An Interesting Argument for Boycotting Israel

by Neve Gordon
Original article here.

Israeli newspapers this summer are filled with angry articles about the push for an international boycott of Israel. Films have been withdrawn from Israeli film festivals, Leonard Cohen is under fire around the world for his decision to perform in Tel Aviv, and Oxfam has severed ties with a celebrity spokesperson, a British actress who also endorses cosmetics produced in the occupied territories. Clearly, the campaign to use the kind of tactics that helped put an end to the practice of apartheid in South Africa is gaining many followers around the world.

Not surprisingly, many Israelis -- even peaceniks -- aren't signing on. A global boycott can't help but contain echoes of anti-Semitism. It also brings up questions of a double standard (why not boycott China for its egregious violations of human rights?) and the seemingly contradictory position of approving a boycott of one's own nation.

It is indeed not a simple matter for me as an Israeli citizen to call on foreign governments, regional authorities, international social movements, faith-based organizations, unions and citizens to suspend cooperation with Israel. But today, as I watch my two boys playing in the yard, I am convinced that it is the only way that Israel can be saved from itself.

I say this because Israel has reached a historic crossroads, and times of crisis call for dramatic measures. I say this as a Jew who has chosen to raise his children in Israel, who has been a member of the Israeli peace camp for almost 30 years and who is deeply anxious about the country's future.

The most accurate way to describe Israel today is as an apartheid state. For more than 42 years, Israel has controlled the land between the Jordan Valley and the Mediterranean Sea. Within this region about 6 million Jews and close to 5 million Palestinians reside. Out of this population, 3.5 million Palestinians and almost half a million Jews live in the areas Israel occupied in 1967, and yet while these two groups live in the same area, they are subjected to totally different legal systems. The Palestinians are stateless and lack many of the most basic human rights. By sharp contrast, all Jews -- whether they live in the occupied territories or in Israel -- are citizens of the state of Israel.

The question that keeps me up at night, both as a parent and as a citizen, is how to ensure that my two children as well as the children of my Palestinian neighbors do not grow up in an apartheid regime.

There are only two moral ways of achieving this goal.

The first is the one-state solution: offering citizenship to all Palestinians and thus establishing a bi-national democracy within the entire area controlled by Israel. Given the demographics, this would amount to the demise of Israel as a Jewish state; for most Israeli Jews, it is anathema.

The second means of ending our apartheid is through the two-state solution, which entails Israel's withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders (with possible one-for-one land swaps), the division of Jerusalem, and a recognition of the Palestinian right of return with the stipulation that only a limited number of the 4.5 million Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to Israel, while the rest can return to the new Palestinian state.

Geographically, the one-state solution appears much more feasible because Jews and Palestinians are already totally enmeshed; indeed, "on the ground," the one-state solution (in an apartheid manifestation) is a reality.

Ideologically, the two-state solution is more realistic because fewer than 1% of Jews and only a minority of Palestinians support binationalism.

For now, despite the concrete difficulties, it makes more sense to alter the geographic realities than the ideological ones. If at some future date the two peoples decide to share a state, they can do so, but currently this is not something they want.

So if the two-state solution is the way to stop the apartheid state, then how does one achieve this goal?

I am convinced that outside pressure is the only answer. Over the last three decades, Jewish settlers in the occupied territories have dramatically increased their numbers. The myth of the united Jerusalem has led to the creation of an apartheid city where Palestinians aren't citizens and lack basic services. The Israeli peace camp has gradually dwindled so that today it is almost nonexistent, and Israeli politics are moving more and more to the extreme right.

It is therefore clear to me that the only way to counter the apartheid trend in Israel is through massive international pressure. The words and condemnations from the Obama administration and the European Union have yielded no results, not even a settlement freeze, let alone a decision to withdraw from the occupied territories.

I consequently have decided to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement that was launched by Palestinian activists in July 2005 and has since garnered widespread support around the globe. The objective is to ensure that Israel respects its obligations under international law and that Palestinians are granted the right to self-determination.

In Bilbao, Spain, in 2008, a coalition of organizations from all over the world formulated the 10-point Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign meant to pressure Israel in a "gradual, sustainable manner that is sensitive to context and capacity." For example, the effort begins with sanctions on and divestment from Israeli firms operating in the occupied territories, followed by actions against those that help sustain and reinforce the occupation in a visible manner. Along similar lines, artists who come to Israel in order to draw attention to the occupation are welcome, while those who just want to perform are not.

Nothing else has worked. Putting massive international pressure on Israel is the only way to guarantee that the next generation of Israelis and Palestinians -- my two boys included -- does not grow up in an apartheid regime.

This article orginally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
Neve Gordon is the author of "Israel's Occupation" and teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel.

The Yes Men Withdraw Film from Israeli Film Festival

Andy Bichlbaum & Mike Bonanno withdrew their celebrated new film from an Israeli film festival in protest of Israeli policies. Their letter was published On Common Dreams here. More info on the film here.

Dear Friends at the Jerusalem Film Festival,

We regret to say that we have taken the hard decision to withdraw our film, “The Yes Men Fix the World,” from the Jerusalem Film Festival in solidarity with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

This decision does not come easily, as we realize that the festival opposes the policies of the State of Israel, and we have no wish to punish progressives who deplore the state-sponsored violence committed in their name.

This decision does not come easily, as we feel a strong affinity with many people in Israel, sharing with them our Jewish roots, as well as the trauma of the Holocaust, in which both our grandfathers died. Andy lived in Jerusalem for a year long ago, can still get by in Hebrew, and counts several friends there. And Mike has always wanted to connect with the roots of his culture.But despite all our feelings, we cannot abandon our mission as activists. In the 1980s, there was a call from the people of South Africa to artists and others to boycott that regime, and it helped end apartheid there. Today, there is a clear call for a boycott from Palestinian civil society. Obeying it is our only hope, as filmmakers and activists, of helping put pressure on the Israeli government to comply with international law.

It is painful to do this. But it is even more painful to hear Israeli policies described as “fascist” – not just from the ill-informed and the clueless, not just from the usual anti-semitic morons, but from well-informed Jewish activists within Israel. They know what they’re talking about, and it’s painful to think that they could be right.

As we’re sure you know and deplore, the Israeli government has recently authorized the construction of new units in an illegal West Bank outpost – one that is illegal even according to Israeli law. On Monday, nine Palestinians were injured as Israeli authorities demolished their East Jerusalem home. Tuesday, the Israeli navy stopped a ship from delivering medicine, toys, and other humanitarian relief to Gaza, and detained over twenty foreign peace activists, including a Nobel Peace laureate. Meanwhile, a UN commission was in Gaza investigating much worse abuses committed early this year.

Whatever words are applied to such actions, our film mustn’t help lend an aura of normalcy to a state that makes these decisions. For us, that’s the bottom line.

There is certainly another way to do things in Israel/Palestine, and that is what we must fight for, however feeble our means. As for our film, there is another way for it to be seen in Israel… and in Palestine, so that the people most in need of comic relief, who would never have been able to see it at the Jerusalem Film Festival anyhow, will be able to see it too. Within the next few months, we will make this happen.

To those who want to see our film, savlanut and sabir (patience)! And for all the rest of us, a little LESS patience, please.

L’shanah haba’ah beyerushalayim,

Andy and Mike,
The Yes Men
www.theyesmen.org

Where are your Valentine's Day flowers grown?

V-Day is also a very important day for Israeli exports because many of the flowers sold in (British) supermarkets and corner shops come from Israel and the Occupied Territories. Maybe it's the same where you live?

If you care about Israeli war crimes in Gaza, if you disagree with Israeli policies in the Occupied Territories, if you wish to live in a world without Apartheid... refuse to buy Israeli flowers on St. Valentine's Day.

When it comes to flowers, it isn't enough just to check for a Produce of Israel label or a barcode starting '7 29'. Israel sends many of its flowers to Holland for repackaging and relabelling. Support your local producers... buy locally-grown flowers.

The demonstration shown in this video took place last Saturday outside the premises of Carmel Agrexco. Carmel Agrexco is a 50%-state owned Israeli company at the heart of Israel's colonisation and exploitation of Palestinian land. It exports fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs from Israel and the Occupied Territories and accounts for 70% of exports of fresh produce from occupied Palestine. Britain takes 60% of its exports to Europe and Agrexco is the largest importer of illegal settlement goods into the UK, where it trades under the Carmel, Coral and Jaffa brand names.

Flowers exported by Agrexco are grown in illegal settlements on Palestinian land and so constitute illegally traded goods. Many Palestinians refuse to work with Agrexco. Thousands of others, though, are compelled by the complete strangulation of Palestinian agriculture resulting from the Israeli occupation to work packing goods for export in packing houses on land forcibly taken from their communities by Israeli settlers. They are paid as little as 30 shekels (£4) a day and have no sickpay, holiday pay, rights to unionise or contracts. Children are often employed on these settlements. Many of these Palestinian workers have called on the international community to boycott and campaign against Carmel Agrexco.

A regular picket is to be found outside Agrexco's premises in the UK. The aim of the picket is to expose its complicity in murder, theft and damage of occupied land, collective punishment, Apartheid, ethnic cleansing and other breaches of International Law to public scrutiny. A group of 15 women locked themselves to the gates of Carmel Agrexco to stop a delivery of Valentine's roses.

For the video:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ectomorfo/3274316685/

British cooperative to promote Palestinian goods over Israeli

Original article found on ynet here

British cooperative to promote Palestinian goods over Israeli

Retailers' cooperative sends letter to local manufacturers saying will not market products with any part produced in 'illegally occupied territories', but announces plans to promote Palestinian goods
Gali Berger, Calcalist

Israel's Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip has had its effect on local exporters, with Britain being one of the leading nations in this aspect.


The British retailers' cooperative sent a letter to the Carmel Winery distributor last week saying: Up to this day we have not taken any products containing significant parts manufactured in the occupied territories. From now on, we will also avoid marketing products with any part of their components purchased in the occupied territories.


Britain also plans to promote Palestinian goods. "We are opening commerce channels with Palestinian farmers in hopes of launching the first fair-trade Palestinian product later during the year," the letter said.


At the end of the letter the signatories, who stressed they had no problem marketing goods produced in Israel, requested an affidavit from distributors stating that none of the goods or any of there components were manufactured in the "illegally occupied" territories.


This is not the first time British unions wage war against Israeli goods. About a year-and-a-half ago the Transport and General Workers’ Union called for a boycott of Israeli goods as opposition to "Israel's conduct in the occupied territories".


The cooperative signing the documents contains over 1.5 million members.


Carmel Winery CEO Israel Ivzan said this was a sign of deterioration in ties. "The fact that they are promoting Palestinian products and campaigning for them is new."


Ivzan said, however, the letter would have no effect on his products. "The wines that we market all originate in completely Israeli territory. Our export to Britain stands at some 50,000-60,000 bottles a year, that amounts to NIS 1 million to NIS1.5 million, ($248,000 - $372,000)" he said.