Liverpool Rotten Picket – UPDATE x 2

July 25th, 2010 • Action, News
Tags: apartheid, boycott, friends of palestine, israel, johnny rotten, liverpool

UPDATED report and video of the protest

We had a good turn out, 20+, despite short notice, the secretary of Bolton PSC came up to support as well.

At least one person didn’t go in on the basis of him playing Tel Aviv and a number of people took Palestinian flags inside. Academy staff told us the gig was not even close to sold out, indeed, the amount of people going appeared to be quite poor.

A couple of our activists had the bright idea to hit the pubs where the fans were drinking and generally the mood was supportive. Many people were unaware he was going to Tel Aviv and agreed that he shouldn’t go.

Socialist Singers & Friends of Palestine protest (& sing!) outside O2 Academy, Liverpool - 24 July 2010

The picture above shows the picket singing two home-produced songs, you can download the lyrics here:

Oh no, John, no…. & When Johnny goes out to Palestine

Mr Rotten had something to say about the protestors outside the gig too(!): [video contains swearing]

“… To think that Mr Rotten would be backing Apartheid, that’s really f*ckin’ dumb c*nts for ya.

Yes I fully intend to go to Israel. I support no f*ckin’ government anywhere – never have, never will.

And here’s a nice little fact for the fools in the wooly t-shirts: Jews are people too…”

You think we’re getting to him yet?

Keep up the great work! Glasgow on Monday!

Is Being Arab Israel’s Criteria for Rape?

July 23rd, 2010 • Awareness, News
Tags: apartheid, arab, court, democracy, jew, justice, prison, racism, rape

Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros comments on the recent ‘rape by deception‘ case:

Consider this scenario – a girl meets a guy while out shopping. They make eye contact, they flirt, he tells her he’s a business mogul about to close on a billion dollar deal.

She’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen, he’s been searching for her all his life, etc etc, you know the drill.

photo: EPA

They go to a nearby building and have sex. Both adults, both consenting.

Days pass and the girl realises she wasn’t the woman of his dreams and he is never going to call her – in fact his name is Bob and he works at the newsagents around the corner.

The girl then proceeds to file a criminal complaint against the guy for rape and indecent assault. The judge, while admitting the sex was consensual, accuses the guy of misrepresenting himself and sentences him to 18 months in prison for rape.

Incredible right? But what if what the guy “misrepresented” was not his feelings, his job or his wealth, but rather his ethnic background – would that make it understandable or fair?

According to Israeli law, the answer to that question appears to be ‘yes’.

Read the rest at Sherine blog…

Israeli commentator, Gideon Levy’s Op-Ed in Ha’aretz:

He impersonated a human

Sabbar Kashur wanted to be a person, a person like everybody else. But as luck would have it, he was born Palestinian.

It happens. His chances of being accepted as a human being in Israel are nil. Married and a father of two, he wanted to work in Jerusalem, his city, and maybe also have an affair or a quickie on the side. That happens too.

photo: Emil Salman

He knew that he had no chance with the Jews, so he adopted another name for himself, Dudu. He didn’t have curly hair, but he went by Dudu just the same. That’s how everyone knew him. That’s how you know a few other Arabs too: the car-wash guy you call Rafi, the stairwell cleaner who goes by Yossi, the supermarket deliveryman you know as Moshe.

What’s wrong? Is it only fearsome Shin Bet interrogators like “Capt. George” and “Abu Faraj” who are allowed to adopt names from other peoples? Are only Israelis who emigrate allowed to invent new identities? Only the Yossi from Hadera who became Joe in Miami, the Avraham from Bat Yam who became Abe in Los Angeles?

Read more at Ha’aretz…

Levy said after the verdict:

I would like to raise just one question with the judge.

What if the guy had been a Jew who pretended to be a Muslim and had sex with a Muslim  woman?

Would he have been convicted of rape?

The answer is: of course not.

Levy’s questioned scenario is undoubtedly being played out throughout Israel and Palestine to this day as detailed in this 1998 WRMEA Special Report Secret Israeli Units Lived Among Palestinians for Years:

Israelis are fascinated with the revelation that for the past 40 years Israeli Jewish undercover agents have been passing themselves off as Palestinians and have not only lived with and worked with Palestinians, but have even married and had children with Palestinian women living inside Israel.

As Juan Cole tells us, in Jim-Crow-segregtion-era America they called it “Passing“:

Passing was the practice of light-skinned persons with at least some African-American heritage moving in white society and concealing their African lineage. The peculiar American racial definition made persons African-American if they had virtually any African ancestry at all (the one drop rule). – read more…

This absurd and tragic story is best summed up by Tadros‘ closing words…

If the definition of democracy is equal rights for all people then surely the selective application of the law against Arabs is just plain racism.

-

Additional Al Jazeera report: Israel jails Arab for ‘deceit rape’ includes interview with the Director of a support centre for rape victims in Israel:

Food Co-Op in Rachel Corrie’s Hometown Boycotts Israeli Goods

July 21st, 2010 • Action, Awareness, News
Tags: apartheid, BDS, boycott, Co-op, divest, israel, sanctions, south africa, supermarket, The Olympian Food Co-op, USA, washington

A small but important step in the BDS campaign. The Co-op has had a boycott process/policy since 1993, they have used it to boycott Norwegian and Chinese goods in the past. Their statement on the Israeli boycott reads:

Boycott Announcement

The Board of Directors has decided that the Olympia Food Co-op will boycott Israeli made products and divest from any investments in Israeli companies. The Co-op would stop carrying the Israeli products it currently sells and would not stock new products from Israeli companies. If the Co-op has money invested in Israeli companies or bonds, we would terminate those investments. We would refrain from dealing with non-Israeli companies that sell products or services to Israel that are used to violate the human rights of the Palestinians.

Members requested that the Co-op honor the international call for boycott. The Board made the decision while following the Olympia Food Co-op Boycott Process (available at the Co-op website at www.olympiafood.coop/boycott). The Board consulted and used the Co-op Mission Statement and the By-Laws to guide in making this decision:

• From the Mission Statement: Support efforts to foster a socially and economically egalitarian society
• From the By-Laws: Adopt policies which promote achievement of the mission statement and goals of the Cooperative

Read the full statement here (pdf) – includes: Why boycott?, Why an Israeli products boycott?, Isn’t this “anti-Israel”?, What ends the boycott? & Why should the Co-op honor the boycott?

Please take a moment and email the Olympia Food Co-op’s board to congratulate them on their decision: board [at] olympiafood.coop – or on Facebook

Natasha Mozgovaya’s op-ed in Ha’aretz:

In some places the mainstream Jewish community has reacted vigorously against boycott attempts, but many Israel supporters are worried that the battle “might be already lost at the campuses.” – Read more at ISM…

Local paper, The Olympian, reports:

Olympia Food Co-op members will get another chance next month to discuss a controversial board decision to boycott Israeli products at its two stores.

Nine of the co-op board’s 10 members voted Thursday to participate in the international boycott. Harry Levine, a staff representative to the board, said he didn’t take a stand on the issue.

Not everyone on the co-op staff agrees with the decision, Levine said. He said that outside of his role as a board member, he supports it.

“My personal view is that boycotts can be effective tools in changing governments,” he said. “I personally support it, and I’m an American Jew.”

The board voted to boycott Israeli products as a way to “compel Israel to follow international law and respect Palestinian human rights,” according to a statement the board released. The boycott announcement has been posted on the co-op’s website, www.olympiafood.coop, as well as at its two stores.

Israeli products removed from the stores include gluten-free crackers, ice cream cones and a moisturizing cream, Levine said.

This is not the first time that the 33-year-old co-op has taken part in a boycott, he said. It has boycotted products from Norway and China in objection to whaling and human rights violations. – Read more…

Mentioned in the comments of The Olympian article is a US “Antiboycott Law” which:

.. discourage, and in some circumstances, prohibit U.S. companies from furthering or supporting the boycott of Israel sponsored by the Arab League, and certain Moslem countries, including complying with certain requests for information designed to verify compliance with the boycott.

This ‘law’ appears to apply only to exports, but definitely only applies to Israel.

To End the Occupation, Cripple Israeli Banks

July 6th, 2010 • Action, Awareness, News
Tags: apartheid, banking, banks, belgium, boycott, israel, new york, palestine, sanctions, south africa

Terry Crawford-Browne on Sabbah Report recalls the banking sanctions against apartheid South Africa:

The international banking sanctions campaign in New York against apartheid South Africa during the 1980s is regarded as the most effective strategy in bringing about a nonviolent end to the country’s apartheid system.

The campaign culminated in President FW de Klerk’s announcement in February 1990, releasing Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, and the beginning of constitutional negotiations towards a non-racial and democratic society.

If international civil society is serious about urgently ending Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights, including ending the occupation, then suspension of SWIFT transactions to and from Israeli banks offers an instrument to help bring about a peaceful resolution of an intractable conflict. With computerization, international banking technology has advanced dramatically in the subsequent 20 years since the South African anti-apartheid campaign.

Although access to New York banks remains essential for foreign exchange transactions because of the role of the dollar, interbank transfer instructions are conducted through the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), which is based in Belgium. So, instead of New York — as in the period when sanctions were applied on South Africa– Belgium is now the pressure point.

Read the rest of the report here…