colonialism

July 12, 2012December 11, 2020

Ali Abunimah Demolishes Jonathan Tobin on Democracy Now

Ali Abunimah’s calm, precise logic triumphs over a vexatious defence of land theft redolent with racism, flailing strawmen and turgid hasbara.

Today’s Palestine/Israel Links

How obsession with “nonviolence” harms the Palestinian cause – As Lina says: ‘Oppressed people do not and should not have to explain their oppression to their oppressor, nor tailor their resistance to the comfort of the oppressors and their supporters.’

Yet Lina is noticing that Palestinian participation and leadership is limited by the current PSCC model, despite it being effective in terms of international awareness, and is funded inadequately by Fayyad who has his own dubious neoliberal, collaborator agenda, and foreign NGOs with their agendas. So how can this really be ‘popular’ resistance? instead, it can look more like normalisation – including with Fayyad’s neoliberalism. For a popular movement there has to be mobilisation.

The Legitimate Criticisms of the Popular Resistance

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences academia declared a threat to the apartheid Israeli state

Ban on settlement goods wouldn’t break EU laws

Australia Links

The Australian government signals that it assumes all Australians are criminals

Reminder of how zionist Herschel Landes boasted about convincing Bob Brown to dump BDS

June 2, 2012December 11, 2020

Jennifer Lopez, Please Respect the Palestinian Call to Boycott Israel

Dear Jennifer Lopez,

We are a group of over 850 people from all over the world who are united together in support of democracy, human rights, justice, and freedom for the Palestinian people.

We ask you to respect the call of Palestinian civil society, and refrain from scheduling a concert in Israel. Please stay true to the words that your management wrote on your behalf in June of 2010:

“Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse.” [1]

You refused to play in Turkish-controlled Cyprus, as your appearance would have made a political statement in favor of human rights violations. Similarly, if you perform in Israel, you will be making a political statement affirming support for human rights violations by Israel. Your appearance will be used to whitewash Israel’s crimes against humanity since Israel uses all culture as propaganda and makes no distinction between the two. Music cannot bind people across the walls of apartheid where segregation, discrimination and brutality remain after the last song ends.

You produced and played the role of “Lauren Adrian” in the film Bordertown, calling needed attention to the plight of women in Juárez, Mexico. Your statement [2] during your award ceremony by Amnesty International 2007 shows your compassion for the oppressed:

“Since first hearing of these atrocities in 1998, when Gregory Nava came to me with this project, I desperately wanted to tell this story. I began working to ensure we made this film in order to bring the attention of the world to this tragedy and to pressure the Mexican government to bring to justice those responsible for these horrible crimes.”

You don’t need us to tell you how mainstream media in the USA has been in denial of the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians, starting from the Nakba in 1948, through the current apartheid and racism. In fact, people are often led to believe that it is important to meet the needs of suffering Israelis, while ignoring the much greater sufferings imposed by Israel, which forces millions of Palestinians into living as refugees and in destitution. The pain Israel inflicts on Palestinian women and children is well represented in children’s artwork and in the piece of artwork entitled “Torment” by Najah.

Torment by Najah

See http://boycott-israel-harp-contest.posterous.com/palestinian-art-depicts-womans-childrens-suff

Some artists objecting to the Israeli regime’s actions have justified their booked performances in Israel as acts of support for the Israeli “peaceniks.” Another performing musician, Natacha Atlas, wrote:

“I had an idea that performing in Israel would have been a unique opportunity to encourage and support my fans’ opposition to the current government’s actions and policies. I would have personally asked my Israeli fans face-to-face to fight this apartheid with peace in their hearts…”

Natacha Atlas then confirmed that she decided to cancel, explaining:

“after much deliberation I now see that it would be more effective a statement to not go to Israel until this systemised apartheid is abolished once and for all. Therefore I publicly retract my well-intentioned decision to go and perform in Israel…” [3]

Please read about Israel’s apartheid in the letter that was written to French philosopher and prominent intellectual, Jacques Rancière (Professor emeritus, University Paris 8) by the PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel). Jacques Rancière subsequently chose to cancel his planned lecture at the Minerva Humanities Center at Tel Aviv University earlier this year. (See http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1793)

Already this year prominent artists Cassandra Wilson, tUnE-yArDs and Cat Power have chosen to respect the boycott and stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for justice. Also among the growing list of artists that have cancelled concerts and events in Israel are the late Gil Scott-Heron, Elvis Costello, the Pixies, Mike Leigh, Klaxons, Gorillaz Sound System and many more.[4]

We are hoping that you will choose to respect the boycott.

Sincerely,
Don’t Play Apartheid Israel (DPAI)

Notes

[1]http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/default.aspx?pageid=438&n=jennifer-lopez-scraps-cyprus-concert-after-pressure-report-2010-07-09
[2] USA/Germany: Jennifer Lopez to receive Amnesty International award for producing “Bordertown”
http://amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=17258
[3] International Star Natacha Atlas announces Israel boycott http://electronicintifada.net/blog/ali-abunimah/international-star-natacha-atlas-announces-israel-boycott
[4] 2011 Summary of the Cultural Boycott of Israel http://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1788

SOURCE

May 11, 2012December 11, 2020

Campaign Against Israeli Blood Diamonds – Australian Palestinian Solidarity Activists Alert

Please help raise awareness about a very important Kimberley Process meeting to be held in Washington from June 4-7th. You can email, tweet and phone politicians asking that the Australian representative at this meeting calls for a ban on trade in blood diamonds from Israel that fund war crimes, trade which the Kimberley Process should prohibit.

The sentencing of the blood diamond-funded former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, for war crimes and crimes against humanity will take place on 30th May. Together with the Kimberley Process (KP) meeting in Washington shortly after, there’s sure to be a lot more media reports about blood diamonds and so there’s an opportunity to push the issue of Israeli blood diamonds into the media spotlight once again.

Your government will have a seat at the KP table. It is important that you voice your concerns about the trade in diamonds from Israel that fund war crimes and crimes against humanity but which evade the human rights strictures of the Kimberley Process and are sold worldwide labelled as conflict-free. NGOs are seeking to have cut and polished diamonds included in the remit of the KP but the vested interests are resisting any such move which would pose a serious threat to Israel’s burgeoning diamond industry and the entire Israeli economy. Even though the KP refuses to include cut and polished diamonds it’s important to raise the issue and expose the double standards in the Kimberley Process which is designed to protect the rich an powerful beneficiaries of the diamond trade while Palestinians hunger and die under Israel’s diamond-funded hegemony.

Please take a few moments to contact your political representatives and ask them to raise this issue in parliament and with the government.

As the time frame for action is quite narrow it is important to act as soon as possible. You can find contact details for your local MP here – http://australia.gov.au/directories/contact-parliament

Another promising development is the action by solidarity activists in Italy who are planning an Israeli blood diamond demonstration in Vicenza next Monday to coincide with a meeting there of the World Diamond Council that will be attended by all the movers and shakers in the global diamond industry.

For more information about Israeli blood diamonds and the campaign to stop them, visit here.

Below is a draft letter which can be used or adapted and sent to politicians about the issue. Please help the monitoring of the uptake on this action and BCC emails.

Australia must act to end the trade in diamonds from Israel that fund war crimes

The conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity has again cast the spotlight on the trade in blood diamonds. It is a timely reminder of the urgent need for reform of the Kimberly Process definition of a “conflict diamond” which presently only applies to rough diamonds that fund rebel movements and not to diamonds that fund government forces guilty of war crimes.

Last year the Kimberley Process allowed the export of blood-tainted diamonds from Zimbabwe where government forces stand accused of serious human rights violations. Human rights organisations wanted the definition of a “conflict diamond” broadened to take account of diamonds that fund rogue governments guilty of human rights violations but the KP failed to act and the diamonds from Zimbabwe were allowed to contaminate the global market. As a result, Global Witness, a founding member of the KP, withdrew last December stating “most consumers still cannot be sure where their diamonds come from, nor whether they are financing armed violence or abusive regimes”. Other human rights organisations have indicated that they will also withdraw from the KP unless meaningful reform of the definition of a “conflict diamond”, accompanied by the inclusion of the cutting and polishing sector, is agreed this year.

Reform of the KP definition of a “conflict diamond” will be the main issue on the agenda at the KP Intersessional Meeting in Washington from June 4th – June 7th. It is important that the Australian representative at that meeting calls for a broadening of the KP definition of a “conflict diamond” to include all diamonds that fund gross human rights violations, including cut and polished diamonds which presently evade the criteria applied to rough diamonds.

Israel, a member of the KP, stands accused by the UN Human Rights Council of serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity following the 2008/2009 assault on Gaza that left over 1400 people dead including more than 300 children;

The UN Human Rights Council investigation of the Israeli attacks on the humanitarian aid flotilla (including MV Mavi Marmara), bound for Gaza on 31 May 2010 during which nine people were murdered and many others injured, found that there was clear evidence to support prosecutions of the following crimes within the terms of article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: – Willful killing; Torture or inhuman treatment; Willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health.

The investigation also considered that a series of violations of Israel’s obligations under international human rights law have taken place, including: – Right to life (art. 6, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights); Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art.7, International Covenant; Convention against Torture); Right to liberty and security of the person and freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention (art. 9, International Covenant); Right of detainees to be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person (art. 10, International Covenant); Freedom of expression (art. 19, International Covenant);

Considering that evidence presented to the London session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in November 2010 indicated that the Israeli diamond industry contributes about $1 billion annually to the Israeli military and security industries and that every time somebody buys a diamond that was exported from Israel some of that money ends up in the Israeli military;

Diamonds exported from Israel are therefore helping to fund gross human rights violations in Palestine as well as Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons programme which it refuses the International Atomic Energy Agency permission to supervise or inspect.

Given these facts, I call on you to ask the government to instruct the Australian representative to the Kimberley Process to call for:

the Kimberley Process definition of a “conflict diamond” to be broadened to include all diamonds that fund gross human rights violations by any group or government;
a ban on the export of diamonds from Israel until such time as it respects the human rights of the Palestinian people under its control and abides by the international human rights law and humanitarian law.

April 28, 2012December 11, 2020

Dervish, Please Don’t Perform in Apartheid Israel – A Call from IPSC

This is the open letter written by Raymond Deane, Cultural Liaison Officer of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) to Irish traditional group Dervish asking them to cancel their dates in apartheid Israel June 2012.

DPAI (Don’t Play Apartheid Israel) Facebook page here: Dervish, Don’t Bring Your Travelling Show to Apartheid Israel

OPEN LETTER TO DERVISH

Dear members of Dervish (Kathy Jordan, Brian McDonagh, Liam Kelly, Tom Morrow, Shane Mitchell and Michael Holmes):

Many lovers of Irish music have been deeply shocked and disappointed to learn of your plan to tour Israel next June, despite the 2006 Palestinian call for an international cultural and academic boycott of the Israeli state until it abides by international law.

On this tour you will be joined by the Irish band FullSet, which boasts that it has “already shared a stage with some of the hottest names in Celtic music, such as Moya Brennan, Lúnasa…, Andy Irvine and Dónal Lunny.”

This is deeply ironic, because Irvine and Lunny – together with Christy Moore, Sharon Shannon, Damien Dempsey, Ronan Browne, Jimmy McCarthy, and many other giants of Irish music (and over 200 other creative and performing artists) – have signed a pledge “not to avail of any invitation to perform or exhibit in Israel… until such time as Israel complies with international law and universal principles of human rights.”

This means that if you perform in Israel you will be betraying both the Palestinian people and many of your most respected colleagues. You will be manipulated by the state of Israel to whitewash the utter criminality of its occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands.

In 2005 an Israeli spokesman asserted that “We see culture as a propaganda tool of the first rank, and…do not differentiate between propaganda and culture.” [Ha’aretz, September 2005]

Here are some examples (among many) of the way that Israel represses the expression and dissemination of Palestinian culture:

In 2002, Israel prevented the Palestinian poets Zakaria Mohammed and Ghassan Zaqtan from travelling to Ireland to read their work.
In May 2009, Israeli soldiers prevented the opening of the Palestine Festival of Literature in Jerusalem. In April 2011, the venue hosting the final event of that year’s Festival was attacked with tear gas by the Israeli army.
In May 2010, the Israeli authorities deported Spain’s most famous clown, Ivan Prado, who was planning to establish a clown festival in Ramallah.
In summer 2011, Israeli commandos assaulted the Freedom Theatre in occupied Jenin, arresting several of its members.
Also last year, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu suspended Israel’s financial contribution to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation which oversees the protection of the world’s cultural heritage. This was to “punish” the majority of the world’s states for having voted to admit Palestine to the UN agency. This constitutes an Israeli cultural boycott of most of the world. For the same reason, Israel larcenously suspended tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority.

If you cancel your trip to Israel, thus incidentally saving the members of FullSet from the infamy of breaching the Palestinian cultural boycott so early in their career, you will have joined the likes of Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Cassandra Wilson, and Carlos Santana who, having at first agreed to perform in that country, decided that it was of greater importance to support the just struggle of the Palestinian people against Israeli oppression.

The governments of the EU see Israel as “a strategic partner” and offer it generous trading and diplomatic privileges. When governments refuse to take human rights violations seriously, then it is up to civil society to act. Please be on the side of justice: please cancel your tour of Israel!

Raymond Deane

Cultural Liaison Officer

Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Meanwhile, the organiser of the Dervish performance posted on the Facebook page:

Avshalom Farjun

Hello people of Ireland, land me your ear for a moment. My name is Avshalom. I’m a musician and producer and I’m organizing Dervish’s concerts in Israel. I love Irish music & I have close friendly relations with the members of Dervish whom I know for the past 15 years. People who know me will probably say I’m quite a nice and loving person even though I’m Israeli. The story of Israel-Palestine is very sad and tragic one for both sides… please try to remember that. Innocent people are suffering for so many years for terrible mistakes of leaders and politicians from both sides.

I’m certainly not a politician and responding to such attacks is not my cup of tea. I just want to share few things about me and get the right to expose my point of view.
I’m straggling for piece all my life. There are hundreds of thousands like me in my country. My personal way of contribution for piece and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians was not demonstrations of any kind but creating an excellent ensemble consist of Arabs and Jews. We performed for about 15 years all around the globe. The idea was not a political one as we looked for the best musicians in order to make the best music. People have always applauded not only to the music but also to the fact that Israelis and Palestinians can create art together. We have not tried to change anybody in the band. Every one kept his own political ideas…but we shared some incredible love and passion to music and deep friendship. The project survived and gained a lot of success because we really believed music should not be played for political reasons and saw our music as something that brings people together and heals wounds.
I’ve invited Dervish to bring their music over not to support any political idea. Performing in Israel by Dervish does not mean anything about what they think or feel about the conflict. I’m sure that when they will receive an invitation to perform at the Palestinian territory, they will happily accept it.
Please people; try to accept that music transcends barriers. It’s not necessarily meant to support or criticize any political systems.

This is the DPAI response:

Dervish, Don’t Bring Your Travelling Show to Apartheid Israel

Thanks for your post but Palestinian civil society has called for a boycott of apartheid Israel until it abides by international law. The guidelines are very clear and we support the Palestinian BDS call. This is not the story of an equal conflict between “two sides”, it is in fact about the dispossession and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and the apartheid, war crimes and imprisonment they have been subjected to by Israel for 64 years.

PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel) has issued a very strong statement on normalisation and we adhere to that, it’s below if you’d like to read. We are asking Dervish to respect this BDS call, stand with other artists of conscience who have done so, stand with the oppressed Palestinian people in their struggle for justice and stand against Israeli apartheid. The Israeli state uses performances there as a means to whitewash its crimes against humanity, Dervish will be part of that if they play. With respect, the Palestinian call for solidarity has primacy here and we reiterate our call for Dervish NOT to play for apartheid.

PACBI: Debating BDS: On Normalization and Partial Boycotts

Yesterday the unofficial Facebook page of the Israeli embassy in Ireland posted on the official Dervish page, demonstrating to them that any performance in Israel will be used by the state to legitimise apartheid.

SOURCE

April 21, 2012June 7, 2018

Israeli Orientalist Festival in Morocco Bellyflops

Moroccan BDS activists who say NO to normalisation with apartheid Israel have claimed victory with the cancellation of the second Mediterranean Delight International Belly Dance Festival which was to be held in Marrakech in May. The Festival has now relocated to Loutraki, Greece in June. It is produced by Israeli Simona Guzman, also involving owner of an Israeli belly dancing school, Asi Haskal, and Israeli belly dance teacher Anabel.

While the Festival site is available in English, Hebrew and other languages, there is no Arabic version, highlighting the exploitative orientalism of the Festival.

Guzman is crying foul:

“I cancelled it because I didn’t receive any authorization and I was afraid for the safety of my participants,” festival producer Simona Guzman told AFP.

Islamist members of parliament and pro-Palestinian associations had criticized the invitation to the Israelis for the May 10 festival.

Criticism over the Israeli presence was first heard last year when the festival was also held in Marrakesh, but the event went off without mishap.

On her Facebook page, Guzman falsely blames “fanatic Moroccan islamists movements” for her cancellation and exposes her racism and bigotry. According to Moroccan news source, Scoop, the Festival was cancelled due to the participation of Israelis. However, objections to the Festival came from across the Moroccan community, regardless of religious view. Guzman further admits on her Facebook:

While the pressure increased, we were asked by the Moroccan authorities to ask for an authorization to produce the festival in Moroccan Territory, a thing that was never asked before. We were suppose to receive an immediate confirmation, but the Moroccan bureaucracy has it’s own time, and time is running short.

The Festival was opposed by Moroccan BDS activists because it was organised by Israelis and aimed at whitewashing Israeli crimes.

Elsewhere, in Hespress, Guzman denies being Israeli and claims to be a Turkish citizen, while on Rue 20 she is said to have “family roots in Turkey and Morocco” and “responded she was surprised by reports in the Arabic media that the event had stirred controversy in Morocco because Israelis would be present”. Yet on her own site she is described as “among the leading belly dancers in Israel”, and offers bellydancing classes in Israel.

‘I teach belly dancing to women of all ages – ranging from high school students to pensioners.

The classes are offered privately, at “Studio C” at “Derech Haim House” and Beit Danny in Tel Aviv and in many other locations.’

The Festival website, bellydancefestival.net is registered to

simona guzman
moshe basula 1
tel aviv, israel, tel aviv 69869
Israel

At the present time, the Belly Dance Festival website shows the transition to the new venue and dates – the homepage and registration have been changed, still many of the associated Moroccan activities have not been altered.

The Festival is partly sponsored by Israeli business Sea of Spa, based in Arad, whose website is owned by Yuval Yarin Dead Sea Ltd. Sea of Spa claims to be “a family business that was founded in 1998, though its activities at the Dead Sea began at the end of the end of 1980s.” YYDS Ltd also owns seaofspa.biz.

Sea of Spa products are marketed, along with Ahava’s, on deadseaofspa.com “founded in 1999. Dead sea of spa.com is a web store dedicated for dead sea and other products related to Judaism and the state of Israel”. seaofspa.com and deadseadeal.com market Sea of Spa products too and have the same domain owner information which coincides with the contact information on the aforementioned storefronts. Ahava.co and seaofspa.us are also owned by the same organisation.

new dead sea
pob 507
arad, 80700
Israel

The visit of the ex-Israeli Consulate from New York, now Head of European Parliament Liaison Department – Mission of Israel to the EU, David Saranga, was also the target of Moroccan protest last week.

On Sunday, Israeli diplomat David Saranga was forced to cut short a working visit to Morocco after tens of thousands of people took part in a pro-Palestinian protest in front of the parliament in Rabat where he was attending meetings.

Saranga, Israel’s representative at a meeting of the Euro-Med organization that groups the 27 EU states with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and eight Arab countries in the region, was escorted out of the parliament at the end of the meeting and – instead of spending another night in the Moroccan capital – was taken directly to the airport and put on a flight to Paris.

Palestinians have called for boycott, divestment and sanction of Israel until they receive their just human rights guaranteed under international law.

Congratulations to BDS Maroc for successfully fighting normalisation with apartheid oppression. Morocco, which has been exploited by Israel as a playground for normalisation, is now at the forefront of the anti-normalisation campaign.

UPDATE 24/4/12

Moroccan belly dancer Nour withdrew from the festival after becoming aware of the BDS anti-normalisation campaign. Translation of scanned material below:

The people against normalization with Israel are getting ready to face off against the Belly Dance Festival. (written in yellow)

Khalid Alsoufiani. with the National Labor group for the support of Iraq and Palestine disputes Guzman’s claim that she is Moroccan, (she claims her mother is Turkish) Khalid said that if Guzman was speaking the truth then she needs to leave Israel and move to Morocco then.

Noor (dancer who cancelled): Don’t entangle me in this troublesome situation with this festival, I’m not going to participate in it.

Kuzman: I am from Moroccan origins and seek for peace
Anti-normalisation activists prepare to face the oriental belly dancing festival

Last year, a Zionist delegation of 17 dancers participated in the festival.. so how many dancer will they participate this year?

Last year, Al-Tajdeed (renewal) newpaper which was owned by the minister of telecommunications and the spokesperson of the new government, published an article on its front page about the the Zionist dancer who is gonna visit Marrakesh to teach the Moroccan girls how to shake their bellies in the capital of Yusuf Bin Tashqin. So what the newspaper is going to write this year which is a tool to Adala and Tanmiya (Justice and development) party?

The activists of Al-Misbah (Lamp) party protested last year in front of the hotel which organised the festival demanding to punish who allowed it to be organised, and kick the Zionist dancers out. Who is going to punish whom this year? who is going to kick the Zionists out? adding: “how come some business men allow themselves to let their classy hotels host Zionist dancers, and at the sametime they claim their support for the national issues and not promoting alcoholic drinks in their markets.” Summing up: The second version of the oriental dancing festival which was organised from the 6th-11th of May.

Related Links:

Youth and BDS groups corresponded with PM Benkirane to cancel the Festival because of its normalisation of zionist oppression against Palestinians.

BDS Maroc calls for cancellation of an Israeli company exhibition in the printing industry and associated sales activities, while Moroccan Palestinian solidarity organisations demand the Moroccan government criminalise normalisation with Israel.

A new report on the complicity of Hewlett-Packard with the policies of the occupation