The Guardian, The Tricycle and Jews in Britain against Genocide

The Tricycle Theatre is coming under enormous pressure from Zionists over the UK Jewish Film Festival's decision to withdraw rather than reject funding from the Israeli embassy.

Jews in Britain against Genocide have written to express their thanks but first here's a reminder of the Tricycle Theatre's statement on the whole affair:

Now the letter to Tricycle:

Dear Indhu Rubasingham,

We write to thank you for refusing to accept Israeli sponsorship of the Jewish Film Festival.   

We particularly appreciate that you distinguish between Jews in Britain and the Israeli State. We could not be further apart from the Israeli state.  The insistence of the organisers of the UK Jewish Film Festival on including sponsorship from the Israeli Embassy, even when you generously offered an alternative, has made their priorities clear: not Jewish people or Jewish film but the hijacking of Jewish culture to disguise Israeli policies and particularly its bloodied image.  Its murder and maiming of Palestinians and others in the Middle East has been going on for many decades.  But its recent unrestrained, sadistic attack on Gaza has reinforced its genocidal intentions against the Palestinians.  

We are particularly appalled as Jews that our suffering as a people is the occasion and the excuse for the genocide of others.  We are aware of the suffering of others, which is why we have said, unlike Zionists: Never again – for anyone.  Including of course Tamils in Sri Lanka, about which you would be familiar.

Those of us said who were part of the demonstration in front of the Tricycle last November against Israeli sponsorship of the JFF, which was led by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, welcome this decision of the Tricycle to respect the multi-racial nature of the community of which it is part, by refusing blood money from apartheid Israel.

We are a group of Jews in Britain including from Israel and are appalled that you have been subjected to false accusations of anti-Semitism. Zionism cynically uses the sufferings of Jews to silence critics of the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. This is an abhorrent attempt to intimidate a local theatre for refusing to be enlisted to serve the Israeli State, in order to camouflage its most recent assault on hospitals, UN schools in which thousands were sheltering, children, and civilians of all ages. 

We take this opportunity to share with you a few examples of how Israel harnesses culture as a propaganda tool.

1) Israeli artists who receive government sponsorship are contractually obligated to promote the state as a condition of their sponsorship, which includes Israeli films that are promoted as being critical; but while they might show some criticism their overall message is to present Israel as a democracy and camouflage its apartheid. 

“If they receive funding by the state, Israeli artists who play internationally are expected to be political ambassadors and must sign contracts which declare their cooperation with state marketing aims. The standard Israeli sponsorship contract states:”

“The service provider (i.e. artists) undertakes to act faithfully, responsibly and tirelessly to provide the Ministry with the highest professional services. The service provider is aware that the purpose of ordering services from him is to promote the policy interests of the State of Israel via culture and art, including contributing to creating a positive image for Israel.” Source: http://www.haaretz.com/putting-out-a-contract-on-art-1.250388

2) In 2005, Nissim Ben-Sheetrit of Israel’s Foreign Ministry emphasised:

“We are seeing culture as a hasbara (i.e. propaganda) tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between hasbara and culture" 

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/about-face-1.170267?trailingPath=2.169%2C2.225%2C2.239%2C

3) In 2008 the Israeli Foreign Office identified London as one of the hubs it targeted for “Brand Israel”. It stated: "The Jewish community has to be part of it for it to succeed. It's very important for us to convey the message to them that a better image for Israel and a better performance of that image is part and parcel with Israel's national security.”  "But it's mainly it's an attempt to change the mindset of people when it comes to Israel” “”That doesn't mean conducting an advertising campaign, but the execution of a program that will support the brand identity… it could include organizing film festivals” “… the hope-for result is a change in peoples' perception of Israel”

Source: http://www.jpost.com/International/Israels-rebranding-efforts-to-focus-on-Toronto

In short, any event accepting sponsorship from the Israeli Embassy or from any other Israeli state bodies is legitimising the Israeli apartheid, ethnic cleansing and its genocidal attacks on the Palestinians, including the Gaza Strip that Israel turned into a concentration camp.

We value the Tricycle and as your loyal supporters, your audience, we ask that you will not renew your association with Israel, as long as it violates international law, and until the 3 conditions set out in the Palestinian call for boycott demanding Israel meets its obligation and comply with international law (seehttp://www.pacbi.org/etemplate.php?id=1801).

Yours, 
Jews in Britain Against Genocide

The Zionists are pulling out all the stops with this one and with the war on Gaza in general. The first Guardian report I saw on this was fairly straight forward and factual but then Jonathan Freedland seems to have taken over with this editorial listing the Tricycle affair together with attacks on synagogues in Europe and some absurd fashionista or cultural commentator, Hadley Freeman, doing pretty much the same as Freedland, though unlike Freedland, writing in her own name rather than in the name of The Guardian.

It should be noted here that for all the false allegations of antisemitism being thrown around, the only antisemitic thing I have seen said during the whole affair was this: 

"Jewish culture... is of course intrinsically connected to the state of Israel".

And who said it?  Why the spokesperson for the "apolitical" UK Jewish Film Festival.

Anyway, while this has been going on, an advert by Zionists justifying the slaughter of children by Israel was rejected by The Times newspaper presumably for being too racist even for them.  Remember The Times is owned by the very pro-Israel, born-again Christian, Rupert Murdoch. Well it turns out that one of the more disgusting manifestations of hasbara, the advert, isn't too racist for The Guardian, where their sheer lack of principle was announced by Roy Greenslade.

But, of course, it isn't mere opportunism.  As the facts of Israel's genocidal campaign speak loudly for themselves, Israel needs more propaganda cover than ever.  We've seen the establishment wobbling over this.  Longstanding friends of Israel have been distancing themselves.  Opponents of BDS are becoming supporters.  Latino states have severed relations with Israel.  Hasbara is urgent.  Freedland is always on hand to provide that whether by talking Israel up, pointing people in other directions (whataboutery) or smearing Israel's critics.  But why does the whole of The Guardian have to fall into line.  What has Freedland got that people of integrity haven't got?  Or are the latter just too few or too weak at The Guardian.

Pushed or Pulled? Israel Embassy Funded Film Festival not to be Hosted by Tricycle Theatre

Little bit confusing this but hang in there.

For the past 8 years the Tricycle Theatre has been hosting a so-called Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF).  BDS activists have been trying to persuade the theatre not to host UKJFF on account of it being funded by the Israeli Embassy in London.  Well now, because of Israel's assault on Gaza, the theatre will not be hosting the festival.

Now this has been a very recent decision but there's already some fog about what happened.  The Jewish Chronicle wouldn't normally be the go to site for the facts of any case but theirs was the first site I saw the news on.  Here's their headline:

Tricycle Theatre refuses to host UK Jewish Film Festival over Israeli sponsorship

 So what do they say happened?

A major London theatre has refused to host the UK Jewish Film Festival because it is sponsored by the Israeli embassy.

The Tricycle Theatre was scheduled to be the main venue for the UKJFF in November, with 26 films due to be screened there as well as six gala events.

But in a statement issued on Tuesday, UKJFF executive director Judy Ironside said: “The Tricycle told us that they cannot be associated with a festival which in turn is associated with the UK’s Israel embassy”.

The embassy is a long-standing sponsor of the festival, whose programme includes Jewish-themed films from around the world.

Mrs Ironside described the decision by the theatre, which has hosted the UKJFF for the past eight years, as a “great surprise”.

She said: “That the Tricycle Theatre have shown themselves unwilling to work with what is clearly an apolitical cultural festival is tremendously disappointing.

 Ok, so they are saying that out of the blue the theatre has cancelled the event on account of its Israeli embassy funding.  In spite of the funding the director, Judy Ironside, claims the event is apolitical.  Now I can see how some people might argue that an event is apolitical even it is funded by an embassy.

But the Tricycle Theatre isn't happy with the coverage so it has issued a statement of its own:

The Tricycle has always welcomed the Festival and wants it to go ahead. We have proudly hosted the UK Jewish Film Festival for many years. However, given the situation in Israel and Gaza, we do not believe that the festival should accept funding from any party to the current conflict.  For that reason, we asked the UK Jewish Film Festival to reconsider its sponsorship by the Israeli Embassy.  We also offered to replace that funding with money from our own resources. The Tricycle serves many communities and celebrates different cultures and through difficult, emotional times must aim for a place of political neutrality. 

We regret that, following discussions, the chair of the UKJFF told us that he wished to withdraw the festival from the Tricycle.  

To be clear, at this moment, the Tricycle would not accept sponsorship from any government agency involved in the conflict. We hope to find a way to work with the UK Jewish Film Festival to allow the festival to go ahead at the Tricycle as it has done so successfully for the past 8 years.’

 So the UK Jewish Film Festival has withdrawn itself from the Tricycle because the Festival insists on being funded by the Israeli embassy even though the Tricycle offered to replace the funding.

Now its bad enough that the Festival wants to implicate all Jews in Israel's sheer criminality but to claim that the festival is apolitical is utterly bogus.

Anyway, lots of good has come out of this, not least the media coverage.  There are reports in the following mainstream newspapers/websites (in no particular order):

The Daily Mail

Yahoo News

The Guardian

The Daily Telegraph

There are bound to be more.  They're just the ones I've seen.

So, the Tricycle has certainly taken the principled stand in not hosting the Israeli embassy funded UK Jewish Film Festival but if the latter wasn't so nakedly political it could have been very different.  In fact if they didn't want this political confrontation with Tricycle they could have suspended Israeli embassy funding, taken the dough from Tricycle, and then carried on Zionist business as usual when emotions over the Gaza slaughter had calmed down.  Or maybe the Zionists know that their attack on Gaza has done lasting damage to public perceptions of Israel and that Israeli government involvement with any cultural event is a political kiss of death.

The Pixies herald "better days" in Gaza

I dunno, maybe they're drawn to the raw sewage I keep hearing about in the news from Gaza these days but The Pixies cancelled an Israel gig in 2010 saying "We can only hope for better days, in which we will finally present the long awaited visit of the Pixies in Israel".  That was Ha'aretz in 2010.

This is Ha'aretz now:

Bloomfield Stadium will be hosting a new international music festival next June that will feature the first appearances in Israel of the Pixies and of Soundgarden, two 1990s bands which are very popular among Israelis.

The festival, produced by Shuki Weiss, has yet to be named.

Bringing the two bands to Israel is a dream come true, Weiss said. He promised that further details about the festival will be released early next month, but did elaborate that the festival, which will take place on June 17 and 18, will include nightly joint performances by local and international bands.

So what's improved?  What's made The Pixies change their minds?  Don't they understand that normalising dealings with the racist war criminals of The State of Israel puts "better days" on the back burner?

Zionists use Crystal Meth to Bust the Boycott

It's true, Zionists in the UK are trying to use the Co-Op Bank's former CEO's alleged drug abuse to get the bank to call off its boycott of goods from Jewish only settlements in Palestine.  Admittedly Marcus Dysch of the Jewish Chronicle isn't the most reliable of journos but here he is anyway:

The Co-operative movement has confirmed there are no plans to alter its policy of boycotting companies which source produce from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Israel supporters have appealed to the organisation to revisit the issue following the resignation of Co-op chairman Len Wardle, who quit the business after revelations about the conduct of its former banking chair, Reverend Paul Flowers.

The Board of Deputies and Jewish Leadership Council this week requested a meeting with the Co-op’s new leaders to discuss the issue.

Rev Flowers, who was believed to be a key supporter of the boycott campaign, is being investigated by police over claims he bought, sold and used Class A drugs, including crystal meth and crack cocaine.

In May last year the Co-op implemented a full ban on engagement with any Israeli suppliers known to work with the settlements.

A campaign led by the We Believe group has also seen Israel supporters write to the movement’s new chair, Ursula Lidbetter, asking her to reconsider the boycott.

They seem to be suggesting that there is a link between using crack cocaine and crystal meth and supporting a boycott of the State of Israel.  Maybe they'll end up making the boycott look cool.  That's what the "just say no" campaign did for drugs.  Or maybe they're on drugs themselves.

Israel’s academic standing: mediocre and getting worse

This just in from Irish academic and JSF co-blogger, David Landy:

One reason we are always told that we can never ever boycott Israel is because of its sterling academic reputation. Israel, we have heard on countless occasions, is a paragon of science, medicine and humanities. If we boycott Israel we’ll be boycotting the cutting-edgiest of high-tech, the most miraculous research in medicine, the inventors of… well, just about everything

Well, it seems that such talk of Israeli academic excellence is pure propaganda. 

The TimesHigher Education Supplement   which ranks universities has come up with its 2013-14 ranking, and in it we find that Israel is virtually nowhere to be found. Two Israeli universities are in the top 200, and only barely. They are the Hebrew University at 191^st, and Tel Aviv University at 199th.

How bad is this? By way of comparison, Ireland with a population of four million to Israel’s eight million, has two universities in the top 200 – Trinity College Dublin at 129 and University College Dublin at 161. Ireland has three more universities in the top 400 – about what you would expect from a small developed country. As such, it is doing far better than Israel, which has only one other university (the Technion) in the top 400.

Although one should take such rankings with a pinch of salt, they do indicate something. In this case, they show the deteriorating state of Israeli academia, especially in the sciences. This was a central message in the Ha’aretz report on the topic. As it stated ‘No Israeli school made it into the top 100 in the health category…No Israeli universities made the top 100 list for life sciences or physics’.

Nor did they feature in the humanities or social sciences. The best they did was the Technion coming in at 69^th in terms of engineering and technology. It comes as no surprise that Israel is still hanging in there when it comes to developing weaponry, (and is still being financially supported by the EU in this research). However this does not alter the overall picture of mediocre Israeli universities being underfunded and declining.

One can argue that it doesn’t matter how good Israel’s universities are – they should be boycotted anyway. This is true. But these figures do undermine a central argument used by the anti-boycotters.

So in future when Zionists start going on about the world grinding to a halt and science stopping if we so much as think of boycotting Israeli academia, we can point out that this is nonsense. Scientifically speaking, that is. 

David Landy is the author of  Jewish Identity and Palestinian Rights: Diaspora Jewish Opposition to Israel. (Zed Books. 2011)

Eric Burdon cancels Israel gig but why?

The Independent is reporting that Eric Burdon has cancelled an appearance in Israel because of "threats".

 in a statement, Mr Burdon’s management, said: “We’ve been receiving mounting pressure, including numerous threatening emails, daily. The last thing I intend do is put Eric in jeopardy.” The nature of the threats is unclear, but according to Israel Radio this morning, Mr Burdon was not willing to risk his life to come to Israel.

 I can understand a person fearing for their safety given the reporting on Israel but I don't understand why these management people haven't published the threats or complained to the police.

Also, The Independent managed to open its article with a major howler.

He once sang, ‘You Gotta Get Outta This Place,’ but now Eric Burdon is not even turning up at all having deciding to withdraw from a planned concert in Israel

The song was We Gotta Get Out of This Place . Maybe the word "we" got nabbed for all that Royal nonsense.

Eric Burdon was just about to be on BBC Radio Scotland but not a word about Israel. Maybe they were too scared.

A Brief History of Stephen Hawking

It's big news that Stephen Hawking is boycotting some shindig in Jerusalem hosted by Israeli President and war criminal Shimon Peres.  Here's The Guardian:

Hawking, 71, the world-renowned theoretical physicist and former Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, had accepted an invitation to headline the fifth annual president's conference, Facing Tomorrow, in June, which features major international personalities, attracts thousands of participants and this year will celebrate Peres's 90th birthday.

Hawking is in very poor health, but last week he wrote a brief letter to the Israeli president to say he had changed his mind. He has not announced his decision publicly, but a statement published by the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine with Hawking's approval described it as "his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there".

Well that's not the history bit. This is:

Hawking has visited Israel four times in the past. Most recently, in 2006, he delivered public lectures at Israeli and Palestinian universities as the guest of the British embassy in Tel Aviv. At the time, he said he was "looking forward to coming out to Israel and the Palestinian territoriesand excited about meeting both Israeli and Palestinian scientists".

Since then, his attitude to Israel appears to have hardened. In 2009, Hawking denounced Israel's three-week attack on Gaza, telling Riz Khan on Al-Jazeera that Israel's response to rocket fire from Gaza was "plain out of proportion … The situation is like that of South Africa before 1990 and cannot continue."

Wonderful stuff.  As Dr Martin Luther King might have said, "we're on the move now, like an idea whose Brief History of Time has come".

Teachers' Union of Ireland in unanimous vote for Israel boycott

Great news from across the pond.  No not that pond.  From Ireland, I mean.  Here's the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign:

At its Annual Congress on Thursday 4th April 2013, the Teachers’ Union of Ireland (TUI) became the first academic union in Europe to endorse the Palestinian call for an academic boycott of Israel. The motion, which refers to Israel as an “apartheid state”, calls for “all 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” was passed by a unanimous vote during today’s morning session.

The motion further calls on the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to “step up its campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the apartheid state of Israel until it lifts its illegal siege of Gaza and its illegal occupation of the West Bank, and agrees to abide by International law and all UN Resolutions against it”, and on the TUI to conduct an awareness campaign amongst members on the need for BDS.

Now that's what teaching's all about.

Pearl Jam announces Israel gig but not to American fans

See this?  It happens to me sometimes.  I give a post a headline and then change it but the url still records the original headline.  A similar thing has happened to Pearl Jam with the headline being,

Pearl Jam Announces Two Shows in July 2013

whereas the url is:

http://pearljam.com/news/0/1/21610/pearl_jam_announces_one_show_in_israel_in_july_2014

Now that's a funny thing. Let's check the content:

We are excited to announce two special Pearl Jam live performances to take place in London, Ontario and at Chicago’s Wrigley Field in July 2013. Both evenings will be An Evening with Pearl Jam; there will not be an opening band for either performance date.

The two show dates are:
Tues, July 16 - London, Ontario Budweiser Gardens
Fri, July 19 - Chicago, Illinois at Wrigley Field

*Fall Tour dates in the US will be announced in the coming months.

Public Sale tickets:
Chicago IL – Sat, Feb 9th 10am local time at www.tickets.comLondon, ON – Sat, Feb 9th 10am local time at www.budweisergardens.com/events, by phone at 1.866.455.2849, or in person at the Box Office or Ticket Outlets.

Nothing about Israel there so where did the url come from?

I know what to do.  Let's google, "Pearl Jam announces one show in Israel in July 2014".  Note, it's in quotes because I'm feeling lucky.  Now what comes up?

That's it.  It's an Israeli site, café.mouse.co.il and they are excited:

 Pearl Jam - Israel 2014

(PJOrsi)

בלעדי לקהילת המוזיקה של הקפה!

להקת Pearl Jam הודיעה במסיבת עיתונאים מצומצמת על תאריך אחד להופעה בישראל בפארק גני יהושע,תל אביב.

ההופעה תהיה ללא להקת חימום ותהיה נטו פרל ג'אם.

פרטים נוספים באתר הלהקה:

 http://pearljam.com/news/0/1/21610/pearl_jam_announces_one_show_in_israel_in_july_2014


מתוך האתר:
Pearl Jam Announces One Show in Israel in July 2014
March 31 2013 24:00.01

We are excited to announce one special Pearl Jam live performance to take place in Tel-Aviv, Israel at the Joshua Park in July 2014. The show "Evening with Pearl Jam", so there will not be an opening band for the performance date. The show dates is:Wed, July 16  Tel-Aviv, Israel Joshua Park
*Fall Tour dates in the US will be announced in the coming months.
Public Sale tickets:Will be open three months before the show at the local boots and ticket offices in Israel.
Public announcement:

After years of anticipation from the audience in Israel, members of Pearl Jam announced at a press conference this evening on a one  date performance Joshua Park in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The band denied rumors about not reaching so far for political reasons.

Performance will be in style  of an Evening with Pearl Jam so there  will be no warm-up band.The band will be accompanied by dozens of members of the stage, lighting and sound.

"It's going to be an unforgettable performance," said bassist Jeff Ament

"We did not believe such a small country in the Middle East, will have so much of a following," said lead singer and frontman Eddie Vedder


Date concert set for Wednesday 07/16/2014.

Now I'd never heard of Pearl Jam but they've got nearly 2,000,000 on their twitter account so maybe they don't know about BDS and the fact that Israel is an illegitimate colonial settler state based on ethnic cleansing and segregationist laws.

H/T Karen

UPDATE: Apparently this whole Pearl Jam and the stray url thing was a hoax.  I was told that ages ago but a) I couldn't understand what I was being told and b) I couldn't see the point of it. I was going to delete the whole thing but it's not nice to those who have commented so here I am looking a dick.  Ah well, I've been there before....

Zionists berated as "harassment" claim against UCU is thrown out by tribunal

Richard Kuper has just delivered some very good news from the Universities and Colleges Union to the Just Peace UK list.

I'll highlight my favourite bits in bold:

UCU cleared of harassment in landmark tribunal

25 March 2013

An Employment Tribunal has found in favour of UCU on all ten complaints of harassment brought by a UCU member who opposed the union's policy on Palestine.

The claimant had been supported in his claim by leading lawyer Anthony Julius. In giving their reasoning the Tribunal stated that 'the proceedings are dismissed in their totality' and 'we greatly regret that the case was ever brought.  At heart it represents an impermissible attempt to achieve a political end by litigious means.'

The Tribunal also described themselves as troubled by the implications of the claim, stating that 'underlying it we sense a worrying disregard for pluralism, tolerance and freedom of expression, principles which the courts and tribunals are, and must be, vigilant to protect'.

While witnesses for UCU were described in the tribunal's decision as 'careful and accurate', some witnesses for the claimant were described as appearing to 'misunderstand the nature of the proceedings and more disposed to score points or play to the gallery rather than providing straightforward answers to the clear questions put to them'. 

John Mann MP and former MP Denis MacShane were collectively described as giving 'glib evidence, while testimony of another key witness for the claimant was described as 'extraordinarily arrogant but also disturbing'. [Who was that then?]

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: "I am delighted that the Tribunal has made such a clear and overwhelming judgement in UCU's favour. There are many different views within UCU and wider society about Israel and Palestine and this decision upholds our and others' right to freedom of expression and to continue to properly debate these and other difficult questions.

"This has been an extremely difficult period for the UCU staff and members involved in defending the union's position and I am especially pleased therefore that the Tribunal found our witnesses to be careful and accurate.

"The claimant, while unsuccessful, of course had the right to challenge the union in the courts and will be treated with respect within the union as will his views on this question.  Now that a decision has been made I hope in turn that he, and others who share his views, will play an active part in the union and its debates rather than seek recourse to the law. 

"For our part, UCU will look at our own processes to see if improvements can be made in line with the advice given to us within the decision. We remain opposed to discrimination of any kind including anti-Semitism and we will work with energy and determination with all who will work with us to oppose it in the workplace and society at large."

I have to admit that since the case was brought I was worried about it. I assumed if a tribunal regretted a case being brought it could throw it out without hearing it so the fact that they heard it suggested to me that the tribunal was on the side of these glib, misunderstanding, arrogant zionists.  Obviously I was wrong.

What liberal zionists miss

Ok, Jerry Haber at The Magnes Zionist, actually says what many liberal zionists miss.  Look he says it here:

I am afraid that this is what many liberal Zionists miss. The real dispute is not between the one-staters and the two-staters, but between those who hold that the collective right of a settler people to self-determination trumps the human and civil rights of the indigenous natives, and those who do not. According to the former, the only hope for Palestinian self-determination is to accept Israel’s generous offer of a “state”, and to rely for its security on strangers (s.v. the Geneva Initiative’s multi-national force) and the kindness of the Israelis who have treated them, to put it mildly, rather shabbily over the last 65 years.

That's very well put.  Let's have the best bit again:

The real dispute is not between the one-staters and the two-staters, but between those who hold that the collective right of a settler people to self-determination trumps the human and civil rights of the indigenous natives, and those who do not.

The whole thing is well worth a read.

Galloway misrepresents BDS as does BICOM

Now look what George Galloway has gone and done.  Admittedly there are supporters of BDS who support Galloway's refusal to speak to an Israeli recently but the general BDS idea is better summed up on the BDS Movement website:

The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest coalition of Palestinian unions, mass organisations, refugee networks and NGOs that leads and and sets the guidelines for the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, supports all principled action in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and equality that is in line with universal human rights and international law.

In its 2005 BDS Call, Palestinian civil society has called for a boycott of Israel, its complicit institutions, international corporations that sustain its occupation, colonization and apartheid, and official representatives of the state of Israel and its complicit institutions. BDS does not call for a boycott of individuals because she or he happens to be Israeli or because they express certain views. Of course, any individual is free to decide who they do and do not engage with.

The global BDS movement has consistently adopted a rights-based approach and an anti-racist platform that rejects all forms of racism, including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

These guidelines and the fact that BDS has been initiated and is led by Palestinian civil society are major reasons behind the rapid growth and success that the BDS movement has enjoyed around the world.

Now take a look at what BICOM, the Britain Israel Communication and Research Centre are saying in the Huffington Post:

What is so abhorrent to him about conversing with an Israeli? Why is he so adamant that the Israeli should not be seen; that the Israeli should not be heard?

Perhaps he is afraid that if people hear from Israelis first hand, it will belie the demonic image he would like to create of them. 

Now that's just plain silly because the mainstream media always puts Israel and Israelis in the most favourable light possible and there's not a whole lot Galloway can do about that.  And, the writer of the HuffPo piece, Toby Greene, comes close to admitting as much:

Galloway himself is of course irrelevant. His repeated, ridiculous acts of buffoonery are a gift to those who reject his opinions and a liability to anyone who might share them.

So what's the problem from the Israel lobby perspective?

Unfortunately, Galloway is the thin end of a more disturbing wedge. There is a small but energetic movement to silence the voices of Israelis and prevent them from being heard more widely. Most people completely reject this movement, but they are nonetheless succeeding at times to impose their will.

On Wednesday, Israel's deputy ambassador, Alon Roth-Snir, was prevented from speaking at Essex University, where he had been invited by the Department of Government, and forced to leave the campus. This month the student union at Oxford University is considering whether or not to endorse a motion to promote a boycott of Israel.

Such attempts to silence Israelis extend even to Israeli academic work and cultural expressions that have nothing to do with politics. In the past year there have been attempts to disrupt Israeli dance performances, plays and concerts, carried out by individuals who simply cannot stand the sight or sound of an Israeli.

Now this is nonsense.  The issue here is the extent to which an individual or group can be said to represent the Israeli state.  An Israeli diplomat is obviously a representative of the Israeli state.  I know of no other diplomat from a notoriously human rights abusive state being invited to address a university in the UK.  That doesn't mean it hasn't happened but it seems unlikely.  A dance troupe from Israel might be harder to discern as boycottable but this is the first paragraph of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel's call to boycott the troupe that Greene is referring to, ie, Batsheva:

The Batsheva Dance Company of Tel Aviv is touring the US and Canada in January, February, and March, 2009. A recipient of public financing since the 1990s, the dance troupe is clearly an Israeli apartheid cultural institution. Writing October 26, 2008, in The Independent of London, Jenny Gilbert reports that the dance company is "funded by Israel's government, its performers include none of Arab extraction, and it is 'proud to be considered Israel's leading ambassador.'"

Read the whole thing and see for sure that clearly this isn't a case of people being unable to "stand the sight or sound of an Israeli".

Galloway did manage to convey that impression to non-initiates but it's hard to believe that there is anyone at BICOM who doesn't know the general thrust of the BDS Movement.

Veolia pays the price

This is a straight lift from Electronic Intifada partly because friends of mine were very closely involved in the No to Veolia campaign which cost Veolia so dearly (£4.7 billion) in North London and partly because there's a picture of one of those friends above the piece:

Veolia suffering "expensive" damage due to Palestine campaigners’ publicity, says financial expert

Submitted by Adri Nieuwhof on Tue, 02/19/2013 - 13:36

Protest in London against Veolia’s role in the Israeli occupation. (inminds.com)

For years, the French transnational Veolia has tried to downplay the effect of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns which aim to hold the company to account for its role in the Israeli occupation.

But now a top Norwegian financial advisor has boldly acknowledged the impact of the BDS movement.

Activists in many countries have pressured local authorities, public institutions, socially responsible investors and pension funds to do no business with Veolia as long as it is complicit in Israel’s violations of international law.

In a recent presentation [PDF], Hege Sjo said that “disasters are expensive” for businesses, mentioning Veolia as an example of a company that has experienced “reputational damage as a result of publicity and pending litigation” due to “operations in troubled regions. Involvement in infrastructure project in the occupied territories.”

Sjo spoke at a 8 February seminar organized by Norsif, a Norwegian association which promotes responsible and sustainable investment practices in the Norwegian financial industry.

Sjo underpinned her argument by mentioning Veolia’s alleged loss of a €3.5 billion ($4.6 billion) Swedish metro contracts in January 2009.

Senior financial adviser

It is remarkable that the observation was made by a financial expert who operates in the higher circles of the investment world.

Sjo is a senior adviser to the principle manager of the largest pension fund in the the UK, Hermes Investment Management. She is also director of several publicly listed Norwegian companies. Sjo’s warning is a clear sign to companies that profiting from Israel’s occupation carries serious reputational and financial risks.

So, stay out of occupied Palestine or risk reputational and therefore financial damage.

The Only Way is Essex! Israel's Deputy Ambassador kicked out of Essex Uni

This is from Essex's News Gazette website:

ANGRY students blockaded a lecture theatre to prevent an Israeli ambassador visiting Essex University.

The deputy Israeli ambassador Alon Roth-Snir was invited to the Wivenhoe campus by the Department of Government to speak to students studying Middle Eastern politics.

But the trip was disrupted after hundreds of protestors demonstrated against the visit as an act of solidarity with Palestine.

This pic is from the Socialist Worker Students Society:

There's more on the Electronic Intifada website.

Palestine Solidarity and Jewish Opposition to Zionism - Conference in London

rom Boycott Israel Network

J-BIG Conference March 2 – Palestine Solidarity and Jewish Opposition to Zionism

BY SM – JANUARY 14, 2013

POSTED IN: ACADEMIC BOYCOTT, CULTURAL BOYCOTT, EVENTS

SATURDAY MARCH 2

1 – 7 PM

VENUE -     24 Greencoat Place,     London SW1P 1RD  (Near Victoria station)

This is a half-day conference offering  everyone working for Palestinian rights a chance to reinforce their knowledge of Zionism, its rejection of Jewish radical traditions, its conflation of antisemitism with criticism of Israel and its attempts to undermine Palestinian solidarity work – in particular the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

Proceedings will start with BUNDA’IM, a short film introducing the last comrades of the Bund mass movement. Exterminated in Europe and ignored in Israel, its ideas live on.

Discussions will be lead by speakers including:

Sue Blackwell – British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP)

Michael Deas – Palestinian BDS National Committee coordinator in Europe

Antony Lerman – author of The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist

John Rose – author of The Myths of Zionism

David Rosenberg – Editorial Committee, Jewish Socialist magazine

Followed by entertainment from Deborah Fink (“The Diva with a Difference”), Leon Rosselson and others.

Email: Jews4big@gmail.com to book your place.

£10 waged, £5 unwaged/concessions (includes refreshments)

The J-BIG conference is part of “A Weekend of Two Conferences” – events put together by two separate organisations which have cooperated due to a clash of dates and venue. You can book both days for £25/concessions £20 via either email address.

French Holocaust Rescuers Boycott Zionist Holocaust Memorial Event

This is from The Forward:

PARIS — A French organization that saved Jews during the Holocaust has declined to attend a commemoration because it was organized by pro-Israel Jews.

The Marseille branch of CIMADE, a French Protestant group established in 1939, declined to attend the region’s main memorial ceremony for Jewish Holocaust victims because of the pro-Israel attitude of CRIF, the umbrella group representing French Jewish communities, which organized the event together with the municipality.

The values that led CIMADE to save Jews make the group “equally committed to oppose the colonial, discriminatory and bellicose policy of Israel with regards to the Palestinians,” CIMADE regional deputies Françoise Rocheteau and Jean-Pierre Cavalie wrote in a letter to the local CRIF branch on Dec. 21. It also said CIMADE was determined to fight “apartheid.”

The letter, which was published online on Feb. 11 by a group which promotes a boycott of Israel, was a reply to an invitation extended by CRIF to CIMADE to attend the 70th commemoration on Jan. 20 of the deportation and subsequent murder of thousands of local Jews.

Marseille had a Jewish population of 39,000 in 1939, according to Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People. Only 10,000 remained after the Holocaust. CIMADE organized “vital relief and later resistance” in connection with the murders, according to Yad Vashem, and helped smuggle Jews to safety. Yad Vashem named Madeleine Barot, who headed CIMADE during the Holocaust, a Righteous among the Nations in 1988. She passed away seven years later.

“We understand our positions may appear unacceptable, making us unwelcome at your commemoration,” the CIMADE representatives wrote. “We cannot keep silent on our convictions but do not wish to cause a scandal.”

It's interesting that they're trying a softly softly approach.  I wonder if CRIF will appreciate that. 

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/

Conference in London - Palestine Solidarity and Jewish Opposition to Zionism

From Boycott Israel Network

J-BIG Conference March 2 – Palestine Solidarity and Jewish Opposition to Zionism

BY SM – JANUARY 14, 2013

POSTED IN: ACADEMIC BOYCOTT, CULTURAL BOYCOTT, EVENTS

SATURDAY MARCH 2

1 – 7 PM

VENUE -     24 Greencoat Place,     London SW1P 1RD  (Near Victoria station)

This is a half-day conference offering  everyone working for Palestinian rights a chance to reinforce their knowledge of Zionism, its rejection of Jewish radical traditions, its conflation of antisemitism with criticism of Israel and its attempts to undermine Palestinian solidarity work – in particular the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

Proceedings will start with BUNDA’IM, a short film introducing the last comrades of the Bund mass movement. Exterminated in Europe and ignored in Israel, its ideas live on.

Discussions will be lead by speakers including:

Sue Blackwell – British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP)

Michael Deas – Palestinian BDS National Committee coordinator in Europe

Antony Lerman – author of The Making and Unmaking of a Zionist

John Rose – author of The Myths of Zionism

David Rosenberg – Editorial Committee, Jewish Socialist magazine

Followed by entertainment from Deborah Fink (“The Diva with a Difference”), Leon Rosselson and others.

Email: Jews4big@gmail.com to book your place.

£10 waged, £5 unwaged/concessions (includes refreshments)

The J-BIG conference is part of “A Weekend of Two Conferences” – events put together by two separate organisations which have cooperated due to a clash of dates and venue. You can book both days for £25/concessions £20 via either email address.