Agrexco is Israel’s largest exporter of fresh agricultural produce. The company is 50% owned by the Israeli state. Agrexco accounts for 70% ofIsraeli fresh produce sold abroad with annual sales of $750 million in 2006. Agrexco boast of being able to get produce to European markets within 24 hours.
The Valentines Day period is one of Agrexco UK’s busiest times as the company deals with large amounts of fresh flowers from Israel and the settlements.
The Boycott Israeli Goods campaign is planning a mass picket of the depot on Saturday February 10th in opposition to the sale of Israeli goods and in support of Palestinian farmers who are not able to market their goods internationally
In the UK Agrexco is known under the Carmel, Coral and Jaffa brands. The UK is the most important foreign market for Israeli fresh produce. Agrexco exports a wide range of produce to the UK including peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, spices, flowers and avocados.
Agrexco is the largest exporter of settlement produce for sale overseas. Much of this produce comes from colonies in the Jordan Valley. Carmel Agrexco hgave had dealings with the colonies of Tomer, Mehola, Hamra, Ro’i, Massua, Patzael, Mekhora, Netiv Ha-Gdud and Bet Ha-Arava.
Palestinians are calling for the solidarity movement to take action against Carmel Agrexco. 180 Palestinian organisations and unions, in response to the Israeli onslaught, have called for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Apartheid Israel.
Meet at 11am, (Bridge Place, Behind Victoria Station, Opposite UK Passport Office, outside the Hisperia Hotel) Central London, for transport to Agrexco’s depot in Middlesex
Meet at Carmel, Swallowfield Way, Hayes at 1pm (see map) if you are making your own way there. Email boycott@palestinecampaign.org to let us know you are coming
a Women in Black vigil outside the Disney Hall on January 14th
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Local Peace and Human Rights Group to Hold Silent Candlelight Vigils Outside the Israel Philharmonic Concerts at Disney Hall Monday, Feb. 5th, and Tuesday, Feb. 6th in Downtown LA
Women in Black-LA Join Launch of International Campaign Calling for Sanctions and Cultural Boycott to End Israeli Apartheid in Palestine Inspired by Worldwide Movement That Helped End Apartheid in South Africa
WHAT: Silent Candlelight Vigil to Support a Boycott of the Israel Philharmonic and an End to Israeli Apartheid in Palestine
WHEN: Monday, February 5th – 6:30 to 8:00 PM
Tuesday, February 6th – 6:30 to 8:00 PM
WHERE: Outside the Disney Hall
1st Street & Grand, Downtown LA
WHY: International and Palestinian human rights leaders have asked supporters worldwide to begin cultural and economic boycotts, along with divestment and sanction campaigns to end Israel’s Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem and to end Israeli Apartheid in Palestine.
This effort is modeled after the successful worldwide boycott and divestment campaign that helped end Apartheid in South Africa.
When they learned that the Israel Philharmonic would be stopping at Disney Hall while on their U.S. tour, Women in Black-LA joined the international campaign by launching their call for a Boycott of the orchestra, after first writing a letter to the Israel Philharmonic asking them to publicly oppose the occuptation.
Nearly 1,000 groups and prominent individuals, from former government officials to artists and activists, all over the world, signed the letter.
One of the signers, Silvia Tennebaum, step-daughter of Israel Philharmonic co-founder, William Steinberg, wrote: “My hope is that the orchestra will remember the suffering endured by the Jews in Germany and Eastern Europe and, in their memory, not implicitly support an occupation that seeks to strangle and displace a whole people.”
EXCERPT from letter to the Israel Philharmonic from WIB-LA:
“Imagine that the Israel Philharmonic’s denouncement of the Occupation and call for peace and justice will have a huge positive ripple effect on Israeli society. Imagine a future where Israelis and Palestinians share the resources of their land with respect and appreciation for each other’s humanity, cultures and needs. Maybe it’s the artists and musicians who will finally bring peace and justice to Israel, Palestine and the region.”
“When we didn’t hear from the Israel Philharmonic,” said Carol Smith, a member of WIB-LA and the National Lawyers’ Guild Los Angeles Chapter. “We wrote to the management of the L.A. Philharmonic asking them to cancel the performance or make an announcement before each performance, calling for an end to the occupation.”
“Now we are taking our protest to the audience at Disney Hall. Cultural and sports boycotts were a crucial part of the worldwide campaign that finally ended Apartheid in South Africa, and we call for a similar boycott to end Israeli Apartheid.”
“President Carter made it possible for us to go public with the comparison to Apartheid,” said WIB-LA member Greta Berlin. “Many of us worked in the anti-Apartheid movement and know how effective the cultural and sports boycotts were.”
“We felt that because Zubin Mehta, the conductor of the Israel Philharmonic, refers to it as ‘Israel’s flagship,’ the orchestra serves as a representative of Israel’s government and policies. On its website (www.ipo.co.il), the Orchestra talks about its role in playing for Israel’s soldiers in the field and in celebrating Israel’s military victories.”
President Carter writes in his new best-selling book, Palestine, Peace, Not Apartheid,
“Israel’s current policy in the territories is a system of Apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israel totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights. Israel’s continued
control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land.”
WHO: Women in Black is an international movement against violence and for justice. It was founded in Israel in 1988 to oppose the Israeli Occupation.
Women in Black-Los Angeles, founded in 2001, is made up of women and men from diverse faiths and national origins including Palestinians, Israelis and Americans, Jews, Muslims and Christians.
A number of members have made multiple visits to the occupied Palestinian territories of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem.
Please find a copy Women in Black-Los Angeles’ letters to the Israel Philharmonic and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras below and on the website at http://www.wib-la.org .
Also find below Los Angeles Times 1/27/07 article:
The Music Center area becomes a protest site
Groups intend to voice concerns, timed to appearances there by Mexico’s
Vicente Fox and Israel Philharmonic.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-protest27jan27,1,7420749.story
The vigils are endorsed by the A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition, Campaign to End
Israeli Apartheid (CEIA), and Middle East Peace Fellowship of Southern
California.
Contact: Karin Pally
(310) 399-1921/ (310) 430-9607 (cell)
WomeninBlackLA@gmail.com
Passions over international human rights issues have given rise to an unusual sight outside the Los Angeles Music Center: political protests.
While protests are a sporadic element of life in Los Angeles, these demonstrations stand out because of their location — in the heart of L.A.’s cultural center, where political dissent is usually channeled through works of art, not street protests.
Two Los Angeles-area groups are planning protests against a talk by former Mexican President Vicente Fox on Monday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and two performances in early February by the Israel Philharmonic at Disney Hall.
A Los Angeles affiliate of the international Women in Black organization held one demonstration outside Disney Hall on Jan. 14 and plans a second one for 1 p.m. Sunday before the scheduled 2 p.m. L.A. Philharmonic performance of Schumann’s Second Symphony. Other protests will coincide with the Israel Philharmonic’s scheduled concerts Feb. 5 and 6.
Monday’s planned protest against the Fox visit is being coordinated by the Organization of the Binational Indigenous Front, which organizer Odilia Romero said represents Native Americans on both sides of the border. The group also demonstrated Jan. 14 across the street from the
center.
Romero said the group’s members were outraged by the center’s description of Fox, who left office in November after six years, as a promoter of Mexican democracy who helped stabilize an unruly economy.
“There were assassinations, political prisoners, migration for indigenous people” during Fox’s presidency, Romero said. “I don’t think he has stabilized the economy. The people are more in poverty than ever. We want our voices to be heard because we are the product of migration.”
Why protest at the Music Center in the first place? For pretty much the same reason Willie Sutton once said he robbed banks: That’s where the money is.
“It’s not about the program itself,” said Carol Smith, a leader of the Women in Black-L.A. group, whose demonstrations consist of more than a dozen black-clad women standing silent vigil while handing out informational pamphlets. “It’s about educating the people who attend the symphony.”
The group earlier had petitioned the L.A. Philharmonic to cancel the concert as part of its attempt to bring international pressure on Israel to change its policies toward Palestinians, including its occupation of Gaza. Israel has long maintained that its policies are driven by self-defense concerns.
WIB-LA is part of a broad campaign seeking to bring the same international mix of sanctions and cultural boycotts on the Israeli government as arose in the 1980s against the former apartheid
government of South Africa.
In a letter to WIB-LA, Deborah Borda, president of the L.A. Philharmonic Assn., rejected calls for a boycott of the Israeli orchestra.
“We will never support the silencing of artists from any culture as a means of political action,” Borda wrote. “Whenever this unfortunate course of action has been pursued by governments and political entities, it is always to the detriment of society at large, and certainly the artists.”
“The protests have been peaceful, and they are certainly welcome to express their opinions,” said Philharmonic spokesman Adam Crane.
For the second time this year [previous action], Palestine Solidarity activists blockaded Israeli company Carmel-Agrexco’s UK headquarters in Hayes, Middlesex, in the early morning of 26 Nov 2006 [press release]. The action was part of an ongoing non-violent protest against recurrent breaches of human rights and international law in the occupied territories of Palestine and to highlight Agrexco’s illegal activity in court.
The blockaders braved torrential rain for nearly 6 hours, completely stopping all deliveries to and from the depot. A structure was erected from metal fence panels, blocking Agrexco’s main gate. Two activists were locked onto the company’s vehicle access gate, inside the company grounds, while another two secured the second gate.
Once again, Agrexco made a decision not to prosecute the blockaders for fear of the negative publicity another court case could generate [see previous trial].
Do you think the police don’t want people to see the banner!
Carmel-Agrexco in Hayes is the main UK depot of Israel’s 50% state-owned export company. Agrexco is responsible for exporting the majority of fruit and veg from illegal settlements in the West Bank to the UK. The UK is a large part of the market for settlement produce, making up 60% of Agrexco’s total exports.
Agrexco profit from Israel’s illegal occupation and entrenched system of apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territories. In the Jordan Valley region of the occupied West Bank, Agrexco cultivate stolen Palestinian land while Palestinians work for them for less than a living wage. Carmel-Agrexco can deliver fruit and veg to Europe in 24 hours while the produce of Palestinian farmers rots in the fields because the farmers are prevented from bringing it through Israeli military checkpoints.
On Wednesday 22nd November around 50 protesters, including the Rhythms of Resistance samba band, turned out to ‘greet’ Michael Baunton, the Vice President of Caterpillar. He was due to speak at the Institute of Mechanical Engineers’ Annual Dinner. The function was held in the ballroom of the Grosvenor House Hotel. Caterpillar hold the sole contract for the supply of military D9 bulldozers to the Israeli army. Caterpillar machines are used to destroy Palestinian homes in acts of collective punishment, build checkpoints and roadblocks to restrict civilian movement, build illegal Israeli colonies on Palestinian lands, destroy Palestinian olive trees and agricultural land, build the illegal annexation wall and murder civilians.
Since 2003 a campaign, triggered by the murder of ISM activist Rachel Corrie, has been building to force Caterpillar to end all contracts with Israel. People have taken action in the UK, the US and all over Europe.
Due to pressure from campaigners and rebuke from the U.N., Caterpillar have been forced to make public statements about the use of the D9 by the Israeli army. Caterpillar’s position is that they no longer supply D9s to Israel but they will not say whether they supply parts to maintain the Israeli army’s existing D9s.
Protesters originally gathered at the back and front entrances of Grosvenor House. The police issued a highly dubious Section 14 (Public Order Act 1984) order, restricting protest to the front of the hotel. The main purpose of the order seemed to be to make it easier for the police to control the protest. However, the order was never fully enforced and there was a constant activist presence at the back of the hotel.
Participants included the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Jewish Socialist Group, Jews For Justice for Palestinians, War on Want, Architect and Planners for Justice in Palestine, Rhythms of Resistance, International Solidarity Movement a member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and an insurgent clown.
The police were petty and controlling throughout, corralling activists in a pen and threatening arrests for blocking the pavement. However, the event was a success with all delegates to the event hearing the message of protest against the decision to invite Michael Baunton.
Caterpillar use their easily recognizable trademark to sell clothing and footwear worldwide, operating through the Wolvine subsidiary. Campaigners against the company have tried to inform consumers about the company’s human rights record in countless creative high street actions
UK campaigners have held a series of occupations and protest at Caterpillar HQs around the country. Many protests have been focused on Caterpillar’s European financial headquarters in Solihull where activists have attempted to deliver a ‘Homewrecker of the Year Award’ to Caterpillar management.
Around this time Caterpillar employed the services of the Inkerman Group, an Ashford and Knightsbridge based ‘counter-terrorism’ group, to investigate activists campaigning against the company. Caterpillar are an arms company, making tank engines and other military equipment as well as military bulldozers. They are an exhibitor at DSEI, Europe’s biggest arms fair, held in London biannually.
Activists have tried to blacken Caterpillar’s brand wherever they try to promote themselves organizing protest at trade fairs around the UK. Many councils and universities have sizable investments in Caterpillar, resulting in a number of campaigns for divestment.
The General Synod of the Church of England voted to divest its considerable funds from Caterpillar last year, the Church’s financial body has refused to remove the funds leading to a Methodist Church in the US disassociating itself from the Church of England, and a Parish in Berkshire withdrawing its funds from the financial body.
Caterpillar has attracted criticism from the UN over its continued supply of weapons to Israel, and actions have taken place in Europe and the USA. The US AGM of the corporation this year was dominated by the company’s record in the Middle East.
All of this has led Caterpillar to announce that it will not continue selling D9s to Israel, but the company refuses to confirm whether it supplies spares to maintain existing D9s. Caterpillar machines continue to be used in Palestine and protestors continue to apply pressure on the comapny.
The campaign against Caterkiller is part of the worldwide campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Apartheid Israel. On 9 June, 2005, a coalition of Palestinian Civil Society Organisations issued a “call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel until it complies with international law’ after the International Court of Justice in the Hague deemed Israel’s annexation wall illegal. The Palestinian boycott call urges activists to campaign against companies who profit from the Israeli occupation.
Al-Haq is cooperating with solicitor Phil Shiner of the Public Interest Lawyers firm (PIL) as part of its efforts to secure the implementation of the July 2004 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Israel’s wall. This court decision found Israel’s construction of the Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) to be contrary to international law. Al-Haq has provided PIL with documentation on numerous cases regarding the impact of the Wall. On November 15, 2006, PIL lodged a complaint against the UK government in the High Court in London on behalf of Palestinians suffering as a result of the construction of the Wall.
PIL argued that the UK’s granting of export licenses for the sale of weapons to Israel breaches both its own Consolidated Criteria, as well as principles of international law reflected in the ICJ Advisory Opinion. It argued that the UK government should immediately review the legality and rationality of its arms trade with Israel, in light of clear recent evidence that arms related products from UK based companies are implicated in violations of international humanitarian law carried out by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the OPT. When reviewing its actions, the UK government must take full account of its legal obligations as reflected in the ICJ Advisory Opinion.
Al-Haq believes that the action taken by PIL provides hope for the Palestinian people by bringing attention to the lack of respect for international law in the OPT. By holding the UK accountable for its failure to meet its obligations as a third-party state, Al-Haq hopes that the UK and other states will become more mindful of their own international legal obligations with regard to violations carried out in the OPT. Al-Haq would like to express its gratitude and support to PIL for taking this courageous step.
