Rare photo of Jews sans frontieres blogger

Hey quick!  Look at the home page of the Jewish Chronicle site.  It's a pic of my friend and co-blogger, David Landy, of the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Teachers' Union of Ireland:

I was in Ireland at the beginning of March and I saw David so I can confirm the picture is genuine.

On a more serious note.  The picture accompany's a JC report on the Teachers' Union of Ireland's recent vote for an academic boycott of Israel.  Here's the report:

The Teachers Union of Ireland has voted to boycott all academic collaboration with Israel, including research programmes and exchange of scientists.

It is thought to be the first full academic boycott enforced by a European teaching union.

A motion, calling for all members of the union to end work with Israeli counterparts, was passed unanimously at the TUI annual conference in Galway on Thursday.

The union called on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to increase its campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against “the apartheid state of Israel until it lifts its illegal siege of Gaza and its illegal occupation of the West Bank”.

The passed motion requests TUI members to “cease all cultural and academic collaboration with Israel, including the exchange of scientists, students and academic personalities, as well as all cooperation in research programmes”.

Dublin sociology lecturer and anti-Israel activist David Landy said the move “set an historic precedent”.

“We congratulate the TUI and call on all Irish, British and European academic unions to move similar motions. Undoubtedly apologists for Israeli apartheid will complain that such motions stifle academic freedom, but this is nonsense,” he said.

The TUI represents teachers and lecturers working in all levels of education across the country and has more than 14,500 members.

I already blogged on this a couple of posts ago.

Is JC editor, Stephen Pollard, on leave?  That's three fairly accurate reports I've seen in the JC in as many weeks.

Anti-apartheid sports boycott and the lessons for Palestine Solidarity

Here's a good write-up of the meeting at SOAS I announced a few days ago:

Lessons of the anti-apartheid sports boycott for Palestinian solidarity

Posted on February 8, 2013by Gavin Brown

On Tuesday 5 February, Helen Yaffe represented the Non-Stop Against Apartheid project at a meeting organised by Football Beyond Borders at SOAS.  The meeting asked, “What can the boycott of the U21 UEFA Football Championships in Israel learn from the Anti-Apartheid Movement?” Here we offer a report on the evening’s discussions.

The meeting opened with the inspiring, informative and emotive film Have you heard from Johannesburg: Fair Play (2010) about the worldwide campaign to get apartheid South Africa banned from international sports competitions. It focused first on efforts, initiated by South African activist Dennis Brutus, to have the country expelled from the Olympics and later how activists mobilized to stop the South African rugby team – the Springboks – from playing in Britain, Australia and New Zealand in the late 1960s. Following the film, Patsy Pillar, a white South African woman, one of the founders of the exile-initiated boycott movement in Britain in 1959, reflected on how this strategy took roots in Britain and developed into an international solidarity movement.

Helen Yaffe’s presentation about the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group (CLAAG) briefly explained its origins and purpose, and summarized the types of boycott and solidarity actions the group engaged in. Illustrated with photos from the Non-Stop Picket,occupations of South African Airways and other protests, Helen then drew out the key principles and/or lessons which could be adopted in boycott campaigning:

• Boycotts should be part of active political campaign, not a passive action by individual consumers;
• Use all available channels simultaneously, from pressure group tactics to direct action in the streets;
• Make the campaign/boycott relevant to people in Britain by relating to racial, class and sexual oppression – identification will increase participation;
• Defence campaigns are vitally important – success brings publicity and builds confidence. (There were over 700 arrests on the Non-Stop Picket of the South African Embassy, but the group won 90% of court cases);
• Educate activists. They must know what they are fighting for and against, especially with regard to the role of British political/economic interests;
• Don’t be held back by disapproval from ‘respectable’ forces;
• Internal democracy encourages participation: Everyone should have speaking rights; there should be no censorship of literature or groups.

Springbok Reception Committee banner (Source: City Group)

Next Maha Rezeq, a Palestinian activist described how Palestinians grow up in struggle and affirmed the importance of the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. The final panelist was Geoff Lee from the Red Card to Israel campaign, who detailed their work to date in demanding the relocation of the under 21s UEFA football championship, which is due to take place in Israel in June 2013. When he mentioned that UEFA are meeting in London on 24 May, it was suggested that this would provide an ideal opportunity for a vibrant protest, inspired by those thousands of courageous and uncompromising anti-apartheid activists in the late 1960s, to demand that the games are moved out of Israel.

The chair, Timesh Pillay, did an excellent job of opening, summarising and encouraging participation, and there were numerous questions and comments from the audience of around 50, mostly students, several specifically about the Red Card campaign. One of the more general questions asked whether the treatment of Palestinians by Israel could be compared to the apartheid system in South Africa. Helen referred to comments from Desmond Tutu, a black leader of the liberation movement in South Africa, who condemns ‘Israeli apartheid’, and she questioned the absence of a powerful boycott campaign against Israel like the one against apartheid in South Africa.

There are just four months left to build an effective boycott campaign to demand the relocation of the under 21s UEFA football championships. Individuals and groups are encouraged to get involved. The next meeting takes place at SOAS on Thursday 14 February at 7pm.

 Got that?  There's another meeting on 14th February 2013 at SOAS, presumably in the same room but I'll let you know.

Brooklyn BDS event was, erm, an event

Well the Judith Butler and Omar Barghouti BDS meeting took place at Brooklyn College last night in spite of the mobilisation of various Israel lobbyists to prevent it.  "Arguments" against the meeting taking place ranged from the impression that the college was supporting BDS to the college was paving the way for a second holocaust.  Really, someone, an assemblyman no less, said that.

The content of Judith Butler's presentation is at The Nation but this little chunk is lifted from what looks like a grudging piece from the +972 Mag site by Lisa Goldman:

One could be for the BDS movement as the only credible non-violent mode of resisting the injustices committed by the state of Israel without falling into the football lingo of being “pro” Palestine and “anti” Israel. This language is reductive, if not embarrassing. One might reasonably and passionately be concerned for all the inhabitants of that land, and simply maintain that the future for any peaceful, democratic solution for that region will become thinkable through the dismantling of the occupation, through enacting the equal rights of Palestinian minorities and finding just and plausible ways for the rights of refugees to be honored. If one holds out for these three aims in political life, then one is not simply living within the logic of the “pro” and the “anti”, but trying to fathom the conditions for a “we”, a plural existence grounded in equality.

The +972 piece is titled Despite controversy, Brooklyn College BDS panel is a non-event.  Now I could well be missing some irony here.  Reading the article it looks like she might be saying that such a straightforward issue should be a non-event and in some ways it should.  But the fact that powerful or influential players (eg, Alan Dershowitz) mobilised to prevent the event taking place and the fact that other equally powerful players (New York's Mayor Bloomberg) expressed their support made the mere fact that the meeting took place at all an event in itself.

SOAS Palestine Society, Football Beyond Borders, and Red Card Israeli Racism Present:

From Facebook:

• • 

    Tuesday
  • 

    19:00 until 21:00

• Khalili Lecture Theatre, Lower Ground Floor, SOAS

• Join us for a special and timely event: a screening of Fair Play, a documentary about the sports boycott of Apartheid in South Africa, followed by a discussion with four guests. Fair Play is a documentary from the highly esteemed series Have You Heard From Johannesburg by Connie Fields: http://www.clarityfilms.org/haveyouheardfromjohannesburg/

Fundamentalist going on a summer holiday in Israel...

Ah let him go.  If Cliff Richard wants to go to Israel I see no role for BDS here.

Here's YNET:

Cliff Richard is on his way to Israel : The veteran British singer will perform at Tel Aviv's Nokia Arena on July 11.

Sir Cliff Richard, 72, is one of the greatest music stars to come out of Britain, selling more than 260 million copies of his many albums so far.

Richard first performed in Israel in September 1963. Then, as a teen idol, he was greeted at Ben-Gurion Airport by some 2,000 fans. He returned to the Jewish state in the late 1960s, when he filmed the musical documentary "His Land," and again in 1988 as part of Israel's 40th anniversary celebrations.

He must see Israel as a full time occupation:

Richard's arrival in Israel in the 1960s was discussed later on in a Yedioth Ahronoth article written by Emanuel Bar Kadma in 1976, which claimed that legendary producer and impresario Giora Godik chose to bring Richard to Israel over the Beatles.

"British talent agent Leslie Grade suggested that Godik choose between two concerts for next to nothing – Cliff Richard, who was at the height of his fame at the time, and a young band called the Beatles. In that year, 1963, Godik enthusiastically signed a concert contract with Cliff Richard, but rejected the Beatles."

Hmm, imagine....

News on Veolia gets better and better

Well the news is pretty much the same, that is that the zionist occupation's preferred multinational corporate suppier, Veolia, withdrew their bid to handle refuse in North London.  It was campaigners in the London Borough of Hackney who brought the pressure which led to Veolia throwing the towel in.  The better bit is the way that the whole thing has been covered in the local press.  The Hackney Citizen and the Hackney Gazette have both been very informative and supportive of local democracy and accountability throughout the whole process, raising awkward questions as it unfolded in the Town Hall.

Now the Hackney Gazette has a congratulatory piece by Senior Reporter, Emma Bartholomew under the headline, “Best Christmas present ever” for Veolia campaigners:

Campaigners who spent two years vociferously campaigning to block Veolia’s for a multi-million pound deal are celebrating their best Christmas present ever, after the waste company dropped out of the tender.

Veolia was down to the last two bidders for the North London Waste Authority’s £4.7bn waste services and fuel use contract – but the No 2 Veolia Action Group (No2VAG) said the company should be blacklisted because it provides transport, waste, sewage and water services to Jewish settlements in Palestine, which are considered illegal under international law.

The shock news Veolia had withdrawn from the tender process came last Friday, and it is unclear why the decision was made.

The deal, involving seven London boroughs which will cost Hackney £600 million, hit the headlines this month after No2VAG spokeswoman and Hackney resident Caroline Day was blocked from making a five-minute speech at a Hackney Council meeting.

David Lewis, secretary and treasurer of pro-Israeli group Lawyers for Israel, went on to claim silencing her as a ‘victory’, after the Labour party supported Tory Cllr Linda Kelly’s motion to block the speech in a whipped vote.

Veolia declined to comment to the Gazette about why it had dropped out from the tender, and refused to categorically deny it had anything to do with the Israeli settlements controversy.

Ms Day said her group is “absolutely delighted” and lauded the move as a “huge victory for local democracy”.

“Powerful lobbies representing unethical interests in the illegal settlements may have won a short-term victory in silencing me, but in standing up for their right to see their money invested ethically, local people have achieved a victory for justice for the Palestinian people,” she said.

“This really has been the result of very determined collective campaigning across the seven boroughs and huge credit goes to our chair Yael Kahn who has dedicated her life to this for two years,” she added.

As you can see, the full story had some remarkable ingredients including the boasting of Israel lobbyists, at least one whom is a Hackney councillor.

Mondoweiss has an analytical piece on the campaign itself and Charlie Pottins at Random Pottins gets very technical about the whole thing.

All in all, a great victory for BDS and a lesson for others to follow.

Veolia, the Lobby's preferred supplier, pulls out of London waste bid

The good news keeps on coming, even from the Jewish Chronicle:

A company with links to Israel has pulled out of a bid for a major waste contract in Britain.

North London Waste Authority (NLWA) confirmed Veolia Environmental Services had withdrawn its attempt to secure contracts to manage water and fuel services in the capital.

Anti-Israel campaigners have repeatedly attacked the multinational over its involvement in the Jerusalem light railway project and in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and have called on British local authorities to boycott the company.

Hackney Council controversially barred anti-Veolia protesters from speaking at an authority meeting on the bid last month.

NLWA covers seven boroughs and had named Veolia as one of the shortlisted companies for the contract, which is reportedly worth up to £4 billion over 25 years.

Veolia has given no reason for the withdrawal, which was announced on Friday, and a spokesman said the company would not comment.

Clyde Loakes, NLWA chair, said the decision to pull out was “disappointing”.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign welcomed Veolia’s departure from the process, claiming the company’s links to Israel were “toxic”.

There's a lot more to this story than we see in the JC so check out the Hackney Citizen and scroll down for the comments. But congrats to the @No2Veolia Action Group.

Chomsky supports BDS

Funny bloke, Chomsky.  I can't keep up with him.  I always thought he was for the two state solution and against BDS.  Well now according to Anthony Loewenstein and Chomsky's own letter in The Australian.

Let's look at the foil first from Friday's edition, telling people to take Chomsky's advice:

ON what basis does the University of Sydney lend institutional support to a group with a guiding objective of boycotting Jewish business and cultural institutions?

In case university leaders are interested, even that virulently pro-Palestinian, Noam Chomsky (cited by Jake Lynch to refute claims of anti-Jewish racism at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies), considers the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement with its boycott of Israeli universities as pure anti-Semitism, aimed at the destruction of Israel.

Chomsky further characterises the BDS movement as inimical to the interests of and lacking any genuine support from the Palestinian people. Perhaps, on this issue, the peace centre should heed the views of the winner of its own 2011 Sydney peace prize?

Whatever may occur within hearts and minds at the peace centre, the university must swiftly dissociate itself from anti-Semitic activists in its midst. Their conduct damages the reputation of a great institution.

James Miller, Woolloomooloo, NSW

And what must have been a surprise response the next day:

I WAS surprised to read a letter to the editor of The Australian claiming that I regard the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement's tactics targeting Israel as "pure anti-Semitism, aimed at the destruction of Israel" and that I said BDS efforts are "inimical to the interests of and lacking any genuine support from the Palestinian people" (Letters, 14/12).

These tactics have enormous support among Palestinians, and the charge of anti-Semitism should be dismissed with disdain.

When Human Rights Watch "calls on the US and European Union member states and on businesses with operations in settlement areas to avoid supporting Israeli settlement policies that are inherently discriminatory and that violate international law", it is advocating BDS tactics, rightly, and there is no hint of anti-Semitism.

I have personally been involved in such forms of opposition to the Israeli occupation for years, long before there was a BDS movement.

Any tactics, however legitimate, can of course be misused. But they can also be used quite properly and effectively against state crimes, and in this case regularly have been.

Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA

Well that's news to me. Without digging around I am sure Chomsky has been against BDS and I'm sure he supports the two state solution.  Of course, you could say that a person can support BDS but support the TSS.  But if we're using BDS "properly and effectively against state crimes" and those crimes stop as a result, what would be left of The State of Israel.

Stevie Wonder urged to join Black Action on Palestine

I think that's a fair summation of what I just read on Electronic Intifada:

The letter reads, in part:

Dear Mr. Wonder:

We, members of Interfaith Peace Builders’ (IFPB) 2011 and 2012 African Heritage Delegations, the 2012 Dorothy Cotton Institute Civil & Human Rights Delegation, other IFPB delegates of African heritage, and allies, thank you for canceling your performance at the [Israeli army]’s fundraiser planned for December 6, 2012 in Los Angeles.

We are African Americans who traveled to Palestine/Israel to meet with people working for peace and justice. We represent the rich diversity of Black America. We are multi-generational and interfaith; activists, community organizers, and scholars; youth, elders, parents, and everyday people. We yearn for peace, love, prosperity, and respect for all humanity.

… As African Americans, we visited Palestine/Israel and witnessed firsthand the devastating impact of occupation, injustice and crimes against humanity heaped upon the Palestinians by the [Israeli army]. We traveled from military checkpoint to military checkpoint and witnessed armed soldiers of the IDF check papers and harass Palestinian civilians; we witnessed Israeli-only settlements and roads; we spoke with Israeli settlers who had forced Palestinians out of their homes; and we witnessed the daily humiliations of Palestinian men, women and children.

Some of us grew up in the Jim Crow South. The parallels between what we lived and what we witnessed in Palestine/Israel were uncomfortably reminiscent of our own experiences.

Some of us participated in the movement against Apartheid in South Africa and quickly made the same connections as Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In his essay, Apartheid in the Holy Land, Archbishop Tutu explains: “I’ve been very deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us black people in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks, suffering like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about.”

… We commend you for joining in the movement that ultimately helped topple the Apartheid regime in South Africa. We invite you to stand with us against all manifestations of legalized racial oppression just as vigorously today.

Thank you, Brother Stevie, for withdrawing your name from the IDF fundraiser. In doing so, we believe you acted bravely in the cause of peace and justice. We ask you to continue your activism holistically; join with allies in Jewish and Arab communities, but do so in order to build and support the movement for human rights and an end to Israel’s military occupation and Apartheid.

… We ask you to bring the same passion for peace and justice to the fight against Apartheid in Palestine/Israel as you brought to the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa.

And finally, Brother Stevie, we ask you to join the international movement of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel’s illegal military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Join the global community of people committed to supporting the right of the Palestinian people to live as fully recognized equals in their own land.

Black Action on Palestine is the name of a short lived group that formed in Newham around 1990.

European Footballers against Israel hosting UEFA Under-21

When even children under 1 year old aren't safe from Israel can it really be appropriate for Israel of all states to be hosting the UEFA under-21s?

We, as European football players, express our solidarity with the people of Gaza who are living under siege and denied basic human dignity and freedom. The latest Israeli bombardment of Gaza, resulting in the death of over a hundred civilians, was yet another stain on the world's conscience.

We are informed that on 10 November 2012 the Israeli army bombed a sports stadium in Gaza, resulting in the death of four young people playing football, Mohamed Harara and Ahmed Harara, 16 and 17 years old; Matar Rahman and Ahmed Al Dirdissawi, 18 years old.

We are also informed that since February 2012 two footballers with the club Al Amari, Omar Rowis, 23, and Mohammed Nemer, 22, have been detained in Israel without charge or trial.

It is unacceptable that children are killed while they play football. Israel hosting the UEFA Under-21 European Championship, in these circumstances, will be seen as a reward for actions that are contrary to sporting values.

Despite the recent ceasefire, Palestinians are still forced to endure a desperate existence under occupation, they must be protected by the international community. All people have the right to a life of dignity, freedom and security. We hope that a just settlement will finally emerge.

Signed by:

Gael Angoula, Bastia Sporting Club (France)
Karim Ait-Fana, Montpellier HSC (France)
André Ayew, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Jordan Ayew, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Demba Ba, Newcastle United (UK)
Abdoulaye Baldé, AC Lumezzane (Italia)
Chahir Belghazouani, AC Ajaccio (France)
Leon Best, Blackburn Rovers Football Club (UK)
Ryad Boudebouz, Football Club Sochaux Montbéliard (France)
Yacine Brahimi, Granada Football Club (Spain)
Jonathan Bru, Melbourne Victory (Australia)
Yohan Cabaye, Newcastle United (UK)
Aatif Chahechouche, Sivasspor Kulübü (Turkey)
Pascal Chimbonda, Doncaster Rovers Football Club (UK)
Papiss Cissé, Newcastle United (UK)
Omar Daf, Football Club Sochaux Montbéliard (France)
Issiar Dia, Lekhwiya (Qatar)
Abou Diaby, Arsenal Football Club (UK)
Alou Diarra, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Soulaymane Diawara, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Samba Diakité, Queens Park Rangers (UK)
Pape Diop, West Ham United (UK)
Abdoulaye Doucouré, Stade Rennais Football Club (France)
Didier Drogba, Shanghaï Shenhua (China)
Ibrahim Duplus, Football Club Sochaux Montbéliard (France)
Soudani El-Arabi Hilal, Vitoria Sport Club Guimares (Portugal)
Jires Kembo Ekoko, Al Ain Football Club (United Arab Emirates)
Nathan Ellington, Ipswich Town Football Club (UK)
Rod Fanni, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Doudou Jacques Faty, Sivassport Kulübü (Turkey)
Ricardo Faty, AC Ajaccio (France)
Chris Gadi, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Remi Gomis, FC Valenciennes (France)
Florent Hanin, SC Braga (Portugal)
Eden Hazard, Chelsea Football Club (UK)
Charles Kaboré, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Diomansy Kamara, Eskisehispor Kulübü (Turkey)
Frédéric Kanouté, Beijin Guoan (China)
Anthony Le Tallec, AJ Auxerre (France)
Djamal Mahamat, Sporting Braga (Portugal)
Steve Mandanda, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Kader Manganne, Al Hilal Riyad Football Club (Saudi Arabia)
Sylvain Marveaux, Newcastle United (UK)
Nicolas Maurice-Belay, FC Girondins de Bordeaux (France)
Cheikh M’bengué, Toulouse Football Club (France)
Jérémy Menez, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (France)
Arnold Mvuemba, Olympique Lyonnais (France)
Laurent Nardol, Chartres Football Club (France)
Mahamadou N’diaye, Vitoria Sport Club Guimares (Portugal)
Mamadou Niang, Al-Sadd SC (Qatar)
Mbaye Niang, SM Caen (France)
Fabrice Numeric, FK Slovan Duslo Sala (Slovakia)
Billel Omrani, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Lamine Sané, FC Girondins de Bordeaux (France)
Mamady Sidibé, Stoke City Football Club (UK)
Momo Sissoko, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (France)
Cheikh Tioté, Newcastle United (UK)
AdamaTraoré, Melbourne Victory (Australia)
Armand Traoré, Queen Park Rangers FC (UK)
Djimi Traore, Olympique de Marseille (France)
Moussa Sow, Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü (Turkey)
Hassan Yebda, Granada Football Club (Spain)

Source: Frédéric Oumar Kanouté

Stevie Wonder pulls out of zionist gig in LA

Given his anti-racist credentials he shouldn't have been pulled in in the first place but it is good news that Stevie Wonder will not now be entertaining the Friends of the Israel "Defence" Force (FIDF).  Here's the Jewish Chronicle:

Stevie Wonder has bowed to political pressure and pulled out of a fundraising concert in Los Angeles in support of the Israeli Defence Forces.

The soul singer was due to perform at the annual Friends of the Israel Defense Forces dinner next Thursday, but his involvement with the group made him a target for supporters of a cultural boycott of Israel. A petition on the website Change.org called on him not to sing because the IDF was "an institution which promotes, enables, and protects Israel's Apartheid regime".

"We call on Stevie Wonder, as a conscientious American advocate for human rights and dignity not to support the Israeli Defense Force by performing at their gala fundraiser," wrote the petition organiser. Mr Wonder serves as a UN messenger of peace.

The director of FIDF expressed regret at Mr Wonder's decision to "cancel his performance at an important community event of the FIDF, an American organisation supporting the educational, cultural, and wellbeing needs of Israel's soldiers, their families, and the families of fallen soldiers.

Maj Gen Yitzhak Gershon added: "FIDF is a non-political organisation that provides much-needed humanitarian support regardless of religion, political affiliation, or military activity."

Yeah right.

 The question still has to be asked, are these people who agree to appear for or in Israel ignorant of its racist nature? I don't want to minimise the importance of these victories but anti-racists should be saying no to Israel from the word go, not simply after pressure is brought to bear.

Boycott Batsheva II - the Director's Cut

A bit of a coup over at the Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods site.  Naomi Winborne-Idrissi received a letter from some performing arts teacher or other calling on JBIG not to disrupt a Batsheva show because she (the teacher) wanted to take her students to it.

Here's Naomi's response to the letter whose content you can probably guess but it is posted in full bar the name below the post on the JBIG site:

Thank you for contacting us regarding your concerns about planned protests focusing on Israel’s Batsheva Ensemble.

I am responding as the Boycott Israel Network’s cultural working group coordinator and national secretary of Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods, as well as someone who loves and regularly attends dance performances.

I do not know what your sources are for your reading about our campaign, but we are not, as you suggest, people “who could not care less about dance”. On the contrary, we care very much about dance being used cynically to cast a veil over the actions of a government which is anything but artistic in its discriminatory violence against Palestinians. Israel runs a well-funded campaign called Brand Israel which is specifically designed to exploit culture as a distraction from its crimes. The intended message is “Look at our beautiful dancers, ignore our bombs and tanks.”

It’s good to know that you agree with the “basic human right of being able to protest and voice an opinion.” I applaud the fact that you have looked into the appalling situation of the Palestinian people and that you appreciate that they are victims of many atrocities. In that case you must surely know that Palestinian artists and performers suffer from these atrocities at least as much as other members of their community.

Their ability to express themselves through art and culture is severely curtailed – indeed it is deliberately suppressed by the Israeli authorities who use every measure from administrative regulation to extreme violence to prevent Palestinian self-expression. I attach some references pertaining to this (*).

You may also wish to look at the website of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) which explains their call for people of conscience around the world to mount solidarity campaigns such as ours.

Let me assure you we have no wish to deprive GCSE students of the chance to “see a piece of excellent dance so that they can write about it for their GCSE exam”. There are, fortunately for us, untold opportunities in the UK for dance-lovers to have such experiences. This is not the case for Palestinian young people, although Israeli youngsters do not lack for such opportunities.

If you are worried about the trauma your students might suffer by being exposed to someone unfurling a banner or calling out a slogan at a Batsheva performance, may I suggest you give them access to the ample materials explaining why the people of Palestine have called for such actions – not least the daily trauma experienced by Palestinian children such as the students of Hebron attacked by stone-throwing fundamentalist Jewish settlers acting under the protection of Israeli troops, or the children of Bedouin families in the Negev whose homes are constantly being demolished, or the children of Gaza, under siege since 2006 and at the mercy of Israeli bombing raids.

You ask why we do not protest at a Russian ballet performance. I might ask you the same question, but to respond seriously – if an oppressed people comparable with the Palestinians, with no other non-violent means of drawing attention to 60 years of dispossession and injustice, were calling on us to adopt this form of protest on their behalf against cultural institutions linked to the Russian state, we would have no hesitation in doing so. Maybe you are not aware that supporters of Israel adopted just such tactics against the Bolshoi Ballet and other Soviet cultural institutions as part of their campaign to persuade Moscow to let dissident Jews emigrate to Israel in the 1970s and ’80s.

We are thoroughly well acquainted with the personal views of Ohad Naharin, the artistic director of Batsheva, but these do not prevent the most right-wing government Israel has ever had embracing Batsheva as “our best global ambassador”. You can see an analysis of Batsheva’s position here.

If you wish to explore these issues further, and give your students an unprecedented opportunity to consider the many complex ways in which art and politics interact, I would be happy to introduce you to well-informed human rights campaigners in your area who they could meet for a discussion.

 As I said, Naomi has appended the original letter to her post,  But more interesting than the post itself is the fact that Batsheva director has commented on the post thus:

ohad naharin | 7 November 2012 at 2:36 am | Reply

since we probably agree about the much needed solution for the palestinians, about the wrong doing of the israeli army and government in the way they treat the palestinians, we probably also agree about the topic of boycott… i guess what left is the topic of boycotting batsheva… i recently wrote this sentence: “…the discussion about the right to call for a boycott of an artistic organization is a legitimate one… it should only take place when the art organization itself take part, collaborating in promoting the situation that is being protested against….”. which you might think is what batsheva dose… we can argue about that or about if is it ok to protest against our shows inside the theater… not so exiting…
i am interested in facts, especially the learning of new ones… i have learn more and more to less care about being right,instead i try to be more right about being informed.. i also realize that there are grey areas. it becomes grey when i know something i can not prove and therefore i don’t need to convince (i cant) yet i know… (there is life elsewhere then our planet; for example).
it is sad that so many times having the wrong facts manufactures so much suffering, injustice, innocent victims and what even more sad is when people distort facts on purpose to serve their agenda. for example; the constant use of “brand israel” while there is not such a thing any more… (there was, and even then i was not part of it) i constantly strive to narrow the gap between what i think reality is and what reality really is. i think i am slowly succeeding…it is a life long task. i find it very challenging and many times impossible to talk to people which have a big to huge gap between what they think reality is and what it really is.

ohad naharin

The guy seems to be in a bit of turmoil so perhaps JSF readers could pop over to the JBIG site, give the guy (and the site) a bit of moral support at the same time as offering some constructuve criticism of Batsheva's position.

Read this and weep

Oh too late.  If you were considering weeping over the campaign in the Universities and Colleges Union against the racist war criminals of the State of Israel someone beat you to it. Here's the Jewish Chronicle:

A Jewish academic repeatedly broke down in tears as he told an employment tribunal that he had suffered a decade of harassment while opposing a boycott of Israel.

Maths lecturer Ronnie Fraser, whose parents escaped Nazi Germany, said he felt a special responsibility to challenge the University and College Union after it rejected a widely-accepted definition of antisemitism.

The grandfather-of-nine wept as he took the oath at London’s Central Employment Tribunal on Wednesday. He said he had felt threatened by the union’s anti-Israel policies and a catalogue of events that had left him “hurt, upset and insulted”.

“This case is not about Israel-Palestine. It’s not about me. It’s about fellow Jews. We have been forced out. We have been humiliated. It has been horrendous and relentless against us,” he said.

This is terrible. Could he be more dramatic? Unfortunately, yes he could:

Later the tribunal was briefly halted when Mr Fraser again wept while explaining how he believed his grandparents had been killed at Auschwitz.

“They died as a result of antisemitism and this is my way of saying ‘never again’. I don’t want my four children and grandchildren having to suffer what they did,” he said.

 I'll give the last word, for now, to the tribunal chairman, Anthony Snelson who "said it was an "unusual case"."

Has Engage's Dr Hirsh finally come out as pro-Israel?

Here's a turn up for the books.  Engage's Dr Hirsh has long denied being "pro-Israel".  His website still describes itself as the "anti-racist campaign against antisemitism".  I still remember Hirsh's contribution to an angry exchange between himself and Jon Pike on one side and Ernst Benjamin of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), on the other because the latter were publishing pro-BDS arguments in its journal, Academe.  Ernst Benjamin, at the time was the editor of the journal and, for all I know might still be.  He was against BDS as far as I can make out but he thought it important to air both sides of the argument.

This is from Engage way back in 2006:

As I am opposed to academic boycotts--either of Israel or of those who would boycott Israel--I also find it hard to agree with the position that we should refuse to engage those whose arguments we find demonizing or otherwise extreme. Writing for the AAUP, I could only speak to the issue of academic freedom and not to my own views regarding the justice of various positions on the conlict between Israel and Palestine. Nor could I edit the content of the pro-boycott authors anymore than I would have the anti-boycott or pro-Israeli authors. So I would very much have welcomed, and made repeated efforts to secure the high quality response that Jon and others among you could have provided. 

Some of the essays on the Engage site provide this sort of effective and valuable response. But simply labeling arguments as demonizing or anti-semitic without specifically explaining why, or refusing to "engage" such arguments, seems to me the sort of tactic some find appropriate in political campaigns but not a very useful contribution from those, like many of your authors, who can clearly do better. 

And here are some extracts from how Hirsh responded:

We have spent the last two years trying to save our union from this garbage - you have just invited it into yours. We are not having fun fighting with these people - we are forced to waste our time combating idiotic, essentialist, careless arguments because we don't want our union to adopt an antisemitic exclusion......

I am very happy that you have been reading Engage. You will know, then, that we have never simply labeled arguments as demonizing or anti-semitic without specifically explaining why. We have written hundreds of thousands of words trying to formulate our arguments in a sophisticated way. We do not "label" or denounce. We are trying to fight a political campaign against a dangerous set of "commonsense" ideas. Don't play with fire........

One other thing Ernst: please stop referring to us as "pro-Israel". I dont' really know what "pro-Israel" means, but it seems to be a part of the setting up of two sides of a legitimate debate - "pro-Israel" and "anti-Israel". 

So Jon Pike and David Hirsh were trying to have pro-boycott arguments withheld from the AAUP journal's readership, excluded from any debate on Israel.  But whatever you do, don't call them "pro-Israel".  They "dont' (sic) really know what "pro-Israel" means".

Well, the latest post on Engage is an article by Dr Hirsh which appears in the first ever edition of an online publication called Fathom.  It's something about the stupid working definition and zionists' beef with the Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) in the UK.  Curiously it was published on 13 September, this year but only appeared on Engage earlier this week.

On the "editorial team" page of the "about us" section it turns out that Dr Hirsh is an advisory editor of Fathom:

Dr. David Hirsh
Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, London, founder of the Engage campaign against antisemitism on the UK Left.

But what is Fathom?

In its own words, Fathom

is published by the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre, an independent British organisation founded in 2001 to foster a more complete understanding of Israel. BICOM believes in the right of the State of Israel to live in peace and security and in the rights of the Palestinians to statehood. We support a close relationship between Britain and Israel, based on shared values and interests.

Now how does Dr Hirsh square this with his former insistence of not being pro-Israel? The answer, if it is to be believed, might be in the next paragraph of the "about us":

Unusually, Fathom’s contributors and advisory editors will be drawn from across the political spectrum. Our goal is not to push a narrow party line but to build a global intellectual space for serious bi-partisan debate about Israel and the region. We intend to create a more interesting conversation about Israel – more knowledgeable, more nuanced and more challenging (for all parties) than the tired slogans that are shouted in the boring megaphone war. So beware: there will be at least one piece in every issue that you disagree with, perhaps vehemently! Our wager is that you will keep coming back because you value expert analysis, acute commentary and grown-up debate.

And how can that be squared with the vehemence of Engage's opposition of presenting pro-boycott arguments to an academic readership?

Cameron on BDS

I got this from a Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) email the other day.  It's a speech by UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, to a gathering of zionists in the UK under the banner of the United Jewish Israel Appeal.  After the  obligatory sycophancy which manages to tar all Jews with the zionist brush,

I will always stand by the Jewish people. And it is humbling to be here tonight and to be called a friend.

he takes a swipe at BDS:

to those in Britain’s universities and trades unions who want to boycott Israel and consign it to an international ghetto, I say not only will this Government never allow you to shut down 60 years worth of vibrant exchange and partnership that does so much to make both our countries stronger but I also say this: we know what you are doing – trying to delegitimise the State of Israel - and we will not have it.

Well SPSC isn't having any of that:

Yes, you will have it, David, and sooner rather than later.  As you know, Margaret Thatcher opposed sanctions against apartheid South Africa as long as she could and told her Ministers that the ANC was “a typical terrorist organisation” (even while she supported the genocidal Khmer Rouge).  Later, she, and you, were keen to have your photos taken with Nelson Mandela.

You had to eat her words about apartheid South Africa: who will eat yours about Palestine and apartheid South Africa?

Hmm, yesteryear Johannesburg, next year, Jerusalem?  Well, maybe some years yet....

Director Peter Brook threatened with legal action over his support for BDS

This is all over the net now but here's The Jewish Chronicle:

The Cameri Theatre in Tel Aviv is considering legal action for breach of contract against the veteran British theatre director, Peter Brook, after he pulled out of its annual International Festival of Plays in December.

The Paris-based Mr Brook, 87, is director of Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, which was due to perform The Suit, a play set in apartheid South Africa, at the festival.

"set in apartheid South Africa"? The Israelis can certainly do irony.

There's a mention in the article of "pressure from BDS" but see this:

Mr Brook signed a letter to the Cameri which said: “The fact that the Cameri Theatre has accepted to support the brutal action of colonisation by playing in Ariel [in the West Bank] has made us aware that in coming to your theatre we would appear as a support for that brutal action.

“This forces us to decline your invitation to perform in your theatre. The decision is entirely ours, and not to come to you, it is our free choice.

“We know that there are many amongst you and in your country who share our attitude and it is them we wish to support as well as the people of Palestine.”

The front page of the print edition is about how BDS isn't too popular with the UK public but it does seem to be going from strength to strength.

This year Barcelona...

Here's a bit of a coincidence. I think what has happened here is that Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. was invited to an event at Barcelona FC and an outcry led to the invite being cancelled. Here's Yael Kahn in the comments to the previous post:

There is already some good news from Barcelona -

FC Barcelona President replied that Barca is not inviting Gilad Shalit, though the media that had claimed he is has failed to report he is NOT invited.

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=499490756728457&id=201739333170269

 If Barca would have hosted Shalit it is quite likely we would have witnessed even stronger BDS protests during the classic on October 7

http://www.setmanaridirecta.info/node/3260

So, this year Barcelona after all. I'm glad we didn't have to wait.

Next year Barcelona?

Or maybe Barcelona has already held similar protests against Israel to the one reported on the Alternative Information Centre site:

PHOTOS: Protest at Athletic Bilbao-Hapoel football match

SATURDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2012 15:39 ALTERNATIVE INFORMATION CENTER (AIC)

A strong demonstration for Palestinian rights was conducted during the football match between Athletic Bilbao (Basque country) and Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona (Israel), conducted on 20 September 2012. The demonstration is particularly impressive given reported attempts by Athletic Bilbao authorities to frighten supporters with the possibility of fines and a ban from UEFA. Two supporters' clubs of Athletic Bilbao were actively involved in organising the protest. . 

The presence of pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the game could not be ignored (Photo: BDS Bizkaia) 

Demonstrators gathered outside the stadium prior to the game (Photo: BDS Bizkaia) 

Hapoel players prior to the match (Photo: BDS Bizkaia) 

Protesters were strategically located throughout the stadium (Photo: BDS Bizkaia) 

Who knows where these protests will pop up next?

Going cold on the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Ernie Halfdram in the comments brings bad news from across the Atlantic pond.  Red Hot Chili Peppers are defying a call to boycott the racist war criminals of the State of Israel.  Good news is that they are now being boycotted as a result of their stance.

Here's a report on the sorry business from Electronic Intifada:

Internationally acclaimed Lebanese group Mashrou’ Leila today tweeted “we will not be opening for the red hot chili peppers on september 6 in beirut.”

This decision – also announced on their Facebook page – follows mounting calls on the group to cancel after Red Hot Chili Peppers rejected calls from the Palestinian boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement to cancel a 10 September show in Tel Aviv.

Red Hot Chili Peppers reject boycott call

As early as last Spring petitions and appeals to Red Hot Chili Peppers to cancel began to circulate.

However Red Hot Chili Peppers rejected them, issuing a brief video on 28 June which reaffirmed their “joy, pleasure and excitement” at playing in Tel Aviv and their “great love for Israel.”

“Come one, come all,” urged Chili Peppers band member Anthony Kiedis in the video. But that is exactly the point of the BDS call: Palestinians living under Israel’s apartheid-like restrictions are not free to attend concerts and face innumerable obstacles as dramatized in a brief video made to illustrate the near impossibility for millions of Palestinians to attend a recent Madonna concert in Tel Aviv.

Notably, the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert will be held in “Hayarkon Park” – the site of the ethnically cleansed Palestinian village of Jarisha.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) issued an additional appeal to the group to change its mind and learn from the example of how cultural boycott had helped hasten the end of apartheid in South Africa.

The news is better from The Alternative Information Center:

The renowned theatre director Peter Brook, whose Bouffes du Nord theatre troop was supposed to appear in Israel later this year, announced on Tuesday the cancellation of his visit. This is yet another success for the 2005 Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel until the latter complies with international law.

So it's not all doom and gloom.