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Together we Rise
shared in solidarity
Below are portals to over two dozen BDS stories from all over the world. These stories include personal and collective experiences and the necessary reflections about what works best and what does not work that well in advocating human rights in Palestine.
The storytellers come from many different backgrounds and experiences. Some share important success stories and insights, while others share frustration with what has not been working. No matter what they share, however, what we read over and over again is a passion and commitment for justice in Palestine and a commitment to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement as a nonviolent approach to what appears as an intractable situation.
This story is still unfolding in human history. Often, the struggle against South African Apartheid is mentioned in many of these stories as a reference point. Those who remember that time in history remember that that struggle for freedom also seemed intractable.
The purpose in publishing these stories is to point out the common human understanding that the children of God can overcome differences and achieve the great ends of our faith best described in Micah 6: “God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
We are grateful to every storyteller who has been courageous enough to share their experiences and insights. We have refrained from mentioning the names of the storytellers because of their different contexts and our concern that no one’s work and well-being is compromised as a result of their honest storytelling.
We learn best from each other and the experiences we are able to share. Please take time to read and reflect upon the witness made in these important stories. This solidarity can be instructive to all of us, no matter what our particular context might be.
News & Views on bds
argentina
No to Sportswashing "friendly" match
In 2018, Argentina canceled a “friendly” match in Jerusalem following months of BDS campaigning. Israel’s Comtec Group, which has clients in illegal Israeli settlements, was the organizer of the failed Argentina friendly as well as the Argentina vs Uruguay match.
Sylvan Adams, a Canadian billionaire real-estate magnate and self-proclaimed ambassador for Israel, is reportedly covering a significant sum toward the costs of organizing the Argentina vs Uruguay match. Adams has stated that he is dedicating the current chapter of his life to “the promotion of what I call 'normal Israel,'” to deflect attention from Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights and international law.
Adams and Comtec have teamed up to bring events to Israel before, including Madonna to the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest, the 2018 Big Start of the Giro d’Italia cycling race and a failed attempt to bring the 2019 Miss Universe Pageant to Israel.
brazil
Popular singer Milton Nascimento signed a contract for performances in Europe that included Tel Aviv on June 30. BDS and personalities send letters asking singer Milton Nascimento to cancel his show in Tel Aviv. Popular singer Roger Waters had his personal letter to Milton Nascimento published by the mainstream media.
Despite of pressures coming from multiple directions, money spoke louder and Milton Nascimento carried out his shameful performance to Zionist audiences. Just before his presentation, he publicized a statement saying that his performance does not mean any support for the Israeli administration but only his desire to let his fans to attend a live show. Soraya Misleh, a major BDS activist in Brazil, wrote that the Israeli administration is not the point.
The point is the Israeli State and its 70-year-old policy of apartheid and Ethnic Cleansing which prevents Palestinians from attending his show because Israeli apartheid do not allow them to go to the lands of their ancestors. For Soraya the campaign was critical to bring the issue of Israeli apartheid to the broader audience. For sure, any singer who decides to hold performances in Tel Aviv will have to think twice.
chile
Making BDS Illegal Opens a New Battlefront
The Chilean National Comptroller ruled this week that it is illegal for local municipalities in the South American country to boycott Israel, wading into an ongoing national debate over the BDS movement. Earlier this summer, Valdivia in southern Chile became the first city in Latin America to officially boycott Israel after a local government vote initiated by the Mayor Omar Sabat, who is of Palestinian origin.
Chile is home to the largest Palestinian diaspora community outside of the Middle East, with a population of 500,000. Around 18,000 Chileans identify as Jewish. The measure declared Valdivia an "Apartheid Free Zone" and banned the city from working with any businesses linked to Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The Chilean Congress approved a resolution calling for the boycott of Israeli settlements by a vote of 99-7, with 30 abstentions. The resolution included a demand to re-examine all agreements signed with Israel to ensure they cover only territories within the Green Line, while a second demand called for assurances that all future agreements only pertained to Israel proper, not occupied territory. The motion also ruled on giving guidelines to Chilean citizens doing business in Israel so as not to "support colonization or cooperate with human rights violations in the occupied territories".
global south
Why a military embargo is needed:
International corporations and governments are enabling Israel's attacks on Palestinians through their support of Israel's military industry and research facilities.
Israel is one of the biggest arms producers in the world and heavily depends on exports. Up to 70 % of Israel’s military production is exported, mainly to the Global South and particularly to rogue and authoritarian regimes which use it to commit genocide, ethnic cleansing and other grave human rights violations. Israeli weapons companies market their weapons as “field-tested”.
Israel causes harm by exporting its repressive tactics and technologies. Its exports are used to build walls, promote surveillance, enable racial profiling and racist police repression, and to violate the rights of indigenous peoples, migrants and human rights defenders.
india
India’s largest student federation to boycott HP for Israeli dealings
India’s largest student federation passed a resolution on Saturday to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that calls for boycotting Hewlett Packard (HP) companies over their well-documented complicity in Israel’s grave violations of Palestinian human rights. The four-million-members strong Students Federation of India (SFI) has joined the global campaign to boycott HP. “This means that Hewlett Packard companies now risk losing over four million potential clients in India because of their complicity in Israel’s gross violations of Palestinian human rights.”
Given that the cheapest HP laptop in India costs about $300, this means that HP may be losing a potential student market of over $120 million. “What Palestinians and Indian students are showing is that companies seeking to profit from Israel’s military occupation and discriminatory regime face growing popular opposition and risk a serious hit to both their reputations and pocket-books”.“HP has provided technology and services that support Israel’s military occupation and racial discrimination policies, including its devastating siege suffocating nearly 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, and illegal settlements built on stolen Palestinian land.”
In its resolution to boycott HP, SFI condemned Israel’s recent violence against unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza, where Israel killed at least 121 Palestinians and injured more than 13,000 in just the last two months. It also criticized the current right-wing government in India for its “close security and military ties with Israel” and for having become “the largest arms buyer from Israel.”
16 Million-Strong farmer’s movement joins the BDS Movement
The largest national organization representing farmers and agricultural workers in India, All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), has announced that it has joined the BDS movement. AIKS is spread across 21 states in India and is over 16 million members strong.AIKS has resolved to:
- Endorse the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law, in order to stand for the rights of the Palestinian people and to resist the corporate takeover of Indian agriculture sector by Israeli companies.
- Denounce and document any cases of Israeli corporate takeover in the Indian agro-sector.
- Raise awareness among Indian farmers to prevent Israel and its corporations from reaping profits in India that finance military occupation and apartheid in Palestine.
- AIKS has actively resisted the corporate takeover of Indian agriculture and the two decades of neoliberal policies which have led to massive indebtedness and farmer suicides.
Arms over masks: India buys weapons from Israel as coronavirus cases spike
(Voices from BDS advocates)
India’s handling of the coronavirus crisis has been criticised by activists and rights groups after it emerged his government decided to go ahead with an arms deal with Israel worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Israel will supply the Indian military with 16,479 Negev light machine guns, despite growing concerns over the health emergency facing the country of 1.3 billion people. The deal, worth $116m, came as doctors on the frontline in India continue to complain of a shortage of masks and protective equipment, highlighting concerns that India is ill-prepared to deal with a crisis of this magnitude.
'Why is the government of India choosing to spend massive amounts on military purchases instead of prioritising a corona relief package, medical infrastructure, free healthcare and testing for all?' With concerns rising over the rapid acceleration of the pandemic and the impact it has already had on economies around the world, the thought that the struggling Indian economy could afford to absorb military spending at this juncture has left some reeling.
Acdemics in the BDS Movement argue that the move to prioritise arms at a time of a crisis was only part of a larger attempt by the BJP-led government to turn India into a security state, like Israel. The Indian administration has also come under fire for the partial communication blockade in Kashmir, which academics and activists argue will have dire consequences for eight million people already living under a military occupation.
BDS wants to reach out to one of the largest film industries in the world: Bollywood
Bollywood has a new role thrust on it, that of being a playground for global geopolitics. In 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s selfie with the Hindi film stars at the Shalom Bollywood event in Mumbai went viral.
Now it is the turn of BDS (Boycott, Divestments, Sanctions), to reach out to one of the largest film industries in the world. However, unlike the Israeli charm offensive that promised Bollywood sops for shooting in Israel, the BDS’s counter-offensive was relatively low-key, with three members of the Palestinian National Committee for BDS arriving in Mumbai last week to quietly engage select members of the film fraternity and sensitize them about the Palestinian cause.
Israel wants to use Hindi films as a tool and a cover for the human rights abuse. This in-your-face attempt to use Indian art to promote the political agenda of the Israeli occupation is an insult to the integrity and self-respect of every Indian artist,” says a BDS statement to the industry.
BDS activists say: “At this stage, buying into Israeli propaganda is deeply hurtful. Using culture to whitewash its crimes is Israel’s old strategy which furthers its violations against Palestinians…Bollywood becoming a tool for the same is completely going against India’s long standing support for Palestine. And it is very important that Bollywood refuses to be this tool for Israeli propaganda,” said Ms. Mantovani.
japan
Japan needs to know real aim of BDS before 2020 Olympiad
The BDS (Divest, Boycott and Sanction of Israel) movement has hit Japan. The Japan-based chapter of this organization has kicked off a campaign aimed at punishing Israel – the only democratic nation in the Middle East – serving as a marked contrast to the unifying message Tokyo needs as it prepares to open its arms to the world for the 2020 Olympiad.
Japan BDS’ campaign of targeting a single country for discrimination is fundamentally at odds with the Olympic spirit and runs directly counter to Japan’s values in the postwar era as a democratic, liberal society that upholds human rights and equality. Japanese government leaders in Tokyo must wake up to the ugly reality of Japan BDS and take a firm stance against this prejudiced and slanderous movement.
The Japan-based chapter of this organization also aims to do damage to the Jewish state by pressuring Japanese companies to avoid doing business with Israel. This will inevitably result in Japan’s business community encountering BDS protests and other disruptive activities more frequently as Japan’s commercial and tourism relationship with Israel grows. The Japanese business community will need guidance on how to handle this divisive issue.
Upscale Tokyo Store withdraws illegal settlement products
“The upscale Mitsukoshi department store in the Ginza district of Tokyo has withdrawn Israeli settlement products. The store was scheduled to host an event featuring Israeli wines, including wines made in illegal Israeli settlements built on stolen land. But after Japanese civil society raised concerns, Mitsukoshi shortened the event and removed all wines which Japanese BDS activists indicated were made in Israeli settlements…
A spokesperson for Palestine Forum — Japan, a network of BDS activists, said: We warmly welcome this principled decision by Mitsukoshi department store to pull products made in illegal Israeli settlements from its shelves. By refusing to sell these products, the store is complying with international law and Japanese foreign policy. It is also respecting human rights and advancing justice and peace”.
malaysia
Largest Malaysian University Ends Contract With Puma Over Support for Illegal Israeli Settlements
“Malaysia’s largest university, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), has ended a sponsorship deal with global sportswear brand Puma over the company’s support for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. UiTM, which had a three year contract with Puma as sponsor of the university’s football team, confirmed that the contract was not renewed due to Puma’s involvement in Israel’s human rights abuses.
Puma sponsors the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes and advocates on behalf of teams in illegal Israeli settlements on Palestinian land. Israeli settlements are considered war crimes under international law. Puma’s exclusive licensee in Israel, Delta Galil, is listed in the recently-revealed United Nations settlement companies database due to itsbranches in illegal Israeli settlements”.
myanmar
Israel’s Shameful Role in Myanmar’s Rohingya genocide Campaign
Israeli arms and military technology sales to Myanmar have earned Jerusalem scorn. But after Gilor’s tweet, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs surprisingly condemned "the atrocities that took place in the Rakhine region against the Rohingya." Israel previously refused to use the term "Rohingya" seemingly in deference to the Myanmar government that rejects the term and does not recognize the Rohingya as citizens, instead considering them "Bengalis." But this new Israeli statement is still too passive. Most glaringly, it fails to note who committed these "atrocities." Now, as Myanmar faces charges for the world’s worst crime - and India, another Israeli ally, passes legislation paving the way towards similar exclusion and violence – it is more necessary than ever that Israeli leaders ensure that the Jewish state and people never facilitate, or even tacitly tolerate, genocide.
The Coalition undertakes and promotes consumer boycotts of goods and services connected with the State of Myanmar. These include, for instance, tourism, sporting, and cultural activities involving associations backed by Myanmar. This campaign is inspired by the success of past anti-apartheid movements and the current BDS (boycott, divestment, sanction) movement focused on Israel’s policy of apartheid against Palestinians.
sri lanka
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