BDS campaign... still working!

CAIA Toronto: Crackdown on BDS - Criminalization of Dissent?

Tuesday, April 26 @ 6:30 PM, United Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street, Toronto

https://www.facebook.com/events/795216720579192/

"On Feb 18, 2016 Canadian parliament passed a motion condemning 'any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or individuals to promote the BDS movement, both here at home and abroad.'

This speakers panel and discussion addresses this recent anti-BDS offensive, including legal, campus-based, labour and social movement reflection and analysis..."

The New McCarthyism - The 'Anti-Semitism' Hysteria Gripping the UK  -  by Craig Murray

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/04/new-mccarthyism-anti-semitism-hys...

"Daniel Clemens, the president of Birmingham J-Soc, said. 'I think that anti-Zionism and antisemitism are two and the same thing.'

Dutch government follows Sweden in affirming right to boycott Israel

The Dutch government has defended the right to boycott Israel, in a rejection of Israeli efforts to outlaw such political activity.

In response to questions from Green Left MP Rik Grashoff on Israel’s threats against human rights defenders active in the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders said that “statements or meetings concerning BDS are protected by the freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, as enshrined in the Dutch Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.”

According to Koenders, Israel regularly raises the topic of BDS in bilateral meetings with the Dutch government. The minister said that while the government itself does not support the boycott of Israel, “endorsing BDS falls under freedom of expression.”

The Netherlands is the second European Union (EU) state to publicly state that support for the Palestinian-led BDS campaign should be protected under the principle of freedom of expression. In March 2016, the Swedish foreign ministry affirmed that BDS “is a civil society movement” and that “governments should not interfere in civil society organization views.”

Riya Hassan, Europe coordinator for the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), welcomed Koenders comments....

McGill Judicial Board Ruling Bans BDS

https://t.co/FFWQ1IBU1Z

"Landmark decision by McGill's Judicial Board to ban BDS from campus."

Irwin Cotler Nominated For Nobel Peace Prize By Alan Dershowitz

https://t.co/N55JkeggUu

"The most important human rights activist in the world today."

Zionism continues apace - the left hand washes the right and both wash the face. If a murderous monster like Obama can be given it, why not an odious Canadian Zio like Cotler?

NLRB Confirms Legality of Union Support for Israel Boycott; Union Condemns Political Attacks on BDS

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has reaffirmed its dismissal an unfair labor practice charge brought by an Israeli law firm against a U.S. union, the United Electrical Workers, over its support of protests against Israeli policies including the union’s endorsement of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) movement.

At its national convention in Baltimore August 16-20, 2015, the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) adopted a resolution endorsing the BDS movement to pressure Israel to negotiate peace with the Palestinians and end the occupation. UE is the first national U.S. union to endorse BDS. Read the resolution here.

On October 23, the Israeli law firm Shurat Hadin filed a charge with the NLRB alleging that UE’s resolution violated the prohibition in U.S. labor law against “secondary boycotts.” The union disputed the charge, arguing that Shurat Hadin’s action was an attempt to interfere with the First Amendment rights of the union and its members to express opinions on political and international issues, and also that the Israeli firm’s allegation were factually untrue. On January 12, Region 6 of the NLRB dismissed the charge. Shurat HaDin then appealed to the Office of the General Counsel of the NLRB, and on May 26 that office denied the appeal....

Sony??

TEHRAN (FNA)- Resistance forces in Mosul revealed that the ISIL terrorist group is making surface-to-air missiles based on an Israeli model to target Iraqi, Syrian and coalition fighter jets.

According to the Arabic-language Sputnik news website, the plan includes equipping the ISL missiles with cameras similar to the systems used in Rafael Python-5 missiles produced by Israel which can be fired both from surface and air.

The resistance forces also said that the ISIL group which has been entrusted with implementing the plan includes Iraqi and foreign members headed by Nineveh governor called al-Seidali who have equipped and armed the missiles in a region in Wadi al-Akab in Western Mosul and then fled to Raqqa in Syria.

They added that the ISIL group’s activity is not limited to the equipment and enhancement of the missiles; “it also produces the chemical materials used in the bombs and mortars, including poisonous gases like chlorine and mustard gas, which were earlier discovered by the Iraqi and Kurdish forces near Mosul and al-Anbar province.

By implementing the plan, the ISIL seeks to equip the missiles with tracking, tracing and controlling systems which include special electronic circuits and a micro computer chip that receives and processes the information and gives digital orders to the control circuit in the engine impellers through 5-volt micro computer chip.

Based on the information gained by the resistance forces, the ISIL uses Sony cameras to equip its missiles.

The reports came after evidence indicated in July 2014 that Japan’s electronics giant, Sony, had assisted Israel in its deadly offensive against the besieged Gaza Strip.

A piece of an Israeli rocket was discovered in Gaza showing that Sony Corporation has provided the Israel regime with cameras and high-tech control boards to equip its missiles.

A camera apparently manufactured by Sony was mounted on the rocket piece to help Israeli warplanes choose their targets in the Gaza Strip.

New San Francisco bus ads say: ‘Boycott Israel Until Palestinians Have Equal Rights’

On August 9, Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign (SeaMAC) launched a new ad on buses in San Francisco with the slogan Boycott Israel Until Palestinians Have Equal Rights. The bus ad will run for four weeks.  

SeaMAC’s new bus ad also includes the slogan Stop Anti-Boycott Legislation and features a list of previous social justice boycotts, including boycotts against British tea in 1773, segregated buses in Montgomery in 1956, and South African apartheid from 1959 to 1994.

“Advocates for Israel’s apartheid are trying to persuade state and national legislatures to outlaw the right to boycott against social injustice in Israel,” said Edward Mast, volunteer board member of SeaMAC. “This attack on free speech is one more example of demanding special treatment for the State of Israel.”...

Maybe time to focus on the positive flipside of BDS? Building activist trae relations with the communities of Palestine? To help strengthen their economy and infrastructure!
Any interest?

That choice is already there

http://www.zatoun.com/

(without even looking at the regular grocery aisles, where there are also some)

Here too:

https://www.tenthousandvillages.ca

Boycotting 'The Occupation' Is Not Enough

https://t.co/a53Nr36gtA

"Liberal Zionists aim to redefine and redirect the movement's strength and efforts towards preserving instead of challenging Israel as a racist, apartheid and colonial state."

I've started a thread on that specific topic (the libelious Op-Ed, etc.) if babblers want to delve into that topic only [under media].

See here: Canadian Media Giant Apologizes to Independent Jewish Voices

THE ELECTRONIC INTIFADAYou are herePortland halts investment in Caterpillar

Nora Barrows-Friedman Activism and BDS Beat 5 January 2017

Israeli forces use a Caterpillar vehicle to destroy a Palestinian home in occupied east Jerusalem, May 2013.

Sliman KhaderAPA images

The city of Portland, Oregon, has voted to temporarily halt its investments in all corporate securities after a broad coalition of activists urged the city to drop financial relationships with companies involved in human rights violations.

Palestine solidarity activists, together with environmental groups and prison divestment organizations, demanded the city council add Caterpillar and Wells Fargo to a list of corporations that violate a socially responsible investment (SRI) policy adopted by the city in 2014.

In their unanimous vote on 21 December, the city council determined that investments in all corporate securities – including those two companies – will be suspended for at least four months.

Lawmakers in Spain endorse right to boycott Israel

Activists are welcoming a decision by lawmakers in Spain to recognize that the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement for Palestinian rights is protected by laws guaranteeing free speech.

On 27 June, the International Cooperation Committee of the Congress of Deputies, Spain’s lower house, unanimously adopted a resolution calling on the government to “recognize and defend the right of human rights activists from Palestine, Israel and other countries, to engage in legal and peaceful activities, protected by the right to freedom of speech and assembly, such as the right to promote boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns.”

Podemos, the left-wing party whose lawmakers proposed the motion, said that the approval means the government “must uphold those rights and act against the harassment of activists, in Spain and many other countries, engaged in peaceful, legal and legitimate campaigns against the violation of human rights in Palestine.”....

The American Civil Liberties Union called on U.S. senators to oppose a measure targeting boycotts of Israel and its settlements.

 http://forward.com/fast-forward/377340/aclu-urges-senators-to-reject-anti-bds-bill/

Cardin and Portman argue that the ACLU and liberal activists are missing a key distinction in their bill. It does not, they argue, penalize American individuals and companies that chose to boycott Israel out of their own political beliefs, but only refers to those doing so in adherence to an international or foreign government boycott. “This legislation does not encourage or compel persons to do business with Israel, nor does it punish individuals or companies from refusing to do business with Israel based on their own political beliefs, for ‘purely pragmatic reasons,’ or for no reason stated at all,” the senators’ letter states.

http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/377535/senators-behind-anti-bds-bill-say-it-wont-infringe-on-free-speech/

Quote:

The American Civil Liberties Union called on U.S. senators to oppose a measure targeting boycotts of Israel and its settlements.

I still find it hard to understand how NOT buying something from some company (because they're Israeli, or because their product is sub-par, or because you don't even like their product) could ever be deemed illegal.

Every single time I buy some brand of cookies, I'm de facto "boycotting" all the others.  So, wat?

That said, this is specific to a consumer boycott, not (say) an academic boycott or whatever.

Mr. Magoo wrote:

Quote:

The American Civil Liberties Union called on U.S. senators to oppose a measure targeting boycotts of Israel and its settlements.

I still find it hard to understand how NOT buying something from some company (because they're Israeli, or because their product is sub-par, or because you don't even like their product) could ever be deemed illegal.

Every single time I buy some brand of cookies, I'm de facto "boycotting" all the others.  So, wat?

That said, this is specific to a consumer boycott, not (say) an academic boycott or whatever.

The US has had laws making it illegal to boycott Israel for decades, targeting corporations which, after the Six-Day War, made the business decision that the Arab world was a bigger market than the Israeli one. Per my link, "U.S. parties are prohibited from agreeing to refuse, or actually refusing, to do business with or in Israel, or with so-called blacklisted companies, in compliance with an unauthorized boycott under U.S. law. In addition, U.S. parties are required to report requests to engage in a restrictive trade practice of a foreign boycott against a country friendly to the United States. The primary boycott of concern is the Arab League boycott of Israel."

It always struck me as of dubious constitutionality, but apparently courts haven't agreed. Applying it to individual consumers will no doubt be more difficult.

Who are the Zionist left?

Quote:

It always struck me as of dubious constitutionality, but apparently courts haven't agreed.

It does seem to have more in common with a trade agreement than with a global "anti boycott law".

Quote:

Applying it to individual consumers will no doubt be more difficult.

Here's hoping!  I don't want to have to explain to an impatient CSIS agent why I chose to buy the Lebanese tahini.

Peace in Palestine

The "Peace in Palestine" campaign is an effort to get Canada's politicians to have an honest public discussion about Israel's illegal "settlements," and how Canada must respond.  A core component of the campaign is a Parliamentary ePetition, calling on the government to "demand that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories."  

Please sign the Parliamentary ePetition now!

Through the grassroots support for this campaign, we want to force a public debate and spur the introduction of a parliamentary motion on Israel's illegal settlement activities. 

Impressive Broad-based Support Across Canada!

Support for "Peace in Palestine" has been fantastic, because the Canadian public is dying to have an open discussion about Israel's illegal "settlement" activities:

• how they are an obstacle to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, and
• how they result in ongoing human rights abuses against Palestinian civilians

Below is a list of our initial endorsing organizations.  See "Who's on Board" for the complete list of organizational endorsements.

Jewish Groups Bully New Orleans Into Rescinding BDS Resolution

https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Jewish-Groups-Bully-New-Orleans-i...

"Just weeks after passing a resolution backed by the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, BDS movement, the New Orleans city council rescinded the resolution after it came under heavy fire from Jewish groups and pro-Israeli groups. For a brief moment New Orleans had become the first city in Southern USA to approve a resolution backed by BDS, after which council memers 'immediately received attacks and threats..."

14th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week, Toronto, March 7th - 19th

http://www.caiaweb.org

Boycott, Divest, Sanction: Stopping Zionist Genocide Against the Palestinians - Prof Francis Boyle

https://youtu.be/4G6uo7hLAq4

"What Israel is doing to the Palestinians are Nazi crimes..."

US City's Ban on Police Training in Israel Builds Momentum Against Racist Violence

Durham, North Carolina's city council banned police exchanges with Israel in a landmark vote. Jewish Voice for Peace director Rebecca Vilkomerson says this is an important step to combat police brutality, militarization, and oppression of Palestinians.

quote:

REBECCA VILKOMERSON: I think it's really important that we give all the credit to the Durham to Palestine Coalition, which is a really remarkable coalition of organizations in the triangle region of North Carolina. They've actually been working together for years, not months, and they've shown a remarkable ability to build a broad coalition. UIP 100 chapters, that's the Black Youth Project. They have the JVP Triangle Chapter. They had Students for Justice in Palestine chapters. They had groups working against ICE detentions and raids. They have Muslim groups. A really wonderful coalition of organizations that realized that this was something that affected all their communities, and brought it forward to the City Council.

quote:

BEN NORTON: Yeah. And then can you talk about what exactly this training is? I mean, you mentioned some of the specific details, but as I mentioned, it's not just local police. It's also ICE officers, FBI agents. And of course, they're not just working with Israeli police. Many of them are working with the Israel Defense Forces, the IDF, which, you know, in the past few weeks have been shooting an unarmed protesters in Gaza. Just a few days ago, on Friday, in fact, Israeli soldiers shot a young Palestinian teenager and killed him. Why are U.S. security forces, if you will, these, you know, officers from different agencies training with the Israeli military? REBECCA VILKOMERSON: That's exactly right. I mean, I think it's important to say again what you just said, which is that we're talking about police chiefs, we're talking about ICE officers, which is the, you know, the group that's responsible for detaining and deporting immigrants to the United States, Border Patrol officers and FBI officers. And these are generally high-ranking officers, and they're coming back and bringing those tactics here more broadly.

Stop Supporting Israel Canada!

"We're excited to announce the launch of Israeli book week here in Canada."

https://twitter.com/IsraelinCanada/status/988794527841509382

NO 'Montreal Israel Film Festival'

https://twitter.com/IsraelinMTL/status/990629314851950593

Boycott: Chapters, Indigo, Cineplex, Air Transat

15th Israeli Film Festival, Ottawa, until June 10

https://twitter.com/RoyNorton1/status/999836464153333761

BDS not working. Why not?

"The only way to free Palestine is to bring the Zionist regime to its knees. All trade must be stopped. BDS must be adopted and enforced without compromise. It's time for people to demand justice and take action!

https://twitter.com/mikopeled/status/999392927053836290

Let's stop pretending and get serious! DON'T Walk With Israel! Walk Without Israel!