Politics

April 12, 2013December 11, 2020

University of Sydney Student Representative Council Endorses Academic BDS

From Australian Students for Justice in Palestine on 10 April, 2013:

The Student Representative Council at the University of Sydney passed a motion endorsing Associate Professor Jake Lynch’s academic boycott of Israel this week.

The motion was brought forth in response to attacks against Associate Professor Jake Lynch for refusing to assist Dan Avnon – a visiting academic from Hebrew University in Israel – in December.

The Student Representative Council (SRC) also voted to support an end to all university ties with Technion University in Haifa, Israel.

Dr Lynch, who is the director of Sydney University’s Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies said: “By continuing institutional links to Israeli high education, universities here risk unwittingly becoming indirectly complicit in violations of international laws and abuses of human rights.”

Erima Dall, the SRC member who put the motion forward, said boycotting institutional links with Israel is a necessary action.

“We cannot normalise relations with Israeli institutions complicit in the occupation of Palestine. Students at the University of Sydney should not, and do not, want to be endorsing these crimes. A clear message needs to be sent – Israel needs to end the occupation and its colonisation of Palestinian land, end apartheid, stop building its settler-colonies, and allow the right of return to Palestinians,” she said.

Suzanne Asad, the president of Students for Justice in Palestine at USYD, echoed these sentiments and said students and citizens of conscience should stand up for justice and human rights in Palestine, and support boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

“If we don’t end Sydney University’s links with the Technion and other Israeli institutions, then we are implicated in the crimes committed against Palestine,” she said.

The statement, which the SRC voted to sign and publish, states:
“Israel is a state that systematically defies international law. It has occupied Palestinian territories in defiance of the UN Security Council for over 40 years, expanding settlements which are regarded as illegal by the international community.

“Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) is a non-violent and effective strategy to help end Israeli impunity and move towards the realisation of the Palestinians’ rights. The Hebrew University is clearly implicated in the illegal occupation as its Mount Scopus campus occupies land in East Jerusalem which is internationally recognised as being on the Palestinian side of the Green Line.”

Technion University is involved in manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles and the building of illegal separation wall annexing Palestinian land in the West Bank. The statement states: “Technion…is an Israeli university uniquely and directly implicated in war crimes. (Its) research history includes the development of the remote control D9 bulldozer used to demolish Palestinian homes in violation of the Geneva Conventions and it has strong links to Elbit Systems – the company that produces technology for the apartheid wall declared illegal by the International Court of Justice.”

State Labor MP, Lynda Voltz, said it is appropriate for the SRC, given its strong tradition of supporting oppressed people and injustice, to support their academic staff in calling for an end to ties with Technion.

“Israel continues to ignore the United Nations. It builds illegal settlements on the land of the Palestinian people, destroys their houses, builds a wall around their homes and blockades the Port of Gaza to punish the 1.6million men, women and children who live there,” she said.

“Israel does not listen to words or motions and continues to abuse human rights and to act in violation of international laws. As in South Africa, it is only through the peaceful actions of campaigns such as the BDS that any change will happen,” Voltz said.

The statement has been endorsed by Mary Kostakidis, the Convener of the Peace Prize jury and co-winner of the University of Sydney Alumni Award for Community Achievement, and Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees who is the Chair of the Sydney Peace Foundation.

Jennine Abdul Khalik, Australian Students for Justice in Palestine executive, said she commended the SRC for choosing to stand on the right side of history.

“Australian universities, including the University of Sydney, need to condemn Israeli apartheid and follow the example of academic institutions and student unions throughout North America, Europe, and South Africa that have endorsed BDS and boycotted and divested from Israel,” she said.

Previously in 2009:

More than 40 Australian academics have signed a statement calling for a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions.

The statement said: “There can be no academic freedom in Israel/Palestine unless all academics are free and all students are free to pursue their academic desires.”

The statement by was launched by the Committee for the Dismantlement of Zionism on March 30, Palestinian Land Day.

In 2009, the now-defunct UWSSA passed a resolution in support of academic BDS. Before this, in February 2008, the RMIT Students Union called for support for academic BDS against Israeli academic institutions.

Erdogan Clarifies and Remains Firm – The Blockade on Palestine Will be Lifted or No Normalisation

Erdogan sticks to his guns:

“We have said: An apology will be made, compensation will be paid and the blockade on Palestine will be lifted. There will be no normalization without these,” he said in a public address on Sunday. “Normalization will happen the moment there is an implementation. But if there is no implementation, then I am sorry.”

Netanyahu attempts to claim that Israel has relaxed its blockade on the people of Gaza:

During Friday’s conversation between the two leaders, Netanyahu said Israel had substantially lifted the restrictions on the entry of civilian goods into Gaza and the Palestinian territories and this would continue as long as “calm prevailed.”

But Israeli military officials have taken to punishing Gaza residents for breaches of a November truce. Since Thursday, in response to militant rocket fire from the territory, all movement through a civilian crossing between Gaza and Israel was cancelled, except for humanitarian cases. Gaza fishermen had their permitted fishing territory restricted and a commercial goods crossing was shut down, according to Israeli rights group, Gisha.

Yet it has been Israel who has been breaching the ceasefire most significantly.

Human rights organisations have revealed that Israel has breached its ceasefire agreement with the Palestinians on more than 800 occasions since it was signed last November. In stark contrast, the Palestinians have broken the truce just twice.

Data based on reports produced by the United Nations, the Israeli Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement (GISHA) and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, as well as Israeli and Palestinian media outlets, found that the three months old ceasefire is not being taken seriously by the Israeli occupation authorities.

According to the data sources, four Palestinian civilians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since November and 91 have been wounded. In the West Bank, meanwhile, six Palestinians have been killed by Israel, with 618 wounded.

A breakdown of the statistics shows that 63 attacks and 13 incursions were carried out by the Israelis in several areas of the Gaza Strip. Israel detained nine people from Gaza during the incursions.

At sea off the Gaza coast, the Israeli navy has carried out 30 attacks on fishing boats belonging to Palestinian fishermen, resulting in several casualties. Thirty-nine fishermen were detained by Israel, including two children. Ten fishing boats were shot at, with 8 being damaged significantly. British Members of Parliament visiting the Gaza Strip last week at the invitation of London-based charity Interpal witnessed Israeli gunboats attacking Palestinian fishing boats well within the 6-mile limit agreed as part of the ceasefire deal.

Palestinians in Gaza launched just two mortar shells in the same period, causing little or no damage in Israel. The human rights groups say that no rockets were fired from Gaza during the three month period covered by the survey, from November 22, 2012 to February 22, 2013.

Further:

“Three months have passed since the ceasefire that brought an end to Israel’s eight-day attack on the Gaza Strip known as Operation “Pillar of Defence”. This infographic depicts the number of attacks on the Gaza Strip by the Israeli military during this three-month period, as well as the number of Palestinian attacks emanating from Gaza. Since late November, Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have averaged over one a day, everyday. These include shootings by troops positioned along the border fence, attacks on fishermen working off the Gaza coast, and incursions by the Israeli army.

This data is important for three reasons. First, it is a response to the Western media’s failure to cover the vast majority of Israeli attacks. This fits with a familiar and disturbing pattern, where a regional “period of calm” is exclusively defined in terms of attacks on Israelis. “Calm” from this perspective means security for Israelis – but more dead and injured Palestinians.”

In fact, despite its ‘assurances’ to Turkey, Israel has been intensifying its collective punishment of and siege on the people of Gaza:

Amid assurances to Turkey by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of easing Gaza access, Israel has tightened restrictions on the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza, as part of what appears to be a new policy of openly blocking civilian access in direct response to fire by combatants. Gisha-Legal Center for Freedom of Movement sent an urgent letter today to the new defense minister, Moshe Yaalon, demanding that the new restrictions be lifted.

Since Thursday, Gaza’s only goods crossing has been closed, and travel by Palestinians into and out of Gaza through Israel has been blocked, except for medical patients and other exceptional cases. Israel also reduced the fishing zone off the coast of Gaza from six to three nautical miles. The restrictions came after militants from Gaza Thursday fired rockets at civilian population centers in southern Israel.

The attacks on Gazan fishermen by Israel have been particularly devastating:

In the years since 1994, the area in which Israel allows Palestinian fishermen to fish has been gradually reduced from the 20 nautical miles provided for under the Oslo Accords to 3 nautical miles in 2009 as part of a naval blockade imposed through the use of live fire, harassment, and unlawful arrests and arbitrary detention. The severely limited fishing area, combined with a near total ban on exports, has brought Gaza’s fishing industry to the brink of collapse, bringing the number of working fishermen from approximately 10,000 in 1999 to less than 3,200 today.

Under the November 2012 ceasefire between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, the fishing limit was supposedly extended to six nautical miles. Fishermen began to sail further out to sea, resulting in somewhat greater yields of fish. However, attacks against fishermen continued, even within the previous three mile limit. Between 22 November 2012 and 28 February 2013, there have been 41 shooting incidents, resulting in 4 injuries. In addition, 42 fishermen have been detained in 11 arrest incidents. Furthermore, 8 boats have been damaged, and 8 boats have been confiscated.

In an online statement on 25 February 2013 the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) declared that fishermen could now access the sea up to six nautical miles offshore, and that farmers could now access lands in the border area up to 100m from the border fence. However, both references have since been removed from the statement.[1]

Now, Israel has reduced the nautical limit for fishing from 6 miles to 3 miles, thus ratcheting up the blockade.

Under the Oslo Agreements, the fishing range was 20 nautical miles (approximately 37 km). However, over the years, the Israeli military gradually reduced this range, severely damaging the livelihood of thousands of families and the availability of this basic and inexpensive food in the markets, which had served as a significant nutritional source.

Following Operation Pillar of Defense, Israeli expanded the range from three to six miles, which somewhat improved the situation. The decision to once again reduce the fishing range in response to missile fire by armed groups constitutes collective punishment imposed on fishermen for the actions of others. Article 33 in the Fourth Geneva Convention forbids collective punishment and states that a person must not be punished for an act that he or she did not commit. It is Israel’s duty to protect its borders and its citizens and to act to neutralize a threat when it arises, but this cannot justify the harsh damage to fishermen who have done nothing wrong.

This story in Today’s Zaman contradicts the above, saying Israel has agreed to easing the blockade.

Following the apology deal between Israel and Turkey, Israel started to allow needed goods into Gaza on Monday, Israel Defense Ministry spokesperson Emira Oron said, but did not elaborate on the specific items.

In order to mend ties, Ankara had three demands for Tel Aviv: an official apology from Israel for the Mavi Marmara raid; reparations for the families of the passengers killed on the ship and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered an apology to Turkey for the raid, ending a deep crisis in ties between the two former allies. After the announcement, Prime Minister Erdo?an, who welcomed the apology, said Israel had met Turkey’s demands in apologizing for the killings, paying compensation to their families and easing the blockade, all in line with Turkish expectations.

Hurriyet reports:

Israel issued a formal apology to Turkey and agreed to pay compensation over the Mavi Marmara killings of 2010 on March 22 after a phone conversation between the two countries’ premiers, Benjamin Netanyahu and Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, that was brokered by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Turkey accepted Israel’s apology, sources from the Prime Ministry confirmed, underlining that Israel had also agreed to ease its blockade on Gaza.

Yesterday, Monday 25 March, following Erdogan’s clarification, “Israeli authorities kept the Kerem Shalom crossing closed for a fifth day on Monday, after imposing a closure last week following rocket fire from Gaza.

Israel closed the Gaza commercial crossing on Thursday after a rocket was fired at southern Israel and reduced the fishing zone around Gaza from 6 to 3 miles.”

“When implementation [of Israeli promises] takes places, there will be normalization,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a crowd in Eskisehir.

Erdogan says no normal ties with Israel unless promises kept

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that normalization in ties with Israel will not take place until Israel properly implements the conditions promised in the apology deal.

“When implementation [of Israel promises] takes place, there will be normalization [in ties]. But if implementation is not carried out, they should not take offense. We are saying it very open and clear,” Erdogan told a cheering crowd in Eskisehir on Sunday.

…

In response to a question by reporters, Erdogan said it was too early to talk about dropping the charges again four Israeli generals who stand accused of playing a role in the death of the Turkish citizens aboard the Mavi Marmara ship.

Following the Mavi Marmara incident, Turkey reduced its diplomatic contact with Tel Aviv to the level of second secretary and froze all military deals with the powerful Israeli army in response to Tel Aviv’s refusal to issue an apology and offer compensation for the loss of life on the aid ship.

Erdogan made clear that the dispatch of an ambassador to Israel would not take place immediately. “We will see what is put into practice during the process. If they move forward in a promising way, we will make our contribution. Then, there will be an exchange of ambassadors,” said Erdogan, adding Turkish and Israeli diplomats will hold technical talks over the next few days in Ankara to discuss the compensation package for the relatives of the activists killed in the raid.

On Saturday, Erdogan also said he is planning to pay a visit to Gaza in April. His remarks confirmed an earlier announcement by Gaza’s Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who said the Turkish prime minister would soon visit the Gaza Strip.

Israel did not commit to ending its Gaza blockade as part of reconciliation with Turkey and could clamp down even harder on the Palestinian enclave if security is threatened, Israeli officials said on Sunday.

In Lebanon’s Daily Star:

The Turkish leader said Netanyahu had told him restrictions on consumer goods reaching Gaza and the West Bank would also be lifted and pledged to seek Turkish help in improving humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territories.

Turkey’s rising power:

“We are entering a new period in both Turkey and the region,” said Erdogan, who plans to visit the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, next month.

“We are at the beginning of a process of elevating Turkey to a position so that it will again have a say, initiative and power, as it did in the past.”

….

“Turkish opposition believes that the success of starting normalization of Turkish-Israeli relations fully belongs to the United States. But it is not so. If Turkey had no pressure on the United States, Tel Aviv would not have apologized to Ankara,” Davutoglu said.

March 25, 2013December 11, 2020

Love Me, I’m a Liberal Zionist

Oh, I cried at Sabra and Shatila,
The tears ran down my spine,
And I cried when Rabin was gunned down,
As though I’d lost a father of mine.

But I don’t sympathise with Zoabi,
Her antics just cross every line.
So love me, love me, love me, I’m a liberal.

I love Ray Hanania and J-Street,
Their message of peace speaks to me,
I curse Lieberman and Netanyahu,
For their counterproductivity.

But don’t talk to me ’bout apartheid,
It’s so complicated, you see.
So love me, love me, love me, I’m a liberal.

I remember the spirit of Oslo,
My faith in the process restored.
I had hoped that the Palestinians,
Would renounce all that I had deplored.

But no, they crap on ’bout “oppression” –
It’s not about whose ox was gored!
So love me, love me, love me, I’m a liberal.

I cheered for Obama in Cairo,
I know that he’ll soon turn the tide;
His call for a two-state solution,
Just makes my eyes well up with pride.

He knows that we must change the discourse,
There’s just too much hate on both sides.
So love me, love me, love me, I’m a liberal.

The ideological settlers –
It seems nothing will give them pause.
I can’t understand how their minds work:
They need to read Grossman and Oz.

But until the Pallies find Gandhi,
You won’t find me joining their cause,
So love me, love me, love me, I’m a liberal.

These boycotts, divestments, and sanctions,
Do not help the cause of peace.
Can’t you see that the two warring factions
Need dialogue and not thought police.

By the way, did you know that Barghouti,
Goes to uni in Tel Aviv?
So love me, love me, love me, I’m a liberal.

There was a time I thought quite diff’rent,
I freely admit it, you see.
I bought a book by Lenni Brenner,
And once I defended Chomsky!

But now I’m much older and wiser,
And I hope, one day, you, too, will be-
So love me, love me, love me, I’m a liberal.

Adapted from Phil Ochs, Love me I’m a Liberal by Elise Hendrick and republished from her blog.

February 28, 2013December 11, 2020

Alicia Keys, Don’t Fall for Apartheid – Cancel Your Gig in Israel!

Please respect BDS, Alicia Keys Tweet to Alicia here to let her know how you feel

Dear Alicia Keys,

We urge you to cancel your plans to perform for a segregated audience in Tel Aviv on July 4, 2013. Palestinian civil society has called for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel’s policies of colonialism, occupation and apartheid towards the Palestinian people.

Israel’s attempts to hide systematic decades-long oppression and human-rights abuses against the Palestinians depend on its ability to maintain the facade of a progressive and democratic image in the eyes of the international community. Israel often goes as far as promoting itself as “the only Democracy in the Middle East.” Israel’s apartheid policies, however, even permeate events as joyous as concerts: Palestinian fans of your music living under the Israel’s brutal military occupation of the West Bank or its medieval siege of the Gaza Strip will be prohibited from coming to Tel Aviv to enjoy your performance. These 4 million people who are being denied their most fundamental rights include many Palestinian women, whom will not have the chance to be empowered by hearing you sing.

Palestinian Freedom Riders challenged Israeli segregated buses on which they are not allowed to travel. These buses carry instead Israeli settlers to and from their homes, illegally built on stolen land.[1][2][3] The ethnic-supremacist state of mind does not end there, unfortunately, as evidenced by the Tel-Aviv city councilman who appealed to the state to allocate segregated buses for African refugees and migrant workers in the city[4].

Prominent figures (authors, professors, and musicians) have visited Israel, Occupied Palestine and Gaza to witness for themselves the treatment of Palestinians living under Israeli occupation, and have vowed not to lend their legitimacy to these crimes.

Alice Walker made the following comments on her visit to Palestine: “Going through Israeli checkpoints is like going back in time to American Civil Rights struggle…I am a big supporter of BDS. I frankly think that it is the best, absolutely the best way.“[5]

“One of the things so painful to remember about the segregated south is that no matter what white people did to them black people were not allowed to fight back, not even with a word or a glance, hence the expression “reckless eye-balling” which led many a black person to be beaten or killed. The idea that the people of Palestine are not even supposed to fight back… To collectively punish them (by bombing and starvation) for electing their own government in a democratic election acknowledged by most observers to have been fair, is sadistic as well as internationally condemned as illegal.“[6]

Professor Robin Kelley offers this analysis: “My last book was about [the jazz musician] Thelonious Monk. … And so for people of my generation, the Israel-South Africa nexus, dispossession of Palestinians … these were the key questions for anyone politically active in the 1980s. … witnessed a level of racist violence that I hadn’t even seen growing up as a black person here in the States (laughs), I have to say, and I’ve been beat by the cops. The level of racist violence from the settlers is kind of astounding. … The key thing was the kind of engagement that helped us better understand why the boycott is central… And part of what the boycott does is it delegitimizes the claim that this is a normal situation. It’s not a normal situation, it’s a settler-colonial situation, a situation of oppression.”[7]

The Palestinian people are denied elementary freedoms: the freedom of movement, the freedom to access their stolen lands and the freedom to protest injustice without facing brutal repression.[8] Those living in the Gaza strip (56% of whom are children) live under a debilitating siege, limiting their access to water, medical supplies, and construction material.[9] This unimaginable situation takes place only an hour away from your scheduled performance. In the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, 40 minutes away from the scheduled venue, children are being abducted from their homes, in violation of international law, and taken into violent police interrogations with no access to their parents or a lawyer.[10]

Representatives of Palestinian civil society, including over 170 different organizations such as women, academic and worker groups, have called for a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel’s policies. International artists are asked not to perform in Israel until it abides by its obligations under international law and reverses these policies.[11]

Some artists perform in Israel with the good will and intention to use their art as a means of changing Israeli public opinion and spreading the message of peace. One such example would be Roger Waters. These artists have later come to realize that their performance, as well-meaning as it was, has been hijacked and used to send a green light to the ongoing Israeli policies of oppression.

We have therefore learned that not performing is important to the promotion of justice in this region, as Israeli policy makers are coming to understand that the international community does not approve of their brutal policies towards the people of Palestine. Some prominent artists have stated:

Roger Waters: “In my view, the abhorrent and draconian control that Israel wields over the besieged Palestinians in Gaza, and the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank (including East Jerusalem), coupled with its denial of the rights of refugees to return to their homes in Israel, demands that fair minded people around the world support the Palestinians in their civil, nonviolent resistance. For me it means declaring my intention to stand in solidarity, not only with the people of Palestine, but also with the many thousands of Israelis who disagree with their governments racist and colonial policies, by joining a campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, until it satisfies three basic human rights demanded in international law.”[12]

Faithless: “We’ve been asked to do some shows this summer in your country and, with the heaviest of hearts, I have regretfully declined the invitation. While human beings are being willfully denied not just their rights but their needs for their children and grandparents and themselves, I feel deeply that I should not be sending even tacit signals that this is either ‘normal’ or ‘ok’.”

Macy Gray: “I had a reality check and I stated that I definitely would not have played there if I had known even the little that I know now.”[13]

Cassandra Wilson: “as a human rights activist, I identify with the cultural boycott of Israel.” [14]

Understanding that the picket line has clearly been marked and that you cannot avoid taking a political stand on this matter, we are now asking you to take a moral stand. Please reconsider your participation in whitewashing Israeli apartheid. Stand against oppression and for liberation, against deep rooted racism and in favor of justice and equality for all.

Sincerely,

DPAI
We are a group, of over 1000 members, representing many countries around the globe, who believe that it is essential for musicians & other artists to heed the call of the PACBI, and join in the boycott of Israel. This is essential in order to work towards justice for the Palestinian people under occupation, and also in refugee camps and in the diaspora throughout the world.

FC Barcelona : No Normalisation Between Occupied and Occupier

FC Barcelona: it is time to stop normalising Israel and maintaining a policy of equidistance
between occupier and occupied in Palestine

We have heard that the President of Barcelona Football Club, Sandro Rosell and the
Vicepresident Javier Faus intend to go on a “diplomatic and commercial” mission to Israel and
Palestine on 21 and 23 February. The two executives will visit the towns of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem
and Ramallah, where they will have talks with the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, and the
President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Mahmoud Abbas [1].

BDS Catalunya and the rest of the RESCOP (Solidarity Network Against the Occupation of
Palestine) [2], made up of 36 Palestine solidarity organisations across Spain, are strongly opposed
to this visit because it merely serves the interests of Israel by presenting it to the world as a
“normal” country. Unfortunately the systematic breaches of international law since 1948 and the
constant unpunished violations of the human rights of the Palestinian people mean that Israel is
not a “normal” country. The military occupation, the colonisation measures and the apartheid
system imposed by Israel in Palestine since 1948, are not policies proper to a “normal” country.

Barcelona FC has traditionally maintained a “neutral” and “equidistant” position in the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict and has made an effort to maintain good relations with both Israeli and
Palestinian authorities. It has also promoted and financed joint sports activities between young
Israelis and Palestinians with the aim of contributing to “peace” and “coexistence” between the
two peoples. Inviting the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit to the Barcelona football ground in September
2012 and subsequently – under popular pressure – inviting the Gaza footballer Mahmoud Sarsak
was a paradigmatic example the club’s policy of “neutrality” and “equidistance” [3]. But joint
activities between Palestinians and Israelis that ignore the fundamental rights of the Palestinian
people can only be called one thing: normalisation. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic
and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) has defined normalisation in the Palestinian and Arab
context as “the participation in any project, initiative or activity, in Palestine or internationally, that
aims (implicitly or explicitly) to bring together Palestinians (and/or Arabs) and Israelis (people or
institutions) without placing as its goal resistance to and exposure of the Israeli occupation and all
forms of discrimination and oppression against the Palestinian people.” [4].

Through its policy towards Palestine, Barcelona football club shows that it is still trapped in the
logic of the Oslo Accord of 1993 [5], which gave a strong boost to normalisation activities
between Israelis and Palestinians, especially in the 90s. But 20 years after signing these
agreements the dramatic situation in Palestine shows that, in spite of the huge quantity of money
that has been poured into them by the Western powers and Israel itself, these initiatives for
“peace” and “coexistence” have totally failed. Over the years, Palestinian society has gradually
realised that normalisation activities have only benefited Israel, since they have made it possible
for the Israeli state to go on implementing its illegal policies whilst displaying to the world the
efforts they are supposedly making to achieve “peace”. Nowadays, the immense majority of the
Palestinian people reject normalisation.

In 2005, knowing that only recognition of the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people will bring
justice and peace to Palestine and inspired by the struggle against the South African apartheid
regime, more than 170 Palestinian civil society organisations launched a call for Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel [6] until it fully complies with the precepts of
international law by: 1) ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the
Wall; 2) recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality;
and 3) respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their
homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194. The sports boycott against Israel is an
essential part of this international campaign for liberty, justice and equality.

This June Israel will host the European Under-21 Football Championship. In this way, the
UEFA will be rewarding a state that destroyed the Gaza football ground and assassinated four
children while playing football during the last military aggression against the Gaza Strip; a state
that arrested two footballers belonging to the Al-Amari club (Ramallah, the West Bank) in February
2012 and has kept them in prison since then under administrative detention that is to say without
presenting charges or giving them a court hearing; a state that has been preventing the free
circulation of Palestinian footballers for decades. For all of these reasons, more than 50 footballers
who play in the main world leagues have condemned holding this championship in Israel by
giving their support to a letter by Frédéric Kanouté [7]. In addition, a popular European campaign
called “Red Card Israeli Apartheid” has been launched and is gaining strength [8]. Recently, the
Palestinian authorities have added their signatures to the petition against this championship taking
place in Israel [9].

For all of the reasons that we have put forward in this letter, BDS Catalunya and the rest of the
RESCOP demand that FC Barcelona put an end to its normalisation activities and to its policy of
equidistance between the Israeli occupying power and the occupied Palestinian people. We also
urge the Club to reply to the Call made by Palestinian civil society and break off all relations
with Israeli institutions. This is the best contribution that the Club can make to a just peace in
Palestine.

BDS Catalunya
Red Solidaria Contra la Ocupación de Palestina (RESCOP)

[1] “Rosell viajará a Israel y Palestina en misión diplomática y comercial”
http://www.mundodeportivo.com/20130212/fc-barcelona/rosell-viajara-israel-palestina-mision-diplomatica-
comercial_54365317359.html

[2] Red Solidaria Contra la Ocupación de Palestina (RESCOP)
http://www.nodo50.org/causapalestina/

[3] “El ex preso palestino Al Sarsak rechaza ir al clásico”
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2012/10/01/futbol/1349080783.html

[4] Definition of “normalisation” according to the PACBI
http://pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1749

[5] “The Oslo 1 Accord” in Wikipedia
http://en:wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo 1 Accord

[6] Call from Palestinian civil society to Boycott, Divestment and Sanciones (BDS) against Israel, 9 July 2005
http://www.bdsmovement.net/call

[7] “Footballers condemn plans to hold U21 European championship in Israel”
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2012/footballers-condemn-plans-to-hold-u21-european-championship-in-israel-10120

[8] “Red Card Israeli Apartheid” campaign
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=N0mqdI1oNHA

[9] “Palestina hace campaña para que Israel no acoja la final sub-21 de la UEFA”
http://www.diariovasco.com/agencias/20130210/deportes/futbol/palestina-hace-campana-para-
israel_201302101207.html

The RESCOP is made up of the following organisations:

Acsur-Las Segovias
Asociación Al-Quds de Solidaridad con los Pueblos del Mundo Árabe (Málaga)
Asociación Andaluza por la Solidaridad y la Paz – ASPA
Asociación de Amistad Palestina-Granada «Turab»
Asociación Hispano Palestina Jerusalén (Madrid)
Asociación Pro-Derechos Humanos de Andalucía
Asociación Unadikum
BDS Catalunya
BDS Madrid
Castelló per Palestina
Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe (Madrid, Asturias)
Comité de Solidaridad con los Pueblos – Interpueblos (Cantabria)
Comunidad Palestina en Canarias
Comunitat Palestina de Catalunya
Coordinadora de apoyo a Palestina (La Rioja)
Ecologistas en Acción (Confederal)
Fundación IEPALA
Fundación Mundubat
Gipuzkoako palestinaren aldeko plataforma
Izquierda Anticapitalista
Komite Internazionalistak (Euskal Herria)
MEWANDO (Euskadi)
Movimiento Solidaridad Internacional Catalunya – ISM Cataluña / Valencia
Mujeres en Zona de Conflicto – M.Z.C.
Mujeres por la Paz – Acción Solidaria con Palestina (Canarias)
Palestinarekin Elkartasuna (Euskal Herria)
Paz Ahora
Paz con Dignidad
Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina (Sevilla)
Plataforma Palestina Ibiza
Plataforma Solidaria con Palestina de Valladolid
Red de Jóvenes Palestinos
Red Judía Antisionista Internacional – IJAN
Sodepau
Sodepaz
Sodepaz Balamil
Taula per Palestina (Illes Balears)
Xarxa de Solidaritat amb Palestina de València

Tag: Politics

University of Sydney Student Representative Council Endorses Academic BDS

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Erdogan Clarifies and Remains Firm – The Blockade on Palestine Will be Lifted or No Normalisation

Love Me, I’m a Liberal Zionist

Alicia Keys, Don’t Fall for Apartheid – Cancel Your Gig in Israel!

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FC Barcelona : No Normalisation Between Occupied and Occupier

FC Barcelona: it is time to stop normalising Israel and maintaining a policy of equidistance
between occupier and occupied in Palestine

Related Links

Related Links

FC Barcelona: it is time to stop normalising Israel and maintaining a policy of equidistance between occupier and occupied in Palestine

FC Barcelona: it is time to stop normalising Israel and maintaining a policy of equidistance
between occupier and occupied in Palestine