesday that Turkey would not send any representative to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, conference on Oct. 20-22 in Jerusalem. “Regrettable statements have been made. We want tourism to take place, not politics,” he said.
Diplomatic sources told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review that the Turkish decision would mark the first boycott of Israel on a multilateral platform. Despite the May 31 flotilla incident, an Israeli Foreign Ministry diplomat attended a meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, or CICA, last week in Ankara.
Initially, Turkey intended to send the ministry’s deputy undersecretary, Özgür Özaslan, to the tourism conference, but Ankara changed its decision after evaluating the situation.
Spain and Britain will also not attend the OECD conference.
Israeli press claimed Palestinians were pressuring European countries to shun the conference on sustainable tourism, which normally takes place in Paris, on the grounds that the event would take place in east Jerusalem, considered the capital of the future Palestinian state.
Diplomatic sources, however, told the Daily News that the conference would take place in west Jerusalem.
The International Solidarity Movement is calling on activists to protest in Jerusalem in the third week of October against the annual tourism conference of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) which should not be held in the occupied capital of an apartheid state in violation of a plethora of international laws.
>>>>> ISRAEL IN THE OECD:
Despite Israel’s persistent violation of human rights as protected by the law, the OECD – whose member countries include most of the rich countries of the world – granted Israel membership on May 27th this year. This not only symbolized diplomatic approval of Israel’s policies on the part of the most powerful countries in the international community, but also brought many potential economic benefits to Israel.
>>>>> ABOUT THE CONFERENCE & JERUSALEM:
The conference consists of 2 parts, in total lasting three days (Oct 20th-22nd). According to the official website the war criminal Shimon Peres will be attending, along with representatives from each of the powerful OECD nations. Its stated aim is to discuss how to make the tourism industry ‘greener’.
Having disgracefully admitted Israel to the OECD, this conference represents a further instance of the international community deliberately turning a blind eye to the slow and insidious ongoing process of ethnic cleansing taking place in Jerusalem in which Israel is clearly working to ‘Judaize’ all areas of Jerusalem, employing numerous means to this end, including: evictions of Palestinians from their homes, house demolitions, residency permit revocation, settler takeovers of Palestinian houses, illegal settlement construction, land confiscation, discriminatory allocation of municipal resources, police persecution combined with impunity for settlers, restrictions on freedom of movement, permit systems and legal discrimination against Palestinians. This is occurring everywhere inside Israel but is perhaps most acutely felt in Palestinian East Jerusalem neighbourhoods such as Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan.
>>>>> OPPOSITION TO THE CONFERENCE:
Because it is unacceptable that Jerusalem plays host to the wealthiest and most influential members of the international community and allows them to ignore Israel’s crimes happening in plain sight, a letter of protest was issued jointly by the Alternative Tourism Group, Kairos Palestine and Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism.
The Boycott National Committee has also issued a letter, pointing out that “Rather than condemning such illegal practices under international law, the OECD conference will cement Israel’s hold on occupied Jerusalem, and will be perceived as a stamp of approval of Israel’s violations of international law in Jerusalem and elsewhere.”
The BNC ‘s statement also points out that “Internationally, tourism is overtly deployed by Israel to ‘rebrand’ the state as an attractive holiday destination, and to cover up its occupation, colonization and apartheid policies.” By turning a blind eye to war crimes and holding this conference in Israel, OECD members are sending a signal that they are willing to be complicit with Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and actively support Israel’s PR efforts to whitewash its illegal practices.
It concludes: “The OECD ought to respect its own obligations under international law and relocate this ill-conceived conference out of Israel. Failing to do so will further undermine the organization’s already dismal respect for human rights and the international rule of law.”
>>>>> PROTESTING THE CONFERENCE:
But sadly it seems unlikely that the rich nations of the world that make up the OECD membership will relocate this conference. So instead we must ensure that it is not carried out in the heart of Jerusalem without attention being drawn to the issues of real importance. No business as usual at the expense of justice!
No-one organising or participating in this conference can make a credible claim to be ignorant to Jerusalem’s ugly realities – occupation, racism, and the destruction of lives.
It’s clear they are trying to avoid the issue – just take a look at the sentence that’s been guiltily omitted from the description of Jerusalem used here on the OECD conference website compared to the otherwise identical description supplied here on a separate conference site. (The OECD description omits the sentence about Jerusalem’s Old City, in an attempt to avoid controversy). They also take pains to note in their expensive package tour offers for delegates that the Jerusalem tour covers the west of the city only.
But it’s not enough to try and skirt this issue this way. They are and rightly should be politically sensitive to this issue and must be embarrassed and shamed for choosing to hold the conference in Jerusalem despite Israel’s continual flouting of international law, violation of human rights and oppression of Palestinians inside Israel, in the occupied West Bank and in besieged Gaza.
Contact – palreports@gmail.com if you can come to Jerusalem to protest this event in October.
>>>>> OTHER EVENTS IN OCTOBER:
* Olive Harvest
If you’re coming to Jerusalem in October to protest the conference, you could also spend 2 or more weeks on the Olive Harvest campaign run annually in Palestine, where volunteers support farmers to harvest their crops. Approx Oct 8th – Nov 20th. More information here.
* Rachel Corrie Trial Dates and Commemoration Event
October will also be an important time for ISM and for the family, friends and supporters of Rachel Corrie. The last trial dates in the court case, which represents the most important hope for justice in the seven-year struggle, will be happening in late October (possibly one in early November). People are encouraged to attend the court in Haifa, Israel. See Rachel Corrie Foundation site for more info.
Although a verdict will likely not be announced until the spring, ISM in the West Bank are hoping to organize a commemoration event including a screening of the film ‘Rachel’ by Simone Bitton and hopefully Rachel’s parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie, will be able to attend. An exact date and venue will be confirmed nearer the time.
More than 150 Israeli academics say they will no longer lecture or work in Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
In a letter, they said they supported the recent decision by a group of actors and others not to take part in cultural activity there.
The academics said that acceptance of the settlements caused “critical” damage to Israel’s chances of achieving peace with the Palestinians.
The actors were criticised for refusing to perform at a new cultural centre.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the last thing Israel needed as it resumed direct peace talks was a boycott from within.
In a letter published on Sunday, the academics said they would no longer take part in any kind of cultural activity, or lecture in any kind of academic setting, in settlements built on land occupied following the Middle East war – demarcated by what is commonly known as the “Green Line”.
They explained that they wanted to show support and solidarity for the 53 actors, writers and directors who last week said they would not take part in performances at the new cultural centre built in Ariel.
“We’d like to remind the Israeli public that, like all settlements, Ariel is also in occupied territory,” the academics said.
“If a future peace agreement with the Palestinian authorities puts Ariel within Israel’s borders, then it will be treated like any other Israeli town.”
“Legitimatisation and acceptance of the settler enterprise cause critical damage to Israel’s chances of achieving a peace accord with its Palestinian neighbours.”
Close to 500,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements built since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
A separate letter, signed by a number of well-known Israeli authors and artists, is expected to be published in the coming days.
Yigal Cohen-Orgad, the chancellor of the Ariel University Centre, told Haaretz newspaper on Tuesday that “stupid behaviour seems to attract academic stupidity”.
Several right-wing politicians have criticised the actors, saying they are subsidised by the Israeli state and should have their funds withdrawn if they refuse to work in any settlements.
Norway divests from companies illegally building Israeli settlements.
New York, NY – In a major victory for the international movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, the Norwegian government announced today that it has divested from Lev Leviev’s company Africa Israel Investments and its construction subsidiary Danya Cebus due to their construction of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The move followed a campaign of more than a year by affected Palestinian villages of Bil’in and Jayyous and by Norwegian, Palestinian, Israeli, and international activist groups, including Adalah-NY, calling on the Norwegian government to divest from Africa Israel.
The companies of Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev have been the target of a boycott campaign that led UNICEF and Oxfam to renounce donations from Leviev, the British government to sever business ties with Leviev, celebrities to seek distance from him, and divestment by other major investment firms.
We’ve achieved another major victory in our struggle of protests and boycotts against Israeli apartheid. On April 21st, 2009 we wrote the government of Norway calling for them to divest from Africa Israel because it is one company that built the settlement of Mattityahu East on Bil’in’s land, and they responded that they were investigating. It is victories like this that demonstrate our commitment to continue our struggle for justice, despite Israel’s efforts to crush it through a campaign of arrests and intimidation, targeting activists like Abdallah Abu Rahmah from Bil’in who will be sentenced tomorrow for being an organizer.
Palestinian protest and boycott organizers like Abu Rahmah, Khatib, Mohammad Othman from Jayyous and Jamal Juma’ have all been arrested recently by Israel for their nonviolent activities, and Israel’s Knesset is reviewing a bill to criminalize pro-boycott activities by Israeli citizens.
In addition to divesting from Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus, the Norwegian Government announced divestment from the Malaysian Company Samling Global over its forestry operations. The Norwegian government had previously divested from the Israeli company Elbit Systems, due to its role in building Israel’s wall in the Occupied West Bank in violation of international law. The Norwegian government is maintaining its holdings in another Africa Israel subsidiary, Africa Israel Properties, saying it is not directly involved in settlement construction.
Riham Barghouti from Adalah-NY explained,
I met with a senior advisor from Norway’s Council on Ethics at their Oslo offices in May, 2010 to encourage them to divest from Africa Israel. So I’m glad to see that the Norwegian government has upheld its commitment to international law, and we encourage them to continue reviewing and divesting from other companies in their portfolio that are complicit in Israeli apartheid, including Africa Israel Properties.
Jamal Juma’, the Coordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign and a member of the Palestinian Boycott National Committee, noted,
We appreciate the Norwegian Finance Ministry’s commitment to upholding international law through continuing to divest from companies profiting from Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. It is a significant milestone in the Palestinian-led BDS movement aimed at holding Israel accountable for its violations of international and humanitarian law. We hope that the Norwegian Pension fund will fully divest from Israeli crimes through severing links with all Israeli companies and international companies complicit with Israeli violations of international law, and hope that other governments follow the lead of Norway until Israel ends its oppression and occupation of the Palestinian people.
On April 21, 2009, Bil’in’s Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements sent a letter to Norway’s Council on Ethics calling for Norway to divest from Africa Israel. The West Bank village of Jayyous where a different Leviev company, Leader Management and Development, is building the Zufim settlement, followed with a May 4th letter calling on Norway to divest. On May 11, 2009, eleven organizations from Norway, Europe, Palestine, Israel and the US sent a letter to Norway’s Council on Ethics supporting the letters from Bil’in and Jayyous.
Sharif Omar of Jayyous’ Land Defence Committee added,
We welcome this decision by the Norwegian government to divest from some of Leviev’s companies. But another Leviev company, Leader Management and Development, continues today to build settlements on Jayyous’ land. We call for additional international action to pressure these companies and the Israeli government to end construction and return our stolen farmland.
