Tag Archives: BDS

DSA votes for BDS. NYT’s Jerusalem bureau chief says they self-censor and Israel practices apartheid.

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90% of the delegates to the Democratic Socialists of America 2017 convention voted to adopt Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). The text of the resolution read: 1. Democratic Socialists of America declares itself in solidarity with Palestinian civil society’s nonviolent struggle against apartheid, colonialism, military occupation and for equality, human rights, and self-determination. 2. Democratic Socialists of America responds to Palestinian Civil Society’s call by fully supporting BDS. 3. Democratic Socialists of America affirms that any political solution to the ongoing crisis must be premised on the realization of basic human rights, including all rights outlined in the BDS call. … Continue reading →

Democratic senators murmur openness to altering language of Anti-BDS bill & Open Thread

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Happy Saturday progressive friends! A blustery one here today in CT. We are just north of the real action, weather-wise, today. Cool and great for the yardwork and housepainting I’m about to tackle. Saw this just now and wanted to share what I think is a misleadingly-titled story from The Intercept: Senators Promise to Amend Israel Boycott Bill After Backlash First of all, I don’t read any ‘promises’ in the story and, second of all, forget amending the bill, scrap it! Sen. Ben Cardin (MD): “A lot of the co-sponsors are pretty strongly committed to the freedom of speech,” Cardin … Continue reading →

Senate/House bill would make it a felony to support a boycott of Israel.

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Senate bill 720 seeks to criminalize speech supporting a boycott of Israel. The bill is meant to target the growing BDS movement. Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) is a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice and equality. BDS upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, the BDS call urges action to pressure Israel to comply with international law. This anti-boycott bill is part of a long tradition that seeks to undermine labor, civil rights and liberation movements employing non-violent protest. I’ll explore the history of anti-boycott laws … Continue reading →

Israel’s occupation has lasted 50 years, it’s on track to run for 50 more.

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As the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza approaches, there will be several lengthy retrospectives. One of the better ones was, surprisingly, published by the NY Times today. Nathan Thrall is a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. He’s also the author of “The Only Language They Understand: Forcing Compromise in Israel and Palestine.” he makes a persuasive case that the Israeli occupation is on track to run another 50 years, aided and abetted by the US. The widely held misconception that the occupation is unsustainable and prone to collapse any minute now, under the weight … Continue reading →

#BDS, New Sign of Hope as Lutherans Take Action

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In the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I was raised as a Lutheran.  Because of that, I have been keeping a close eye on what the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been doing up until now about BDS, the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement, that brought down apartheid in South Africa, as it applies to the Occupation of Palestine and the grossly discriminatory system of apartheid that the Israelis use today. It was the huge American churches divesting from South Africa which finally brought an end to apartheid (to oversimplify the situation), and many US churches have … Continue reading →

Palestinian Rap Video Responds to DJ Khaled Taking Blood Money from Sabra #BDS

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In February, 2016, DJ Khaled, a Palestinian American music producer, performed a concert for Sabra Hummus in California. Sabra Hummus has been on the boycott list for several years now due to their support for the Israeli military, which has committed gross human rights violations against the Palestinian people. Join us as we call on Khaled to #boycottSabra and raise awareness about the injustice against the Palestinian people. The music was actually written by DJ Khaled.   [embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWI6uzJG4kM[/embedyt]     … Continue reading →

Marching to Cuomo’s House

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by Adalah NY at mondoweiss.org [Two days ago], a diverse group of about 150 New Yorkers protested in front of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Westchester County residence, calling on him to rescind his recent executive order attacking the grassroots boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS) for Palestinian rights. Legal organizations like the New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal have stated that Governor Cuomo’s executive order threatens the Constitutional rights of all New Yorkers to engage in boycotts and other economic acts of conscience in support of human rights and social justice struggles. The protesters marched from the Mount Kisco … Continue reading →

Clinton marshals African-American surrogates against BDS to stop pro-Palestinian influence ‘in the public narrative’

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by Philip Weiss at mondoweiss.net Election campaigns serve a lot of purposes, and it is increasingly obvious that Israel supporters on whom Hillary Clinton is dependent are using her campaign to put the knife in Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. You will recall that Bernie Sanders’ loyalists on the Democratic platform committee spoke up for Palestinian rights and even BDS at an early meeting of that body, and Cornel West said the party was “beholden to AIPAC”, the leading Israel lobby group. West was on to something. Today Jewish Insider reports that an AIPAC board member sees the Clinton campaign as … Continue reading →

Is Starbucks on the BDS Boycott List?

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If you watched the video by Amer Zahr posted in the previous thread, then you may be wondering whether or not to boycott Starbucks.  Seems it’s a bit of a complicated issue. According to The Arab American News, Starbucks should no longer be on the list, having completely removed themselves from their Israeli locations in 2014. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement has gained major traction in recent years,… but the companies that seem to ignite the most arguments regarding boycott are worldwide-recognized name brands that appear to have branches in Israel, or did at one point. (snip) Starbucks … Continue reading →

BDS: Discussing Difficult Issues in a Fast-Growing Movement

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by Omar Barghouti, Al-Shabaka.org, The Palestinian Policy Network Israel’s attacks on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and other human rights defenders living under occupation, such as Al Haq staff, have dominated the headlines in recent weeks, including the direct threats made by leading Israeli officials against BDS activists and in particular against the movement’s co-founder Omar Barghouti. Beyond the headlines, the work goes on, as does continuous debate and discussion to further the movement amongst Palestinians at home and abroad as well as among global solidarity activists. There is much to discuss and some of the issues are difficult … Continue reading →

Civil rights groups seek documents relating to Cuomo’s order blacklisting BDS supporters

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Yesterday human rights groups made an announcement that they will seek documents relating to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive order barring state business with organizations that have endorsed Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. The Center for Constitutional Rights published the release. The Freedom of Information Law request is here. Groups Seek Cuomo Documents About Executive Order Blacklisting Institutions That Support BDS Mondoweiss.net  June 21, 2016, New York – Today, human rights and civil liberties groups filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request seeking documents relating to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent executive order that will blacklist institutions and companies … Continue reading →

Jill Stein, Green Party presidential nominee, endorses BDS

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by Yasmeen Abdellatif, Palestine in America Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) in a statement released last week. The statement describes BDS as “a peaceful, nonviolent set of actions organized by civil society across the world aimed to end Israeli apartheid, occupation, war crimes, and systematic human rights abuses.” The Green Party has long expressed its support for the BDS movement. The party’s current platform calls for maintaining boycotts and divestments “until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of … Continue reading →

Call to Action: Jewish Voice for Peace NY Boycott–Needs Help NOW!

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By 7am this morning, 200 people from all over New York got onto buses headed for Albany. They’re on their way to make sure Governor Andrew Cuomo sees that there’s a political price for his executive order creating an official state blacklist of organizations that support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS). This is not just a New York issue – it affects us all. Please, pick up the phone now and tell Governor Cuomo: we are protecting our right to boycott – for the sake of all our communities. I have to be honest: I think the fact … Continue reading →