Letter to Marrickville Council from concerned citizens of Israel urging you to stand firm in your support of BDS
We are Israeli citizens who witness first-hand the brutality of our
government’s policies towards the Palestinian people. We stand firm
in our support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) initiatives
against Israel until it meets its obligation to recognize the
Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination, and
fully complies with the precepts of international law.
We reject the notion promoted by demagogues, that the 2005 BDS call
from Palestine, and the BDS campaigns the world over which it has
inspired, are rooted in anti-Jewish sentiment. On the contrary, BDS is
an anti-racist movement against the daily, brutal occupation of
Palestine and the virulently racist policies towards Israel’s Palestinian
citizens.
We also reject the assertion that cultural and academic boycotts of
Israel defy the democratic principle of free speech. Research and
development in academic institutions play a central role in designing
and defending Israel’s military and intelligence machinery. Prominent
state-sponsored cultural institutions perpetuate the deception of
Israeli democracy, and serve as propaganda tools. Moreover, the BDS
campaign targets Israeli institutions, and does not bar Israeli
individuals from conducting research with partners abroad or Israeli
artists from performing abroad.
BDS was a key strategy in ending the white South African system of
apartheid by applying international pressure.
We warmly commend the groundbreaking stand taken by the Marrickville
Council in support of the Council in support of the democratic and non-violent BDS campaign for
justice and human rights and urge the council to stand firm in the
face of attempted intimidation and manipulation.
Sincerely,
Steve Amsel
Ronnen Ben-Arie
Matan Cohen
Adi Dagan
Prof. Rachel Giora
Rosamine Hayeem
Iris Hefets
Shir Hever
Yael Kahn
Dr. Anat Matar
Rela Mazali
Professor (emeritus) Moshé Machover
Dr. Dorothy Naor
Ofer Neiman
Amit Perelson
Itai Ryb
Herzl Schubert
Yonatan Shapira
Jonatan Stanczak
Ruth Tenne
Yana Ziferblat
On behalf of Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from within http://boycottisrael.info/
contact info
phone: 972-544-740825
boycottisrael.info
Related Links
TAKE ACTION – Marrickville BDS Resolution Under Attack
http://coalitionforpalestine.org/bds/local-government/marrickvillebds : http://coalitionforpalestine.org/2011/04/14/marrickville-boycotts-update/
Links to media coverage: http://coalitionforpalestine.org/bds/media-links
Australians for Palestine
More Marrickville Council BDS Related Links
Fiona Byrne says she will will be tabling a mayoral minute
tomorrow night recommending that the council maintain in-principle support for the campaign, while rescinding the part of the original motion which called for the council to implement the policy in our local area. I will also recommend we acknowledge Israel’s right to exist and condemn all acts of violence.
In this way Marrickville Council can continue to show our support for the Palestinians, while not having a financial burden on ratepayers or affecting the operations of the council.
Zionist lobby told me Israel was democracy so damn you Palestinian activists calling for justice Wonder if pinkwasher “Jake” knows anything about the swastikas and other defacements of Greens’ electoral posters?
‘Jake, a 55-year-old Jewish health professional with friends in Marrickville, was so incensed by the council’s Israel boycott that he took three weeks off work to wage a guerrilla campaign against the Greens, plastering the suburb with posters late at night, accusing them of homophobia for boycotting gay-friendly Israel.
“I felt so angry,” says Jake, who wants to remain anonymous. “I couldn’t sleep at night, so I organised the posters, hired some utes and ladders” and enlisted the help of his son and his friends. Greens supporters harassed them, ripped down the posters, called police, and tried to intimidate Jake’s young helpers, posting footage of them on YouTube.
Two nights before the election, a “black sports car with neon high beams and a pseudo photographer kept flashing his camera right up on our eyes . . . It slowed us right down.”
Another night “cowboy” greenies in a Toyota Camry started following them home, until Jake confronted the driver at a roundabout. “It was like something out of a movie”.’
Marrickville Council to vote on Israeli boycott – Cr Victor Macri’s motion of withdrawal
Barry O’Farrell bans Marrickville’s Israel boycott: is he the new Menzies?