Tag: Global Actions

Blockade of Brighton Arms Factory

from smashEDO, 22 May 2007

At 6am on Monday morning, outside the premises of EDO-MBM, Home Farm Road, Brighton, students from Sussex University, including Student Union president Dan Glass, have locked themselves to the Brighton arms factory using D-locks preventing access to the factory.

One man has been arrested for aggravated trespass.

EDO produces weapons components used by the Israeli military and by US and UK forces in Iraq. The students are protesting against EDO’s complicity in the murder of innocent civilians in Iraq and Palestine.

Sussex University has been developing close links with Al Quds Open University in Tubas, Palestine. A delegation from Sussex University recently visited Tubas and heard what conditions are like for students living under occupation. The delegation was told that in 2004 two children were killed close to the university by Israeli forces firing Hellfire missiles from an F16. EDO MBM manufactures components for both the Hellfire missile and the Israeli F16.

Amy Jameson, a History Student at the university said ‘Sussex students have been hearing firsthand accounts of war crimes against students in Tubas and this company is providing equipment that is facilitating these crimes’.

Rose Holland, studying International Relations said ‘The government subsidises the arms trade by up to £900 million per year while they continue to cut funding for higher education. We want books not bombs.’

Who are EDO?
from smashEDO

Brighton-based EDO MBM are a wholly owned subsidiary of EDO Corp, a US-based arms multinational that is currently number 10 on the Forbes 100 list of fastest growing companies.

EDO’s military products include bomb racks, release clips and arming mechanisms for warplanes. They have contracts with the UK Ministry of ‘Defence’ and US arms giant Raytheon relating to the release mechanisms of the Paveway bomb system.

EDO MBM’s supply of weapons systems for the illegal aggression and subesquent war crimes committed in Iraq makes their directors war criminals. International law is very clear on this point, in the 1947 trial of Bruno Tesch, a German industrialist, the court acted

“on the principle that any civilian who is an accessory to a violation of the laws and customs of war is himself also liable as a war criminal”.

(VIDEO) New England Commemorates the Nakba

From QuestionIsrael, 20 May 2007

On Sunday May 20th, several carloads of non-violent protesters headed to Foxboro to voice their support for Palestinians at the Israeli day celebration taking place at Gillette Stadium.

At 2:30 PM, 40 to 50 protestors in the Field House unraveled two banners.

One declared:

Israeli “Independence” = Palestinian Dispossession

and the other said:

Palestinian Refugees
1948 – 800,000
2007 – 6 Million +
Right of Return for all Refugees


Video by Mazin Qumsiyeh

The protestors, wearing black tee-shirts, peacefully and silently commemorated the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) and voiced support for those Palestinians who were driven from their homes in 1948 by Zionist forces in order to create the Jewish state. Seventy-eight out of the 531 Palestinian villages that were eliminated were remembered through stickers on the black tee-shirts.

“New England Celebrates Israel” celebrants were not as peaceful and silent. They tried to block the banners with their bodies so that no other celebrants could see the messages. One celebrant attempted to tear a banner. Police prevented the tearing of the banner and escorted the protestors out of the Dana Farber Field Field House for their safety.

Previously dubbed “Boston Celebrates Israel”, the celebration of Israel Independence Day has been taking place in Boston for years. For the past five years, however, Palestinians and their supporters have organized protests to bring attention to the fact that Israel’s celebration is the Palestinian’s Nakba (or catastrophe). These protests have forced the event organizers to downscale the celebration, move it to Foxboro, and rename it “New England Celebrates Israel”. In addition, the organizers forced participants to show ID and register prior to entering.

Three quarters of the Palestinian population was expelled in 1948 and 531 of their villages destroyed. Today, these Palestinian refugees and their descendents number more than six million and are displaced throughout the world while Israel ignores UN resolutions which call for their right of return.

FULL STATEMENT FROM ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

We are here today to commemorate the expulsion and dispossession of the Palestinian people from their homeland and to protest this celebration of Israel’s Independence Day. We stand here to remind those inside and those in our larger New England community that Israeli “independence” equals Palestinian Nakba, or catastrophe.

We are a diverse group of people who support the application of human rights for all people. We are painfully aware that the establishment of a Jewish state in 1948 led to the largest and most persistent refugee problem in the world. In 1948, 800,000 Palestinian people were driven from their homes in a process of ethnic cleansing that continues to this day.

Today, almost 60 years later, more than 6 million Palestinians still wait to return home. Three quarters of the Palestinian population are displaced. One out of every 3 refugees in the world is Palestinian. Many live in refugee camps. All are denied the right to return to their land simply because they are not Jewish.

The right of return for refugees is an international law that applies to all refugee populations in the world. The United Nations has reaffirmed this right specifically for Palestinian people every year since 1948, yet the Israeli government has consistently refused to implement this right. Billions of dollars of US aid give Israel little incentive to conform to international standards of law and justice.

Those of us who are Jewish say, “Not in our name!” The organized Jewish community that has planned this event does not speak for us.

As US taxpayers we say, “Not with our money!” The 15 million dollars PER DAY that the US government gives to Israel does not reflect our desires or our priorities.

As people who care about equality, justice, and human rights, we say, “Not on our watch!” Israel must respect international law, including the right of return for refugees.

We are here today to declare that Palestinian experience cannot be forgotten, that Palestinian history cannot be erased, that Palestinian voices cannot be silenced! Never again should this kind of catastrophe happen to any people in the world.

And we are here to let the organizers of this event know that they will never be able to celebrate the establishment of the state of Israel without protest until the Nakba is acknowledged and reparations are made.

Photos by Jonathan McIntosh

(VIDEO) “We Need an International Anti-Apartheid Campaign”

“We Need an International Anti-Apartheid Campaign”
presented by Jeff Halper, posted by Kathy,

Halper is the Coordinator of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and a Professor of Anthropology at Ben Gurion University. Originally from Minnesota (US), he has lived in Israel since 1973. Jeff has researched and written extensively on Israeli society and is the author of the book Between Redemption and Revival: the Jewish Yishuv in Jerusalem in the nineteenth century, (Westview Press, 1991).

Halper gave this speech at the 2nd Bil’in International Nonviolence Conference, 19 April 2007.

Ma’ariv: Wanted at Harvard, Dan Halutz

By Ben Caspit, Ma’ariv, 15 May 2007

“Academic hunt” for Halutz

A group of students at Harvard, including Jews and Israelis, calls for the Commander-in-Chief to be tried for war crimes

Even at Harvard University the former Commander-in-Chief, Dan Halutz, can’t find peace; a group of radical and pro-Palestinian students and lecturers, among them Jews and Israelis, is “hunting” for him. As a part of this “hunt,” the students, starting today, intend to hang posters of Halutz under the headline “Wanted for War Crimes” above a photograph of Halutz in uniform as Commander-in-Chief. Next to the photo is written, “General Dan Halutz was last seen at Harvard Business School, May 2007.”

Beneath is a detailed “indictment” against the former Commander-in-Chief stating, “Dan Halutz ordered the indiscriminate shelling of Lebanon last summer, in which more than 1,000 civilians were killed. Military planes under his command exploded homes and hospitals, ambulances and airports.”

The declaration continues: “The atrocities committed under his authority have been condemned around the world as war crimes. Halutz resigned from his position as Commander-in-Chief in January. Now he is hiding and padding his resume at Harvard Business School.” The end of the letter, in larger letters, reads: “If you find him, please contact the International War Crimes Court.”

An accompanying notice on the organization¹s website indicates that, “War criminal Halutz is moving around freely at Harvard.” The mediatized “hunt” for Halutz is being organized by an organization called “the Alliance for Justice in the Middle East,” whose members, in addition to pro-Palestinian students and lecturers, include a number of leftist activists, among them, as noted earlier, Jews and even some Israeli students, some of whom are from very well-known families in the country.

Can’t get to Halutz

They are organizing protests against IDF officers who come to study at the prestigious Harvard Business School. Incidentally, they are already aware of the anticipated arrival of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, General Moshe Kaplinsky, to the university this coming July and are planning a warm welcome for him as well. Their website details the “crimes” of every IDF officer coming to the university, his connections, the school in which he is coming to study, and how to reach him and irritate him.

Yesterday members of the forum created a new group on the website Facebook, which is essentially a social site within the university, and invited users to join. Facebook is one of the most popular sites among students worldwide. Members include lecturers, students, and faculty from Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Cambridge, and others.

The “manhunt” against Halutz, which involves hanging “Wanted” posters around the university and publicity on the internet, was supposed to begin yesterday. One of the organizers of the protest is Naor Ben-Yehoyada, who told Ma’ariv last night in a telephone conversation: “We distributed flyers to students on campus, but a security officer from the Business School, where he is studying, immediately approached us. He brought his superior, who asked — just like a Border Patrol officer — who is responsible for the group. He asked to see a permit to distribute flyers and ordered us to stop. This is not a deterrent; tomorrow we’ll continue distributing flyers.”

Ben-Yehoyada added: “We’ve already received one piece of hate mail in response, which says ‘Your protest is the gayest thing I’ve seen on the internet. I’m shocked that douch-bags like you even got in to Harvard.'” [Ben-]Yehoyada further explains: “We thought of trying to get to Halutz himself, but he is studying in a closed area that includes classrooms and a hotel, and no student has access to that area.”

QUIT: Victoria’s Secret Weapon Fashion Show, SF

from Indybay, Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism, 15 May 2007

Photo by Kate R, QUIT

Victoria’s Army, a division of Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT!), delighted Mother’s Day shoppers in San Francisco on Saturday, May 12, with a fashion show outside Victoria Secret’s Union Square storefront. The fashion show was the second outing for the bold Victoria’s Secret Weapon Line, underwritten by generous grants from the Pentagon.

Tammy worked her Push ’Em Out Bra, made popular by the late Golda Meir (“there is no such thing as Palestinians), while Danielle showed off the wonders of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s own Total Control Boundary Reshaper (checkpoints and apartheid walls give you the contours you want).

Three types of Razor Wire bras help separate the welcome from the unwelcome and let you decide who gains access to your cleavage. Sarit modeled the bulletproof Secret Armor set, keeping soldier girls safe and sexy from Falluja to Nablus.

A crowd favorite was Secret Support, with it’s red, white and blue pullout option, offering you the security that the world’s only superpower can provide.

“Nothing’s more American than Mom, apple pie, and support for Israel,” intoned popular announcer DeeGee, to roars from captivated bystanders. “Who says apartheid can’t be sexy?”
It’s a little known fact that Mother’s Day is one of the busiest times of year for lingerie retailers. Another little known fact is that many of Victoria’s Secret’s bras, cotton panties and sleepware are made by an Israeli company called Delta Galil. Most of the cotton they use is grown in Israel or Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory. The “Shop Israel” website administered by the Israeli embassy in the U.S. urges people who support Israel to buy Victoria’s Secret products. The Victoria’s Secret Weapon brochure includes a card shoppers can deliver to Victoria’s Secret staff, asking the company to stop contributing to the Israeli economy until Israel fulfills its obligations under international law.

QUIT!’s full-color catalogue is available for download, along with photos from the action and more information about Delta Galil and Victoria’s Secret, at http://www.QuitPalestine.org.