I only recently learned of Illinois Governor Pat Quinn’s trip to Israel this past summer (2011) for a ‘week-long educational mission where he sealed two important agreements and received briefings from high-ranking Israeli officials, academic experts and business leaders on topics ranging from high-tech development (read Motorola), energy, water conservation and environmentalism (sic) to disaster preparedness, Iran, and U.S.-Israel relations.’ This is reported on the website of Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. The reader is expected, of course, to find the high-minded and triumphant tone of this article to be unproblematic.

The article states: “The Governor’s educational visit was part of a JUF initiative that, for the past two decades, has brought influential leaders to Israel.” Quinn signed a “formal agreement on academic cooperation between Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheba and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) to establish a wide-ranging partnership. The agreement will promote faculty and student exchanges, joint research, and other academic activities of mutual interest. The agreement greatly expands the existing relationship between the universities in the field of public health.”

Beyond principled opposition to such academic agreements between our public universities and those of the apartheid Jewish state, it’s important to note that the academic merit and social outcomes of such agreements are obviously limited by the political context that provokes fundamental opposition from advocates of social justice. In relation to Motorola, for example, it’s impossible to believe that there will be public discussion promoting the public interest regarding military applications in general or surveillance technology in particular.

Similarly, such an agreement cannot conceivably promote consideration of fundamental and historical water resource and environmental degradation issues pertaining to political conflict between Israel and Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It’s also highly unlikely that the essentially political nature of such an academic agreement would allow or encourage researchers to address the public health concerns of Palestinians, either as citizens of Israel or in the occupied territories; nor would they likely address, for example, the conditions of African immigrants in Israel who find themselves increasingly despised and unwanted.

A biased and discriminatory political agenda, dictated and limited by Israeli state interests and U.S. hegemonic interests in the region, is thus inevitably part and parcel of such academic agreements. The public university and its scholarly and scientific reputation is commandeered and exploited by the Israel Lobby in order to serve and legitimize that agenda.

Beyond this particular “academic exchange,” my perspective is informed by the principles of the BDS movement and the challenges inevitably presented to the movement by the Israel Lobby’s incessant pressure on public officials and institutions at all levels. As a long-term resident of Illinois and employee of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), I have been a journalist and activist regarding the manner in which Jewish and Zionist institutions have come to occupy the putatively public space of our public university—clearly to the detriment of dignity and justice for the Palestinians, as well as informed discussion in a democratic and scholarly context of the Israel/Palestine issue.

The developments noted above constitute egregious extensions of the Zionist infrastructure that has been promoted by the Israel Lobby in state government in general and in public higher education in Illinois. I would hope that this opportunistic, outrageous, and cynical agreement between Governor Quinn and Israeli officials creates a critical mass of awareness and potential activism within and beyond the BDS movement in Illinois. I would hope to see a clear response to the manner in which the Lobby feels entitled to self-righteously promote—without objection—what are repugnant and sectarian political interests in state politics and higher education—disingenuously and transparently framed in terms of technological, scientific, and economic development.

From my perspective as a Jewish pro-Palestinian activist in Urbana-Champaign, I have observed two primary developments: first, the establishment of a privately-funded Program for Jewish Culture and Society two decades ago and its attendant moral emphasis on the Holocaust and Jewish victimization in general; second, the use of PJCS as an institutional and moral umbrella for an Israel Lobby-funded and baldly propagandistic “Israel Studies Project,” which has moreover been clearly racist in its exclusion of Palestinian Israelis from its purview.

Blatant conflicts of interest regarding PJCS in relation to the Israel Lobby were obvious from the start, and dovetail with Governor Quinn’s junket. The promoters of PJCS were two professors with prominent positions in local Jewish institutions—religious, secular, and Zionist. One professor, Michael Shapiro, is the father of Daniel Shapiro, current U.S. ambassador to Israel.

In 2004, Michael Shapiro worked closely with Michael Kotzin, JUF Executive Vice President, to fund the Israel Studies Project, part of a state-wide effort by the Israel Lobby at both public and private universities. Kotzin wrote in the Forward in 2004 that the “manner in which Israel and the Middle East are taught about in the nation’s university classrooms has increasingly come to the fore as one of the most difficult and far-reaching challenges facing the Jewish community.” In translation, this is to say that the Lobby needs to take serious measures to intervene in academia to promote Israel’s interests, in response to students who are increasingly enlightened regarding the plight of the Palestinians.

Kotzin, a long-time Lobby apparatchik in Chicago, accompanied Governor Quinn to Israel, commenting “It is particularly gratifying to be here with Gov. Quinn today when that partnership moves to a new level.”Quinn’s group was addressed in Israel by Ambassador Shapiro, who tellingly “called his address to the group ‘his first official duty’ after arriving the day before to assume his responsibilities as U.S. Ambassador to Israel.”

I would add that the Urbana campus has also procured, for the past two academic years, a visiting Jewish-Israeli professor of Israel Studies whose position is by no means disinterestedly funded by the Schusterman Family Foundation and the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise(AICE). According to the Jewish Virtual Library, “The aim of the program is to present American students with a broad understanding of Israel’s history, society, politics, culture and relations with its neighbors and the broader international community.” In plainer language, the aim of this program—as of the Israel Studies Project at UIUC and the broader Israel Studies movement in general—is to promote a sanitized version of Zionism, Israel, and Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians. The current visiting professor at the Urbana Campus, Rhona Seidelman, has well-served this purpose.

It is unacceptable that a visiting professor essentially hired by the Israel Lobby is charged with teaching the one class offered at UIUC on the history of the Israel/Palestine conflict. Perhaps needless to say, UIUC has never hired a professor of Palestinian or Arab background specifically in relation to teaching and research regarding the topic of Israel/Palestine. Regarding any other oppressed minority, it would be unheard of for faculty members to be bought and paid for by interests promoting and justifying such oppression. But in the case of the Israel Lobby on campus, it is business as usual. At UIUC and other campuses in Illinois, the Lobby has de facto attempted to limit the institutional space within which Palestinian perspectives can be understood and legitimized.

The political proficiency and resources of the Israel Lobby in Illinois and elsewhere present formidable challenges to pro-Palestinian and BDS activists. Nevertheless, popular support for Israel, including among Jews and on campuses, is at an all-time low. The recent and welcome radicalization of the notion of “occupy,” combined with the principles and goals of the BDS movement, suggests assertive and persistent responses to Lobby business as usual on campus and in state government.

Article courtesy The Palestine Chronicle on-line

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By REUEL S. AMDUR
Guest Writer
Copied with permission from Canadian Charger

On July 11, the Israeli Knesset moved the country into even more dangerous territory. Haaretz columnist Bradley Burston called the new law punishing Israelis engaged in boycotts against Israel or the West Bank “the threshold test for Israeli fascism.” His article was headed “Israel’s boycott law: the quiet sound of going fascist.”
The new law, already being challenged before the highest court in Israel, provides that any person or organization engaging in such a boycott can be sued by the target of the boycott.  There is no necessity for the target to prove actual damages and the court is free to levy any amount of compensation.  As well, the law forbids a person or company taking part in such a boycott the right to bid on government tenders.
Reacting to the new law, the Israeli organization Peace Now listed the companies producing in or operating from the West Bank.  Most sell mainly in Israel.  Exceptions are the cosmetic manufacturers Ahuva and some wineries.  However, two multinationals are among the offenders: General Mills and Unilever.
If one wants to join the boycott movement, aimed at getting Israel out of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, these two multinationals are appropriate targets.  How to tackle the two is a problem.  Their products are numerous and ubiquitous.
Consider–these are just some of the most common General Mills labels: General Mills, Pillsbury, Häagen-Dazs, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Kix, Cheerios, Fiber One, Gold Medal, Yoplait, and Green Giant.  For Unilever, common labels include Lipton’s, Becel, Hellman’s, Knorr, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lux, Pond’s, Sunsilk, Vaseline, Sunlight, and Surf.  How does one tackle such a list?  While some people might religiously avoid all these products and more by these corporations, we cannot realistically expect everyone to do so.  Hence, a more user-friendly is to select a small number of products for attention.
In the case of General Mills, the choice is direct.  Peace Now indicates that the brand name operating in the West Bank is Pillsbury.  So be it.  For Unilever, a couple possibilities are Hellman’s and Lipton’s.  There are other brands of mayonnaise and tea available for the consumer.
Okay, so don’t buy Pillsbury, Hellman’s, or Lipton’s so long as their companies are in the West Bank.  Simple enough.  However, the impact of what boycotters in North America can have on these giants is somewhat limited.  Arabs, Muslims, and other potential boycotters in North America, while not insignificant, may not make much of a dent in the balance sheets of these two economic behemoths.  For that reason, the word needs to go beyond our shores.
These products need to be boycotted elsewhere, in Europe, the Middle East, and afar, if the pain is to be felt by these offending corporations, so let your friends and relatives overseas know of the campaign.  So far, pressure has caused some companies to close operations in the West Bank and move back to Israel proper.
As an aside, corporations are very protective of their reputation.  Image of the brand is a long-term consideration.  That was the motivating factor in Nestlé’s halting its aggressive marketing of baby formula in the Third World.  Would General Mills and Unilever want their label identified with oppression and exploitation?
So remember, no Pillsbury, no Hellman’s, no Lipton’s.  Pass the word, here and abroad.  The boycott movement is hurting.  That’s why Israel adopted such an extreme law.  Keep the hurt going.

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BY GAIL EVELYN ALFAR
Guest Writer, Austin, TX

The little pink icon, Hello Kitty, is not so cute when so closely associated with apartheid Israel.  You may want to veer away from Hello Kitty holiday gifts and school items until Sanrio withdraws its contract to allow Leader Brands of Israel to open as many as 18 stores in Israel.

Palestine solidarity is indeed a global movement.  I recently had the chance to visit Japan.  Staying in a university town there, I had the rare opportunity to meet with a representative of the BDS movement in Japan.  As we sat in a small cafe near a huge Buddhist temple, I thought about how far-reaching the BDS movement really is!

Japan’s BDS movement had a big victory when the Muji retail store recently backed out of a contract to open a store in Israel.  Muji’s customers, who often patronized the store for its “environmentally conscious” stand, were invaluable in the campaign, they rallied with the BDS movement.  With skits, letters and phone calls, the store got the message:  “Its not environmentally conscious to break the call to boycott Israel. “
A campaign in the works in Japan is now called “Bye Bye Kitty.”  The famous Hello Kitty parent company is based in Japan.

1. Sanrio was asked not to open stores in Israel.

2. The reasons for boycott and the clear violations of International Law by         Israel, as well as the call of the BDS movement (www.bdsmovement.net) were explained to Sanrio, prior to the opening of their first store in Israel.

3. Sanrio did issue a response, that it would still seek to do business with Leader Brands in Israel.  The first store was opened in Givatayim in late June, 2011.

The Japanese BDS movement anticipates a campaign that will gain momentum at a slow steady pace.  Japan is reeling from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe and the tsumani that killed over 18,400 people.  Approximately 450,000 people are still living in temporary shelters.  Humanitarian efforts are focused on helping these victims.  Also, Sanrio’s customer base includes young busy parents, they are often hard to reach with the BDS message.

One thing is for certain, though, as long as the Kitty is in Israel, Sanrio cannot market her as an ethically conscious product.  Many other holiday gift and school options exist, and “Bye-Bye Kitty” will not go away until Sanrio closes its present store in Givatayim and pulls out of Israel.

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Courtesy of Electronic Intifada

Canadian and United Kingdom solidarity activists have scored recent victories towards deshelving cosmetics made in an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Canadians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East (CPJME) reported that on 11 January, Canadian retail chain The Bay dropped Ahava products from its stores. Ahava cosmetic products are made from materials from the Dead Sea in the West Bank, assembled in the Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem, and are labeled “made in Israel.”

The company itself is partially owned by Mitzpe Shalem and another settlement, Kalia. An international campaign focusing on the boycott of Ahava products has been making waves across Europe and North America over the last two years.

CPJME stated that The Bay dropped Ahava products because they had not “been meeting expectations,” and that the company had “quietly informed” its customers who had objected to the store stocking Ahava products that they would not continue to do so (”The Bay drops controversial AHAVA products,” 13 January 2011).

However, two days later, The Bay (known also as HBC), issued a joint statement with Canada-based Jewish groups who had immediately protested the retail chain’s decision. The move to drop Ahava products was “solely for commercial reasons,” and that “at no point did political considerations enter into” the decision, the statement claims (”The Bay drops Ahava, but not because of boycott,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency,” 14 January 2011).

The announcement adds that Ahava products will be rebranded and will be back on shelves across Canada by this spring. The Bay “neither subscribes to nor endorses politically-motivated boycotts of merchandise from countries with which Canada has open and established trading relationships, including Israel,” the statement says.

The Stolen Beauty campaign, which has been a key organizer of international boycotts of Ahava products, released an action alert this week encouraging boycott supporters to thank HBC, regardless of its future plans and reasons for stopping its sales of Ahava. “Your message of thanks is crucial as right-wing, pro-occupation groups berate and pressure The Bay to reinstate sales of Ahava,” the alert stated (”Thank you for dropping Ahava products!”).

Nevertheless, The Bay’s decision followed a similar move by British retail chain John Lewis, which had publicly announced on 7 January that it has stopped stocking and selling Ahava products.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign issued a press release welcoming John Lewis’ decision, and reprinted part of a letter drafted by the company to the activist group (”John Lewis stops stocking Ahava products in Britain,” 14 January 2011).

Andy Street, John Lewis’ managing director, wrote: “As a socially responsible retailer, John Lewis takes very seriously the treatment of workers and their working conditions. We expect all our suppliers not only to obey the law, but also to respect the rights, interests and well-being of their employees, their communities and the environment … In relation to your specific enquiry about Ahava Dead Sea products, I can confirm that John Lewis has ceased stocking these particular products.”

Sarah Colborne, director of operations with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, stated that Ahava and other companies that profit from Israel’s illegal occupation are being sent a clear message by consumers.

“Although governments, including our own, are failing to end Israel’s violations of international law and human rights, we can all take action by refusing to buy Israeli goods and joining the movement for [boycott, divestment and sanctions],” Colborne said. “The [Palestine Solidarity Campaign] will continue to ensure that companies which profit from Israel’s occupation pay the price for their complicity in Israel’s crimes.”

Meanwhile, across the world, solidarity activists continue to campaign with the Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment and sanctions.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) announced that two hundred Irish artists have signed onto its Israel boycott pledge, with singer-songwriter Dylan Walshe joining as the latest signatory.

IPSC launched its national campaign in August 2010 in an effort to encourage Irish cultural workers to “avail of any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel, nor to accept any funding from any institution linked to the government of Israel, until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights (”Irish artists’ pledge to boycott Israel reaches 200 signatories,” 13 January 2011).”

Walshe joins high-profile Irish artists who have committed to the boycott, such as actor Stephen Rea and musician Christy Moore. Raymond Deane, IPSC Cultural Boycott Officer and contributor to The Electronic Intifada, stated in the press release that “[a]s the Israeli state becomes ever more racist, expansionist and oppressive, we have seen the growth in its isolation by international civil society through the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.”

Deane, who is also a composer and himself a signatory to the pledge, added, “[t]he success of this boycott pledge is indicative of wider feelings toward Israel, both in Ireland and around the world. Indeed, similar pledges and initiatives are being organized in many other countries.”

Palestine-based activists with the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) issued a statement on 16 January calling for US solidarity groups to boycott the upcoming American tour of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, scheduled for February (”Boycott the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra on its US Tour!,” 16 January 2011).

PACBI said the orchestra is scheduled to perform in Palm Beach, New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. “We urge activists to continue the principled tradition of activists in New York and Los Angeles in 2007, when they protested the [orchestra’s] appearance in their cities,” states the press release.

“As befits an institution that identifies with the Israeli state, the [Israel Philharmonic] proudly announces its partnership with the army under a scheme whereby special concerts for Israeli soldiers are organized at their army outposts,” PACBI adds. “The orchestra has lent itself to the official Israeli propaganda campaign titled Brand Israel, which aims to divert attention from Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian rights to its artistic and scientific achievements.”

PACBI encourages boycott activists in the US to protest and boycott the orchestra’s concerts, saying that as long as it continues to partner with the Israeli government in “planning, implementing and whitewashing war crimes and international law violations,” Israel’s cultural establishment “cannot be exempted from the growing boycott movement.”

Activists with the Israeli group Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call From Within (BFW) drafted a letter to British Telecom (BT) on 18 January, calling for the company to cut ties with the Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq International (”Boycott From Within’s letter to BT,” 18 January 2011).

In January 2010, BT incorporated Bezeq International, a subsidiary of Bezeq Israel, into its Global Alliance. The Bezeq corporation provides telecommunication services to illegal Israeli settlement colonies in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Thousands of British customers of BT have already joined a campaign calling for the companies to cut ties.

“We are saddened and dismayed by your company’s complicity in severe breaches of international law and the violation of human rights through your relationship with Bezeq International, and call on you to end this relationship at once,” states the activists’ letter. “By partnering with Bezeq, [British Telecom] is supporting the infrastructure which enables illegal Israeli settlements, built in violation of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, to exist,” the letter adds.

“We maintain that such willful blindness to Israeli crimes is not only immoral, but is also in contrast to [British Telecom’s] fiduciary responsibility to its investors, as it may put the company’s high-regard in the international community at risk.”

Meanwhile, BFW activists say they helped play a key role in the recent decision by French pop star Vanessa Paradis to cancel a planned concert in Tel Aviv.

After the group drafted a letter urging Paradis and her partner, American film icon Johnny Depp, to cancel their upcoming visit, the singer announced on 15 January that her performance was cancelled.

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that insiders close to the star claimed that Paradis “acceded to calls to cancel the show made by Palestinian solidarity groups” (”Did pop star Paradis cancel Israel concert over politics?,” 16 January 2011).

BFW activists have launched a similar campaign directed at American singer Macy Gray, who this week posted on her Facebook page that she was considering canceling her performance in Tel Aviv due to Israel’s “disgusting” treatment of Palestinians.

“I’m getting alot [sic] of letters from activists urging/begging me to boycott by NOT performing in protest of Apartheid against the Palestinians,” Gray posted on her page.

Activists with BFW stated that “[c]oming to perform in Israel has become a political act, a statement of support for the State of Israel’s ongoing crimes and human rights violations. It is also an act against a rapidly growing nonviolent, human-rights based civil society Palestinian movement.

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Courtesy of Aljazeera

At least 165 Israeli professors have declared a boycott against a contentious college in the occupied West Bank, deepening an internal rift over the expansion of Israeli settlements there.

Organizers of the boycott said on Sunday that the academics signed a petition stating they are unwilling to undertake any activities at Ariel University Centre, because, they said, Ariel is an “illegal settlement” intended to prevent Palestinians from establishing an independent state.

“Ariel is not part of the sovereign territory of Israel, and we therefore cannot be required to go there,” the petition reads.

Ariel, a settlement of 19,000 people, lies deep inside the West Bank, and the Ariel University Centre of Samaria, with its approximately 8,500 students, is situated inside one of the larger settlements of the occupied West Bank.

Palestinians – who claim all of the West Bank, seized in 1967, as part of a future independent state -refuse to negotiate while Israel builds homes for Israelis on captured territories.

Some 300,000 Jewish settlers live in the West Bank, in addition to 200,000 Israelis living in East Jerusalem.

Petition signers criticised

Nir Gov, a professor at Weizmann Institute of Science, who organised the boycott, said the goal is not to punish the college’s student body - which includes many Arabs - but to hasten the end of the occupation.

“I have two young daughters and I want them to grow up in a democratic, free Israel,” Gov said.

“The occupation of millions of Palestinians without any human rights is really destroying it.”

Gov added that others have declined to add their names to the petition for fear of retribution by Israel’s right wing.

The petition was opposed by an umbrella group of Israeli university presidents and the hawkish political party Yisrael Beitenu.

Gideon Saar, Israel’s education minister, condemned the boycott in a statement, calling the petition a “provocation”, and Ron Nachman, Ariel’s mayor, told Israeli radio that the more academics boycott, the more he will build up the settlement.

Boycotting the boycotters

Israeli academics themselves have been subject to boycott calls from colleagues in Britain and Spain.

Israeli officials have angrily said such efforts are counterproductive and go against the ideals of academic freedom.

In 2010, more than 150 Israeli artists boycotted a new performing arts centre in Ariel, with 60 Jewish artists from the UK and UK signing on the Jewish Voices for Peace petition stating the same.

Also, hundreds of professors signed a petition opposing the college’s upgrade to university status.

The continued growth of Jewish settlements is at the heart of the current impasse in Mideast peace efforts.

The latest round of peace talks broke down in late September after an Israeli freeze on most settlement construction expired.

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Occupied Palestine – We, the undersigned Palestinian civil society organizations, including farmers’ unions, agricultural organizations and popular committees, reiterate the call of the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) for a full boycott of Carmel-Agrexco due to its complicity in marketing products of Israel’s illegal colonial settlements and in other Israeli violations of international law and human rights. Standing united with the Coalition Against Carmel-Agrexco in France and across Europe, we express our strong support for the legal action against Carmel-Agrexco taken by French civil society organizations before the Commercial Court of Creteil.

Carmel Agrexco, the partially state owned Israeli exporter is in violation of international law. Agrexco markets 60-70% of the agricultural produce grown in Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory and plays a key role in the development of industrial scale Israeli agri-business. It profits from Israel’s illegal colonial settlements and the theft of Palestinian land and water resources in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) in violation of the IV Geneva Convention and provides an economic incentive for the continuation of Israel’s unlawful regime of occupation, apartheid and colonialism over the Palestinian people. Within the legal and ethical framework of corporate responsibility a company bears the responsibility for all its commercial undertakings that may violate human rights, labour and environmental standards. We moreover wish to emphasize that renowned international law experts as well as the International Court of Justice in its 2004 ruling on Israel’s illegal Wall in the OPT have affirmed that states have a legal obligation to discourage business relations which contribute to the maintenance of the illegal situation created by Israel. This includes business with Carmel Agrexco.

Israeli exports, and Carmel Agrexco products in particular, have been routinely mislabelled, and Israeli export companies and officials have consistently misled partner governments and companies, concealing the facts about products originating from the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. The EU Court of Justice has ruled that such Israeli products do not qualify for preferential customs treatment under the EU-Israel Agreement and has criticised Israeli export authorities for being obstructive in their response to requests made by European Union officials. The UK government has expressed its doubts about the traceability of all products marked ‘made in Israel’.

Researchers have repeatedly documented evidence of Carmel Agrexco itself being involved in the deliberate mislabelling of produce from illegal Israeli settlements. We have recently become aware of attempts by the Israel lobby in France to counter efforts for bringing Agrexco into compliance with international law by the Coalition Against Carmel-Agrexco in France, claiming that a boycott of Agrexco would hurt Palestinian strawberry exports from Gaza. At a time when Israel is systematically destroying Palestinian agriculture, uprooting hundreds of thousands of fruitful trees, bulldozing massive farm areas, and denying Palestinians access to our water resources , no one should be deceived by such blatant Israeli propaganda efforts. Through its ongoing criminal siege of Gaza and its war of aggression against it, Israel has destroyed farmlands, water treatment plants, and sewage facilities, causing unprecedented levels of pollution, poverty and health crises in the occupied Gaza Strip.

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By Nick Meyer

Courtesy of Arab American News

The city of Ann Arbor has long been a hotspot for the Boycott Israel movement, and a group of the most fervent Palestinian rights activists continued that tradition Wednesday, protesting a meeting between Starbucks employees and CEO Howard Schultz.

Protestors demonstrated against apartheid outside Cobblestone Farm in Ann Arbor on Wednesday, Sept. 2 during a meeting between Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and employees. The group believes Schultz contributes large sums of money to support occupation in Israel.

Schultz’s meeting was held at the Cobblestone Farm and Park in Ann Arbor while 13 protestors demonstrated and waved signs with phrases like “Boycott Israel” and “No More Apartheid” to thousands of passing motorists.

“It was important to convey that there is serious concern on the part of people of Ann Arbor about human rights violations in Gaza and Palestine,” said protestor Mozghan Savabieasfahani. “As a general thing we have asked the city to boycott Israel and we protest when people have come to promote more business with Israel, that’s the message we want to get out.”

The protestors, many of whom were Ann Arbor citizens, have taken issue with Schultz and the company because of Schultz’s alleged ties with Israel and Zionism.

 They cited a June 2002 Independent World article by Robert Fisk in which he stated that Schultz was awarded the “Israeli 50th Anniversary Tribute Award” in 1998 from the Jerusalem Fund of Aish Ha-Torah, which is strongly critical of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and insists that the occupied Palestinian territories should be described only as “disputed.”

Schultz also gave a speech at the height of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s reoccupation of West Bank towns condemning Palestinian “inaction” and announced that “the Palestinians aren’t doing their job – they’re not stopping terrorism” in 2002 according to the article.

The Starbucks corporate office called ongoing boycotts “disheartening” and “based on blatant untruths” in an e-mail statement. The statement also said that Starbucks remains a “non-political organization” and that allegations that the company provides financial support to the Israeli government and/or army are “unequivocally false.” The e-mail also pointed out that Starbucks operates 280 stores in nine countries in the Middle East.

Protestor Susan Hajhassan of Dearborn said that interest was high for the protest.

“I did notice a change in the overall reaction of people that passed by; in past protests we would get a lot of negative reactions, however this time there were more positive then negative which I found interesting,” she said. “We had people stop, just wanting to know what the whole situation was about, which is positive for our cause.”

Ann Arbor citizens have a long history of pushing for anti-Israel product boycotts. In 1984, more than 5,000 signatures were collected and presented to Ann Arbor’s city council in an attempt to place a resolution urging the withholding of U.S. aid to Israel on the city ballot in April but the measure was never voted on. A similar measure was later defeated by a 6-4 vote that year.

Despite those setbacks, protestors continue to believe that their message will be heard and remain undaunted in their efforts.

“For 25 years people have been pushing in Ann Arbor for the council to pass a resolution but the city has just stonewalled the whole issue even up to today,” said Blaine Coleman, a long-time protestor. “We’re demanding it here and we’re hoping that the people can demand a similar boycott of Israeli products in Dearborn as well from their city council.”

Published in The Independent Monitor October 2009 issue.

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Courtesy of thepeoplesvoice.org

In the wake of the crisis after a Swedish newspaper revealed the heinous, and criminal activity, of Israel which has been harvesting organs and body parts from murdered Palestinians and selling them on to the USA it seems that Israel is facing another crisis, this time with Norway. The Norwegian Government Pension Fund, which has $400 billion in assets under management, has sold its $5.4 million holding in Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems Ltd.

The Israeli company Elbit systems Ltd provide a monitoring system which is the key contribution to the construction of the racist wall. The Norwegian finance minister Kristin Halvorsen from the social democrat party the alliance of the labor party in the current government supported earlier wider boycott against the state of Israel due to its apartheid policy. Halvorsen made it clear that Norway will not fund companies, which contribute in violations of international humanitarian law.

It must be mentioned here that the Norwegian Petroleum Fund’s Council on Ethics has concluded that an investment in the Israeli company leads to “unacceptable risk of contributing to the particularly serious violations of fundamental ethical norms”. According to the Norwegian paper Dagbladet the Council on Ethics for the Norwegian Petroleum Fund came with his recommendation in May, and the fund has already sold out of the company.

The Hague Tribunal court in The Hague in 2004 recommended the states that are parties in the Geneva Convention to stand against the wall construction. Norwegian authorities have the same vision and will provide support for this, says the finance minister.

In doing so the Norwegian Petroleum Fund’s Council on Ethics is implementing the recommendation of the International Court in The Hague from 2004 which clearly stated that the construction of security wall along the chosen route is a violation of international law. The Hague court found out that than 90 percent of the wall goes over occupied territory in the West Bank.

The question of boycotting the apartheid state of Israel has been one of the questions raised in various academic and political circles in Europe because Israel has a long history in disrespecting the international law. This question is often linked with the international boycott campaign of the apartheid South Africa which many think it has greatly contributed in the fall of that regime. Therefore many think that imposing sanctions on the state of Israel would weaken the far right and the religious fascism which is in power in Israel.

Sweden’s exposure of what can only be described as the Israeli body-organ harvest industry has crossed all lines of human decency toward occupied Palestinians. Although these revelations has left all decent minded people reeling with disgust there has been very little international reaction to roundly condemn Israel and call for sanctions against them.

Norway is to be applauded for leading the way in taking positive steps to boycott Israel – the unanswered question remains. Will the rest of the European community follow suit? My view is that we forfeit our own humanity if we allow this kind of heinous practice to go unchecked. The EU and the European Human Rights organizations must put this issue on its list of priorities.

Likewise, the Palestinian authority needs to stop all political contacts with the apartheid regime in Israel which has been investing these contacts for its own benefit. In the shadow of farcical, and often theatrical, negotiations between the Israel and the Palestinian authority Israel has constructed the racist wall which has ripped through the landscape destroying rural life, uprooting trees and families and causing immeasurable damage to the ecological system. This has been deliberate vandalism – its aim is to drive people from their land and destroy Palestinian culture.

Israel’s anti occupation activists have themselves concluded that nothing has worked to compel, or even encourage, Israel to stop the occupation.

Neve Gordon, an Israeli intellectual concluded that: ‘It is therefore clear to me that the only way to counter the apartheid trend in Israel is through massive international pressure. The words and condemnations from the Obama administration and the European Union have yielded no results, not even a settlement freeze, let alone a decision to withdraw from the occupied territories.’

It is time that the Europe takes a firm stand. Words need to be wed with deeds because words alone are having no impact. The injustice toward Palestinians not only continues, but as evidenced by the organ harvest scandal, it has plummeted to greater depths of depravity.

Describing Israel as an apartheid state and doing nothing to stop it makes the world an accessory to the crime. Passivity in the face of such atrocities as the organ harvest from murdered Palestinians emboldens the Zionists – who are encouraged to keep moving the goal posts of evil doing.

The Norwegian boycott of Israel has made a bold statement that it will not condone its continued occupation of Palestine and violation of human rights. Other foreign governments, companies, academics, art and entertainment communities as well as faith-based organizations, unions and citizens need to make the same ethical stand against Israel as it did against the former apartheid government of South Africa. Boycotts worked then and they would work now.

Europe must disregard accusations of being called anti-Semitic. This is empty rhetoric and an attempt by the Zionist regime to intimidate and discourage opposition to the criminal behavior of Israel.

A strong, united European stand against the crimes of Israel with an international boycott would send a clear message that the silence of its critics is over. To do nothing would not only encourage Israel to commit more crimes it will intensify the culture of violence and revenge which ripped Europe apart in the first half of the last century. While the Jewish communities around the world tell us ‘never again’ we watch the same atrocities being committed by Israeli’s against Palestinians that the Nazi’s stood accused of at Nuremburg.

 Dr. Salim Nazzal is a Palestinian-Norwegian historian in the Middle East, who has written extensively on social and political issues in the region. E Mail: salim_nazzal@ymail.com

 Published in The Independent Monitor October 2009 issue.

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Jane Fonda, Danny Glover and Eve Ensler have joined the growing list of artists who are boycotting the Toronto film festival over a program honoring Tel Aviv’s 100th anniversary, gossip blogger Perez Hilton reported on Friday.

The three have added their names to a letter aimed at festival officials claiming that Tel Aviv was built on violence, ignoring the “suffering of thousands of former residents and descendants,” Hilton reported.

Jane Fonda

Several Israeli films are being screened at the festival’s new City to City event, which this year celebrates Tel Aviv’s centennial.

 Culture critic Naomi Klein and director John Greyson are among those who had already announced their protest over the homage to Tel Aviv.

 Two-time Oscar winner Rabbi Marvin Hier, who founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center, called the boycott “an attack on the heart and soul of Israel.”

“People who support letters like this are people who do not support a two-state solution,” he was quoted as saying on Hilton’s blog.

“By calling into question the legitimacy of Tel Aviv, they are supporting a one-state solution, which means the destruction of the State of Israel. I applaud the organizers of the festival for celebrating on the 100th anniversary of Tel Aviv. If every city in the Middle East would be as culturally diverse, as open to freedom of expression as Tel Aviv is, then peace would long have come to the Middle East.”

Fonda, 72, rose to fame as an actress in the 1960s, but has since become known for her political activism, including her opposition to the Vietnam and Iraq wars.

Glover, who is probably best known for co-starring with Mel Gibson in the four Lethal Weapon movies, has also been politically active since his student days. He made headlines in 2006 when he traveled to Venezuela with a group of celebrities to show solidarity with president Hugo Chavez.

Ensler, whose father is reportedly Jewish, is an American playwright and activist who wrote The Vagina Monologues.

 Published in The Independent Monitor October 2009 issue.

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