BDS Campaign Update (October 2009 – April 2010)
European BDS Organizations Campaigning to” Give Israel
the Red Card”
7 October 2009 – 18 European organizations involved in the BDS
campaign launched an effort calling on FIFA to live up to the
letter and the spirit of its statutes and to seize this opportunity
to prove to the world that it stands for a more just world by
sending Israel an unmistakable threat of exclusion. This would be
an important victory for human rights -- not only for the
Palestinian people, but also for the international football
community.
United in Struggle against Israeli Colonialism,
Occupation and Racism Conference, Bethlehem
24-25 October 2009 – the Occupied Palestine and Golan Heights
Advocacy Initiative (OPGAI), together with the Alternative
Information Center (AIC), organized an international seminar which
gathered Palestinian, international and anti-colonial Israeli
activists, researchers, and others interested in promoting justice
for the Palestinian people. The seminar placed a special emphasis
on the economic interests behind the occupation and the potential
impact that the international campaigns for Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) can make in promoting justices for the Palestinian
people. Among other demands, the conference participants called
for: firm opposition of the politics and projects of normalization
with Israel in the Arab world by activating the Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions for Palestine campaign (BDS); emphasising the 2005
invitation extended by Palestinian civil society to conscientious
Israelis to support the call for BDS for the sake of justice and
genuine peace; and reinforcing a stronger and more efficient
position in the Arab states and societies to defend Jerusalem, in
addition to boycotting all political, economic and cultural
activities complicit with Israeli efforts to Judaize and isolate
Jerusalem.
Bahraini Parliamentarians Pass Law to Ban Ties to
Israel
27 October 2009 – Bahraini Parliamentarians proposed new law bills
entrenching the boycott of Israel. The bills include a penalty of
up to five years in jail for any Bahraini who deals directly with
Israel; banning any form of relations with Israel or its people at
all levels - government, business or private. Penalties would
include fines of up to BD10,000 and businessmen dealing with
Israel, selling or promoting its products would lose their licenses
for up to 10 years. The proposed law would also revive the Israeli
Boycott Office, closed to make way for the Free Trade Agreement
with the US, and would also ban the government by law from setting
up any diplomatic mission in Israel.
Sussex University Students Vote to Boycott Israeli
Goods
30 October 2009 – Following a landmark referendum, students at
Sussex University have voted to boycott Israeli goods. The decision
follows the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
against Israel, which calls upon the Israeli state to respect
international law and end the occupation of Palestine. The
referendum result mandates the Students’ Union to remove all
Israeli produce from its stores, and review its sources for food
outlets. This makes Sussex Students’ Union the first in the UK to
implement a full boycott of Israeli goods through referendum. The
vote was one of the largest and closest contested in the Union’s
history, with 562 votes for and 450 against the boycott.
New Booklet on Palestinian BDS Campaign
31 October 2009 – The Ma’an Development Center produced an
information booklet on the BDS campaign entitled “Boycotts,
Divestment and Sanctions: Lessons Learned in Effective Solidarity.”
The booklet can be downloaded from: http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/574
French Workers’ Union CNT Joins BDS
Campaign
1 November 2009 – Through the intermediary of its international
Secretary, the National Work Confederation (Confédération Nationale
du Travail or CNT), a French anti-capitalist internationalist union
involved in social class struggles, has joined the BDS campaign.
The union committed itself to take an active part in the
initiatives organized in France. The CNT’s international secretary
has also invited every union and federation within its
confederation to sign on to the BDS campaign individually and to
take concrete actions in their own field of activities (education,
social work, health, culture, trade, media…) and in their various
regions.
Boycott of Ahava cosmetics launched in
Montreal
2 November 2009 – Members of Middle East solidarity groups Tadamon!
, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) and the Québec BDS
(Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Committee launched a campaign
demanding that the Canadian department store “The Bay” take
products of Ahava Dead Sea cosmetics off its shelves. Ahava Dead
Sea Laboratories is a privately held Israeli cosmetics company that
manufactures products using minerals and mud from the Dead Sea.
Ahava’s products – such as Grape & Avocado Body Wash, Dead Sea
Mineral Mud, and Mineral Foot Cream – are widely available in
high-end department stores and pharmacies throughout the United
States, Europe and Canada.
British Activists Carry Out Week of Action to Boycott of
Israeli Settlement Products
9-15 November 2009 – As part of the international Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, the Palestine Solidarity
Campaign in the UK implemented a week-long boycott against several
large supermarket chains in the UK that carry Israeli products. The
week-long boycott targeted the Waitrose and Morrisons supermarket
chains, in an attempt to pressure the stores to discontinue the
sale of fruits and vegetables grown and processed on Israeli
settlements in the West Bank. The week of action came after
activists tried other tactics, such as petitioning the stores to
stop selling what they call ‘apartheid products’, but the stores’
managers were unresponsive.
New Orleans Middle East Film Festival becomes the first
in the US to Join the Cultural Boycott
12 November 2009 – “The first two years we had a very strong
presence from Israel. This year, all of the films that deal with
Israel are from the point of view of the Palestinians, I was
reluctant [to do that] in the first few years of the film festival,
because I wasn’t doing a Palestinian film festival, I was doing a
Middle East film festival -- I was trying to get a very balanced
point of view... But after the invasion [of Gaza] and Israel’s
refusal to let rebuilding materials in, I decided to join the
international call for a cultural boycott of Israel... I know I’m
going to get heat from it, but ...” –Rene Broussard, Organizer of
the New Orleans Middle East Film Festival
Dutch Government to Opens Inquiry that Could Lead to
Boycott of Ahava
13 November 2009 – For months, a group called the Badjassen Brigade
(Bathrobe Brigades) has worked to protest against the Israeli
occupation of Palestinian territory by holding demonstrations
outside the shops where AHAVA products are sold, under the campaign
title ‘Gestolen Schoonheid’ (Stolen Beauty). The action group is
also trying to prevent AHAVA from developing a network of sales
points in the Netherlands. The campaign has begun to bear fruit as
the Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen has agreed to begin an
enquiry into the import of cosmetic products from AHAVA. The
company manufactures cosmetics in the Mitzpe Shalem settlement on
the West Bank, using minerals and mud from the River Jordan. The
products are misleadingly exported under the label 'Made in
Israel’.
BNC Calls on Arab States to Cancel Deals with Veolia and
Alstom
16 November 2009 – The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)
held a press conference releasing information on the illegality of
the Jerusalem Light Rail project, and the role that the French
companies Veolia and Alstom have been contracted to fulfil in the
construction and management of the rail project. At the press
conference, the BNC called on Arab states to cut any relations with
these two companies until they divest from the rail project. In
particular, the BNC called on Saudi Arabia to disqualify the
companies from the bidding on the multi-million dollar Mecca-Medina
railway contract.
Palestinian Trade Union Movement Unanimously Confirms
Support for BDS
25 November 2009 – In reaction to reports alleging that a
Palestinian trade union official has stated his reservations about
the Palestinian civil society campaign of Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS), the full spectrum of the Palestinian trade union
movement issued public statements expressing solid and inequivocal
support for the BDS National Committee (BNC) and for the global BDS
campaign against Israel as an effective form of resisting its
military occupation, war crimes and apartheid policies.
US Trade Unionists Call on AFL-CIO President to Boycott
Israel
4 December 2009 – Thirty-three prominent US trade unionists issued
an open letter to Richard Trumka, President of the American
Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
(AFL-CIO), which represents 11 million workers. The letter came as
a response to a speech by Trumka in which he denounced the BDS
campaign, and stated that US trade unions must “divest from State
of Israel Bonds; support workers’ refusal to handle Israeli cargo;
break ties with the racist Histadrut; and oppose U.S. military and
economic aid for Israel.”
French Appeals Court Confirms Jurisdiction over Alstom
Case
17 December 2009 - The Court of Appeal of Versailles confirmed the
jurisdiction of the Tribunal of Nanterre regarding the legal claim
brought by the Association of French-Palestinian Solidarity (AFPS)
against Véolia transport, Alstom and Alstom transport regarding the
construction and operation of the illegal Jerusalem Light Rail
project.
European Owned Israeli Bank Stops Cuts Funding to
Settlements
1 December 2009 – The parent bank of Dexia Bank, owned by French
and Belgian interests, notified regional councils in the West Bank
that has cut off their lines of credit. The Israeli bank, which is
the official supplier of credit to the regional councils, asked
them to close their accounts.The Dexia Group bought the Israeli
Municipality Treasure Bank and established Dexia Israel in
2001.Dexia has continued to reject anti-apartheid groups’ demands
to stop lending money to settlements in Jerusalem.
“Pakistanis for Palestine” Launch BDS Campaign in
Pakistan
24 January 2010 – A campaign to express solidarity with the
Palestinian people was launched in Lahore under the name of
“Pakistanis for Palestine.” Campaign organizers have focused
initially on endorsing the boycott of Israeli academic and cultural
institutions, as called for by the Palestinian Campaign for the
Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). The have also
called upon Pakistani academics, artists, poets, writers, singers
and filmmakers to join the growing boycott, divestment and
sanctions movement against Israel.
Demonstration in Malaysia Calls for Boycott of
Israel
24 January 2010 - More than 100 members of Viva Palestina Malaysia
(VPM), a coalition of NGOs participated in a five-kilometre
demonstration in Kuala Lampur in support of the Palestinian
struggle for self-determination. Demonstration participants wore
white T-shirts bearing the words “Boikot Israel” (Boycott Israel)
as part of a campaign to boycott the products of four multinational
companies alleged to be strong supporters of the Zionist
regime.
Danske Bank Divests from Elbit and
Africa-Israel
25 January 2010 – Africa Israel Investments and Elbit Systems were
added to Danske Bank’s list of companies that fail to adhere to its
Socially Responsible Investment policy. The bank’s Socially
Responsible Investment policy obliges it to examine the willingness
of potential investments to follow international conventions in
human rights and employment standards among others.The two
companies have been added to the list, which contains 24 companies,
based on their activities in the settlement areas of the
Palestinian territories. Elbit Systems provides surveillance
systems to the apartheid wall, while Africa Israel Investments has
been involved in construction of Jewish-only settlements in the
West Bank. Danske Bank’s move follows a similar decision from
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global to exclude Elbit last
September for its involvement in the separation barrier. Danske
Bank is the largest financial enterprise in Denmark.
Canadian Students at Carleton University Launch
Divestment Campaign
27 January 2010 – Through months of research, the group “Students
Against Israeli Apartheid” (SAIA) at Carleton University in Ottawa,
Canada discovered that the university’s Pension Fund currently
invests $2,762,535 in five companies that are complicit in the
oppression of the Palestinian people. In light of these findings,
SAIA has launched a campaign calling on Carleton to immediately
divest from the offending corporations: Motorola, BAE Systems,
Northrop Grumman, L-3 Communications, and Tesco supermarkets, as
well as to adopt a socially responsible investment policy for all
of its investments. In 1987, Carleton divested from all companies
complicit in the apartheid regime in South Africa. The South
African victory serves as an inspiring model for SAIA’s divestment
campaign, which is the first Palestine-centred divestment
initiative in Canada. Watch the video at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/630
Dutch BDS activists organize first BDS
“Flash-mob”
28 January 2010 – At the sound of a whistle the whole group of
activists took an Israeli product and froze, staring at the
products in disbelieve that Albert Heijn (a large supermarket in
Utrecht, Holland) still sells Israeli products! Other people in the
supermarket were quite confused and noticed the green t-shirts
saying: “Don’t buy Israeli apartheid.” The sound of a second
whistle started the group to take all Israeli products in their
carts and while whistling a song they all moved to the exit where
the products were piled up and left with a strong message: We do
not want Israeli products in OUR supermarkets. We cant do business
as usual with Israel as long as it commits war crimes and doesn’t
comply with international law. Watch the video at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/634
California Residents Call for Severing State Ties with
Israeli Government
1 February 2010 – A group calling itself the Israel Divestiture
Forum filed an initiative with the attorney general that would
require state pension funds to sever ties with Israeli companies or
the Israeli government. The measure would need almost 434,000 valid
signatures from registered California voters to qualify for the
November ballot. Under the proposal, divestment guidelines would be
reversed if Israel pulls out of the territories seized during the
1967 war, or the Israeli and Palestinian governments “conclude a
peace treaty that leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state
that is recognized by the United States Government.”
Students Outraged at Invitation of Israel’s US
Ambassador to Speak on their Campus
8 February 2010 - When Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren came to talk
about U.S.-Israel relations at the University of California at
Irvine, dozens of outraged students attended his talk and made
their objections clear. Oren was interrupted 10 times while trying
to give his speech before 500 people at the UCI Student Center,
where there was heavy security. Oren took a 20 minute break after
the fourth protest, asked for hospitality and resumed his speech,
only to be interrupted again. After the 10th interruption, several
dozens students who opposed Oren’s talk got up and walked out and
staged a protest outside. Watch the video at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/641
Brussels BDS Activists Impersonate El Al Flight
Attendants
7 February 2010 - Eight peace activists entered the Brussels
Holiday Fair and impersonated flight attendants of the Israeli
airline company El Al. They handed out fake free plane tickets to
Israel, which referred to the fact that El Al contributes to the
transport of arms to the country (160 million bullet parts, 17
million rounds of ammunition and tens of thousands cartridges,
smoke shells and fuses in 2005 and 2006 alone). Upon discovery of
the action, Israeli security agents observing the Fair reacted by
getting all the “air hostesses” arrested.
University of Arizona Students Launch Divestment
Campaign Targetting Motorolla
15 February 2010 – Students at the University of Arizona in the USA
have launched a campaign calling on their university to divest from
Motorolla corporation. The students of the “University of Arizona
Community for Human Rights” have been engaged over the past few
months in a campaign calling on their local police department to
cancel a $203,000 contract with the Motorola Corporation for radio
and communication equipment. The contract was signed in 1999 and is
still active today.
Israeli Apartheid Week 2010 – The Biggest one
Yet
1-14 March 2010 – Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) this year was the
biggest yet, having spread to well over 50 cities across the globe.
Since it was first launched in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of
the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity
calendar. Last year, more than 40 cities around the world
participated in the week’s activities, which took place in the wake
of Israel’s brutal assault against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Lectures, films, and actions held during the week highlighted some
of the successes of the BDS movement along with the many injustices
that continue to make BDS so crucial in the battle to end Israeli
Apartheid. More information at: http://www.apartheidweek.org
Dutch Pension Fund Follows Scandinavian Divestment from
Elbit due to BDS pressure
19 February 2010 -- ABP announced that it had sold its US $2.7
million shares in Elbit Systems. Following a similar decision by
the Norwegian State Pension Fund, Kommunal Landspensjonkasse (KLP),
one of the largest life insurance companies in Norway, also
divested from Elbit. The move by heavyweights Halvorsen and KLP to
divest led Danwatch, the Danish financial watchdog, to add last
month Elbit to its blacklist of 35 companies that are disqualified
from investments due to ethical considerations. The largest bank in
Denmark and a leading player in the Scandinavian financial markets,
Danske Bank followed suit a week later. The bank also blacklisted
Africa-Israel, a company led by diamond mogul Lev Leviev which has
been involved in the illegal construction of Israeli settlements in
the occupied West Bank. Kjaergaard noted that the bank is
determining whether other companies with activities in the Israeli
settlements qualify for exclusion. Danske Bank’s decision was
followed by PKA Ltd., one of the largest Danish pension funds,
selling its shares in Elbit worth $1 million. Other major
institutional investors in Scandinavia have also excluded Elbit
from their portfolios due to ethical concerns. Folksam, Sweden’s
largest asset manager, responded to an inquiry regarding its
investments in either Elbit or Africa-Israel, that the fund did not
have holdings in either company. The two largest Dutch pension
funds, ABP and PFZW are the focus of a coalition of Palestine
solidarity activists, organizations and concerned citizens who are
currently pressuring the two pension funds to follow the
Scandinavian example and divest from Elbit and other companies
profiting from the Israeli occupation.
EU court: West Bank goods are not Israeli
25 February 2010 - In a ruling touching on the status of the West
Bank, the European Union high court ruled that the area is not part
of Israel and Israeli goods made there are subject to EU import
duties. The court stated that the EU-Israeli Association Agreement
has a defined territorial scope, and that Israeli goods made in the
West Bank cannot enjoy duty-free access to the vast EU market.
500 Artists Issue Statement Israeli
Apartheid
25 February 2010 - A broad spectrum of Montreal artists took a
standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom
and supporting the growing international campaign for Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Montreal
artists are now joining this international campaign to concretely
protest the Israeli state’s ongoing denial of the inalienable
rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and
properties, as stipulated in and protected by international law, as
well as Israel’s ongoing occupation and colonization of the West
Bank (including Jerusalem) and Gaza, which also constitutes a
violation of international law and multiple United Nations
resolutions. Read the statement at: http://www.tadamon.ca/post/5824
Historic Student Divestment Resolution Passed at
University of Michigan, Dearborn
26 February 2010 – The University of Michigan at Dearborn Student
Government issued General Assembly Resolution # 2010-003 which
states that “the University is known to have several million
dollars of investment in corporations that sell weapons, goods, and
services to Israel—including BAE, Raytheon, Boeing, General
Electric, United Technologies, Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics,
and Northrop Grumman, among others–whom in turn uses the weapons,
goods, and services inhumanely … be it Resolved, (1) that the
University of Michigan-Dearborn Student Government will lead a
movement to collect petition signatures calling on the Board of
Regents to form such an advisory committee, and … (2) that the
University of Michigan-Dearborn Student Government calls on the
Board of Regents to create an advisory committee to determine if
any University investments are questionable and in need of
appropriate corrective actions, and … (3) that on behalf of the
students at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, we will urge this
committee to recommend immediate divestment from companies that are
directly involved in the ongoing illegal occupation, because we
deem these investments to be profoundly unethical and in direct
conflict with the mission of this University.”
Russell Tribunal on Palestine calls for Sanctions on
Israel
3 March 2010 – The Russell Tribunal on Palestine convened in
Barcelona, Spain and issued its ruling on six questions concerning
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Tribunal’s judgments are not
judicially binding but are meant to examine the complicity of the
European Union in perpetuating what the Tribunal called Israel’s
“policy of war, occupation, and colonization for 60 years.” The
jurists were assembled from around the globe, and among theor
conclusions, the jury stipulated that Israel practices a form of
apartheid and that states are obliged to place sanctions on the
apartheid state until it complies with international law.
Berkeley student government approves divestment against
Israel
18 March 2010 - The ASUC Senate passed a bill urging the University
of California to divest from companies who have supplied the state
of Israel with materials used in alleged war crimes. BDS activists
who pushed the bill forward described the bill as the first step in
an expected long-term process to convince the UC Board of Regents
to pull total investments of about $135 million from five companies
currently supplying Israel with electronics and weapons, including
Hewlett-Packard and General Electric. On 24 March 2010, UC Berkeley
ASUC President Will Smelko vetoed the bill, and the university’s
senate is expected to decide on whether or not they will allow the
veto later this month.
Launch of South African BDS Coalition
28 March 2010 - A coalition of Palestinian solidarity movements
joined forced to push forward the BDS campaign in South Africa.
Choosing the global BDS day of action as their official launch, the
coalition a “Guerilla Shopping” campaign, in which they spread
awareness of the Israeli goods boycott. The newq BDS coalition
includes: Coalition for a Free Palestine (CFP). These include the
Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC), Palestinian Solidarity
Committee (PSM), African National Congress (ANC), South African
Communist Party (SACP), South African Council of Churches (SACC)
and Cosatu’s trade union affiliates such as the South African
Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) and others.
Land Day marked across the world with actions calling
for BDS against Israel
30 March 2010 - As Palestinians commemorated Land Day, solidarity
activists around the world took to the streets to call for a
comprehensive campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
against Israel until it complies with international and
humanitarian law. Creative and bold actions took place in London,
Toronto, New York, Paris, Rome, Cairo, Melbourne and dozens of
other cities around the world. For videos and report-backs from
creative actions of Land Day BDS actions, see: www.bdsdayofaction.wordpress.com
Swedish pension giant Divests from Elbit
31 March 2010 - Foersta AP-Fonden, Sweden’s largest pension fund
banned investment in Elbit because it operates surveillance system
for West Bank security barrier. Following the lead of Norway’s
state oil fund, Foersta AP-Fonden said it had banned investment in
Elbit because it had built and was operating a surveillance system
for Israel’s Wall.
Jerusalem Quartet Protestors Cleared of
Racism
8 April 2010 – The five Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
(SPSC) activists who faced charges of racially motivated
conduct following their protest at a Jerusalem Quartet concert
were cleared of all charges. The activists interrupted a concert
held by the Jerusalem Quartet – who have historical links with the
IDF and are renowned cultural ambassadors for the State of Israel –
with shouts of “boycott Israel” and “end the siege on Gaza”.
Sheriff James Scott ruled that “the comments were clearly directed
at the State of Israel, the Israeli Army, and Israeli Army
musicians” and not “citizens of Israel” per se. “The procurator
fiscal’s attempts to squeeze malice and ill will out of the agreed
facts were rather strained,” he added.