Israeli Exporters Hit by European Boycott After Gaza Attacks

The Guardian April 2, 2009 - A fifth of Israeli exporters report drop in demand as footage of Gaza attacks changes behaviour of consumers and investors

Israeli companies are feeling the impact of boycott moves in Europe, according to surveys, amid growing concern within the Israeli business sector over organised campaigns following the recent attack on Gaza.

Last week, the Israel Manufacturers' Association reported that 21% of 90 local exporters who were questioned had felt a drop in demand due to boycotts, mostly from the UK and Scandinavian countries. Last month, a report from the Israel Export Institute reported that 10% of 400 polled exporters received order cancellation notices this year, because of Israel's assault on Gaza.

"There is no doubt that a red light has been switched on," Dan Katrivas, head of the foreign trade department at the Israel Manufacturers Association, told Maariv newspaper this week. "We are closely following what's happening with exporters who are running into problems with boycotts." He added that in Britain there exists "a special problem regarding the export of agricultural produce from Israel"....

Israel Boycott Movement Gains Momentum

Inter Press Service, March 3, 2009 - "Standing United with the People of Gaza" is the theme of this week's Israel Apartheid Week (IAW), which kicked off in Toronto and another 39 cities across the globe Sunday.

A movement to boycott Israeli goods, culture and academic institutions is gaining momentum as Geneva prepares to host the UN's Anti-Racism Conference, Durban 2 next month amidst swirling controversy. ...

[For a roundup of the various developments in the boycott movement, see the full article at the link.]

Editorial: Global Boycott Movement Marks Its Successes - Jeff Handmaker

Electronic Intifada, February 20, 2009 - Responding to the many calls for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, solidarity movements around the world have marked many successes. It is important for human rights advocates to build on this momentum and seize the opportunity to do what is within their power to try and hold Israel accountable for its abuses of human rights and other international laws.

Since the initial BDS call by Palestinian intellectuals and academics in October 2003, which was followed by separate calls for sports, arts, economic and other calls for BDS, there has been a seismic shift in the global solidarity movement for human rights in Israel-Palestine. Lawyers, doctors, academics, students, trade unionists, school teachers and many other activists have marked successes around the world. Their efforts are an inspiring reflection of the South African anti-apartheid movement, where BDS was also used very effectively.

In first few weeks of 2009 alone, European, North American and South African solidarity movements have made remarkable progress.... [See full article at the link for listing.]

Belgium to Stop Arms That Bolster the IDF

New Europe, February 16, 2009 - The Belgian politicians recently reached a consensus on banning exports that would feed the Israeli arsenal and thereby 'strengthen it militarily,' local media reports confirmed last week citing a Belgian minister. Reports quoted Minister Patricia Ceysens from the Flemish regional government as saying: 'There's a consensus (among ministers) not to approve exports that would strengthen Israel's military capacity.' Ceysens said this after a discussion on policy regarding weapons exports to Israel following the operation in Gaza. A final resolution had not been passed yet, but Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht already said that 'given the current circumstances, weapons cannot be shipped from Belgium to Israel.' Meanwhile, a Brussels-based research group accused Israel of enlisting child soldiers.

According to a recently-released report by the European Institute for Research and Information on Peace and Security on Belgian arms exports to the Jewish state, Israel is the fourth largest importer of Belgian arms in the Middle East. In 2007, Belgium sold Israel weapons (mostly light firearms) to the tune of USD 5,409,223.The report, which accused Israel of human rights violations, also said that Belgium's major weapons clients in the Middle East are Saudi Arabia (69%) Jordan (17%) and the United Arab Emirates (4.2% ). The 15 page report does not deal with human rights violation in those countries. Quoting a 2003 amendment to Belgian law which forbids the sale of weapons to armies with child soldiers, the report said that Israel 'accepts and arms underage volunteers.' Further on, the report mentioned 'use of underage Palestinians as informants and sometimes human shields.'

The Israeli Defense Forces' Gadna program runs a one-week military training session on a base as part of the curriculum at most Israeli high schools. The army accepts volunteers from the age of 17 into non-combat posts. Meanwhile, 13 Belgian politicians, authors and scholars released a statement that called for a more evenhanded approach to Israel.

See also Haaretz, January 31, 2009

Letter: Museums Should Cancel These Israel Days of Science (UK)

The Guardian, February 16, 2009 - Quite extraordinarily, the Science Museum in London and the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry have both been made available (on 3 and 5 March respectively) for an event called "Israel Day of Science". The museums argue they are not sponsoring the event, but have merely hired out their premises. This subtle distinction is unlikely to be appreciated by the many thousands of all ages and faiths who have repeatedly taken to the streets round the country to protest against Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The event is promoted by the Zionist Federation and is designed to showcase the scientific achievements of seven Israeli universities. But all of these are complicit in the Israeli occupation and in the policies and weaponry so recently deployed to such disastrous effect in Gaza. To take just one example, Tel Aviv University, in its most recent annual review, states that "the Israel ministry of defence is currently funding 55 projects at TAU", which "is playing a major role in enhancing Israel's security capabilities and military edge". The head of TAU's security studies programme was a former director of the R&D directorate of the Israel ministry of defence. He holds the rank of major-general in the Israel Defence Forces and is a member of the Knesset.

Israel Day of Science is aimed particularly at sixth-form students, who can be expected to come in parties from schools across the country. What reaction can be expected from the many young people, already disaffected from science, who will associate the science museums with this Israeli public relations exercise? The event is being billed as a celebration of science. In fact it is an attempted celebration of Israel.

In the immediate aftermath of the indiscriminate slaughter and attempted annihilation of all the infrastructure of organised society in Gaza, how can this "celebration" be allowed to borrow some respectability from the use of these distinguished institutions? The museums should cancel these unseemly events.

Charles Jencks, Mairead Maguire, Dr Ian Gibson MP, Walter Hain, Ahdaf Soueif, Professor RS MacKay (Warwick), Reem Kelani (Singer), Karl Sabbagh, Professor Steven Rose (Open University), Sabah Al-Mukhtar (Arab Lawyers Association), Professor Jonathan Rosenhead (LSE), Dr Sue Blackwell (Birmingham), Professor Jim Al-Khalili (Surrey) and 368 others

New Showdown After Dubai Blocks Israeli Player

The Associated Press (Reporting from Dubai), February 17, 2009 - Organizers of a women's tennis tournament said Tuesday that security fears were behind the decision to bar an Israeli player — a move that could force another showdown when the men's play begins next week.

The snub brought swift denunciations from the Women's Tennis Association and warnings that it could consider scratching Dubai from its calendar. The Tennis Channel canceled plans to televise the championships in protest.

Tuesday's statement by the Dubai Tennis Championships — citing fan anger at Israeli's recent incursions into the Gaza Strip — was the first detailed explanation of the last-minute visa denial for Shahar Peer, who qualified as the 48th-ranked player in the world. Monday's WTA rankings listed her 45th.

But Dubai, which is trying to become a showcase for world-class sports, is coming under increasing pressure with the men's field as Israeli doubles specialist Andy Ram hopes to be in the draw on Sunday....

University of Manchester (UK) Passes Motion to Boycott Israel in Support of Gaza, Palestinians

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, February 11, 2009 - On Wednesday 11th Feb the University of Manchester Students Union passed a motion in support of the people of Gaza, which includes a resolve to boycott Israel, in an emergency general meeting. The meeting, which was attended by over 1000 students, was called in response to the crisis in Gaza. It follows a week long occupation of University of Manchester buildings by students. The University of Manchester Students Union is the biggest in Western Europe, and is also the first western students union to pass a motion includes an out and out boycott of Israel.

The policy that was passed compared Israel to apartheid South Africa and supported the global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement. It called for the Union to divest from Israel, boycotting all companies which support or benefit from the Israeli occupation, and to lobby the University to adopt a similar boycott policy towards Israel. The motion also condemned the University for its lack of progress in divesting from arms companies. Following the meeting the union will send a letter to the BBC condemning their refusal to air the Disaster Emergency Committees (DEC) appeal for Gaza, as well as facilitating a day of fundraising with proceeds going to the DEC.

That Students at Manchester have a long history of showing solidarity with Palestinians, most notably in their affirmation of the “Palestine: Right to an Education” motion passed in 2007. This motion twinned our Union with the An-Najah University in the occupied West Bank, and committed the Union to campaign for the rights of Palestinian students. Similarly, the Students’ Union played an important role in the international solidarity campaign against South African apartheid by divesting the university’s funds from South Africa....

Irish Trade Union Announces Boycott of Israeli Goods in Wake of Gaza

Haaretz, February 12, 2009 - Irish trade unionists said this week that they plan to launch a boycott of Israeli goods in 2009....

In moving ahead with plans to boycott Israel, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) says it is relying on "evidence" left in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion into Gaza in December.

It also said to be drawing from a "fact-finding mission" to Gaza by a dozen of its senior members more than a year ago. Leaders within the Irish Congress of Trade Unions are to hold a conference this year to act as "a springboard" for their campaign....

Opening of Exhibit in Brussels on Tel Aviv's History Delayed Due to Boycott Pressure

Ynetnews.com, February 10, 2009 - An exhibit titled "The White City Tel Aviv", which was set to open in Brussels next week, has been postponed by the Belgian organizers in response to IDF's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

The hosts – the board of directors of the International Centre for Urbanism, Architecture and Landscape (CIVA) - informed the Tel Aviv Municipality three days ago of their decision to postpone the exhibit due to their belief that it would be "better appreciated at a different time."

"We received protests that were based on the claims that Israeli culture should be boycotted until the Israeli government changes its policy," the board said in a letter. On the other hand, the letter continued, there were those who demanded that the exhibition be held in order to portray Israel's history and image.

"We heard these stances and are convinced that both are valid, but we've decided to prevent any kind of debate on the objective of holding this exhibit," the letter stated....

A copy of the letter from CIVA (in French) is available at the link.

South Africa Union Workers Refuse to Unload Israeli Ship in Durban, Forcing It to Depart with Its Goods

Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) and Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) joint media release (via Ramallah Online), February 6, 2009 - The Congress of South African Trade Union is pleased to announce that its members, dock workers belonging to the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) achieved a victory last night when they stood firm by their decision not to offload the Johanna Russ, a ship that was carrying Israeli goods to South Africa. This, despite threats to COSATU members from sections of the pro-Israeli lobby, and despite severe provocation.

The Johanna Russ, flying an Antigua flag, is owned by M. Dizengoff and Co., an established "pioneer of the modern era of shipping business in the Middle East" and shipping agent for the ironically named Zim Israel Navigation Company. (Ironic because, last year, the same SATAWU members refused to offload the Chinese ship An Yue Jiang, which was carrying arms and ammunition destined for Robert Mugabe's army.)

The worker action last night took place despite attempted subterfuge on the part of the owners of the shipping company. There was an attempt to confound the plan by arriving earlier than originally scheduled, which was 8 February. Dates for the berthing of the Johanna Russ were changed constantly. Yesterday morning, SATAWU members were told that the ship would dock this morning (Friday) at 02:00. Thanks to the vigilance of the dock workers, SATAWU discovered that the ship had docked on Wednesday morning and was due to be offloaded last night at 21:00. But the vigilant workers were on guard and immediately they realised that it had docked, they then refused to handle it, despite pressures from management. SATAWU members maintained their refusal to offload the ship and also attempted to ensure that scab labour would not be used.

A few hours after berthing, at 23:00, the Johanna Russ sneaked out of the Durban Harbour....

COSATU has now decided to intensify its efforts in support of the struggles of the Palestinian people. The worker victory in Durban yesterday spurs COSATU members on to more determined action in order to isolate the Apartheid state of Israel. Other Cosatu unions are currently in discussion about how they might also give effect to Cosatu resolutions on boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel, including a refusal to handle Israeli goods, and continuing pressure on our government to sever diplomatic and trade relations with Israel.

The momentum against apartheid Israel has become an irresistible force.

We are proud to stand with the millions around the world who say 'Enough is enough'. They are doing what we asked them to do when we faced the apartheid regime in our own country.

COSATU and the PSC call on all people of conscience to join us in boycotting Israeli products and institutions until a just, democratic state, with equal rights for all comes into existence in Palestine. This is just the beginning of a solidarity campaign which will continue until the demands of the Palestinian people have been won.

For more information, call:
Randall Howard (Satawu General Secretary) - 082 564 6298
Patrick Craven (Cosatu) - 082 821 7456
Melissa Hoole (PSC) - 073 906 0017
Bongani Masuku (Cosatu)- 079 499 6419
Salim Vally (PSC) - 082 802 5936
Na'eem Jeenah (PSC) - 084 574 2674

For more background and context on this major story, see also Durban for Palestine via BDS, by Patrick Bond (Znet, February 3, 2009) and WA Branch of Maritime Union of Australia calls upon Australian Government to cut all economic, diplomatic, cultural and political ties with the Israeli state until Gaza siege ends (bdsmovement.net, February 2, 2009).

South African Dock Workers Refuse to Offload Goods from Israeli Ship; Cosatu, PSC Launch Week of Action in SA

Cape Argus, Independent Online (South Africa), February 3, 2009 - Satawu (South African Transport and Allied Workers Union) Durban dock workers are expected to refuse to off-load an Israeli ship as part of a week of action against "apartheid" Israel, Cosatu and the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) said on Tuesday.

Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven and PSC spokesperson Salim Vally said dock workers would refuse to off-load the ship arriving [in Durban, South Africa] on Sunday, February 8, as part of a refusal to support oppression and exploitation across the globe.

SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) general secretary Randall Howard said the union's members were committed to not handling Israeli goods.

Last year, Durban dock workers refused to off-load a shipment of arms from China that was destined for Zimbabwe.

The arms would have been used to "prop up the Mugabe regime and to intensify the repression against the Zimbabwean people", Craven said.

"In 1963, just four years after the Anti-Apartheid Movement was formed, Danish dock workers refused to off-load a ship with South African goods.

"When the ship docked in Sweden, Swedish workers followed suit. Dock workers in Liverpool and, later, in the San Francisco Bay Area also refused to off-load South African goods," he said.

Western Australian members of the Maritime Union of Australia supported the "campaign for boycotts, divestment and sanctions" against Israel and had called for a boycott of all Israeli vessels and all vessels bearing goods arriving from or going to Israel.

"This is the legacy and the tradition that South African dock workers have inherited, and it is a legacy they are determined to honour, by ensuring that South African ports of entry will not be used as transit points for goods bound for or emanating from certain dictatorial and oppressive states such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Israel."

Cosatu called on other workers and unions across the globe to follow suit and to do all that is necessary to ensure that they boycott all goods to and from Israel until Palestine was free....

See also: Week of Protest Action Planned (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel, Media Statement, February 3, 2009)

Haaretz: For the First Time, US Professors Call for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

Haaretz, January 29, 2009 - In the wake of Operation Cast Lead, a group of American university professors has for the first time launched a national campaign calling for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

While Israeli academics have grown used to such news from Great Britain, where anti-Israel groups several times attempted to establish academic boycotts, the formation of the United States movement marks the first time that a national academic boycott movement has come out of America. Israeli professors are not sure yet how big of an impact the one-week-old movement will have, but started discussing the significance of and possible counteractions against the campaign.

"As educators of conscience, we have been unable to stand by and watch in silence Israel's indiscriminate assault on the Gaza Strip and its educational institutions," the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel stated in its inaugural press release last Thursday. Speaking in its mission statement of the "censorship and silencing of the Palestine question in U.S. universities, as well as U.S. society at large," the group follows the usual pattern of such boycotts, calling for "non-violent punitive measures" against Israel, such as the implementation of divestment initiatives, "similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era."

The campaign was founded by a group of 15 academics, mostly from California, but is, "currently expanding to create a network that embraces the United States as a whole," according to David Lloyd, a professor of English at the University of Southern California who responded on behalf of the group to a Haaretz query. "The initiative was in the first place impelled by Israel's latest brutal assault on Gaza and by our determination to say enough is enough."

"The response has been remarkable given the extraordinary hold that lobbying organizations like AIPAC exert over U.S. politics and over the U.S. media, and in particular given the campaign of intimidation that has been leveled at academics who dare to criticize Israel's policies," Lloyd wrote in an e-mail to Haaretz Monday. "Within a short weekend since the posting of the press release, more than 80 academics from all over the country have endorsed the action and the numbers continue to grow." ....

Second Largest Trade Union in UK Calls for Boycott Against Israel

Lambeth Militants blog, January 20, 2009 - The Lambeth Branch of UNISON, the second largest trade union in the UK, has voted to condemn the recent slaughter of Palestinians and the ongoing occupation by Israel at a meeting of its Branch Committee this morning.

At its monthly meeting of representatives, the Branch called for, "an immediate end to the slaughter of defenceless people and the [ongoing] siege of Gaza." The Branch concluded that, "Israel is an...apartheid state," and has advocated academic, economic and cultural boycotts of Israel in an effort to delegitimise the Occupation of Palestine, and build international and domestic pressure against the state....

Muslim Consumers Association Announces Boycott of Israeli and American Goods

Malaysian News Agency (via The Nut Graph blog), January 6, 2009 - The Muslim Consumers Association Malaysia (PPIM) will launch a nationwide campaign urging Malaysians to boycott products made by Jewish companies following Israel's military invasion of Gaza.

Its secretary-general Datuk Dr Ma'mor Osman said the campaign would kick off at the National Mosque on 10 Jan.

He said the boycott campaign would be carried out with several other non-governmental organisations such as the Malaysian Chinese Muslim Association, Ummah Consultative Council (Pewaris), Muslim Restaurant Operators Association Malaysia (Presma) and Interactive Muslimah Association (Iman).

"This campaign is organised to protest against the injustice and atrocities committed by Israel and supported by its allies. Malaysians, especially Muslim consumers, should support this campaign," he told reporters, here, today.

He said Israel must be told that its action was abhorred as its military assault on Gaza had killed more than 500 Palestinians and injured hundreds more.

Ma'mor said in the campaign, PPIM would also urge the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) to withdraw the halal certificates issued to Jewish-owned companies.

"This is because the revenue earned from these products is used to make bombs and other weapons to attack Muslim states."....

Malaysians Join Boycott of Israeli Goods

Malaysian National News Agency, KUALA LUMPUR, January 6, 2009 - The Council For Ex-Members of Parliament and State Assemblies, Federal Territory, on Monday joined scores of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals in calling for the boycott of Israeli and Israeli-related goods and services as a mark of protest against the regime's invasion of Gaza.

Its president, Aziz Yassin, said in a statement that this was the least Malaysians of all races could do to register their sympathy towards the Palestinians who had been suffering endlessly at the hands of the Zionists for the past 50 years.

The boycott would also serve as a reminder to Israel, its supporters and sympathisers that their uncivilised actions were being watched by all peace-loving people of the world.

"Although they cannot do much unilaterally to stop the aggression, united and systematic efforts at punishing the country economically will hopefully bring some positive results in the long run," he said....

Union at Ontario Universities Proposes Boycott of Israel

The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 6, 2009 - The Canadian Union of Public Employees in Ontario, the largest labor union representing staff members at the province’s universities, plans to introduce a resolution at its conference next month to ban Israeli academics from teaching, speaking, or doing research at Ontario universities if they do not first condemn Israeli actions in Gaza.

The union, which represents teaching and research assistants and other members of the support staff at many universities, says the proposal is a response to the bombing on December 29 that damaged the Islamic University of Gaza. An Israeli army spokeswoman said the bombed buildings had been used as “a research and development center for Hamas weapons,” referring to the terrorist group that governs the Gaza Strip.

News of the proposed ban has “sparked a bitter debate,” according to The Globe and Mail, a Toronto newspaper. The union’s president, Sid Ryan, accused Israel of deliberately making the university a target, and he compared the attack to actions of the Nazis.

That statement prompted Bernie Farber, chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress, to describe the remarks as “nasty and bigoted rhetoric.” Mr. Farber also asked whether arms were in fact stored on the Gaza campus.

The leading faculty union in Britain has made a series of efforts in recent years to impose a boycott of Israeli academics, but opponents of the proposal said last month that their legal threats had blocked the union from taking action against Israeli scholars.

British Telecom Company Severs Ties with Israel

YNet.com, December 31, 2008 - British telecommunications firm FreedomCall has terminated its cooperation with Israel's MobileMax due to the IDF operation in Gaza.

"We received an email from the British company informing us that it is severing all ties with us and any other Israeli company following Israel's strike in Gaza," said CEO Raanan Cohen.

"We weren't expecting this from them and there was no prior warning. I don't intend to appeal to them or answer the letter."

The email from FreedomCall said, "As a result of the Israeli government action in the last few days we will no longer be in a position to consider doing business with yourself or any other Israeli company."

UK Company Boycotts Israeli Consumer

Ynet.com, January 6, 2009 - Meiron Gestman, a computer engineer from Ramat Gan, discovered to his surprise on Monday that he could not purchase a scarf online from the London-based Pashmina company.

The reason for this was that the company which he wished to order from had joined a boycott against Israel due to the military operation in Gaza.

"I checked why they didn't charge my credit card, and they told me they were participating in a voluntary boycott on Israel due to "the horrors committed by the Israeli army," he said....