"The growing protest against the atrocities committed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip has begun to change something in the Israeli political discourse, and the first indication of this can already be seen in the Israeli economic media. Although the Israeli economic media doesn't concern itself with the moral dimension of the attacks on Gaza, the economic dimension of recent events has created a rising level of concern. "
The Marker, an Israeli magazine for economic news, outlines a number of successes by the BDS campaign.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/hever090309.html
Alternative Information Centre: http://www.alternativenews.org/
[url=http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/21807]AIPAC is becoming concerned[/url]
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/babble/international-news-and-politics/israeli-expo... thread[/url]
I will never stop drinking Starbucks!!
I have never drank Starbucks! :D
And my dog loves Purina
U apparently do not love your dog! ;)
As much as I love my nokia cell phone
Never had one of them either.
And you probably never watched a Disney or Touchstone movie
Jaku, get on topic or get out. Seriously. You're trolling.
I am not sure in the days of parts being built in so many different places if we will ever know 100% that no parts used or technology come from either Israel or an Israeli scientist.
As far as touchstone goes. I thought that their was an Israeli business person who was a minority owner of touchstone -- i thought it was the same person who used to own carnival cruise or maybe still does. and since carnival is the largest cruise line in the world (owning something like 10 other lines)
does that mean that almost all cruises would be verboten?
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/judes/2009/08/courageous-film-maker-... Canadian film maker John Greyson pulls his film from the Toronto International Film Festival to protest their "spotlight on Tel Aviv".[/url]
Funny a film maker has more moral fortitude than the entire United Church of Canada. Go figure ...
ETA: A very powerful film.
[url=http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/08/boycotts-as-a-legitimate-means-of-resi... Uri Avnery is wrong on the Israel boycott question[/url]
"Uri Avnery opposes the brutality inflicted on Palestinians. He campaigns for peace with Palestinians. But he also has a Zionist past. He is European born and fought for the terrorist Irgun in perpetration of a holocaust (Nakba) against Palestinans. He later renounced Irgun's tactics. He is antiwar, but he is not anti-the fruits of war. He approves of a two state solution. In other words, Israeli Jews will keep the fruits of their dispossessing others - this while continuing to press for the return of what they were dispossessed."
All Hail the Israeli..hoch...ptui.
TIFF: Celebrating Israeli Colonialism, Ethnic Cleansing and Apartheid
http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1085
City to City Spotlight on Tel Aviv at the Toronto International Film Festival is disgusting and obscene
Bravo to John Greyson, who has pulled his film from TIFF to protest their tribute to Tel Aviv.
(Full text of his letter included.)
Oh, whoops, I didn't notice that M. Spector posted this already above. :)
BDS: Norweigan Pension Fund Divests from Israel's Elbit Ltd.
http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/533
"The Ministry of Finance has excluded the Israeli company Elbit Systems Ltd. from the Government Pension Fund GLobal on the basis of the Council of Ethics recommendation: "we do not wish to fund companies that so directly contribute to violations of International Humanitarian law," says Finance Minister.."
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
[url=http://torontodeclaration.blogspot.com/2009/09/toronto-declaration-no-ce... Toronto Declaration: No Celebration of Occupation
An Open Letter to the Toronto International Film Festival[/url]
As members of the Canadian and international film, culture and media arts communities, we are deeply disturbed by the Toronto International Film Festival's decision to host a celebratory spotlight on Tel Aviv. We protest that TIFF, whether intentionally or not, has become complicit in the Israeli propaganda machine.
In 2008, the Israeli government and Canadian partners Sidney Greenberg of Astral Media, David Asper of Canwest Global Communications and Joel Reitman of MIJO Corporation launched [b]"Brand Israel," a million dollar media and advertising campaign aimed at changing Canadian perceptions of Israel.[/b] Brand Israel would take the focus off Israel's treatment of Palestinians and its aggressive wars, and refocus it on achievements in medicine, science and culture. An article in Canadian Jewish News quotes Israeli consul general Amir Gissin as saying that Toronto would be the test city for a promotion that could then be deployed around the world. According to Gissin, [b]the culmination of the campaign would be a major Israeli presence at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival.[/b] (Andy Levy-Alzenkopf, "Brand Israel set to launch in GTA," Canadian Jewish News, August 28, 2008.)
In 2009, TIFF announced that it would inaugurate its new [b]City to City program with a focus on Tel Aviv.[/b] According to program notes by Festival co-director and City to City programmer Cameron Bailey, "The ten films in this year's City to City programme will showcase the complex currents running through today's Tel Aviv. Celebrating its 100th birthday in 2009, Tel Aviv is a young, dynamic city that, like Toronto, celebrates its diversity."
The emphasis on 'diversity' in City to City is empty given the absence of Palestinian filmmakers in the program. Furthermore, what this description does not say is that Tel Aviv is built on destroyed Palestinian villages, and that the city of Jaffa, Palestine's main cultural hub until 1948, was annexed to Tel Aviv after the mass exiling of the Palestinian population. [b]This program ignores the suffering of thousands of former residents and descendants of the Tel Aviv/Jaffa area who currently live in refugee camps in the Occupied Territories or who have been dispersed to other countries, including Canada.[/b] Looking at modern, sophisticated Tel Aviv without also considering the city's past and the realities of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza strip, would be like rhapsodizing about the beauty and elegant lifestyles in white-only Cape Town or Johannesburg during apartheid without acknowledging the corresponding black townships of Khayelitsha and Soweto.
We do not protest the individual Israeli filmmakers included in City to City, nor do we in any way suggest that Israeli films should be unwelcome at TIFF. However, especially in the wake of this year's brutal assault on Gaza, we object to the use of such an important international festival in staging a propaganda campaign on behalf of what South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, and UN General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann have all characterized as an apartheid regime.
This letter was drafted by the following ad hoc committee:
Udi Aloni, filmmaker, Israel; Elle Flanders, filmmaker, Canada; Richard Fung, video artist, Canada; John Greyson, filmmaker, Canada; Naomi Klein, writer and filmmaker, Canada; Kathy Wazana, filmmaker, Canada; Cynthia Wright, writer and academic, Canada; b h Yael, film and video artist, Canada
Endorsed by:
Ahmad Abdalla, Filmmaker, Egypt
Hany Abu-Assad, Filmmaker, Palestine
Mark Achbar, Filmmaker, Canada
Zackie Achmat, AIDS activist, South Africa
Ra'anan Alexandrowicz, Filmmaker, Jerusalem
Anthony Arnove, Publisher and Producer, USA
Ruba Atiyeh, Documentary Director, Lebanon
Joslyn Barnes, Writer and Producer, USA
John Berger, Author, France
Dionne Brand, Poet/Writer, Canada
David Byrne, Musician, USA
Guy Davidi Director, Israel
Na-iem Dollie, Journalist/Writer, South Africa
Igor Drljaca, Filmmaker, Canada
Eve Ensler, Playwright, Author, USA
Eyal Eithcowich, Director, Israel
Sophie Fiennes, Filmmaker, UK
Peter Fitting, Professor, Canada
Jane Fonda, Actor and Author, USA
Danny Glover, Filmmaker and Actor, USA
Noam Gonick, Director, Canada
Malcolm Guy, Filmmaker, Canada
Mike Hoolboom, Filmmaker, Canada
Annemarie Jacir, Filmmaker, Palestine
Fredric Jameson, Literary Critic, USA
Juliano Mer Khamis, Filmmaker, Jenin/Haifa
Bonnie Sherr Klein Filmmaker, Canada
Paul Laverty, Producer, UK
Min Sook Lee, Filmmaker, Canada
Paul Lee, Filmmaker, Canada
Yael Lerer, publisher, Tel Aviv
Jack Lewis, Filmmaker, South Africa
Ken Loach, Filmmaker, UK
Arab Lotfi, Filmmaker, Egypt/Lebanon
Kyo Maclear, Author, Toronto
Mahmood Mamdani, Professor, USA
Fatima Mawas, Filmmaker, Australia
Tessa McWatt, Author, Canada and UK
Cornelius Moore, Film Distributor, USA
Yousry Nasrallah, Director, Egypt
Rebecca O'Brien, Producer, UK
Pratibha Parmar, Producer/Director, UK
Jeremy Pikser, Screenwriter, USA
John Pilger, Filmmaker, UK
Shai Carmeli Pollak, Filmmaker, Israel
Ian Iqbal Rashid, Filmmaker, Canada
Judy Rebick, Professor, Canada
David Reeb, Artist, Tel Aviv
B. Ruby Rich, Critic and Professor, USA
Wallace Shawn, Playwright, Actor, USA
Eyal Sivan, Filmmaker and Scholar, Paris/London/Sderot
Elia Suleiman, Fimmlaker, Nazareth/Paris/New York
Eran Torbiner, Filmmaker, Israel
Alice Walker, Writer, USA
Thomas Waugh, Professor, Canada
Howard Zinn, Writer, USA
Slavoj Zizek, Professor, Slovenia
To add your name to this letter, please send your name, occupation and country to [color=blue]tiff.letter[at]gmail.com[/color]. We will accept signatures until September 8, 2009
[url=http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10752.shtml][color=blue]Ilan Pappe says: A big thank you![/color][/url]
... to the Norwegian minister of finance, Kristin Halvorsen, for personally making the announcement that the Norwegian government would withdraw its investments in the Israeli hi-tech company Elbit, because of its role in the construction of the illegal apartheid Wall:
[Latter quote is from NDPP's link upthread.]
Pappe concludes:
[url=http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10756.shtml]Why we back the boycott call[/url]
Ken Loach, Rebecca O'Brien and Paul Laverty
The Electronic Intifada, 7 September 2009
Side thought: If I express any criticism of the Israeli educational system, would I be considered anti-Semitic. Would I need to criticize the educational systems of other countries so that I would not be deemed anti-Semitic?
Israel's Arab Citizens Call for General Strike
http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/09/israel's-arab-citizens-call-general-strike/
"The increasingly harsh political climate in Israel under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right wing government has prompted the leadership of the country's 1.5 million Arab citizens to call the first general strike in several years.."
Follow-up on the Toronto Declaration:
Toronto Declaration Unstoppable
Despite a week of attacks, artists from around the world rush to sign the
declaration
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 10, 2009) - The organizers of the
Toronto Declaration - No Celebration of Occupation are pleased to announce
that more than 1000 people from around the world-including many
Israelis-have signed on in protest of TIFF's City-to-City Spotlight on Tel
Aviv. New signatories include music and cinematic legends Harry Belafonte
and Julie Christie. Actor Viggo Mortensen, who will be attending this year's
festival, just added his name. Leading intellectual figures Noam Chomsky,
Judith Butler and Anne McClintock have also recently endorsed the
declaration, along with prominent Canadian writers Rawi Hage, Joy Kogawa,
Dionne Brand, and Kerri Sakamoto. Celebrated local filmmakers Velcro Ripper,
Min Sook Lee and Lynne Fernie have also signed the letter.
International support for the declaration continues to grow despite
denunciations, unfounded personal attacks on earlier signatories Jane Fonda
and Danny Glover, and despite an aggressive campaign of misinformation
regarding the letter's content.
The organizers want to make it clear that the letter does not call for a
boycott of TIFF. Several of the signatories have much anticipated films in
this year's festival and many others plan to attend. Nor is it a protest
against Israeli filmmakers, many of whom signed the letter. It is a
statement of principled opposition to TIFF's highly political decision to
honor the city of Tel-Aviv with a celebratory "spotlight" this year.
Such a celebration, especially in light of the recent Israeli attacks on
Gaza, not only ignores Palestinian suffering, but also helps to whitewash
Israel's continued violations of international law. According to Naomi
Klein, one declaration's co-authors, "Publicly opposing TIFF's decision is
not an act of censorship, but its opposite: the use of cherished rights of
freedom of speech and opinion."
In an effort to promote ongoing critical debate about Tel Aviv, Israel and
Palestine, organizers will be holding a public forum featuring key
signatories on Monday, September 14, 2009. There will be an opportunity for
press to talk to spokespeople prior to the event, beginning at 5pm. Location
and further details to follow.
The full text of the letter, including new signatories is available at:
http://torontodeclaration.blogspot.com/
To add your name to this letter, please send your name, occupation and country to [email protected] They will accept signatures until September 14, 2009
For further reading on this issue:
Letter by Canadian filmmaker John Greyson on withdrawing his film from the Toronto International Film Festival in protest against City to City:
http://tiny.cc/tiff_open_letter
Response by TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey to Greyson's withdrawal and this petition:
http://www.tiff.net/livefromthefestival/openlettercitytocity
Report in Israeli daily Haaretz:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1110750.htmlspages/1110750.html
Report in Guardian newspaper, UK:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/sep/01/israel-palestine-boycott-film
Statement by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1085etemplate.php?id=1085
So if they support sanctions and boycott of Israel, they must really be wild about boycotting the larger source of the problem, the USA? Or is it the general plan to continue boycotting whichever frontline state the US decides to prop up? How many countries and decades later will it be before it all ends?
[url=http://www.rabble.ca/columnists/2009/09/we-dont-feel-celebrating-israel-... Klein:[/url] We don't feel like celebrating with Israel this year.
[url=http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10778.shtml]Big step forward for the U.S. BDS campaign[/url]
Brazilian Parliament recommends freezing out Israelis from third largest export market
The Palestine Telegraph: Britain's Trade Unions Go For a Mass Boycott Against Israel
Unfortunately, the linked article in the last post is a bit one-sided, and the headline is overly enthusiastic (and misleading). Wish it weren't so, but there you go. In fact, the boycott, which is still historic and an enormous step forward, is only related to goods produced in the illegal settlements, as well as a call for a ban on arms sales to Israel. From an AFP release:
[url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jYtDwmW4OSWb4S1wANiUV...
Notwithstanding that some of the stronger resolutions weren't adopted, the above step is huge. As a statement of condemnation of Israel and a call to actual mass action, it deserves to be praised and widely publicized.
The Jerusalem Light Rail project, an illegal project that aims at connecting Israeli colonies built on occupied Palestinian territory to the city of Jerusalem, is one of the first major victims of the BDS campaign:
[url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1091186.html]Haaretz[/url][url=http://dissidentvoice.org/2009/09/boycott-derails-jerusalem%e2%80%99s-tr... Sept. 19, 2009
Brazilian Parliament Recommends Freezing out Israelis from Third Largest Export Market
http://www.bdsmovement.net/?q=node/543
"The Brazilian Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Relations and National Defense has recommended that the parliament should not ratify the Free Trade Agreement between Mercosur and the State of Israel until Israel accepts the creation of a Palestinian state [based] on the 1967 barders...'This decision is an enormous blow for Israel's economy and foreign relations says Jawal Juma of the Stop the Wall Campaign..'"
And speaking of sanctions...
[url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/06/2705666.htm]Source[/url]
More pressure:
[url=http://palestinemonitor.org/spip/spip.php?article1072]Source[/url]
Israel Arresting BDS Leaders
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=319511...
Israel has extended the detention of a West Bank campaigner said by activist groups to be the first Palestinian to be imprisoned solely for advocacy of international boycotts against Israel.."
From the [url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/27/olmert-could-face-warcrimes-...
Irish Artists Announce Cultural Boycott of Israel
http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/irish-artists-announce-cultur...
"According to IPSC Cultural Boycott officer Raymond Deane, 'These artists are aware of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's statement in 2005 that 'We [Israel} see culture as a propaganda tool of the first rank, and do not differentiate between propaganda and culture.."
Shame on Canadian artists like Egoyan and Atwood for breaking this boycott
Atwood may find out, the hard way, just how effective a boycott can be. ha ha
[url=http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000581912]Harvard University divests entire Israeli portfolio – over $38 million[/url]
Hi M.S
well...sort of...
Harvard Says Its Not Ditching Israel
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=139012§ionid=351020202
"Harvard spokesman John Longbrake said 'the university has not divested from Israel'.."
Speaking of the Irish ...
6,000 Irish shoppers demand supermarket stops stocking Israeli goods: http://bdsmovement.net/?q=node/762
As an activist, this is an aspect of the BDS campaign I've always found challenging - it's difficult (in Canada, anyway) to find consumer goods to organize around. The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign doesn't seem to have that problem, though: http://www.ipsc.ie/campaigns_consumer_boycott.php
I'm going to post this here, too: http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/video/israeli-ships-not-welcome-vancouver/...
Dozens of activists set up an information picket at Deltaport this morning, designed to slow the transport of containers belonging to the Israeli shipping company Zim. Demonstrators gave truckers and passers-by information about the growing refusal by workers to unload and transport cargo from Israel or shipped by Israeli companies. Vancouver Media Co-op correspondents filed this report.
Photos and stories:
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/anti-israeli-apartheid-protest-delta...
http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/zim-ships-not-welcome/4508
BDS 2010: A Two Edged Sword - by Eric Walberg
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=22527
"Politically, BDS has coaxed more and more governments to legitimise Palestine, even going so far as to delegitimise an apartheid Israel.."
Remember this rabble TV item from 2009:
[url=http://rabble.ca/rabbletv/program-guide/2009/11/best-net/boycott-ahava-c... of AHAVA cosmetics launched in Montreal[/url]
More good news:
[url=http://www.cjpme.org/DisplayDocument.aspx?DocumentID=1380&SaveMode=0]The Bay drops controversial AHAVA products[/url]
Starving international investment was, I believe, what brought down the apartheid regime in S. Africa. But I think the world was less financialized and globalized then. People around the world have to start asking their pension and savings managers where their money is going.
I actually have an email from the CEO of The Bay denying this claim.
Apparently, the Ahava company is undergoing a restructuring and rebranding and will be relaunching shortly. The Bay will be carrying the new Ahava products. The CEO of The Bay says they did not give in to boycott demands.
I did notice something else today, however.
One of the companies being targetted in this campaign is Sabra, which makes hummus and various dips and salads. It's American-made but the company is partly owned by an israel food company. At my local Sobey's at lunchtime, there was not a single tub on the shelf.
Now, it could be they were out of stock. I don't want to jump to conclusions. I am now, however, eating a vastly inferior tub of hummus and not so happy about it.
What claim?
Did she deny that they have stopped stocking AHAVA products? I don't believe you.
Did she deny that it was because of declining sales over recent years? I don't believe you.
Did CJMPE make any claim other than that? Did they say The Bay has yielded to political pressure and decided to take to the streets in support of justice for Palestinians?
Of course not.
So you, the Canada-Israel Committee, the Canadian Jewish Congress, and B'nai Brith can carry on with your damage control. If and when The Bay resumes its sales from this dirty outlaw outfit, we will resume our campaign.
I actually have an email from the CEO of The Bay denying this claim.
It was just a flesh wound.
And who the bleep buys hommous? Make your own!
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