Tag: BDS

Giving credit where credit is due

It seems ISM has been accused of being behind another conspiracy theory. This time the backlash to the One Voice Normalization event is the fault of ISM. In fact, the only thing ISM has done about the event is repost a call to boycott from PACBI. Below you will find an excerpt from Mr. Lubetzky’s blog, a response from PACBI, and a response from a solidarity activist.

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Daniel Lubetzky wrote:

The Bad Guys Uncovered…

Per my prior blog post, I could have placed my bet on who is behind the “boycott” of the OneVoice Summit…

…No one other than the “International Solidarity Movement.”

Read the full blog entry here:
http://blog.peaceworks.net/2007/10/the-bad-guys-uncovered/

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PACBI wrote:

Dear Mr. Lubetzky,

This is in response to your having uncovered the bad guys. The statement that has been calling for a boycott of the Jericho Tel Aviv One Voice event was initiated by PACBI, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel in collaboration with several Palestinian cultural centers, and organizations.

The call is not the first call for a boycott of a normalization event, or project, nor will it be the last (please refer to our website www.pacbi.org). It is supported by a general call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions endorsed by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, better known as the call for BDS.

Our main aim of the statement (https://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/10/03/pacbi-celebrating-peace-or-camouflaging-apartheid/) is to inform the Palestinian public, that might be unaware, that they are being lured into attending a so called “free concert” or festival, when in fact they are being required to “vote” on a ten point mandate that would be the basis for a negotiated Peace.

We believe that your organization’s mandate contributes to the confusion that has been perpetuated by the state of Israel, and its various lobbying efforts all around the world, that aim to blur the distinction between the victim, and the victimizer, the oppressor, and the oppressed, and presents Palestinians and Israelis as equal partners on a bargaining table, with no regard to Palestinian right to self determination, freedom, equality and justice.

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An Activist wrote:

By portraying the conflict as balanced between equal sides with equal responsibilities, and by defining the root of the problem as violence and extremism while ignoring the context of displacement, dispossession, and occupation, in which this violence and extremism occur, you are misrepresenting the conflict in a way that damages the chances of ever achieving a just solution.

The concept of two states has been co opted by the American and Israeli administrations to mean apartheid. The Israeli state annexing the settlement blocs and the Palestinians living in Bantustans. The concept of a just solution for the refugees has been co opted to mean the refugees giving up the right of return for a right to return to Israeli controlled open air prisons. That is the “Peace” that you are supporting.

PACBI: Celebrating Peace or Camouflaging Apartheid?

Boycott the Jericho-Tel Aviv Public Events on October 18th!

On October 18th, One Million Voices, an organization led by Israelis and international figures with the support of some Palestinians, is organizing a public event in Jericho and Tel Aviv, simultaneously. The event will include performances by renowned artists Brian Adams and Ilham Madfa’i. As stated on the organization’s English webpage, the objective of the event is to “mark the first time that massive numbers of Israelis and Palestinians gather simultaneously to unite against violent extremism.”

According to the widely accepted boycott criteria advocated by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), the event falls under the category of normalization projects and violates the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), endorsed by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, trade unions, political parties, and grassroots movements, for the following reasons:

1. Participants are required to join the One Voice Movement and sign a mandate — ostensibly based on a “two-state solution,” but without any commitment to international parameters — which assumes equal responsibility of “both sides” for the “conflict,” and suspiciously fails to call for Israel’s full compliance with its obligations under international law through ending its illegal military occupation, its denial of Palestinian refugee rights (particularly the right of return), and its system of racial discrimination against its own Palestinian citizens.

2. The event is sponsored by Israeli institutions (mostly from the private sector) and endorsed by mainstream Israeli political figures from parties including the Likud and Shas. These Israeli “partners” are unquestionably complicit in maintaining Israel ‘s occupation and other forms of oppression.

We believe this event is being organized to promote a “peace” agreement that is devoid of the minimal requirements of justice, and that will leave the Palestinian people as disenfranchised as previous agreements have. The unfortunate and harmful support of Palestinian businessmen, religious and political figures, among others, for this event indicates either ignorance of the hidden agenda inherent in the whole initiative, deceptively camouflaged as a collective call for peace, or willingness to forfeit the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in return for advancing selfish interests.

We call on the Palestinian public and international supporters of a just peace in Palestine not to take part in this public relations charade that conceals a misleading political program that falls significantly short of international law tenets and the Palestinian national program.

We call on Arab and Palestinian artists, in particular, not to participate in this or any similar event whose real objectives have nothing to do with genuine peace.

We call on Palestinian board members of the One Million Voices to withdraw their support for this movement that only serves to blind the Palestinian public and sidetrack it from struggling, with the solidarity of its international supporters, for its UN-sanctioned rights, for justice, equality and freedom.

AL-HAQ: UK High Court to hear legal challenge to UK arms sales to Israel

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UK High Court of Justice to Hear Legal Challenge on UK Sale of Arms-Related Equipment to Israel

19 September 2007

A full public hearing will be held before the UK High Court of Justice in London on 10 -11 October 2007 in the case of R (Saleh Hasan) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Following the blanket refusal by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to respond to the claimant’s request for a justification of UK policy on arms-related sales to Israel, the High Court will hear arguments in a claim filed on 15 November 2006 by UK Solicitor Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers (PIL), in cooperation with Al-Haq.

PIL will argue that the UK’s sale of arms-related equipment to Israel is in breach of UK obligations under international law as well as UK statutory law, specifically, the UK Export Control Act of 2002, which incorporates the “consolidated criteria” governing the export of military equipment. According to these criteria, the UK government may not issue export licenses to countries where there is a clear risk that the export might be used for “[i]nternal repression…in violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms as set out in relevant international human rights instruments” or where export would be “inconsistent with…the UK’s international obligations”. The “consolidated criteria” also makes clear that “special caution and vigilance” should be exercised in the case of prospective arms-related sales to countries where serious human rights violations have been established by competent bodies.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest judicial authority in the United Nations, in its 2004 advisory opinion on the legality of the Israeli Annexation Wall definitively established that Israel’s human rights record is severely compromised. The Court declared the illegality of the construction of the Wall and its associated regime in the West Bank under both international human rights and humanitarian law. The ICJ called for its dismantling and found that all States have a legal obligation to neither recognise the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the Wall nor render any aid or assistance in maintaining the situation.

The claimant, Saleh Hasan, a 60-year old resident of Bethlehem, is one of tens of thousands of Palestinians who until now have found no effective remedy for Israel’s unlawful acts. In 2005, Israel used military equipment to bulldoze agricultural assets and permanently confiscate his land in order to make way for the Wall. That same year, one year after the ICJ advisory opinion on the Wall, the UK’s arms-related exports to Israel saw a two-fold increase.

PIL will argue that the UK government had and continues to have clear evidence from authoritative international bodies that Israel might use equipment imported from the UK for purposes prohibited under the “consolidated criteria.” As such PIL will seek a declaration from the High Court that in future the UK Government must be transparent about how it has satisfied itself that there is no risk of a breach of these criteria and to make publicly available information that establishes there is no risk of any arms related products from the UK being used for repressive purposes. In the absence of any legal justification for continuing its current policy, Al-Haq, PIL and Palestinians like Saleh Hasan call on the UK government to suspend all arms-related exports to Israel until such time as Israel complies in full with its obligations under international law.

This hearing is of great significance, and any support you can offer is most welcome. Aside from actually attending the hearing, it would be greatly appreciated if you could forward this letter to any other parties you think may be interested. Al-Haq is in the process of organising various public meetings prior to the hearing. Please do not hesitate to contact haq@alhaq.org if you have any questions, comments or require further information pertaining to the case.

Haaretz: Berlin Protesters Demonstrate Against Israeli Products

Berlin Protesters Demonstrate Against Israeli Products

By Assaf Uni , Haarerz Correspondent

BERLIN – The opening of “Israel Week” at the Galeria Kaufhof department store in Berlin spurred a demonstration Saturday against Israeli food products originating in the
territories.

Protesters held signs reading “No to settlement products” and “Stop the Israel-EU Association Agreement.”

Groups protesting included The Jewish Voice, a Jewish-German organization opposed to the occupation, and Solidarity with Palestine, German teenagers affiliated with the radical left.

A counter-group of pro-Israel radical leftists waved Israeli flags and ate Israeli food.

“We have to encourage the Germans to be more critical of the Israeli occupation,” said Ruth Fructman, a Berlin journalist who was demonstrating.

“Right now it’s still hard for them, especially because every time they criticize Israel, they’re accused of anti-Semitism,” she said.

Martin Vorberg, of the Middle Eastern Workgroup, said the demonstration was aimed at Osem Industries, which he said has a factory in the territories, and spices from Amnon and Tamar, a company located in Alfei Menashe.

YNet: UK trade union backs total boycott of Israel

UNISON calls for cultural, economic, academic and sporting boycott of Israel until it ends occupation
by Ronen Bodoni

The UK’s largest trade union, UNISON, advocated on Wednesday a total boycott of Israel over its continued occupation of Palestinian territories.

A statement issued by delegates meeting in Brighton read: “The conference believes that ending the occupation demands concerted and sustained pressure upon Israel including an economic, cultural, academic and sporting boycott”.

In addition, delegates called on the British government to press for an arms embargo against Israel.

Speaking to Ynet, the union’s secretary, Miri Maguire, said the call was symbolic and carried little practical consequences.

“We support the State of Israel and will continue our good relations with professional Israeli unions. But the aim of our call is to end Israel’s occupation,” Maguire said.

The union also called on Israel to retreat to the borders before the Mideast war of 1967, to allow Palestinian refugees to return to a future Palestinian state and to dismantle its settlements in the Golan Heights.

Delegates also condemned an economic boycott imposed on the Palestinian Authority last year when Hamas won the general elections.