According to reports from the Canadian Jewish News, Unifor, Canada's largest private-sector union, adopted a BDS motion at its convention two weeks ago.
Lawrence DAVIDSON: "BDS, human rights and the Jews" (Redress Information & Analysis, July 30, 2017): click here!
As of July 2017, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israeli racism and apartheid is 12 years old. This means that over the last dozen years a worldwide grassroots movement has grown up – a movement of civil society – that has organised active opposition to Zionist racism and Israeli oppression.
The California Democratic Party has approved a resolution calling on the US government to promote “a just peace based on full equality and security for Israeli Jews and Palestinians alike, human rights and international law.”
Prefatory Note: Below is an Open Letter prepared under the direction of Vida Samiian of State University of California at Fresno on behalf of California scholars defending against any effort to abridge academic freedom anywhere in the world, but particularly in California and the United States (Richard Falk).
The pro-Palestinian provocateur is under attack after a newspaper alleged that she 'tricked' her way into Israel last month. She says she will be 'heartbroken' if the authorities ban her from ever returning.
"Leadership of African Independent Churches lends support to Palestinians & BDS boycott of Israel" (BDS South Africa, July 11, 2017): click here!
The leadership of CAIC among other South African churches and Christian leaders, including Bishop Ngcana, recently returned from a solidarity trip to Palestine. On his return Bishop Ngcana explained that: “The church leadership found Israeli abuses of Palestinian human rights to be appalling. Israel has mastered well from the South African apartheid regime and actually surpassed its architect, Hendrik Verword, through its design and application!”
Philip WEISS: "‘LA Times’ calls BDS a ‘classic tool of peaceful political expression’" (Mondoweiss, July 9, 2017): click here!
We keep track of the growing awareness inside the U.S. mainstream press of the far-right character of Israeli political culture; and this weekend the LA Times published a long editorial slamming the Israeli government for “trying to wall out its critics.”
Kim JENSEN: "The Battle for Palestine on US Campuses: a review of ‘We Will Not Be Silenced: The Academic Repression of Israel’s Critics’" (Mondoweiss, July 6, 2017): click here!
There are many ways to try to silence people whose ideas you don’t like. You can bully, blackmail, violate, isolate, punish, and smear them until they shut up, back down, and/or lose the platform upon which they were speaking.
"Spanish Parliament Affirms Right to BDS as Protected Speech" (International Middle East Media Center - IMEMC, July 1, 2017): click here!
On Tuesday, the Spanish parliament unanimously passed a motion recognizing the right to advocate for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as protected under the right to freedom of expression and association. This bill was introduced by the progressive parliamentary coalition “Unidos Podemos-En Comú Podem-En Marea.”
Isra Saleh EL-NAMY: "In Gaza, BDS gives hope to Palestinians when political programs fail" (Mondoweiss, June 27, 2017): click here!
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip participated in “Israeli Apartheid Week,” in late March as a worldwide call for the complete boycott of companies profiting from Israel’s occupation, along with calls that Israel is an apartheid state that is based on racial discrimination against the Palestinian people.
"Government suffers defeat in court by Palestine campaigners over boycott, divestment and sanctions" (Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, June 22, 2017): click here!
The Government has acted unlawfully by attempting to restrict local councils from pursuing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the state of Israel through their pension schemes.
Adri NIEUWHOF: "Swiss parliament blocks attempt to criminalize Israel boycott" (EI, June 14, 2017): click here!
The Swiss upper house on Tuesday aborted an attempt to criminalize the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign for Palestinian rights.
Hasn’t the time come to do away with this artificial distinction between 'nice' Israelis and the brutal occupation they are responsible for?
"Major Chilean Universities Heed BDS Call, Cancel Events Sponsored by Israeli Embassy" (PACBI, June 8, 2017): click here!
Student-led BDS campaigns resulted in two major Chilean universities canceling events co-sponsored by the Israeli embassy and featuring Joe Uziel, a director of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). On Monday, Alberto Hurtado University's Anthropology Department announced the cancellation of the event, and yesterday the University of Chile's Social Sciences Faculty did the same.
Amnesty International: "States must ban Israeli settlement products to help end half a century of violations" (AI, June 7, 2017): click here!
The international community must ban the import of all goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements and put an end to the multimillion dollar profits that have fuelled mass human rights violations against Palestinians, said Amnesty International today.