“Jennifer Lopez would never knowingly support any state, country, institution or regime that was associated with any form of human rights abuse,” a statement on Lopez’s website said.

On 25 April, it was reported by Danielle Berrin for the Jewish Journal that a group of 30 leading music executives, entertainment lawyers, and talent agents met at the Ziffren Brittenham law offices with the infamous CCFP (Artists Against Apartheid has called for a boycott of the CCFP) and David Seigel ( the Counsel General of Israel in Los Angeles). Atar Dekel, the cultural attache for the Israeli Consulate was also a the lunchtime presentation.

Music moguls at the meeting represented artists such as Lady Gaga, Celine Dion, Aerosmith, Justin Timberlake and Jennifer Lopez.

Just 2 weeks after the article was published, the Israeli press and Israeli twitter accounts announced with great fanfare that Jennifer Lopez will perform for Israel in late 2012. Her planned performance most likely comes as a response to the intense pressure of the CCFP, as well as the Counsel General of Israel in Los Angeles.

The above tweet was created by the State of Israel Official Twitter Channel, which seems to be dedicated to using many artists’ good names to promote their agenda of hostility to Palestinians.

There is no doubt that the BDS movement can be effective enough to lead to democracy, justice and equal rights in Israel, so it scares those who are loyal to an Israel that excludes people who are not deemed good enough to be “privileged.” BDS also contributes to mass awareness of the present situation of apartheid in Israel. BDS is spreading because absolutely anyone can participate in it, and it is not necessary to travel to a protest or risk suffering from tear gas grenades. (Though many BDS movement volunteers certainly possess the passion to risk their lives to see freedom, justice & democracy for Palestinians and many do just that).

This seeming abuse of Jennifer Lopez in order to appease the CCFP and the Counsel General of Israel in Los Angeles is disturbing.

First, a concern exists over whether Lopez herself was informed of the boycott by whichever powerful music mogul who pulled the strings to get her on the Zionist State’s artist playlist.

Second, is Lopez expected to concur with the motives of the CCFP? Is she in any jeopardy if she does not comply with the Counsel General of Israel in Los Angeles’ expectations? It is hard to imagine that a 42 year old, self assured woman with a definite passion for woman struggling for their rights in Juárez, Mexico, (Lopez produced and starred in Bordertown), would close her eyes to the struggle that Palestinian woman must endure due to Israel’s siege on Gaza and forceful occupation of the West Bank.

Next, is Lopez aware of how her good name has already been used by the CCFP to promote the false notion that Israel is a safe haven for refugees among many other lies and deceptions on the CCFP website?

It takes true courage and a very powerful sense of meaning and self to stand up to the intense pressure that many artists face to perform for apartheid Israel. Playing on the wrong side of history most certainly creates an ugly stain on any artists’ resume.

Lopez has not confirmed her concert yet, and she may very well follow in the steps of Bruce Springsteen. Last November 2011, Springsteen’s name was plastered all over the Israeli press. He has yet to book a gig for Israel. He most likely understands that apartheid builds walls music cannot cross. It appears that the Boss won’t be bossed around by the music moguls. (See Springsteen, the Boycott, and Israel)

SOURCE

Related Links

While Israel uses African Americans for sexy hasbara, Interior Minister say ‘most African refugees are criminals’
On the hasbara from Israel’s ambassador to the US: “He is afraid of BDS. And calls it a more “sinister” tactic than what? Than violence? Yes; he would prefer violence. We don’t know how to fight Gandhi, the Israelis say.”
With implacable logic, Ilan Pappe explains why BDS of Israel is essential and will work to end its crimes against humanity.

Israel / Palestine Links

Israel can’t handle the truth about its crimes, bans history.
Lieberman’s macabre fascist opportunism is in the tradition of Herzl’s political zionism “the anti-semites shall be our best friends”
Despite its insidious, massively funded hasbara shillery, or perhaps partly because of it, Israel is on the nose.
How Israel’s apartheidists are (1) appropriating middle eastern cuisine (2) attempting to rebrand Nakba Day with their vile cultural appropriation, all during the Palestinian mass hunger strike.

From Kim Marie: ‘Seriously disgusting Zionist hasbara – Happy Hummus Day, which has been designated May 15, is being promoted on the web and FB. After seeing this on Sol’s FB page and his comment pointing out what “distasteful timing” it was, I started to do quick search – within in 3-5 mins it became clear that this part of a Zionist Hasbara campaign to rebrand Israel. If you look at the bottom left hand side of the Hummus Day website you will find the words “Innovation Israel Hackathon” – click on them and it takes you to a website by this name which states: “Innovation Israel Hackathon – Making Israel Go Viral! The Innovation Israel Hackathon is an initiative aiming to gather Israel’s brightest talent to make Israel go viral”. Everytime I think Zionist can’t get any more disgusting, I am always proven wrong – not only do they steal Arab culture/cuisine and trying to claim for themselves, they do so on a day that marks the destruction of Palestinian society by Zionism. Seriously how is this any different to Holocaust denial? ‘

MK Haneen Zoabi, who calls for equal rights, is vilified by disgusting rightwing racist, sexist “journalist”

NSW police initiated a Supreme Court action against the pro-Palestine Al-Nakba commemoration march to be held in Sydney on May 15. The police are seeking a court order prohibiting the public assembly and procession. Protest organisers state that they will not be intimidated and will defend the right to protest in court.

Independent journalist and author of My Israel Question, Antony Loewenstein, says: “The right to peacefully protest is a cornerstone of a democratic society. Supporting Palestinian rights is even more essential today in an age where our political and media elites choose to ignore Israeli apartheid right in front of their eyes.”

Sylvia Hale, Former Greens MLC, said: “It is critical, at a time when Israel has gaoled hundreds of Palestinians without charge or trial for protesting at Israel’s illegal occupation of their land, that we show our support for them and the thousands of other political prisoners in Israeli gaols. Australia must cut all military ties with Israel until the Israeli government abides by international law and ends its racist policies of ethnic cleansing.”

By attempting to ban the commemoration, the NSW police have shown they care more about assisting Israel in hiding from its past then upholding the democratic rights of Australian citizens.

May 15th marks the day of “The Catastrophe” (‘Al-Nakba’ in Arabic) where the state of Israel was created on the murder and dispossession of the Palestinian people. Within Israel, the state has attempted to silence protesters from speaking out against the oppression of the Palestinians and remembering this historic event. This has included intimidation and arrests of protestors and cutting funding of NGO’s involved in Al-Nakba events.

The march is planned for May 15 at Sydney Town Hall, beginning at 6pm. The rally will include speakers from the General Union of Palestinian Workers, Jews against the Occupation and many other pro-Palestinian activists.

A representative of the protest organisers has been summoned to a hearing at the Supreme Court at 10am on May 14 to contest the police actions.

SOURCE

The Palestinian Solidarity Organisation is calling for a Rally on the 14th May to defend the right to protest:

DEFEND THE RIGHT TO PROTEST!

RALLY Supreme Court, on Macquarie Street, Monday 14 May, 10.00 am
(MEET AT THE SAME PLACE AT 9.00}

SUPPORT THE PALESTINIAN HUNGER STRIKERS!
REMEMBER AL-NAKBA!

RALLY & MARCH 6 pm Tuesday 15 May Sydney Town Hall

The NSW Police have taken the organizers of the Nakba commemoration march in Sydney to the Supreme Court demanding that the rally should be moved to a different location and the march to be cancelled. The protesters have decided to assert their rights, saying that they will contest any attempt to prohibit the march.

“In the same way that 3 Israeli activists were arrested for trying to commemorate Al-Nakba, the Victorian police charged 19 BDS protesters in Melbourne, (they are now in court), now the NSW Police are showing their true colours by trying to silence free speech and political protest in support of the Palestinians.

Al-Nakba (“the catastrophe” in Arabic) marks the anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel on May 15th 1948. The date is normally marked by commemorations and protests against the apartheid policies of the Israeli government and their continued oppression of the Palestinian people. Israel has taken measures to disrupt the commemoration of Al-Nakba including intimidation and arrest of activists and cutting of funding to NGOs involved in commemorations.

The rally and march are going to be held on Tuesday May 15th at 6pm at Sydney Town Hall and includes speakers from the Australian Unions, General Union of Palestinian Workers, Jews Against the Occupation, and young Palestinian activists. So, to defend the right to protest, we have to be at the Supreme Court, on Macquarie Street, on Monday the 14th, at 10.00, to show, outside and inside court, our decision to fights for our rights. Remember, the more people present, stronger our case will be.

Send this message wide, talk to your friends and be at the court. Ask for declarations of support from other organizations and peoples defenders of civil rights.

Also, this is a great opportunity to promote the Nakba rally because, even if the court find for the police, the rally is legal and we have the right to do it and WE WILL DO IT.

The following are the initial expression of solidarity:

“The freedom to protest free from police interference is an essential right in any country that calls itself democratic. It is critical, at a time when Israel has gaoled hundreds of Palestinians without charge or trial for protesting at Israel’s illegal occupation of their land, that we show our support for them and the thousands of other political prisoners in Israeli gaols. Australia must cut all military ties with Israel until the Israeli government abides by international law and ends its racist policies of ethnic cleansing.” Sylvia Hale, former Greens MLC

The NSW government and police need to be reminded that freedom of expression is a fundamental right that cannot be either given or taken away by them. Their attempts to ban the Al-Nakba march this Tuesday can only be seen as political.

Nakba protests and commemorations marking Israel’s dispossessed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are being organized all over the globe. Sixty four years on, it is particularly important to affirm that majorities do not condone dispossession and the apartheid-like laws Israel deploys to keep Palestinians dispossessed.
Pip Hinman, Stop the War Coalition

Antony Loewenstein, independent journalist and author of My Israel Question, says, ‘the right to peacefully protest is a cornerstone of a democratic society. Supporting Palestinian rights is even more essential today in an age where our political and media elites chose to ignore Israeli apartheid right in front of their eyes.”

For more information contact PALESTINE SOLIDARITY ORGANIZATION Patrick 0422028113 Raul 0403037376

UPDATE 13/5/12

Jwire is reporting that “the police simply want the protest diverted from the city centre at peak time.

NSW Police say that the organiser of the protest, Patrick Langosch, has not responded to their request to relocate the protest.”

NSW Police have issued the following statement….

A schedule 1 form under the Summary Offences Act was received from Patrick LANGOSCH on behalf of the AL-NAKBA PLANNING COMMITTEE on the 8 May 2012. This notice informed of the intention to hold the above public assembly followed by a procession through the CBD commencing 19:00hrs and following the following route:

From Sydney Town Hall enter George Street and travel north to Market Street; proceed east on Market Street to Pitt Street; proceed North on Pitt Street to King St; proceed west on King Street to George Street; proceed South on George St back to Town Hall.

Police contacted the organiser LANGOSCH and requested that an alternative, static assembly be conducted due to the safety issues and traffic congestion that would arise for the intended activity and its timing. Police attempted to negotiate with the group providing alternatives to a procession during the traffic peak on Tuesday evening. The group have declined to negotiate or alter their proposal in any way.

As a result of the refusal of the group to negotiate police have caused the issuing of a summons by the NSW Supreme Court seeking an order to prohibit the intended procession. The matter is listed before the NSW Supreme Court at 10:00 hrs on Monday 14 May 2012.

Basis of the objection

That the proposed procession will cause an unacceptable risk to pedestrian and vehicle safety during the peak traffic period in which it is proposed. That the impact of the procession to traffic in the inner city and corresponding impact on connecting road systems is unreasonable.

The objection has nothing to do with the issue that is the subject of the protest. Police facilitate hundreds of protests in the city each year. The nature of these protests are often the subject of negotiation to achieve a safe event that does not create an unreasonable impact on the amenity of the city. Police oppose all proposals that impact on the traffic and pedestrian flow in the city during the morning and evening peak periods.

Why is this group not allowed to protest

They are allowed to protest however the nature of this proposal is unacceptable as it would be for any other group that proposed this type of event. Alternative locations and times were suggested to the group who declined to consider any amendments to their proposal.

Is this a political matter

No. Political or other interests are not the issue, the unreasonable impact of the proposed procession is the only issue.

Where are they allowed to hold a Rally

Static rally locations including Belmore Park and Hyde Park were suggested, however the group declined to consider any alternatives to their proposal. As the group declined to negotiate the potential to facilitate a procession at alternate times and locations could not be progressed.

Is it illegal for them to hold a rally

No it is not illegal for the group to hold a rally. In accordance with the summary offences act, the Supreme court will now determine if a breach of the traffic regulations can be enforced by police if the group proceed with the procession they have outlined.

Al-Nakba commemorates the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel.

UPDATE 13/5/12

Organiser Patrick Langosch tells me : “On 11 May 2012, the Crown Solicitor received instructions from the Commissioner of Police to commence proceedings to seek an order prohibiting the holding of a public assembly in respect to which the Notice has been served, pursuant to s. 25(1) of the Summary Offences Act 1988″ – from the papers served to me on Friday.”

and further when I asked him whether there was a mention on the writ of alternate routes and times:

“The police offered ‘alternatives’ in the form of an ultimatum. They said we could not have any kind of march and that the protest could not assemble at Town Hall (where it has been advertised as starting for a month). This was unacceptable to the planning committee. The funny thing is they claim it’s because of disruption to traffic while they have facilitated other marches along similar routes at similar times.”

UPDATE 14/5/12

The case has been deferred to 2.30pm

UPDATE 14/5/12

Patrick Langosch, organiser of the Palestinian rally to be held in Sydney tomorrow reports that “We won!” in the court hearing today against the police. Waiting for details.

DETAILS:

Court upholds pro-palestine protesters right to march

At approximately 5.30pm today the application to prohibit the Al-Nakba demonstration by the NSW police was dismisssed by Supreme Court.

This means that the planned protest for tomorrow night (6pm Tuesday 15th May) will be larger than originally anticipated due to the publicity surrounding the case.

Protest organisers still question why, despite facilitating hundreds of protests every year, the pro-Palestine Al-Nakba protest was singled out to be taken to the Supreme Court.

Police argued that the protest would cause unacceptable disruption to traffic. Patrick Langosch, who defended the protest in court, “Palestinians can expect delays of up to 8 hours due to Israeli roadblocks. The disruption to Sydney traffic is nothing to the disruption to Palestinians lives caused by the Israeli occupation”.

“Todays ruling as a victory for civil liberties and the right to protest against the intimidation tactics of the NSW police” said Gaza Freedom Flotilla participant Michael Coleman, “had the court ruled otherwise we would be one step closer to the Apartheid state of Israel where groups are actively penalised and criminalised for commemorating Al-Nakba”

The march is planned for Tuesday the 15 th of May at Sydney Town Hall beginning at 6pm. The rally will include speakers from the General Union of Palestinian Workers, Jews against the Occupation and many other pro-Palestinian activists

Patrick – 0422028113 Michael – 0417638859

UPDATE 15/5/12

Police have issued confusing press releases saying the rally has been delayed – but it is definitely on at 6pm at Sydney Town Hall.

Jwire reports on the court hearing yesterday:

The judge failed to find any significant reason as to why this understood to be the first al-Nakba demonstration was being held in 2012. Langosch told the court that “it is not an option to have it on any other day than May 15? adding “the demonstration will go on regardless of the decision of the Court.” The judge agreed it that nbot holding on May 15 would be akin to holding Anzac Day on any other day other than April 25.

Justice Adamson said she would announce her reasons for the decision tomorrow morning.

During the hearing, Justice Christine Adamson referred to “the continuing grievances of the Palestinian people” in understanding the reasons for the protest.

Patrick Langosch comments at the bottom of the Jwire story:

This was a great victory for civil liberties and Palestine solidarity. One can only still wonder why, given that by their own admission the police facilitate hundreds of protests every year, they chose to take this one to the Supreme Court.

I also wanted to point out that the statement by the NSW police about the time of the rally and disruption to traffic is factually incorrect and the police have been made aware of this fact but have yet to issue a correction (in fact, in that time they have re-issued the same factually in correct statement).

The rally will be starting at 6pm at Town Hall and marching at 7pm. Why, given the whole day in court talking about it, did the NSW police tell motorists to avoid driving in the CBD from 5pm-7pm, which would only result in more disruption? Why have they not corrected this glaring factual inaccuracy and instead re-affirmed it? Incompetence? Malicious intent to cause more disruption then there would otherwise be as payback for the victor in the Supreme Court?

On the ABC : Sydney court rejects call to stop Palestine rally

In the SMH, the police info is also presented confusingly:

Freedom of speech trumps commuter chaos in eyes of the law

A Supreme Court judge has dismissed an application by police to prevent a pro-Palestine protest going ahead this evening, saying Nakba Day should be regarded like Anzac Day or Christmas Day.

The Al-Nakba Planning Committee plans to hold a rally from 5.30pm starting at Sydney Town Hall, with a following procession along George, Market, Pitt and King streets.

The procession was originally planned to start shortly after 5.30pm, but police advised this morning that the group planned to delay the start until 7pm to minimise disruption to commuters.

The Commissioner of the NSW Police had suggested that the procession be moved out of the CBD or to a weekend, citing concerns about disruption to commuter traffic at peak hour.

The Al-Nakba Planning Committee says the public assembly is to commemorate the day on which Palestinians were dispossessed from areas which now form part of the State of Israel, being May 15.

Justice Christine Adamson dismissed the summons last night at 6.30pm and published her reasons this morning.

“I do not regard it as reasonable to expect persons commemorating a particular date to defer or bring forward its commemoration so that it can be commemorated on a weekend,” she said.

“Nakba Day ought be regarded as a day which, like Anzac Day, Christmas Day or Australia Day, is referable to a particular date which is not movable.

“This is of significance since objection is taken by reason of the fact that the public assembly is to occur on a weekday, rather than on a weekend.”

Justice Adamson said the procession would go through the vicinity of busy Town Hall station and along George Street, “which has perhaps more bus routes than any other road”.

“If one’s purpose were to disrupt commuter traffic, one could hardly choose a better time or place. But this is not the defendant’s purpose. His purpose is to conduct a public assembly to commemorate Nakba Day. The date is the product of history,” she said.

UPDATE 15/5/12

Report on the Rally and March held from 6pm

Press release
Pro-Palestinian Al-Nakba commemoration a great success

Tonight over 500 people marched through Sydneys CBD to commemorate Al-Nakba. Al-Nakba is a significant date for the Palestinians and their supporters as it represents both the dispossession of the Palestinians in 1948 and their ongoing oppression today.

Yesterday the NSW Supreme Court dismissed the case brought by the Commissioner of Police attempting to prohibit the event.

“I don’t believe concern for traffic was the real reason the police took us to court” stated Patrick Langosch, who contested the polices case in court yesterday, “there are still 19 pro-Palestine activists in Melbourne who are in the third week of their trial after being arrested for attending a peaceful protest against the Max Brenner chocolate shop which supports the Israeli military.”

“This was part of the broader attempt around the world to criminalise solidarity with the Palestinians”, said Michael Coleman, participant of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, ” except this time it backfired for the police and has only made our movement stronger”

Event organisers have vowed to continue raising awareness and publicly campaigning in support of Palestine.

Patrick 0422028113 Michael 0417638859

On Yahoo 7 news, the numbers are deflated, and again the police furphy about the rally being delayed is repeated. Zombie cannibalist “journalism” at its most lurid.

Photos from the Sydney Al Nakba rally

Video of the March

Walid Khalidi on Nakba Day 15 May 2012 describes the zionists’ expansionist hegemonical intent in 1948:

‘As for nascent Israel’s “Davidian” status vis-a vis the Goliath of the “invading” Arab states, Ben Gurion provides eloquent testimony on it in his War Diary. Thus, on 24 May 1948, less than ten days after the Arab armies had entered those parts of Palestine allocated to the Arab state under the partition plan to preempt the advancing Jewish forces, David Ben-Gurion wrote (4):

“Maklef [Carmeli brigade] should receive reinforcements. His job is to occupy South Lebanon after bombing Tyre, Sidon and Beirut from the air. We will also shell Beirut from the sea. Yigal [Alon] should hit Syria [Syrian army] at [Mishmar Haemek] from the East and the North. Our airforce must bomb and destroy Amman. The weak link in the Arab coalition is Lebanon because Muslim authority there is artificial, and easy to undermine. We must establish a Christian state with the Litani River as its southern border (5). We will form an alliance with it.

Once we destroy the power of the Arab Legion [the army of Trans-Jordan] we will destroy Tran-Jordan and Syria will then fall. If Egypt dares to continue fighting, we will bomb Port Said, Alexandria and Cairo. This is how we shall end this war and wind up our ancestors’ accounts with Egypt, Ashur and Aram….”‘

UPDATE 17/5/12

Vivienne Porzsolt applauds the great steadfastness of the Palestinian people at the rally.

Ziolobby attempts to smear the march.

English translation [Google]:

To the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries

After greeting, initiative followed in my DSL Morocco through the written press and electronic outraged news about an official delegation will represent Morocco in the International Exhibition of Agriculture, Tel Aviv between 15 and May 17, 2012.

While the exercise by the Zionist ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people and the worst kinds of oppression and exploitation affects humans and the earth and the trees of administrative detention and destruction of homes and depriving the peasants of their land and their water … and at a time of growing concern across the world calling for a boycott of the entity Zionist note that your ministry complicit in breaking the isolation of this entity the offender and contribute to the strengthening of its economy by opening the Moroccan market in the face of agricultural machinery and seeds coming from the occupied territories. The International Exhibition of Agriculture, Meknes, in addition to the published website of the Zionist Central Bureau of statistics on trade between Morocco and the Zionist entity, leaving no room for doubt.

We inform you, Mr. Minister, as our condemnation of this policy cooperating with the occupation and call for your ministry through the Moroccan government to stop all forms of cooperation and cut off all relations with “Israel” whatever it is.

Please accept, Mr. Minister, and believe our feelings.

Guidelines from Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) promote boycott of events which are not framed in co-resistance and which normalise Israel’s criminality, specifically in a Palestinian and Arab context:

“as the participation in any project, initiative or activity, in Palestine or internationally, that aims (implicitly or explicitly) to bring together Palestinians (and/or Arabs) and Israelis (people or institutions) without placing as its goal resistance to and exposure of the Israeli occupation and all forms of discrimination and oppression against the Palestinian people.” [2] This is the definition endorsed by the BDS National Committee (BNC).

Related Links

BDS Maroc on Facebook

When the Dervish dates in Israel became known to Palestine solidarity campaigners, DPAI set up a Facebook page, Dervish, Don’t Bring Your Travelling Show to Apartheid Israel, the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) wrote an open letter to the group, musicians supportive of BDS contacted the band and people posted on the band’s Facebook page. There was no abuse of the band, no ‘venom’ directed at them (there never is), there was a concerted campaign to give Dervish information about the terrible situation of the Palestinian people, to tell them about their call for solidarity in the form of BDS and to ask them to join other artists of conscience in refusing to play in Israel.

When Dervish cancelled, stating that they had been unaware of the cultural boycott of Israel: “At the time we agreed to these performances we were unaware there was a cultural boycott in place. We now feel that we do not wish to break this boycott. Our decision to withdraw from the concerts reflects our wish to neither endorse nor criticise anyone’s political views in this situation.” (Official Facebook page here), they were congratulated by the IPSC, DPAI, who wrote a letter of thanks, and many other supporters of the Palestinian people. The cancellation, of course, sparked the usual hate-filled posts from zionists and that’s where the ‘venom’ referred to in Dervish’s second statement came from.

Here are some examples of the positive statements made by BDS advocates:

“Respect and thanks for having the courage to refuse breaching the Palestinian call for boycott.”

Raymond Deane, Cultural Liaison Officer IPSC: “Dervish – I salute you for this courageous and morally correct decision. You will now be subject to massive defamation from Zionists and their fellow-travellers – you should see this as proof that you have made the correct decision, because it will reveal to you the viciousness and mendacity of Israel’s apologists.”

Zoe Lawlor: “Well done and thanks Dervish. You have joined a growing list of artists refusing to play for apartheid. You are on the right side of history and with the Palestinian people in their struggle for justice. Respect.”

“Thank you so much for refusing to support apartheid, history will remember artists like you. It is not always easy to do what is right. You are not alone, Nelson Mandela and many other peacemakers have said they themselves cannot feel free until there is an end to the brutal occupation and colonisation of Palestine.”

“This cannot have been an easy time for any of you. I hope one day you play Tel Aviv again with laughter and lightness and when this difficult week is just a dim bad memory. Thank you for not breaking the boycott… you paid a much higher price than most people ever have to. Respect !”

Martin O’ Quigley, IPSC Chair: “Thanks Dervish for not playing to Apartheid. Supporting Human Rights is not expressing hate; supporters of the South African boycott didn’t hate white South Africans, just the policies of the Apartheid regime.”

Some of the negative comments from supporters of Israeli apartheid:

“LMAO at this band attempting to sit on the fence while simultaniously boycotting a country surrounded by a bunch of Arabs that want to see it destroyed. Israel has been at war with the savages that refuse to tollerate Israels existence, yet the world is siding with the intollerant Muslims while demonizing Israel. The world turning against Israel, now was this not prophesied to happen. Everything is right on schedule thanks for doing your part in satans agenda you bunch of lunatics.”

“Congratulations! You are now part of a cynical negative political campaign promoting nothing but hatred. Shame on you.”

“let it be kbown that i have heard that the bds uses some pretty shady tactics to threaten artists to cancel shows in the name of peace. oddly, much like hamas.”

“Wow Dervish! UNLIKE! Once again proving how anti-Semitic the Irish are! Please do not come back to Montana, we prefer real world music! I will do my best Not to promote you at every opportunity. Booooo Hisssss…get off the Stage!!!”

” white liberals. jeeeesus. take care all. i dont even like Dervish”

“For shame, Dervish, for so ignorantly taking a side in this misguided movement. Your statement that “Our decision to withdraw from the concerts reflects our wish to neither endorse nor criticise anyone’s political views in this situation” is so absurd as to be comical. How, by joining a boycott, are you not endorsing a position? Way to land on the wrong side of history. Pathetic.”

“this is the day the nusic of dervish die for me”

The posts above are representative of the reaction on the Dervish page and absolutely refute any smears against IPSC members and those standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people. They make Alan Shatter’s press release of 4th May look even more baseless when the evidence is there for anyone to see on the Internet. Instead of doing this and working on the basis of factual information, Shatter instead chose to write an outrageous press release accusing the IPSC (erroneously referred to as the IPSG) of “cyber bullying” and infringing on Irish citizens’ rights to travel. He also makes a link between Al Quaeda and the IPSC that is so ridiculous as to be laughable, except that this is a minister, in our government, paid for by our taxes, charged with upholding justice and protecting Irish citizens, IPSC members included. The statement defies belief and has been reported as fact in Irish newspapers, their journalists too lazy to actually investigate and report properly and accurately. The Irish Times and Independent are guilty of this and also claiming that there is no ‘official’ boycott of Israel, thereby displaying the usual orientalism of completely ignoring Palestinian voices. Meanwhile Shatter employs the all too familiar and predictable zionist tactic of mentioning Syria, demonstrating a profound inability to comprehend the simple tenet that the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign is just that, a campaign in solidarity with PALESTINE, not Syria…… rocket science and all that. By the way, his concern for Syria doesn’t extend to the Golan Heights….

While Palestinians live under occupation, oppression, siege, are frequent victims of Israeli war crimes and while over 2,000 of them are currently on hunger strike to protest the illegal practice of detention without charge or trial, Shatter has been silent. Could it be that the Minister for Justice has no sense of justice when it comes to Palestinians?

In the wake of the Dervish cancellation, there has been much hysteria in the Irish media, accompanied by increasingly poor standards of journalism – even journalists with no apparent pro-Israel agenda have managed to mischaracterise both BDS and the campaign around the Dervish tour. Above all else, they keep spectacularly missing the bloody point. Palestinians living through their 64th year of brutal occupation, betrayed by the so-called international community, have called for a comprehensive boycott of Israel – that’s their call, that’s one of the means by which they choose to resist the apartheid imposed on them. Solidarity groups support that call, that’s what solidarity means.

Raymond Deane, IPSC Cultural Liaison Officer, was interviewed by the ignorant and boorish Marc Colman on Newstalk radio (about 20 mins in) and subjected to personal attack by the uninformed and rude Eamon Delaney, both of whom trotted out the usual zionist cliches, familiar to any observer of the defenders of Israel and rehearsed multiple times on this blog. He was ‘accused’ of calling for the boycott himself, then it was claimed that it was a Hamas led boycott. Delaney even said that Israel shouldn’t be ‘picked on’ as it is a country made up of people who are white and European originally, very telling.

The thing about democracy is that, of course, everyone is entitled to an opinion but let’s make them based on knowledge not empty rhetoric or lazy thinking. If you’re going to be against the cultural boycott, at least be informed as to where it came from, what it entails, how it fits into the struggle, the truth about Israel’s constant repression of Palestinian culture. What we have seen here is the usual knee-jerk reaction of Israel’s supporters, who often don’t know what it is exactly they are against, all they know is that they will defend the apartheid state no matter what.

As with all the BDS campaigns I have seen, there is no harrassment of those who would cross the picket line, there is however a sincere and very urgent campaign to educate them and try to persuade them not to endorse apartheid. This is what campaigning for justice and human rights looks like, it’s what it looked like in the campaign agaisnt South African apartheid. That the Irish Minister for Justice either cannot or refuses to see this is disturbing. That journalists can produce copy based on lies, inaccuracies and mistruths is worrying.

This is the IPSC’s official response to Minister Shatter.

The Palestinian led cultural boycott is growing every year, more and more artists are choosing not to perform for apartheid Israel. It is an honourable campaign and one I am proud to be part of, as should all involved especially the artists who make the decision to join.

BDS until apartheid ends – if you don’t like it, then let’s see your work to end injustice.

SOURCE

Related Links

Justice and Defence Minister abuses position in attacking human rights campaigners

Letter to Seanad Éireann (Irish Senate) concerning defamation by Senator Paschal Mooney

More mendacious drivel in the Irish Times regurgitating speculation about venom.

All comments made prior to Dervish’s cancellation on their page:

The sentencing of the blood diamond-funded former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, for war crimes and crimes against humanity will take place on 30th May. Together with the Kimberley Process (KP) meeting in Washington shortly after, there’s sure to be a lot more media reports about blood diamonds and so there’s an opportunity to push the issue of Israeli blood diamonds into the media spotlight once again.

Your government will have a seat at the KP table. It is important that you voice your concerns about the trade in diamonds from Israel that fund war crimes and crimes against humanity but which evade the human rights strictures of the Kimberley Process and are sold worldwide labelled as conflict-free. NGOs are seeking to have cut and polished diamonds included in the remit of the KP but the vested interests are resisting any such move which would pose a serious threat to Israel’s burgeoning diamond industry and the entire Israeli economy. Even though the KP refuses to include cut and polished diamonds it’s important to raise the issue and expose the double standards in the Kimberley Process which is designed to protect the rich an powerful beneficiaries of the diamond trade while Palestinians hunger and die under Israel’s diamond-funded hegemony.

Please take a few moments to contact your political representatives and ask them to raise this issue in parliament and with the government.

As the time frame for action is quite narrow it is important to act as soon as possible. You can find contact details for your local MP here – http://australia.gov.au/directories/contact-parliament

Another promising development is the action by solidarity activists in Italy who are planning an Israeli blood diamond demonstration in Vicenza next Monday to coincide with a meeting there of the World Diamond Council that will be attended by all the movers and shakers in the global diamond industry.

For more information about Israeli blood diamonds and the campaign to stop them, visit here.

Below is a draft letter which can be used or adapted and sent to politicians about the issue. Please help the monitoring of the uptake on this action and BCC emails to diamonds@ipsc.ie

Australia must act to end the trade in diamonds from Israel that fund war crimes

The conviction of former Liberian President Charles Taylor by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity has again cast the spotlight on the trade in blood diamonds. It is a timely reminder of the urgent need for reform of the Kimberly Process definition of a “conflict diamond” which presently only applies to rough diamonds that fund rebel movements and not to diamonds that fund government forces guilty of war crimes.

Last year the Kimberley Process allowed the export of blood-tainted diamonds from Zimbabwe where government forces stand accused of serious human rights violations. Human rights organisations wanted the definition of a “conflict diamond” broadened to take account of diamonds that fund rogue governments guilty of human rights violations but the KP failed to act and the diamonds from Zimbabwe were allowed to contaminate the global market. As a result, Global Witness, a founding member of the KP, withdrew last December stating “most consumers still cannot be sure where their diamonds come from, nor whether they are financing armed violence or abusive regimes”. Other human rights organisations have indicated that they will also withdraw from the KP unless meaningful reform of the definition of a “conflict diamond”, accompanied by the inclusion of the cutting and polishing sector, is agreed this year.

Reform of the KP definition of a “conflict diamond” will be the main issue on the agenda at the KP Intersessional Meeting in Washington from June 4th – June 7th. It is important that the Australian representative at that meeting calls for a broadening of the KP definition of a “conflict diamond” to include all diamonds that fund gross human rights violations, including cut and polished diamonds which presently evade the criteria applied to rough diamonds.

Israel, a member of the KP, stands accused by the UN Human Rights Council of serious war crimes and possible crimes against humanity following the 2008/2009 assault on Gaza that left over 1400 people dead including more than 300 children;

The UN Human Rights Council investigation of the Israeli attacks on the humanitarian aid flotilla (including MV Mavi Marmara), bound for Gaza on 31 May 2010 during which nine people were murdered and many others injured, found that there was clear evidence to support prosecutions of the following crimes within the terms of article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention: – Willful killing; Torture or inhuman treatment; Willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health.

The investigation also considered that a series of violations of Israel’s obligations under international human rights law have taken place, including: – Right to life (art. 6, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights); Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (art.7, International Covenant; Convention against Torture); Right to liberty and security of the person and freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention (art. 9, International Covenant); Right of detainees to be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person (art. 10, International Covenant); Freedom of expression (art. 19, International Covenant);

Considering that evidence presented to the London session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine in November 2010 indicated that the Israeli diamond industry contributes about $1 billion annually to the Israeli military and security industries and that every time somebody buys a diamond that was exported from Israel some of that money ends up in the Israeli military;

Diamonds exported from Israel are therefore helping to fund gross human rights violations in Palestine as well as Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons programme which it refuses the International Atomic Energy Agency permission to supervise or inspect.

Given these facts, I call on you to ask the government to instruct the Australian representative to the Kimberley Process to call for:

the Kimberley Process definition of a “conflict diamond” to be broadened to include all diamonds that fund gross human rights violations by any group or government;
a ban on the export of diamonds from Israel until such time as it respects the human rights of the Palestinian people under its control and abides by the international human rights law and humanitarian law.

Related Links

David Cronin writes about the diamond trade that links Antwerp and Tel Aviv and how Israeli diamonds evade KP scrutiny.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] Movement

Samah Sabawi reviews Phil Monsour’s Ghosts of Deir Yassin album:

The video for Ghosts of Deir Yassin was filmed in January 2012, in a number of refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon and features the Palestinian spoken word artist Rafeef Ziadah reciting Fadwa Tuqan’s poetry: “I hope one day to return to my beloved homeland, to the flowers and roses, I no longer fear their power, I will return.”

The song Ghosts of Deir Yassin is an affirmation of this vow to return. The video features Palestinians of all ages in the refugee camps carrying the names of their villages of origin some of which were wiped out by Israel in 1948.

But other songs on the album are equally potent. The music alternates from anthem rock style to folk ballads and the themes range from the romantic “I left my heart in Palestine” about love at a checkpoint, to the tragic “Dark Tunnels” which was written when Monsour was denied entry into Gaza because of his Arab origin while the rest of his group was allowed to pass.

…

The album Ghosts of Deir Yassin is available at CDbaby and other outlets. One-fifth of the money raised by CD sales will be donated to projects in the Middle East involving Union Aid Abroad, a humanitarian aid agency run by the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

Related Links

Stop the Wall office in Ramallah raided in the middle of the night by fascist Israeli military

The ICC prosecutor’s deeply troubling decision to let Israel off the hook sent Israeli authorities the signal that it was safe to close the file on the Samouni massacre. And if Israel saw no crime in that brazen case, then don’t expect Israel to hold itself accountable for any other killings.
…
Given how determined the United States and its clients are to block all official channels for redress and justice for Palestinians, it is clear that Palestinians and those who support their rights must intensify their efforts by other means.

This would include mass mobilisation, the option of resistance through all legitimate means and building international solidarity especially through the campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on Israel.

Right now the battle is being waged by more than 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike, subjected to a cruel system of prolonged detention without charge or trial, or conviction by Israeli military kangaroo courts, and to inhumane and illegal conditions of imprisonment.

The most urgent cases are of ten hunger strikers, who are gravely ill and close to death, and who are still being denied family visits and access to independent doctors and lawyers.

The Susan Rices and William Hagues of the world are not only silent about these crimes, but fully complicit in them.

Former prisoners and hunger strikers have said that even the smallest demonstration, the smallest acts of solidarity anywhere in the world – which those still in Israel’s jails might hear about on smuggled radios – make an enormous difference to their morale.

So we must not sit by in despair; it remains up to all of us to put as much pressure on Israel and its accomplices as citizens can.

Ex-United Church of Christ minister experiences life inside the Gaza gulag
In ruling against hunger strikers, Israel high court shows its fear of security services
New French president says boycott of Israeli goods “illegal,” but Paris court acquits more BDS activists
NGO Monitor hasbarises shamelessly in Jwire, using the never-adopted EUMC draft definition of antisemitism.
Miriam Margolyes speaks out for Palestinian prisoners and BDS against apartheid Israel.
When zionists attempt to Christianwash Israel’s oppression, remind them of their fascist regime’s treatment of the Halabi family.
Great article with comprehensive analysis of the significance of the current mass hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners against Israel’s totalitarian regime, one of the largest hunger strikes in history.
Nutanyahoo’s regime is in contempt of court
Israeli fascist appropriates a Bob Marley song to use for racist, genocidal propaganda
An important affirming document from PACBI “Respecting BDS Guidelines: Self Determination and International Solidarity”

“Consistency aside, we wish to offer the rationale for our position, as we maintain that we should be consulted in the process of planning events that involve Israeli institutions in whole or in part, especially when such events fall within gray areas of the BDS guidelines. The insistence of Palestinians to set and interpret the guidelines may lead to misunderstanding, but it is an important, yet sensitive, element of building a social movement in solidarity with Palestinians. This insistence is related to the importance of self-determination and empowering a disempowered, colonized community. It is the oppressed who can best decide what they need from others in the struggle for self-determination, and for others to then decide to what degree, if at all, they are capable and willing of heeding the call of the oppressed.”

Israeli occupation cost to Palestine economy amounts to $ 7bn a year
APAN calls on Government to terminate Bill Shorten’s trip to Israel
Zionists wet seats to ‘sterilise’ them of Arabs [Hebr]
Columbia prof Katherine Franke joins academic boycott of Israel and will not speak at the Equality Forum
?”Jewish and feminist democracy” ? – Israeli woman arrested for denying husband divorce
“Two states for two peoples” means genocide of Palestinians and denial of their human rights.
Apartheid Israel jazzwashes in NY City.
Growing BDS movement in Kuwait – could gain inspiration from BDS Maroc and Qatar recent successes
While the hasbaroid tabloids spin Palestinian apathy, here’s the resistance
Yousef Munayyer unwinds some of the hero myths syncretised into zionism to prop up its mythology that attempts to excuse the theft of Palestine.
Susan Abulhawa responds to Halper’s latest views exposed by Frank Barat recently, which gave me the impression that Halper was speaking on behalf of Palestinians and expressing his own annoyance that they would not come up with a strategy to appease his requirements.

Omar Hassan: “Activists all across the world are being targeted for their campaign against Israel and I think this is just the latest step in that process. I think it’s because Israel is worried that BDS is delegitimising what is an illegitimate state.”

Rachel Sztanski: “We’re not going to be bullied out of protesting in support of Palestine.”

From the Australian Jewish News:

… defendant Jerome Small said there was nothing anti-Semitic about protesting for Palestinian rights. “To throw the anti-Semitic card is the oldest trick in the Zionist book,” he said.

As the only Jewish defendant, Crafti said misinformation created by the State of Israel generated anti-Semitism.

“Anti-Semitism is caused by a false connection between Jewish people and the State of Israel,” he said.

Defendant Omar Hassan said Max Brenner was targeted because it provided care packages to the Israeli Army.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.”

The Givati brigade, whose members were just let off the hook by the Israeli military for their murder of 21 civilians from the Samouni family during Israel’s Cast Lead massacre of the people of Gaza in January 2009, is one of the beneficiaries of the Strauss Group-owned Max Brenner chocolate shop chain largesse.

Boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli businesses like Max Brenner who support war crimes against Indigenous Palestinians will mount internationally until justice is brought to Israel, and Palestinians achieve their human rights guaranteed under international law.

Related Links

Max Brenner, a Legend of Contemporary “Journalism”
They’re Goin’ on a March – in Newtown
BDS Protest Against Apartheid Israel Near Max Brenner in Brisbane
BDS Protests Max Brenner Support of Apartheid Israel’s Occupation
Crackdown on Free Speech and BDS Political Protest in Australia
Boycott Max Brenners – No More Sweetening of Apartheid

A quarter-century ago I barnstormed around the United States encouraging Americans, particularly students, to press for divestment from South Africa. Today, regrettably, the time has come for similar action to force an end to Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territory and refusal to extend equal rights to Palestinian citizens who suffer from some 35 discriminatory laws.

I have reached this conclusion slowly and painfully. I am aware that many of our Jewish brothers and sisters who were so instrumental in the fight against South African apartheid are not yet ready to reckon with the apartheid nature of Israel and its current government. And I am enormously concerned that raising this issue will cause heartache to some in the Jewish community with whom I have worked closely and successfully for decades. But I cannot ignore the Palestinian suffering I have witnessed, nor the voices of those courageous Jews troubled by Israel’s discriminatory course.

Within the past few days, some 1,200 American rabbis signed a letter — timed to coincide with resolutions considered by the United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church (USA) — urging Christians not “to selectively divest from certain companies whose products are used by Israel.” They argue that a “one-sided approach” on divestment resolutions, even the selective divestment from companies profiting from the occupation proposed by the Methodists and Presbyterians, “damages the relationship between Jews and Christians that has been nurtured for decades.”

While they are no doubt well-meaning, I believe that the rabbis and other opponents of divestment are sadly misguided. My voice will always be raised in support of Christian-Jewish ties and against the anti-Semitism that all sensible people fear and detest. But this cannot be an excuse for doing nothing and for standing aside as successive Israeli governments colonize the West Bank and advance racist laws.

I recall well the words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail in which he confesses to his “Christian and Jewish brothers” that he has been “gravely disappointed with the white moderate … who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: ‘I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action;’ who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom. …”

King’s words describe almost precisely the shortcomings of the 1,200 rabbis who are not joining the brave Palestinians, Jews and internationals in isolated West Bank communities to protest nonviolently against Israel’s theft of Palestinian land to build illegal, Jewish-only settlements and the separation wall. We cannot afford to stick our heads in the sand as relentless settlement activity forecloses on the possibility of the two-state solution.

If we do not achieve two states in the near future, then the day will certainly arrive when Palestinians move away from seeking a separate state of their own and insist on the right to vote for the government that controls their lives, the Israeli government, in a single, democratic state. Israel finds this option unacceptable and yet is seemingly doing everything in its power to see that it happens.

Many black South Africans have traveled to the occupied West Bank and have been appalled by Israeli roads built for Jewish settlers that West Bank Palestinians are denied access to, and by Jewish-only colonies built on Palestinian land in violation of international law.

Black South Africans and others around the world have seen the 2010 Human Rights Watch report which “describes the two-tier system of laws, rules, and services that Israel operates for the two populations in areas in the West Bank under its exclusive control, which provide preferential services, development, and benefits for Jewish settlers while imposing harsh conditions on Palestinians.” This, in my book, is apartheid. It is untenable. And we are in desperate need of more rabbis joining the brave rabbis of Jewish Voice for Peace in speaking forthrightly about the corrupting decadeslong Israeli domination over Palestinians.

These are among the hardest words I have ever written. But they are vitally important. Not only is Israel harming Palestinians, but it is harming itself. The 1,200 rabbis may not like what I have to say, but it is long past time for them to remove the blinders from their eyes and grapple with the reality that Israel becoming an apartheid state or like South Africa in its denial of equal rights is not a future danger, as three former Israeli prime ministers — Ehud Barak, Ehud Olmert and David Ben Gurion — have warned, but a present-day reality. This harsh reality endured by millions of Palestinians requires people and organizations of conscience to divest from those companies — in this instance, from Caterpillar, Motorola Solutions and Hewlett Packard — profiting from the occupation and subjugation of Palestinians.

Such action made an enormous difference in apartheid South Africa. It can make an enormous difference in creating a future of justice and equality for Palestinians and Jews in the Holy Land.

Related Links

Remember when the Church of England voted against divestment from South Africa? A luta continua!

Dervish wish to announce they will not be taking part in the Irish music concert series in Israel this June.

Our original decision to participate in the concerts was, like all our tours and appearances, completely non-political.

The organiser of the shows is a musician and friend of the band for many years. He has worked to bridge divides between people through music for much of his life. These concerts were organised in this same spirit.

At the time we agreed to these performances we were unaware there was a cultural boycott in place.

We now feel that we do not wish to break this boycott.

Our decision to withdraw from the concerts reflects our wish to neither endorse nor criticise anyone’s political views in this situation.

Dervish are a grouping of like musical minds, we are not a political party.

Our motivation as a band has always been and will continue to be our love of music

(from http://www.facebook.com/dervishofsligo/posts/10150865226896341)

An OPEN LETTER had been written to the band from Raymond Deane. A facebook page had been initiated asking the band to respect the boycott.

A letter of thanks to the band emphasizes how important and significant their decision is.

Dear Kathy Jordan, Brian McDonagh, Liam Kelly, Tom Morrow, Shane Mitchell and Michael Holmes of Dervish,

Thank you for taking a principled stand to say YES to the cultural boycott of Israel. You should be proud of your decision to act in favor of justice and human rights. You follow in the footsteps of Roger Waters who wrote:

“Where governments refuse to act people must, with whatever peaceful means are at their disposal. For me this means declaring an intention to stand in solidarity, not only with the people of Palestine but also with the many thousands of Israelis who disagree with their government’s policies, by joining the campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel. This is [however] a plea to my colleagues in the music industry, and also to artists in other disciplines, to join this cultural boycott.

Artists were right to refuse to play in South Africa’s Sun City resort until apartheid fell and white people and black people enjoyed equal rights. And we are right to refuse to play in Israel.”

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu would certainly suppport your courageous decision, he wrote:

“International Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against the Apartheid regime, combined with the mass struggle inside South Africa, led to our victory … Just as we said during apartheid that it was inappropriate for international artists to perform in South Africa in a society founded on discriminatory laws and racial exclusivity, so it would be wrong … to perform in Israel“.

Your cancellation in support of the cultural boycott brings the children in Jen Marlowe’s heart wrenching film below one step closer to justice and freedom. We know you may have felt the pain of Gaza when Israel pounded it with thousands of tons of explosives. You would know that the suffering of surviving children in Gaza from Israel’s attacks continues. In the heartbreaking short film: “One Family in Gaza”, the children do play in the rubble of their house, but their little souls cannot escape the trauma of being shot at and seeing their home bombed and their brother repeatedly shot, even after his death. Jen Marlowe made this film showing the children play, she doesn’t show the bombing, allowing their loving parents to speak of their anguish.

One Family in Gaza from Jen Marlowe

Dervish, the Israeli state has a multi-million dollar hasbara [the Hebrew equivalent to propaganda] campaign and thousands of recruits to propagate it. Some Israeli promoters who bring the artists to Israel were even invited to the Israeli Knesset to discuss the anti-boycott campaign and the Israeli regime agreed on financial support to those who bring artists from abroad. Israeli ministers previously have stated the significance of culture in whitewashing Israel’s crimes – for example, Nissim Ben-Sheetrit of Israel’s Foreign Ministry stated in 2005:

“We see culture as a propaganda tool of the first rank, and I do not differentiate between propaganda and culture.”

We know you will be pleased to know that your name will not be used by Israel to justify policies of apartheid. You won’t appear on the CCFP’s dishonorable list of artists who ignored the boycott.

Thank you again for your great courage in honouring the Palestinian call for boycott, freedom, justice and the rights of innocent children like the dear ones in Jen Marlowe’s film.
Sincerely,

Don’t Play Apartheid Israel
We are a group, of 850 members, representing many nations around the globe, who believe that it is essential for musicians & other artists to heed the call of the PACBI, and join in the boycott of Israel. This is essential in order to work towards justice for the Palestinian people under occupation, and also in refugee camps and in the diaspora throughout the world.
“Like” and “Share” on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Dervish.no.Travelling.Show.Israel

SOURCE & SOURCE

UPDATE May 1, 2012

Whole Irish Festival in Israel cancelled?

Fullset announces their cancellation on Facebook and Twitter.

UPDATE May 3, 2012

On the duplicitous portrayal of the response to Dervish’s cancellation of their date with apartheid:

“Let’s remind ourselves, then, of what’s really going on. Israel’s new-found cultural appetite isn’t about a night’s entertainment in an Israeli concert-hall or theatre. It’s about taking the world’s mind off, and consequently her sympathies away from, the horrors being inflicted daily on the Palestinian people by the Israeli army and fanatical settlers. It is about the degredation and infamy of an apartheid regime; soldiers who can kill without answering to anyone, commanders who can commit potential war crimes and smile in the face of international law. It’s about covering all of this up in tinsel. It’s about promoting denial.”

Her recent article on Foreign Policy transports orientalism into the realms of the pornographic. The debased cover graphic of the issue in which the article appears is of a naked woman body-painted with a niqab and is well-attuned to the sly glittering generalisations in the content, where we do not read of women, but of events which happen to women. En masse, Arab women are reduced to powerless alien objects, victims of lascivious, sadistic orientals, the flip side of the romantic savage. This is the pornography of imperialism, where the natives are ritually objectified, voiceless victims to be aggregated and marketed to western voyeurs, all the better to appropriate righteously their treasures. The historical impact of the west is decontextualised and obscured – patriarchal tyrannies propped up to support exploitation of the vast riches of the Middle East, religious fundamentalism nurtured through inequality, hideous sanctions, pressures and intrigue to serve larger geopolitical goals are made secondary to the innate savagery of the oriental male and helplessness of his victim. One of the convenient, duplicitously benevolent western facades thus is assured to facilitate invasion, occupation and colonial aid as saviour to helpless women in societies which are miraculously located near areas with immense resources or with strategic import. Mona rails against the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists, although ironically both were abetted by imperialists in order to divide and rule, to assist in the ‘war against communism’ – and most importantly to ensure the riches of the region could be exploited by western capitalists.

The scapegoating and patronisation of the experience of non-western women also serves as a displacement for elite feminist class hatred of working class and poor women in western societies which cannot be expressed without losing leftist credibility. Non-western women are fair game, because racism and elitism seduces across the divide – the real war on women has no borders. Those who exploit us do hate us, and the ruling elite inculcates sexism, racism and bigotry to shore up its power. When we fight each other, we are diverted from challenging its loathsome power. And so Mona blames Arab men collectively and shifts the battle away from the cause: “Until the rage shifts from the oppressors in our presidential palaces to the oppressors on our streets and in our homes, our revolution has not even begun.” Who makes and polices laws which can end impunity for violence, which would stop “the men who can’t control themselves on the streets”, governments or individuals? why does Mona hold all Arab men responsible for the effects of rapacious western exploitation and puppets?

While western feminists focus on Islam and Arab men for the plight of Arab women, scrutiny of the predations of western imperialism and capitalism is minimised, and any potential threat from an evolution of the Islamic economic system nullified.

Here’s a collection of the best crits of Mona’s article “Why do they hate us?“:

Dear Mona Eltahawy –

Despite having witnessed alliances between man and woman in the Middle East, who have often fought alongside one another, we understand that we may be oppressed beyond our own belief. That the oppression has rotted our very minds and blinded us from reality, that the men of the Middle East are nothing more than savage brutes, unable to feel anything besides hatred towards us.
Again, dearest Mona, we thank you, on bended knee, for attempting to free us from bondage. We could not have ever imagined a more noble, qualified liberator. We pray that you also deliver the following message, one which comes from the depths of our very souls, to your closest friend and ally, the white man:

We thank you, dearest white savior, for neglecting to address the ‘war on women’ in your own region, in order to watch us, the women of the Middle East, progress. Shamefully, we have not yet even begun to repay you for freeing us from bondage with your bullets and uranium tipped bombs in places such as Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan. We are forever indebted.

Dima Khatib examines paternalisation and orientalism represented in imported western feminism to the Middle East. Feminism of all things is a grassroots ideology, of individual and local empowerment.

Your article paints a picture of the Arab society that matches the images of the article: black, bleak, depressing, a painted black body. You have reduced the problem of the Arab woman to the feelings of men; while the image of the Arab woman was reduced to the image that the West has of her. What you have tackled is true, and we have a long road ahead, and the revolutions have not achieved anything for women or for any one else when it comes to societal demands, and we have not yet been granted our basic rights, as women or as men. Like you, I felt a huge shock when the new Egyptian parliament was elected in front of my eyes while I was in Egypt, with women representing less than 2% of it. But the picture in your article is incomplete and gives the impression that we are all miserable, helpless female beings. Arab society is not as barbaric as you present it in the article. You actually enhance the typical stereotype in the non-Arab reader’s mind, and it is a stereotype full of overwhelming generalisations, and contributes to the widening cultural rift between our society and other societies, and the increase of racism towards us.

Mona: Why Do You Hate Us? –

The fundamental problem of Mona’s essay is the context and framework of how she analyzes why women in the Middle East are oppressed and the only reason she could give is because men and Arab societies (culturally and religiously) hate women. This is offensive to most women I know, who read the article and shared the same view. Women in the Middle East are not oppressed by men out of male dominance, they are oppressed by regimes (who happened to be men in power) and systems of exploitation (which exploit based on class not gender). Having women in power in a flawed system will not “fix” the problem either. We had a women’s quota in Mubarak’s parliament, did that change anything for women in reality? It was all ink on paper. Even after revolution, women are consistently used for political grounds by crony political parties. Explaining why women are oppressed without touching on any of the historical, political, or economical aspects of Arab countries, which are not all the same as she tends to generalize in her article, couldn’t be more delusional than this piece.

Us and Them: On Helpless Women and Orientalist Imagery

The laundry list of crimes committed against women, including “virginity tests” and genital mutilation, are serious charges which should not be ignored nor should they be denied. Eltahawy, in her attempt to highlight indefensible crimes against women, reaffirms the banal archetype of the poor, helpless woman of the Middle East-North Africa.

Eltahawy pens a lugubrious tale, where women of the Middle East-North Africa seem to have been forever chained to the floors, as captives. History is conveniently left out of this verbose condensation. There is no talk the Arab women of her native Egypt who defiantly took part in the forceful, countrywide revolution against the British occupation of both Egypt and Sudan in 1919, which led to Britain’s recognition of Egyptian independence in 1922; women, men, merchants, workers, religious leaders, students et al. held unified strikes against the British occupation on a daily basis, not in separate stalls but in the company of one another.

Omid Safi: “The hypocrisy of the “Why They Hate Us” rhetoric of Muslim Native Informants”

While bashing “cultural relativism” has been a favorite target of Fox News, it has also been used by genuine human rights activists such as Shirin Ebadi who have argued against condoning gender segregation and two-tiered models of citizenship based on gender. The difference between Ebadi and Eltahawy is immense: While they have both paid a price, and both suffered through violence and harassment, only one of them, Ebadi (the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner) makes the fight not about elevating her own position, but rather about establishing and networking with human rights and women’s rights organizations that actually uplift the lives and rights of Muslim women. (In fact, Ebadi refused the distinction between women’s rights and human rights, rightly seeing women’s’ rights as human rights.) Eltahawy’s move only elevates herself by stepping on Muslim women.

The problems that Muslim women face in so many different contexts are real, and are in need of urgent remedying. My intention is not to belittle or demonize one individual author. Rather, it is to point that that the solution is through solidarity and networking with the actual real work that is being done on the ground level, not by standing on the (Western) towers of moral patronizing, and elevating one’s own position.

Sherene Seikaly and Maya Mikdashi: “Let’s Talk About Sex”:

We would suggest, as many have, that oppression is about men and women. The fate of women in the Arab world cannot be extracted from the fate of men in the Arab world, and vice versa. El Tahawy’s article conjures an elaborate battle of the sexes where men and women are on opposing teams, rather than understanding that together men and women must fight patriarchal systems in addition to exploitative practices of capitalism, authoritarianism, colonialism, liberalism, religion, and/or secularism.
…
The battle against misogyny does not follow a “men hate women” formula. It cannot be reduced to a generic battle of the sexes spiced with a dose of Islam and culture. It cannot be extracted from the political and economic threads that, together with patriarchy, produce the uneven terrain that men and women together navigate.

Related Links

In this skin-crawling piece, Sami Kishawi describes the abominations inflicted on Palestinian women by Israel. When will Mona speak out against these western colonial horrors perpetrated against Indigenous women?

Nawal El Saadawi: “We are all the products of our economic, social and political life and our education. Young people today are living in the era of the fundamentalist groups.”

U.S.: Muslim Brotherhood gave assurances on Egypt-Israel peace treaty

Referring to a recent on the Muslim Brotherhood member interview with Al Hayat, where he said that the treaty with Israel is not binding, Nuland said: “We’ve seen this press report. I would say that it is one member of the Muslim Brotherhood. We have? had other assurances from the party with regard to their commitment not only to universal human rights, but to the international obligations that the Government of Egypt has undertaken.”

The U.S. official added by saying that, “as we’ve said again and again, not only with regard to Egypt but with regard to other states in that region in transition, we expect that legitimate parties will not only support universal human rights, but will also continue to support international obligations made by their governments they have made commitments to us along those regards, and as I said, we will judge these parties by what they do.”

Nuland’s comments came after last month top Egyptian opposition figure Mohamed ElBaradei told Iran’s Fars news agency that the United States is engaged in secret talks with Egypt’s ruling military council geared at ensuring that the country’s democratically elected regime will maintain its peace treaty with Israel.

“The negotiations were completely secret and confidential,” ElBaradei told Fars, adding that what the ruling military indicated “said was that the talks were about bilateral and mutual relations, but I believe that Americans wanted to ensure that the deals signed between Egypt and Israel will remain intact if Islamists ascend to power.”

Harvard professor Leila Ahmed in debate with Mona

Resistance and Revolution as Lived Daily Experience: An Interview with Leila Khaled

From Part 3, Leila Khaled:

My mother had opposed my and my sisters’ involvement in the ANM. I was often spanked for attending meetings at a young age. Once I went to a meeting in my nightgown because I snuck out of the house after convincing my mother that I was staying home for the night. My commander was astonished at my appearance and my colleagues were not fully accepting of me. This incident was a particular challenge because I wanted to practice my membership and be a part of that movement. It was not only political but also personal. In that meeting I was criticized for my actions. This criticism made me think critically about what was happening. I considered it a sacrifice because the other members considered my behavior to be beyond the pale of acceptability. I was very annoyed. I wondered why they did not appreciate that I was fighting against my mother. I was always against older traditions and the city was very conservative. That was a turning point in my life. I realized that I was simultaneously discriminated against in my life and in my family. I had to prove myself. Eventually, I managed to gain my mother’s acceptance. But it was only with the support of my father as he reminded her that we were all driven out irrespective of sex and so we should all work to go back regardless of our sex.

Leila Khaled and Shireen Said Interviewed by Sukant Chandan

Shireen Said:

We shouldn’t forget that the capitalist system oppresses and exploits women and takes away their human dignity. Therefore we must adhere to our values of humanity and progressive politics as well as remain united and strong in the revolutionary left as the best means to achieve our ends. This is the only path to attain freedom, equality, and social justice for us, our families, and our children.

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Mona Eltahawy, Your Facts Are Wrong and We Don’t Hate Women

On Muslim-Arab issues and the Danger of Aiding the Neo-Liberal Colonialist Agenda