I #BOYCOTT #ISRAEL [August 12 2014 - 2mins]

Like for Syria YouTube channel

Published on Aug 12, 2014

Like for Syria on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/like4syria

Visit http://www.bdsmovement.net for list of companies

Producer: http://twitter.com/farisxi

- 620,000 YouTube views, as of August 25, 2014.

Response to Fatalist Gerald Caplan on Peace in #Israel - #Palestine - 21082014

by Diane McLoughlin, August 21, 2014

The best aspect of Gerry Caplan's analysis of the Israel-Palestine conflict is his frank acknowledgement of the oppression and ethnic cleansing that Israel continues to perpetrate against the suffering Palestinian people. It is vitally important to share here that Israel's latest assault on Gaza is an act of genocide - not self-defense!

The worst aspect of Gerry Caplan's analysis is his sorrowful shrug that the situation in Israel-Palestine is intractable and that nothing can be done about it. While it may be a tough nut to crack, wherever there is oppression and injustice we should not back away from our moral and ethical duty to denounce it while encouraging healing and repair of relations between parties. It is a gentle irony that Mr. Caplan himself does not shy away from the ethical duty to speak, and it seems obvious that he cares.

So there is what-is on the one hand, while what-should-be stands separate and apart on the other. There is in an immense space in-between that is open to creative and determined and intelligent and dedicated and good people who set themselves to the challenge of changing the parameters of conflict. Such effort is not futile in the furtherance of justice, peace and global stability, even though you will almost certainly not know how your efforts assisted in tipping the scales.

Some of the ways to apply nonviolent pressure to help bring about peaceful change:

Boycott

As with South African Apartheid, ways to encourage Israeli political direction to change include boycotting Israeli goods, divesting from one's investment portfolios of Israeli companies, and to demand ones' own countries sever political ties with Israel - Boycott, Divest, Sanctions - BDS for short.

Examples:

- BDSmovement.net - lots of resources at this website.

- The 'Long live Palestine boycott Israel' buycott app' was begun in April. Once Israel launched its latest military assault on Gaza beginning in July, the numbers of new buycott users exploded. [over 390,000 users and counting.]

  The buycott campaign organizers explain that the boycott,

'will continue until Israel complies with the precepts of international law by

    1. Ending its occupation of Palestine and dismantling the Wall.

    2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel          to full equality.

   3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to               return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.'

Cut military and intelligence ties

Let it be known to your government that you believe it would be the right thing to do to cut all military cooperative ties with Israel - no more donations of bullets, bombs, software or intelligence.

Ban public and private donations that further injustice

Render it illegal for private individuals to donate funds to Israeli institutions that further the aims of stealing Palestinian land.

Ban private business from profiting from oppression

Render it illegal for any company to collude with Israel to extract Palestinian-owned natural resources. In the mix is the recent discovery  that Gaza owns a vast wealth of natural gas off-shore.

Ban citizens from enlisting in foreign militaries which enforce oppression

Render it illegal for citizens to serve in Israel's military.

Ban politicians from accepting gifts including trips

Render it illegal, if it isn't already, for politicians to accept Israel-funded trips. By all means, politicians ought to travel to Israel to witness what's going on. But only if the investigation includes fact-finding in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza, meeting with Palestinian authorities, as well.

Conclusion

Mr. Caplan's argument is an important one, in that he may have helped to finally open political debate in Canada on Israel that for too long has been censored and suppressed.

Reponse to, 'No matter what leaders do, there won't be peace in the Middle East'; Gerald Caplan, African scholar, former NDP national director and regular panelist on CBC’s Power and Politics; The Globe and Mail; August 15, 2014.

___________________________

Stunned Koala - Wait - So US Boycotted the 1980 Olympics Because Soviets Were Occupying Afghanistan

As seen on Facebook

Roger Waters endorses BDS and speaks against Israeli anti-boycott law which subsequently passed

Australia - Slinging Mud at Marrickville for Defending Palestinian Human Rights

by Diane V. McLoughlin, April 18, 2011

Australia: 

According to Australia's, 'The Daily Telegraph', a city council in a town called Marrickville voted last December in favor of participating in the international boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign in support of Palestinian human rights. [1]

BDS - boycott - by civil society around the world, helped bring to a peaceful end South Africa's racist apartheid regime.  It is hoped BDS will hasten the end to Israel's illegal military occupation and takeover of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. 

Since the December vote in favor, Marrickville Council has been under severe pressure to reverse their vote.  It is stunning to note the high-level of political interference.  The Premier himself, Barry O'Farrell, has reportedly threatened to fire the entire council if they do not reverse themselves (although I would be surprised to learn if he actually had it in his power to do so.) [2]  In any event, the vote will apparently be revisted later today when council votes on what to boycott.

The New South Wales president of the Jewish Board of Deputies, Yair Miller, reportedly suggested that:  

 "The council should keep to what it was elected to do, take care of the interests of its ratepayers and not take sides in a foreign conflict." [1]

My impression of Australians as a whole is that they would not willingly sit on the fence when it comes to right and wrong - in foreign conflict, or anything else.  

The hypocrisy of the message that we 

'not take sides'  

is most devastingly captured by political cartoonist, Carlos Latuff:

Standing in stark contrast to the
don't-take-sides position is the following Resolution adopted by Independent Jewish Voices Canada:

Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions:

'Whereas there will be no lasting peace without implementation of international law, United Nations resolutions and respect for the human rights of both Palestinians and Jewish-Israelis, and

'Whereas the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed resolution 242 in November 1967, calling on Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, which it had invaded and occupied in June 1967, and

'Whereas Israel has refused to implement resolution 242 and instead has illegally established Jewish-only settlements in these areas in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and

'Whereas Independent Jewish Voices is based on a strong commitment to social justice and universal human rights, and
'Whereas it is our view that the grave situation in the Middle East threatens the future of both Israelis and Palestinians as well as the stability of the whole region, and

'Whereas we support a negotiated peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and oppose attempts by the Israeli government to impose its own solutions on the Palestinians,

'Therefore be it resolved that Independent Jewish Voices -Canada will

'Work towards an end to military assaults and other acts of violence that target civilians;

'Demand that the Israeli Government immediately and permanently withdraw from the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan and cease all discrimination against Arab Citizens in Israel.

'Call on the Canadian government to 1) cease its one-sided and uncritical support for Israel and 2) insist that Israel abide by international law in its relations with Palestinians.

'Support the Palestinian call for a campaign [of] boycott, divestment and sanctions until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and complies with the precepts of international law, including the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194. ' [3]

-----


While all the statements contained in the IJV resolution are true, it is also true that, due to the reluctance to report the whole truth on Israel by the mainstream press, many have no idea what the whole truth is.  For example, in recent days there have been many reports about the cold-blooded murder of a Jewish settler family in a village called Itamar in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  But what people in the West did not hear about was that due to constant violent attacks by Itamar settlers, the majority of the Palestinians of the nearby village of Yanun even briefly had to abandon their own homes in 2002. (They returned with the supportive presence of peace activists.) [3a]   

The 2002 catalogue of violence by Jewish settler extremists against Palestinians included:

'1. Repeatedly attacking people in their homes, throwing stones, shooting at windows and closed doors, terrifying young children and women.

'2. Attacking families on their farms. Here are a few examples of these brutal acts:

'a. In one of these attacks Galib Adel, 40 years old, was beaten brutally. He lost one of his eyes and had his leg broken, in addition to suffering several bruises. Atif Tawfiq, Rashad Saleem, and Inbisat Ahmad were also beaten in the attack.

'b. Moflih Adel was beaten severely and taken to the hospital unconscious.

'c. Gassan Abu Kaf, 38 years old, escaped murder and was shot in the leg.

'd. Ahmad Mahmoud, 80 years old, lost one of his eyes in a settler attack.

'e. Abdul Latif Yousif, the mayor of the Yanun Council, was beaten severely in an attack.

'f. Hani Hamdalla, 24 years old, was shot dead, while Fadi Fadil was injured in another attack by settlers.

'3. Killing hundreds of sheep using poisonous injections and live bullets.

'4. Blocking the main road to the village of Yanun.

'5. Spoiling the only natural source of water in the village.

'6. Burning down and destroying the only source of electricity, the electric generator that was donated by the Economic Development Group.

'7. Preventing farmers from getting to their farms and attacking them using fierce dogs and live bullets.

'8. Destroying the crops by ploughing the farmed land and burning crops that were harvested and ready to transport, as evidence of possession and control. At least three cases of burning have been recorded.

'9. In broad daylight, stealing olive trees that belong to local farmers.

'10. Imposing a seige around the natural pastures and preventing shepherds from getting to them.

'11. Preventing the relatives of the people of Yanun from visiting Yanun and shooting at the cars that go there, including the car of the mayor of Aqraba.

'12. Cutting off the main road from Aqraba to Nablus. This road, which was finished in 1935, is no longer safe to travel. [4]

Summing up pretty well the settler attitude toward Palestinians, when Palestinian farmers try to gain access to their fields:

 "You are dead people." [5]

               The following is my letter of support to Marrickville Council, dated April 16, 2011:

Hello,

An appeal has gone out to express support for you in taking the moral high ground - voting
to divest from companies that profit from the oppression of the Palestinian people in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, otherwise known as the West Bank.

I salute you, and appeal to you not to cave in to any form of political threats or blackmail. I would
share that the West Bank has been categorized as worse than Apartheid South Africa of before by those
who lived it and know what they are talking about.

The occupation by Israel of the West Bank, as well as the siege of Gaza I would add, are both crimes against humanity by any definition.

You are not alone in courageously standing for Palestinian human rights. This, from the British Quakers:

'The settlements and infrastructure on Palestinian land are protected by the Israeli government and military and prevent or restrict Palestinians access to their land, water supplies, education, health services and more.
Extensive settlement infrastructure divides up Palestinian land, creating obstacles to peace...'
http://jfjfp.com/?p=22740&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=quakers-against-settlement-goods

Here, the Presbyterian Mission Network, public statement (2010):

'In response to a call to action from the Christians of the Holy Land, The Israel/Palestine Mission Network (IPMN) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) [PC(USA) voted at its annual meeting to join the international boycott of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).'
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/3045-presbyterian-mission-network-joins-bds-calls-for-boycotts-supports-kairos

Nov. 2010, TEEU Irish trade union:

'TEEU General President, Frank Keoghan, welcomed the motion saying: “It is an expression of the solidarity and empathy that members of the TEEU, and indeed all Irish people, feel for the suffering people of Palestine, that this motion received the unanimous support of our Conference.”
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/topics/economy-of-the-occupation/3039-another-bds-victory-irish-trade-union-teeu-votes-to-boycott-israel

From a three million member-strong British trade union:

'"There are household names making profits on the backs of a war of oppression. Their hands are very dirty and we will demand that these companies verify their supplier," he said to multiple applause. '
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/95273

Norway: government-run pension fund drops two Israeli firms involved in developing settlements, as reported in the Israeli daily, Haaretz.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/norway-government-run-pension-fund-drops-africa-israel-group-shares-1.309874

You are not alone in your taking the moral high ground - far from it.

As with Apartheid South Africa, it is from the ground up that rejection of occupation comes - the established order only moves after the people so move.

I am, most sincerely and respectfully yours,
 
Diane V. McLoughlin, writer
____________________________________
 
Notes
 
[1]  Article (interesting study in slanted reporting):  'Marrickville Council faces $4 million bill for Israel boycott'; Simon Benson; April 14, 2011; The Daily Telegraph;   http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-nsw/marrickville-council-faces-4-million-bill-for-israel-bans/story-e6freuzi-1226038733018 ;
 
[2]  Article:  'Marrickville Council's Israel boycott wilts under politics'; Josephine Tovey; April 16, 2011; The Sydney Morning Herald;  http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/israel-boycott-wilts-under-politics-and-practicalities-20110415-1dhu6.html ;
 
[3]  Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Resolution; 'Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) > IJV Positions'; resolution adopted March 22, 2009; http://ijvcanada.org/ijv-vji-positions/ ;

[3a] Blog, 'Palestine Pal: Yanun surrounded by the occupation (and some Danish stuff)'; Harrison Healy;
Feb. 11, 2006;  http://palestinepal.blogspot.com/2006/02/yanun-surrounded-by-occupation-and.html ;
 
[4]  Report:  'Settlers Force Desertion of Yanun Village'; 
Settlement Report Vol. 12 No. 6 November-December 2002; Foundation For Middle East Peace;
http://www.fmep.org/reports/archive/vol.-12/no.-6/settlers-force-desertion-of-yanun-village ;

[5]  Article: 'It's the Pits'; Amira Hass; Haaretz; 25/10/02;
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/it-s-the-pits-1.30306 ;

[6]  Report: 'Separate and Unequal'; VII Nablus District, Yanun and Itamar; Dec. 19, 2010; Human Rights Watch;  http://www.hrw.org/en/node/95059/section/8

Minnesotans Call for Divestment from Israel!

Update re Is it Legal to Boycott Israel or Not

by Diane V. McLoughlin, writer, peace activist, Apr. 10, 2010
main website: http://www.mcloughlinpost.com

Update to:   Is it Legal to Boycott Israel or Not?

The short answer is that it is illegal to participate in any way with a foreign-originated boycott against Israel.

But a boycott that originates within the U.S., by citizen or company, is not illegal.

Just as with the international boycott of Apartheid South Africa, there are U.S. citizens and companies that peacefully boycott Israel as a matter of conscience. Boycott is meant to encourage Israel to quit the military occupation of the West Bank and lift the military siege of Gaza.

However, these American antiboycott laws do not really feel like this is an issue under discussion in a free society.  I have had e-mailed to me a link to an on-line article circa June 27, 2003 which also discusses this. I include a thoughtful comment which adds to the discussion by Michael Breen.  It is troubling that the U.S government orders American companies to file reports on any inquiries they receive from foreign buyers regarding whether or not a company does business with Israel.   Millions of dollars in fines have been levied against American companies for not reporting foreign boycott queries to the government's satisfaction.

From the website, 'Unknown News', entitled:  'Company fined for not reporting customer's question 'Is any of this stuff made in Israel?'; by Helen and Harry Highwater:

'A Missouri company has been fined $6,000 for not reporting a [foreign] customer’s question to the federal government. The question that’s punished by law is: Are any of these products made in Israel, or made of Israeli materials?

     The Kansas City Star  reports:

      The anti-boycott provisions bar U.S. companies from providing information about their business relationships with Israel. They also require that receipt of boycott requests be reported to the Bureau of Industry and Security, formerly known as the Bureau of Export Administration.

      We ask: Why is this question forbidden? Why is any question forbidden?

      It sounds more like the USSR than the USA, to punish people for asking a forbidden question, or for not immediately reporting to the government that someone else asked a forbidden question.'
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael Breen adds to the discussion:

Regarding ariwatch.com/Links/CompanyFined6000.htm, it may be worth
noting for the sake of those who might be cowed rather than angered
by US laws protecting Israel from boycott (as if Israel were a US
citizen!) that it applies only to cooperation with foreign boycotts,
and so permits boycotting where it is not motivated by a wish to
comply with another country's foreign policy:
 
http://mcloughlinpost.blogspot.com/2010/04/2002-commerce-official-urges-compliance.html
 
This is implicit, however: the writers of the regulations clearly
do not envisage a situation where a US businessperson might *want*
to boycott Israel for any reason other than the profit available
from trading with boycotting countries.  And if the existence of
the foreign boycott is found to form any part of the motivation,
the company can still be penalized. Example (x) on p16 illustrates:
 
  A, a U.S. construction company, enters into a contract to build
  an office complex in boycotting country Y.  A receives bids from
  B and C, U.S. companies that are equally qualified suppliers of
  electrical cable for the project.  A knows that B is blacklisted
  by Y and that C is not. A accepts C's bid, in part because C is
  as qualified as the other potential supplier and in part because
  C is not blacklisted.
 
  A's decision to select supplier C instead of blacklisted supplier
  B is a refusal to do business, because the boycott was one of
  the reasons for A's decision.
 
One can envision a US company choosing an Israeli supplier instead
of an equally qualified US one merely to protect itself from the
thought police. (Such a fearful company could act more fairly
by choosing from among equally qualified suppliers by lot, and
have the draw witnessed.) However, I would assume that before a
penalty could be imposed some evidence would still be required,
e.g., a statistically significant pattern of contract awards,
a remark a manager is reported to have made at a meeting, etc.
 
In short, under the EAR, it seems that a company that doesn't
have any trade with boycotting countries will suffer no penalty
for publicly boycotting Israel on its own account. A company
that can expect to profit from its position needs to be far more
careful. But a company seeking only to avoid a loss in domestic US
sales (admittedly still a rather hypothetical entity) should be OK.
 
Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and I have not read the regulations
in their entirety. Get your own advice before acting.

 

Divesting from Israel encourages terrorism. Really.

by Diane V. McLoughlin, Mar. 26, 2010

main website The McLoughlin Post

JewishJournal.com is a large-circulation Los Angeles paper. I just read the article, 'U.C. Berkeley student president vetoes divest-from-Israel resolution'.  (Amanda Pazornik, Jweekly, Mar. 25, 2010.) The article was twittered to me (McLoughlinPost) from a fellow twitterer. 

As a writer and peace activist, I am taken up with the Israel-Palestine conflict. It was disappointing to find that the article seemed to weigh heavy with supporters of Israel right-or-wrong.  Facts seemed to be somewhat distorted with the personal bias of those sources used for insight. 

There are a large number of American Jews who do not agree with Israel's behavior.  Nobody reading the above-noted article would have a clue that that is so. Nor would anyone learn anything about what Israel does that could be objectionable to anyone.  Not really.

Lawyer and influential author Alan Dershowitz is quoted as saying that,  “divesting from Israel is immoral, bigoted and if done by a state university, illegal. It encourages terrorism and discourages peace,” Dershowitz wrote. “We will fight back against this selective bigotry that hurts the good name of the University of California.” (Emphasis added.)

Dershowitz is referring to the fact that a University of California (Berkley) students' association had voted in favor of asking the university to divest itself of $135 million it currently has invested in two companies, General Electric and United Technologies. These companies supply war materials and electronics to Israel.  

The students cite Israel as a perpetrator of war crimes in their resolution.  Reporter Amanda Pazornik further shares that the president of the student association, Will Smelko, vetoed the successful resolution, even though it passed by a wide margin of 16-4. 

In turn, the veto could be overturned at the next association meeting scheduled for March 31st.

But one has to ask, who does Alan Dershowitz think he's kidding? This is still a democracy  (what's left of it.)  You don't want to invest your money somewhere anymore?  You pull it out. 

Peaceful divestment encourages terrorism, Mr. Dershowitz - not occupation or oppression?  Really.

But on second thought, I find Mr. Dershowitz's choice of words to be helpful.  Occupation and colonization of the Palestinian West Bank is immoral, bigoted, and illegal under international law.  The citizens of this world are peacefully coming together, just as they did for the oppressed under the boot of South Africa's Apartheid regime, to fight back against Israel's selective bigotry, by the most peaceful and effective of means: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions - BDS. 

And actually, that coming together to bring about the dissolution of South African Apartheid did not include Israel.  Israel continued to do business with Apartheid South Africa even as the world boycott took hold.

History will judge forever all who choose to do business with Israel during this dark time.  Their good names will be tarnished accordingly.

While Stephen Kuperberg (executive director of the Israel on Campus Coalition in Washington, D.C.)  reportedly claims that no university has ever actually divested from Israel, the reality of the situation is somewhat different.  A wave of change may be coming:

'In November of last year, student organizers representing over 40 campuses nation-wide came together for a BDS Conference held on Hampshire's campus to continue to carry the momentum of divestment' - Students for Justice in Palestine, a Hampshire student group.

Another person quoted by Pazornik, Naftalin-Kelman, argues that,  "In no way are the interests of Israeli and Palestinian people served by a resolution that single-handedly and inaccurately identifies Israel as a committer of war crimes.”

I challenge that claim. Rather than resolutions in favor of peaceful divestment, is violent resistance the better choice? Or does he propose a Masada solution for the occupied Palestinian people as the only road to their salvation that would be acceptable to him? (A  riveting event in history, Masada was a hilltop where a Jewish community was besieged by the Romans.  Rather than face slavery or execution they chose death. Every last man, woman and child was killed, the killers chosen in lots, down to the last man who in turn committed suicide.)

I am repulsed by the loathsome argument that we are to somehow balance equally our opprobrium between the oppressor and the oppressed.  This is called moral equivalence - it is an abomination.

It is clear from the tone, the substance and the style of the above-noted piece, and the actors who are introduced  within it, that a community has been playing a telephone tag game of nonsense while the Palestinian people are being destroyed. The totality of this nonsense puts Israeli Jews at risk - they know not what they do, and few have the nerve to tell them.

Those brave enough to speak out are labeled anti-Semites; if they are Jewish they are called 'self-hating' Jews -whatever that means.  Frankly, the latter is Orwellian double-speak. Rather, I would argue that Jews that condemn Israel's policies of ethnic cleansing are self-respecting, instead.

In any event, while this self-delusion otherwise goes on, Palestinian children of East Jerusalem take their favorite toys and clothes with them when they go to school each day because they fear their homes will not be there when they return.  Palestinians who plan peaceful protests are rounded up by the IDF to be beaten, arrested, or both.  Children suffer. Children die. Gaza is becoming more and more like the Warsaw Ghetto with each passing day.

If you are going to support any enterprise, it is morally incumbent upon you to investigate to ensure that what you are being asked to endorse, to support, to finance - is RIGHT.

Where to begin? I personally recommend the rockets from Gaza that Israel cites to justify the overwhelming destruction Israel wrought upon them all. 

- Gaza did not break the ceasefire. Israel did. So from there the question one has to ask themselves, is why?  

(Pg. 6: Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center - IICC - Summary of Rocket Fire and Mortar Shelling 2008.)

- Here is a sampling of Israel's war crimes in Gaza, referred to in one article of my own:

  http://www.mcloughlinpost.com/IsraelEvidenceOfWarCrimesInGazaGrowsByTheDay.html

- For your interest, Ynet News reports that the Knesset is the most racist since the founding of Israel, having had an increase of 75% in racist laws submitted for deliberation in the last year.

The door may be closing, but Israel clearly still has more open discourse about itself than it does amongst Americans. Some Americans still insist that their government finance by the annual billions Israel's apartheid regime. 

That has to change. It must, for the long-term peace and security of every single human being in the region. How long it takes, how many lives are destroyed in the meantime, really, is in large part up to you.

Jewish Voice for Peace is one group working to bring about change. But they are far from the only ones.  

My own personal view?  Settlers in the occupied Palestinian territories have the vote in Israel.  The Palestinians in the occupied territories, as well as the Palestinians in Gaza, do not.  If the settlers stay then the Palestinians must get the vote, too.  In other words, Israel should then declare itself to be one bi-national state with equal rights for all its citizens.

On the other hand, if Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza don't get the vote, and they don't have it now, then Israel continues to be referred to, rightly, as an Apartheid regime. 

Diane V. McLoughlin -

Publisher, editor, writer, peace activist