Israel Updates
Jan/feb 2011
Israeli Academics Boycott Settlement University
In January 155 academics joined the boycott of the ‘Ariel University Centre of Samaria’, located in the illegal West Bank settlement of Ariel.
The lecturers signed a petition which stated: “We, academics from a variety of felds and from all the institutions of higher learning in Israel, herein express publicly our opposition to the continued occupation and the establishment of settlements.”
Nobel laureates Yehoshua Kolodny, Benjamin Isaac and Itamar Procaccia were among the signatories of the academics’ petition, which follows a similar boycott call by artists and actors several months ago.
Israeli companies boycott settlements
According to the news-site JTA, twenty Israeli companies that are helping to build a new Palestinian city in the West Bank have agreed to boycott goods and services from Israeli settlements. In the contract the companies signed concerning the construction of the city of Rawabi, near Ramallah, they agreed not to use raw materials, products or services originating in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem or the Golan Heights.
WikiLeaks reveals Arab League move to boycott Spielberg
Papers released by WikiLeaks showed that in 2007 the Arab League Boycott group agreed to boycott Steven Spielberg’s flms for his involvement in the Righteous Persons Foundation and for his donation of $1m US dollars to the state of Israel during the confict with the Lebanon.
The leaked paper stated that “Generic enforcement guidelines given to ALBO members include the banning of DVD imports and airing of Spielberg’s flms”
Boycott BT
In January activists called on UK telecommunications giant BT to “cut all ties with Israel’s occupation” by severing links with Israeli company Bezeq.
Israeli citizens group ‘Boycott From Within’ said they were “saddened and dismayed” at BT’s relationship with a company deeply involved in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In January 2010 Bezeq International became part of BT’s Global Alliance. The former provides telecoms services to Israeli settlements.
The Boycott From Within campaign joins A Just Peace for Palestine, with War on Want, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions UK, in calling for an end to BT’s relationship with Bezeq International.
In November the the ‘Disconnect Now’ campaign was launched to boycott BT. The PSC reports that since then thousands of people have contacted BT to switch providers.
PSC has set up an easy to use e-tool that allows you to send a model letter to Ian Livingston, the CEO of BT, calling for BT to disconnect from the settlements and occupation.
Email the CEO of BT now at: http://psc.iparl.com/lobby/54.
For more information on the campaign visit at: http://disconnectnow.org/.
July/August 2010
Ban Israeli Settlement Goods
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has launched a campaign in partnership with the TUC which aims to end the sale in the UK of produce from illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land.
The British government has recognised that the settlements are illegal and an obstacle to peace. Yet produce from Israeli settlements – fruits, herbs, beauty products, DIY tools – are being sold in our supermarkets and shops, helping to economically sustain the settlements and strengthening the occupation. All the main supermarkets including ASDA, Tesco, Waitrose, John Lewis, Morrisons, and Sainsburys, stock settlement produce.
In December 2009, following signifcant consumer pressure, the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) issued guidelines for supermarkets on settlement labeling – differentiating goods grown in settlements from goods grown on Palestinian farms. Although this guidance is not compulsory, many supermarkets are already saying that they will adopt this labelling.
The campaign advises that if the label says ‘Produce of West Bank (Israeli settlements produce)’ – don’t buy it. Goods from Palestinian-owned farms should be labelled ‘Palestinian produce’. Supporters are also urged to write to their MP or MEP calling for settlement goods to be banned and to their local supermarket asking them not to stock settlement produce.
Join the campiagn at www.palestinecampaign.org/ban-settlement-goods.