In this interview, Omar Barghouti highlights the principled support from musicians and writers for boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel and spells out the reason why BDS will defeat Israeli oppression:
‘When celebrities of this caliber cancel events in Israel over its human rights record they help to reveal Israel’s true face as a state practicing occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid and contribute to challenging Israel’s impunity and infringement of international law.
…
Besides, I think the foundational principle of international solidarity is to listen to the oppressed themselves, their needs and aspirations, not to think on their behalf, as if we cannot think straight or do not understand what is in our best interest. The latter attitude is colonial and patronizing, par excellence.
…
Israel and its well-oiled lobby groups in the West have tried every trick in their book of vilification, intimidation, bullying and intellectual terror to deter or smear BDS activists and leaders everywhere. So far, they have miserably failed, however, as they themselves sometimes admit. Given its morally consistent, non-violent, human rights based agenda that upholds the rule of international law, full equality for all humans and a categorical rejection of all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism, the global BDS movement has dragged Israel into a “battlefield,” where we maintain decisive ethical superiority and neutralize Israel’s daunting arsenal of weapons, including nuclear weapons.’
Barghouti also outlines the justification for academic and cultural boycott of Israel:
‘The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel is a key part of the BDS campaign, due to the entrenched and persistent collusion of Israel’s academic and cultural institutions in maintaining and whitewashing Israel’s occupation and apartheid. It is important to emphasize that our campaign targets Israel’s academic and cultural institutions, not individuals, so the claim that our boycott would prevent Israeli academics or artists from interacting with their counterparts worldwide is simply false and intentionally misleading. Regardless, those who oppose the boycott because they erroneously think it infringes Israelis’ freedom of speech seem to forget that Palestinians, too, deserve that right. The fact that Israel’s decades-long system of colonial oppression denies Palestinians all our fundamental rights, including the right to free speech and often the right to education, appears to be less worthy of those critics’ interest. When Israel criminalized Palestinian education and shut down all Palestinian universities (some for four consecutive years), schools and even kindergartens during the first intifada, which was overwhelmingly peaceful, we did not hear much protest from many of those who are currently attacking the academic boycott because of its alleged impact on Israeli academic freedom. It is this hypocrisy that makes us wonder whether those people truly believe that all humans deserve equal rights, regardless of their identity.’
Samah Sabawi was be interviewed on the ABC’s Fran Kelly show tomorrow at 6.20am and will be heard again on SBS Arabic at 7.20pm tonight – Please ring in with questions for Samah if you’re around.
Item without notice: Motion (O’Sullivan/Macri)
THAT Council:
1. Resolve not to pursue the GBDS against Israel in any shape or form as called for in the December 14 resolution; and
2. Remains concerned about Palestinian human rights and calls on Israel to end the occupation of all Arab lands and dismantle the Wall; ensure the fundamental rights of Palestinians to full equality; and respect, protect and promote the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties.
Motion Carried For Motion and against BDS:
Councillors Hanna (Ind), Iskandar (ALP), Macri(Ind), Olive (G), O’Sullivan (ALP), Phillips (G), Tsardoulias (ALP) and Wright (ALP)
Against Motion and for BDS:
Councillors Byrne (G), Kontellis (G), Peters (G) and Thanos (Ind)
Marrickville BDS says:
Although Council is for the time being unable to continue formal support for BDS, there are many of us in the community to continue the struggle until apartheid is dead in Israel and it is a democracy for all its citizens.
Yesterday morning before the vote, Fran Kelly revealed that the NSW State ALP left faction voted in favour of BDS earlier this year in her interview with Deputy Mayor Sam Iskandar. Sam said BDS is not a goer as far as Marrickville council is concerned and unanimously the council was now against BDS. He seemed to be channelling the ziolobby and Ramallah, denied Anthony Albanese was a significant factor and sounded convinced that BDS is a federal issue. He also appeared to be under the misconception provoked by the ziolobby that the BDS movement holds a position on the one or two state solutions. It doesn’t.
Boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel can be implemented on an individual, organisational or institutional level with flexible, tactical measures targeting entities which support the Israeli Occupation and apartheid. BDS is grounded in human rights and international law and is called for because governments have failed Palestinians. The Australian government, for example, doesn’t support Palestinians, it sycophantically follows the Israel-centric US policy and interminable fake peace process, the deception by which Israel steals more Palestinian land, and continues its apartheid and ethnic cleansing.
For Marrickville Council to defer BDS to the federal government as ‘foreign policy’ is to deny truth – the Australian government has failed and is failing Palestinians – and it also means that the ziolobby strategy, to make an example of Marrickville in order to deter other such efforts, will have succeeded, temporarily – for as with other global human rights and justice grassroots movements, nothing can stop BDS. In Australia, grassroots mass movements for justice and rights with truth on their side inevitably WIN. The Marrickville Council BDS affair has served to gain national press coverage of BDS, the adversaries against it showed all their cards and it’s clear they will not withstand the unstoppable, legitimate ongoing global push for human rights and justice for Palestinians and accountability from Israel which BDS demands.
Those who think BDS is the wrong way to go to achieve justice and rights for Palestinian people aren’t listening to Palestinian civil society, but to the colonial voice in their head.
Boycotting Israel is the right thing to do:
Why Murdoch’s Australian is wrong over BDS
Speakers include:
Samah Sabawi, Australians for Palestine
Antony Loewenstein, author of My Israel Question
Sylvia Hale, former NSW Greens MP
The Murdoch media’s campaign to force Marrickville Council to abandon its support for a global campaign to pressure Israel to abide by international law has been relentless.
This meeting, called by concerned residents, will discuss the issues behind the global boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign and how we can support justice for Palestine.
Plus a screening of the short video by Anna Baltzer: Life in Occupied Palestine
Organised by Marrickville residents supporting the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. Sponsored by the Sydney Peace Foundation.
Friday May 13, 6.30pm for 7pm
Holy Trinity Church Hall
11 Herbert Street
Dulwich Hill, Sydney
Gold coin donation
Marrickville Council Meeting
@Jo_Tovey Massive crowd at #marrickville council meeting. Protestors out front. Huge number of people can’t get in. Placards for and against boycott.
RT @bgaensler: Media circus at #Marrickville #BDS http://yfrog.com/hs9e0dlj
RT @bgaensler: Minute’s silence for lives lost in Israel/Palestinian conflict. #Marrickville #BDS
RT @Jo_Tovey: There are more than 20 members of the public speaking on the #BDS tonight. Could be a late one. #marrickville
RT @antloewenstein: #BDS Fiona Byrne marrickville mayor arrives to thunderous applause for originally backing Palestinian rights
Hasn’t read bdsmovement.net RT @Jo_Tovey: Speaker Leslie Marsh says the boycott has no paramaters, no goal of what would bring it to an end. #marrickville
RT @Pollytics: I can understand why The Australian is so against BDS Testing, being Ramsey RESET fundamentalists & all (comes w being dim)
RT @antloewenstein: #BDS how many speakers will discuss Palestine? First person says gaddafi and David duke backs bds. Er Riiiight then.
Yay, go @fatherdave !! RT @bgaensler: Speaker 2, “Father Dave”: flowery, poetic, & pro-BDS. #Marrickville #BDS
RT @antwoabboud: fr bob: #marrickville becomes the frontline for this conflict. Death threats in this little town. In support of mayor. #bds
RT @antloewenstein: #BDS father Dave speaks. Strategy of non violent resistance against military occupation of Israel. Must be supported. #Marrickville
RT @idunnonews: Father Dave says ‘i don’t know if this fight can be won but this fight is worth fighting…prepare for glory’ #marrickville
@domknight The Middle East has come to a halt as Israelis and Palestinians alike wait nervously for the verdict of #Marrickville Council.
@domknight If the Marrickville boycott goes ahead, a chastened Israel plans to leave the region entirely and relocate to the NT.
RT @aljazsydandrew: motion is downgrade policy fr active participation n boycott 2 merely ‘in principle’ support. #BDS #Marrickville
RT @andalusiya: every anti-BDS speaker wants peaceful actions, but they support the wars and occupation of Palestine. #marrickvile #bds
RT @antloewenstein: #BDS people speaking against bds seem to not want to talk about reality in west bank and gaza. Funny that. #Marrickville
RT @mayouss: #BDS #Marrickville yey Newtown yuppie waffling. He has 3 mins to talk shit.
RT @bgaensler: Speaker 4, Ashley from Newtown: “#BDS is a ploy to delegitimise Israel. Shouts from gallery of “terrorist”, “racist”. #Marrickville
@idunnonews Another speaker says ‘I supports mayor of marrickville, who has never degraded anyone based on their culture/faith/race’ #marrickville
@antloewenstein #BDS Colin Hesse talks bout #Murdoch hate campaign against people talking bout middle east. Never let truth get in way of islamophobia.
Hasbara twaddle RT @idunnonews: Jewish speakers calls for unity through consensus rather than mistrust through #BDS #marrickville
Hasbara RT @Jo_Tovey: Prof Alan Rosen asks community to start again, come together for peace and communal harmony. #marrickville
RT @aus4pal: #Marrickville Anti-Palestinian hate being espoused by speakers against #BDS is incredible.These people spruiking utopia r living in a bubble
Oh I can’t WAIT for her article on that #sarcasmfont RT @Jo_Tovey: Just spotted Miranda Devine in the press gallery. #marrickville
RT @mayouss: #bds #Marrickville speaker against says she’s the Jewish lobby and she says friendly. I am scared.
RT @aus4pal: #Palestine = bad,#Israel = good. That’s what the haters here in #Marrackville will have us all believe!! #BDS
RT @Jo_Tovey: Indigenous speaker Ray Minnecon said he would have loved to see this kind of action for his people’s injustices #marrickville
RT @mayouss: #BDS #Marrickville @antloewenstein says council should maintain bds motion because human rights matter #herehere #palestine
RT @mayouss: #Marrickville #BDS citizens acting locally to support globally
RT @Jo_Tovey: Says Israel does what it does bec west allows it, says there r not 2 equal sides in this conflict but an occupier & occupied.
RT @Jo_Tovey: Academic Peter Slezak praises BDS, says Jews like himself have an obligation to protest violence in their name #marrickville
RT @Jo_Tovey: Palestian Samah Sabawi says most concerning thing abt this debate is the bullying endured by elected officials. #marrickville
RT @antloewenstein: #bds just spoke at #Marrickville. Israeli crimes matter. Standing up for Palestine matters. Happy to speak up for bds. Justice matters.
RT @antloewenstein: #bds just spoke at #Marrickville. Israeli crimes matter. Standing up for Palestine matters. Happy to speak up for bds. Justice matters.
RT @bgaensler: Speaker 14, Samar, her family still live in Gaza. Well spoken, actually referred to motion being considered! Pro-BDS. #Marrickville #BDS
Zionists find BDS negtive because it challenges their privileges & apartheid RT @Jo_Tovey: Uri Windt, from Jewish BD, says healing must begin and that no resolution containing the negativity of the BDS should pass. #marrickville
@Jo_Tovey Uri Windt, from Jewish BD, says healing must begin and that no resolution containing the negativity of the BDS should pass. #marrickville
RT @Jo_Tovey: Palestinian Bishara Costandi says issue is ‘local because Israel is global’. Says councillors must show moral fortitude. #marrickville
RT @bgaensler: Speaker 13: blames Murdoch press, government, Israel lobby. “Criticism from these groups shows #Marrickville is on right track with #BDS”.
Speaker 16: evicted from occupied territories in 1950s. Says if Palestinians had occupied Israel, everyone in #Marrickville would want #BDS
RT @bgaensler: 17th & last speaker at #Marrickville #BDS, Carole: “I support the boycott of Israel.”
RT @aus4pal: Local Carole Lawson speaks of #Bethlehem sister city farce if #bds is not implemented fully. #Marrickville
RT @idunnonews: Speaker says ‘ Palestinian uni students can’t get to their schools because of Israeli occupation in palestine’ #marrickville
RT @aus4pal: Carole list other international councils who support #bds. Congrats to Mayor Fiona Byrne for your courage!! #marrickville
Mayor Fiona Byrne now thanking contributors, about to open discussion amongst Council. #Marrickville #BDS
RT @Jo_Tovey: Labor cr Laura Wright says symbolic support is for BDS is wrong, is a banner that will continue local war of words. #marrickville
More rubbish RT @Jo_Tovey: Greens cr Max Phillips says he will not back mayor’s call for in-principle BDS, not enough support in community to justify it. #marrickville
RT @aus4pal: Cr Victor Macri spews the standard #hasbara. you #fail in this debate Cr Macri. #Marrickville #BDS
The spitting ziolobby have no idea what they have helped along. BDS will win the final battle
RT @aus4pal: Cr Marika speaks the #truth. #humanrights is THE MOST important thing!! #Marrickville #BDS
RT @misseagle: RT @mayouss: #bds #Marrickville palestine – It is a just cause. Councillor Marika.
RT @thebigriboldi: Greens Clr Kontellis sticks to resolve: it is a job as a human being to stand up for injustice #Marrickville 3 for 3 against (2 backflips)
RT @bgaensler: Councillor: we’ve let contract w Eden Springs expire because they supply water to Golan settlements #Marrickville #BDS
RT @goldentalon: #BDS has put #Marrickville on the map. Good on the Greens for taking a stand. The zionist entity must feel the wrath of the int’l community.
RT @mayouss: #bds #Marrickville not first council in the world. Will not cost a cent. @ councillor Marika
RT @aus4pal: Cr Marika reads letter of support frSpanish cnclrs 2 #Marrickville n #BDS. We mst spprt human rights and international law!!
Zionists don’t care about human rights for Palestinians because they don’t regard Palestinians as human! #Marrickville
RT @thebigriboldi: Clr o’Sullivan: symbolism doesn’t mean much. Obviously didn’t support the Apology #Marrickville
RT @antloewenstein: #BDS #marrickville sadly many councillors talk bout how much they care about Palestine and yet seem to want to sit on fence/reject bds. Sigh
RT @Jo_Tovey: Greens councillor Peter Olive denounces Labor councillors who supported original motion but have since gone silent. #marrickville
RT @aus4pal: Cr O’Sullivan has sold out the #Palestinians. This is a disgrace. She’s speaking gibberish. WTF! #Marrickville #BDS
RT @jdub: The early, grass roots campaigns against apartheid began in universities and local government. #bds #marrickville
RT @aus4pal: Cr O’Sullivan is totally out of order. Crocodile tears for #Palestinians. #Marrickville #BDS
We already know RT @aus4pal: The man of the moment. Cr Iskandar is the deal breaker on #BDS #Marrickville debate. What will happen……….
RT @bgaensler: Cr Iskandar: We r a little isolated council but we stand for social justice & r respected 4 doing so. #Marrickville #BDS
If it walks like a duck and spits like a duck @misseagle @peter_b1953: The people acting like Nazis here are the Zionists #BDS #Marrickville
RT @aus4pal: Cr Iskandar tells us how much he cares about #Palestine. And???????? #Marrickville #BDS
RT @thebigriboldi: Hangs on Sam Iskander. Lebanese. Once vocal supporter of BDS. Albo’s numbers man… #Marrickville
RT @antloewenstein: #BDS #marrickville almost comical to hear some councillors keep on saying how much they love Palestine but anything practical impossible.
Coward! RT @Jo_Tovey: Labor’s Sam Iskander says he will continue to support Palestinians but will not support BDS #marrickville
RT @bgaensler: Cr: Can’t make case that symbolism isn’t important. Exhibit A: @KRuddMP apology 2 stolen generations. #Marrickville #BDS
Cr Thanos is a champion for #Palestine. A real voice for #humanrights. Such voices must resonate!! #BDS #Marrickville
RT @Jo_Tovey: Ind D Thanos said symbolism has always been important in setting people free. Sounds like he will continue to support BDS #marrickville
Once upon a time, a long time ago, Australians used to believe in something called “a fair go”. #Marrickville #BDS
RT @nav_guy: 1. Vote for boycott 2. get fired by fascist o’farrel 3. immortality 4. ???? 5. Profit!! #Marrickville #BDS #braddpitt
@antloewenstein BDS #marrickville finally a councillor who talks about boycott against Burma being in council job. So why not Israel?
Cr: “Precedent 4 #Marrickville #BDS is our Burma boycott”. But presumably no divided opinion from locals on Burma
RT @Jo_Tovey: Looks like vote will be 8 – 4 against boycott at this stage. #marrickville
Oh yessss RT @aus4pal: #bds vote goes down in #Marrickville but the journey has only just begun. #israel WILL be held to account
RT @antloewenstein: #BDS #marrickville mayor Fiona Byrne. We have put bds on the national agenda. Bravo!
You can count on it! RT @bgaensler: Mayor Byrne: “Whatever the vote tonight, this issue will not go away.” #Marrickville #BDS
RT @bgaensler: Vote to rescind harshest part of #Marrickville #BDS motion: 6 in favour, 6 against. Mayor uses casting vote to defeat amendment.
RT @bgaensler: Vote on milder amendment to #Marrickville #BDS motion: 8 against, 4 in favour, amendment defeated.
RT @thebigriboldi: 2 Greens and 4 Labor flip. BDS goes down at #Marrickville Council, but campaign not over.
RT @Jo_Tovey: Still to vote on whether to overturn it completely, a separate motion #marrickville
RT @Jo_Tovey: Prediction correct – only four support retaining boycott. Thanos, Kontellis, Peters and Byrne. #marrickville
RT @Jo_Tovey: Council now debating a snap motion to write to BoF and Albanese outlining thoughts on their intervention into issue. #marrickville
#Marrickville might write to @Australian too, telling them to concentrate on locating those who make death threats against elected pollies
RT @Jo_Tovey: That motion was voted againt by Macri, Hanna and Labor, but passes. Council will write to both politicians. #marrickville
MT @bgaensler: Final vote on original #Marrickville #BDS to come. many people confused, think vote been taken, walking out!
RT @aus4pal: Cr Macri is going nuts. He’s clearly on someone’s #fascism payroll. #BDS #Marrickville
Councillor Macri: “This meeting has become a farce.” #Marrickville #BDS
Cr Macri: “#Marrickville Council is in a tailspin.” # BDS
RT @bgaensler: Vote to drop #Marrickville #BDS completely, but to “remain concerned” as to Palestinian plight: motion carried. No BDS!
#Marrickville councillors who voted to drop #BDS will go down in Australian’s book of Infamy
RT @bgaensler: Final motion as passed and how they voted. #Marrickville #BDS http://yfrog.com/h44qsagj
RT @Jo_Tovey: To clarify: boycott has been completely quashed, but council did call for Israel to ‘end occupation of Palestinian lands’. #marrickville
RT @kevinwilde: Over at Leichhardt Council tonight the Greens voted down a Labor resolution ruling out future boycott of Israel. #bds #marrickville
The final motion resolved “not to pursue BDS against Israel in any shape or form” while at the same time maintaining the three tenets of the BDS call – to end the occupation of all Arab lands and dismantle the Wall, to ensure full equality for Palestinians living in Israel and to support the right of Palestinian refugees to return home. This was carried 8 votes to 4 against. None of the councilors who had opposed the BDS resolution seemed aware of the incongruity of now voting for a motion that included the very demands that BDS seeks, while refusing to do anything about it, nor that Point 1 of the original in principle BDS statement had in fact not been rescinded.
Disinformation and smear tactics may have partially lost us this battle, but the struggle for freedom, justice and equality is undoubtedly stronger as a result of your efforts. Marrickville will be remembered as the “battle” that effectively put boycotting Israel on the map in Australia!
The night before the election, Greens supporters photographed a group of men putting up posters and stickers accusing the Greens of homophobia, hating democracy and supporting terrorism. The posters have been the subject of complaints to the police and the NSW Electoral Commission.
The Greens have also criticised a controversial phone poll conducted during the campaign.
A group called the Inner West Jewish Community and Friends Peace Alliance claimed responsibility for the poll last week, but denied any wrong-doing.
On March 3 a request from the group was accidentally published on the Jewish news website J-Wire and a blog, requesting $12,000 in public donations for activities ”to research what local people really think … carefully targeted media coverage and advertising in relation to the election … Please also pass this information on quietly to like-minded friends”. It was quickly deleted.
Eleven days later Marrickville Council said it was investigating four complaints from residents about a survey ”asking residents to comment on the GBDS against Israel”. At least one resident complained the interviewer had claimed to be from the council.
Cr Byrne labelled it a push poll and a dirty trick.
The survey and its results, showing only one-third of respondents support the boycott, have been made public.
The poll’s introduction said the interviewer was doing a ”short five-minute study about your views and opinions of the Marrickville City [sic] Council”.
It asked residents what factors should influence council policies and initiatives and provided a list that included climate change, traffic congestion and foreign affairs. It also asked whether the interviewee was aware of the boycott.
After saying that the mayor was the Greens candidate at the state election, it asked whether that would influence their vote.
Uri Windt, who is a member of both the alliance and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said the poll was scientific and definitely not intended to mislead.
”It’s not push-polling; it does not fit the definition. It was professionally conducted,” Mr Windt said.
The alliance has refused to comment on how much it collected and spent on its campaign.
”It’s not relevant what we raised,” Mr Windt said. ”It really was us taking responsibility for our own actions and the strategy we wanted to apply, so we raised the funds and paid our debts.”
Accusations of one-sided media coverage of the issue were also rife at Tuesday’s meeting. The academic Peter Slezak, of Independent Australian Jewish Voices, said Jewish critics of Israel and supporters of the BDS campaign had not been heard, particularly in the Jewish media.
Samah Sabawi, a Palestinian-Australian, said their voice had been lost. ”I don’t feel we were able to discuss and debate the issue rationally and I don’t feel the door was open for Palestinian voices to discuss what the BDS was about.”
Vic Alhadeff, chief executive of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said his organisation had no knowledge of the poster campaign, or the phone survey, until afterwards.
Noted that Alhadeff’s comment is out of sync from the cached blog post of the Inner West Jewish Community and Friends Peace Alliance, which says:
Also, we have among our own numbers people who are deeply involved in the Jewish community, and we are in frequent communication with Vic Alhadeff and Yair Miller from the Jewish Board of Deputies as well as Peter Wertheim from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
I focused on the realities in Palestine and Israel’s racial discrimination. This is something that impacts us all, the lack of dignity of the indigenous peoples of the land. One side is the occupier and the other is occupied. It’s not really all that complicated. This is what Zionism is.
I spent my allotted three minutes detailing how the West props up Israel and it is our responsibility to speak up for human rights. Jewish-only roads in the West Bank. The siege on Gaza and ever-increasing settlements in the West Bank. Nearly universal backing in the UN for Palestinian rights (except Nauru, Marshall Islands, Australia, Israel and the US). As BDS takes off in countless places, the arguments against it become even further removed from Palestine itself. If you can’t argue on the facts, change the subject. Talk about local politics, or “balance” or “peace”.
Last night BDS was defeated in Sydney but the message I’m hearing from countless activists is that this has galvanised people to step up the campaign for Palestinian rights
It is fundamentally dishonest to attack opposition to Israel as anti-Semitic. It is intended to silence legitimate criticism. It also makes it impossible to challenge the real anti-Semitism that is, unfortunately, on the increase. This is largely fuelled, but not caused, by Israel‘s atrocities against the Palestinians.
There seems to be a dearth of real information in the mainstream media about the nature of the non-violent BDS call by Palestinian people and a tangible quashing of Palestinian voices, along with smears, distortions and intimidation of BDS supporters. Those who are unjust fear justice. The non-violent BDS call is firmly based in human rights and justice. and was initiated in 2005 since all other measures by governments and UN have failed to deliver Palestinians their just rights under international law.
Australian individuals, institutions and organisations should be at the forefront against Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights in the same way they were against apartheid in South Africa. Measures under BDS do not need to be sweeping nor disadvantage communities financially, but can be targeted against specific institutions and organisations which support the illegal Israeli Occupation and horrendous apartheid. BDS is a creative tactic which builds, in global grassroots solidarity with Palestinian people, an ongoing awareness of and resistance to Israeli oppression.
I hope that the Marrickville Council does not back down to intimidation and unseemly political pressure and contributes more than just lip service to BDS.
(Learn more about BDS and how other Councils round the world have incorporated BDS at bdsmovement.net ; for information about Israel’s crimes of apartheid and colonialism, see http://www.hsrc.ac.za/Media_Release-378.phtml)
Palestinian Civil Society Call for BDS -Palestinian Civil Society Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights 9 July 2005
Moammar Mashni, of Australians for Palestine, said the withdrawal of support for actual boycotts was disappointing.
”[Critics] have created such a frenzy around this debate that moved away from the central message of what the BDS was all about – it’s about non-violence … a principled stand to deliver both peace and justice,” he said.
…
The expatriate activist and journalist John Pilger has weighed in on the controversy,sending a message of support to the council.
”Justice for Palestine, said, [Nelson] Mandela, is ‘the greatest moral issue of our time’,” Pilger wrote.
”That’s the company those Marrickville councillors – who have stood up for this ‘greatest moral issue’ – keep.”
The bulk of the story is interpretation or hasbara, and includes an unctuous plea from the hasbaroid lobby group which conspired to destroy BDS using push polls which are euphemised in this group as a survey.
A local group, the Inner West Jewish Community and Friends Peace Alliance, said even the mayor’s revised motion should be rejected.
”There’s real healing that needs to be done in our community and just coming in with in-principle support for the BDS movement, that hasn’t been discussed with us or the community,” said the group’s secretary, Janet Kossy.
…
The Inner West Jewish Community and Friends Peace Alliance carried out a phone survey on the campaign in March, and found that two-thirds of residents did not support it.
Ms Kossy called for $12,000 in donations in early March for ”activities that we believe will make a decisive difference” against the boycott. She would not comment yesterday on how much had been spent on the campaign.
It’s beginning to end. It’s beginning to end in the UK, it’s beginning to end even in the United States, in much of Europe, where people are finally being able, feeling that they can talk about it. And non-violent, completely non-violent campaigns, like the Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions campaign, the BDS campaign, which is much more modest than the anti-Apartheid movement but based on that, and supported by the likes of Desmond Tutu, who speaking in the spirit of Nelson Mandel called Palestine the greatest moral issue of our era, are starting to discuss it. There are views on this and those views should be heard, but this thuggish intimidation of people who are simply standing up for a justice is something that is particularly striking in Australia and in the Australian media and in my view reflects the, that monopoly, that omission, censorship by omission that exists mroe in Australia, than practically in any other Western democracy.
What is emerging instead is a slow but sure manifestation of a new transnational movement, centred less on statehood and more on forging a national project that will traverse the existing Palestinian divides – diaspora, occupied territories and Israeli Arab citizens – and bypass the notion of an independent Palestinian state on part of Palestinian soil.
On Al Jazeera’s Riz Khan : Walls of division – Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters adds his voice to Palestinian people and others demanding Israel to remove its illegal separation wall.
Roger Waters from Pink Floyd calls for solidarity with the BDS campaign against apartheid Israel.
The Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity protest, comprised of Israelis and Palestinians, takes place in East Jerusalem each week. This week’s action was met with violence as the police sought to shut down the protest. Three activists were taken into police custody. Sheikh Jarrah is a Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem subject to house evictions and increased illegal settlement.
The systematic apartheid practised by Israel punishes its Palestinian minority just for being born Palestinian and corrupts the rest of the populace. There are numerous laws and more trouble in the frying pan which discriminate against Israeli minorities. Assa Doron commends those who protest against oppression and notes:
The current government is attempting to redefine Israel’s raison d’etre as one premised on racism and prejudice towards Arabs.
Through its oppression against its minorities, those whom it occupies and those who protest these injustices, Israel delegitimises itself. As Professor Neve Gordon says:
‘The ongoing delegitimization of those watchdogs of democracy – human rights NGOs, the press and public intellectuals – is leading Israel down a steep and slippery slope … what kind of countries attack their own human rights organizations? The answer is straightforward.’
Boycotts, divestments and sanctions directly challenge Israel’s practices when governments have failed to do so or actively support Israeli oppression. What’s the point of having a nation state if it perpetrates atrocities and discrimination on 20% of its populace and suppresses an equivalent population to its own on adjacent land which it covets and usurps? where’s the legitimacy in state oppression and land theft?
‘Prince of Mercenaries’ who wreaked havoc in Iraq turns up in Somalia Lebanon crisis a test for the US
“The US is pursuing an aggressive Lebanon policy that will inevitably lead to conflict, a game the Iranians are willing to play. Tehran is aware it holds the upper hand, and there is little the Americans can do to dislodge Hezballah, which enjoys widespread popular support in addition to its unrivalled military presence in Lebanon.” The Rise of the New Global Elite – doesn’t include the role of capitalism/mercantilism as mechanisms of predatory nation states; incomplete politicohistorical context – no discussion of neocolonialism, colonialism or empire
With its credibility seriously eroded by Wikileaks, the US government is digging its hole deeper with Department of Justice subpoenas of the private DM messages of Wikileaks supporters.
Birgitta Jonsdottir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, said last night on Twitter that the “USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?”
She said she was starting a legal fight to stop the US getting hold of her messages, after being told by Twitter that a subpoena had been issued. She wrote: “department of justice are requesting twitter to provide the info – I got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over.”
She said the justice department was “just sending a message and of course they are asking for a lot more than just my tweets.”
Jonsdottir said she was demanding a meeting with the US ambassador to Iceland. “The justice department has gone completely over the top.” She added that the US authorities had requested personal information from Twitter as well as her private messages and that she was now assessing her legal position.
“It’s not just about my information. It’s a warning for anyone who had anything to do with WikiLeaks. It is completely unacceptable for the US justice department to flex its muscles like this. I am lucky, I’m a representative in parliament. But what of other people? It’s my duty to do whatever I can to stop this abuse.”
Twitter would not comment on the case. In a statement, the company said: “We’re not going to comment on specific requests, but, to help users protect their rights, it’s our policy to notify users about law enforcement and governmental requests for their information, unless we are prevented by law from doing so.”
Most of Twitter’s messages are public, but users can also send private messages on the service.
Marc Rotenberg, president of the online watchdog the Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) in Washington, said it appeared the US justice department was looking at building a case against WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, over its publication of secret US documents.
EPIC has already requested that the US authorities hand over information about their investigations into people who have donated to WikiLeaks via Mastercard, Visa or PayPal.
“The government has the right to get information, but that has to be done in a lawful way. Is there a lawful prosecution that could be brought against WikiLeaks? It seems unlikely to me. But it’s a huge question here in the US,” said Rotenberg.
Suffice to say, this is a serious escalation of the DOJ’s efforts to probe, harass and intimidate anyone having to do with WikiLeaks. Previously, Appelbaum as well as Bradley Manning supporter David House — both American citizens — had their laptops and other electronic equipment seized at the border by Homeland Security agents when attempting to re-enter the U.S.
The US government contortions increasingly remind me of those of Bjelke Petersen’s Queensland police state when faced with the Fitzgerald Inquiry. This inquiry was mentioned by Julian Assange in his “Jerilderie letter” published in The Australian the night before his incarceration. In the absence of a Royal Commission and the unwillingness of the superpower to incorporate and submit to international law however, we have Wikileaks, which in one sense is a form of open jurisdiction.
UPDATE
@rixstepnews Send all your secret Twitter stuff to tracy.mccormick@usdoj.gov or fax it to +1 703-299-3981 #Assange #subpoena #WikiLeaks #
@rixstepnews Everybody collect their tweets and DMs and email them to tracy.mccormick@usdoj.gov. Send at least two copies. #Assange #subpoena #WikiLeaks #
@ioerror It seems quite wrong that I feel safe in Iceland while simultaneously having a sense of apprehension about returning to the USA next week. #
@wikileaks Note that we can assume Google & Facebook also have secret US government subpeonas. They make no comment. Did they fold? #
@ioerror Now’s a good time to note that *the world* needs strong anonymity. Help out: https://www.torproject.org/getinvolved/volunteer.html.en #
@ioerror I wonder if the subpoena is merely a front to legally introduce evidence captured by the confirmed NSA wiretaps two blocks from Twitter HQ? #
@Jinjirrie RT @TheJusticeDept January is National Stalking Awareness Month. http://is.gd/klycZ #irony #wikileaks #
@Colvinius Does this mean you? “@spyblog Subpoena demands usernames & IP addresses of all 634.892 current Followers of the “wikileaks” Twitter account” #
UPDATE 2 (recording my tweets for the stalking DOJ’s convenience since the ‘DOJ does not collect comments or messages through this account.’)
@Jinjirrie Hey @TheJusticeDept if you want to know about me, follow me, you might learn something about justice3 #
@Jinjirrie Instead of harassing & repressing Wikileaks & hr activists, US govt shd end its crimes against humanity & prosecute its torturing criminals #
@Jinjirrie The more the US govt attempts to suppress the truth about its crimes & protects its torturing crims, the less its credibility #
@Jinjirrie The less the US govt’s credibility, the less people will choose to holiday there, invest there, or have anything to do with it. #
@Jinjirrie Tourism is of course, the second biggest US export earner after defence. The US govt’s behaviour is thus inimical to its peoples’ welfare. #
@Jinjirrie The US debt is now $14t – the US needs every export dollar it can manage, the chinese aren’t happy about US printing more money #
@Jinjirrie China and Russia have already moved to trading bilaterally in their own currencies #
@Jinjirrie The devaluation of the USD due to the Fed printing more money devalues Chinese investments in the US – there are consequences, US #
@Jinjirrie What happens when the world tires of carrying the US, which has attained its wealth from global exploitation? #
The irony remains, however, that it is the intolerant Americans, Europeans, and the Israelis and their extremist intolerant, though at times unwitting, local allies, namely the violent minority of sectarians among Islamists, who stand to benefit most from the Alexandria tragedy. Unless intellectuals in Egypt and the Arab world, Muslim and Christian, religious and secular, resist joining this international alliance of the intolerant, they may very well help them achieve their goals.
Like it or not, the fact is that the rabbis simply put into clear words the anti-democratic implications of the term “Jewish State”. It is the privileges of Israel’s Jewish citizens and the policy of progressively marginalizing the Arabs that are the source of racism. The rabbis are outspoken about it, the Knesset and government prefer a more subtle approach. In order for Israel to be a Jewish State in the moral sense, that is, do not unto Arabs what is hated by Jews, it must be democratic. Democracy is the institutional manifestation of the Jewish doctrine that we are all created in His image.
“The founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange denied what was recently circulated about a secret deal that he might have made with israel in return for not publishing anything about it in the series of the leaked American diplomatic documents that his website publishes.
Assange said Wednesday evening in “Without Limits” on Al-Jazeera that he didn’t make any deal with israel and revealed that his site would publish hundreds of documents relating to israel in the coming months. He stated that he has 3700 documents and 2700 of these documents originated from israel alone.
He added, “we did not have direct or indirect contact with the israelis, but the israeli intelligence (mossad) and other intelligence agencies are following us and attempt to predict what we will do. And I’m sure that the israeli intelligence is interested in us, but it did not contact us. It might have contacted individuals that used to work for our organization, but at the moment, there are no communications between them [israeli intelligence] and us.
He added that what was published about israel represents 1% or 2% of the documents concerning israel. But he stated that international newspapers that he made a deal with to publish the documents chose what they wanted to publish based on their interest in them. He said that that reflects the “bias” of some of these newspaper and that his site would publish all the documents it has and are related to israel.
Assange revealed that there are sensitive and classified documents that deal with israel’s war on Lebanon in 2006. Others deal with the assassination of Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in Dubai and the diplomatic telegrams regarding the passports used by the mossad in the operation.
He said that there is an important telegram about Hizb Allah’s telecommunications’ network that mentions fiber lines and that one of these lines passed by the French embassy in Beirut. He added that this matter “worries Washington because control of telecommunications is important.”
He stated that the secret classified documents include mention of the mossad, and high ranking communications regarding the assassination of a Syrian official by a sniper. He said that the publication of the documents relating to israel and some Arab states will continue for six months.”
“There are 3,700 files related to Israel and the source of 2,700 files is Israel. In the next six months we intend to publish more files depending on our sources,” said Assange in the nearly one-hour interview telecast live from the UK.
Q: An Arabic newspaper called Al Haqeeqa ["the Truth"] conducted an interview with one of your former colleagues who said you have a deal with Israel not to publish these secret files.
A: This is not true. We have been accused as agents of Iran and CIA by this former colleague who was working for Germany in the past and was dismissed from his job after we published American military documents related to Germany.
We were the biggest institution receiving official funding from the US but after we released a video tape about killing people in cold blood in Iraq in 2007, the funding stopped and we had to depend on individuals for finance.
Q: When will you publish the files related to Israel on your website?
A: We will publish 3700 files and the source is the American embassy in Tel Aviv. Prime Minister Netanyahu was traveling to Paris to talk to the US ambassador there. You will see more information about that in six months.
Q: Do these Israeli files speak about the July 2006 Israeli war against Lebanon?
A: Yes there is some information about that and these files were classified as top secret.
Q: Is there any relation with these files and the assassination of Hamas military leader Al Mabhoh in Dubai?
A: Yes there are some indication to this and may be some special reports published by newspapers. Mossad agents used Australian, British and European passports to travel to Dubai and there are diplomatic files about that.
Q: Are there any security service companies providing information to international airports and monitoring passengers even in the Arab countries?
A: There are some files about American and Israeli security companies that tried to intervene in certain areas. For example, in Brazil, the American embassy put some Israeli security companies during the Olympic Games.
Q: Are there any files about agencies providing intelligence information about famous personalities in the Arab world?
A: I am not sure about that but there are files about Hezbollah in Lebanon. In one of these files Lebanon government complained against cables passing near the French embassy. American are always very much worried about the telecommunications network.
Q: Are there any files about Israeli agents in the Arab world including some Arab royal palaces.
A: Most of the files related to Mossad are classified as top secret but there may be some files related to the role of Mossad in killing Lebanese military leader in Damascus by sniper bullets.
There 2,500 files related to Mossad and I have read only 1000. So I don’t know about everythiong, I need more journalists including Arabs to read and analyse and put everything in the context for the benefit of the readers.
We have 17,000 files where the word Qatar has been mentioned, the source of 3,000 of these files is the American embassy in Doha.
Q: What is the most interesting file about Qatar that was not published?
A: There is a lot to be read. The name of Waddah Khanfar has been mentioned in 504 files. Some of these files have been published by The Guardian.
Q: How do the Americans view Al Jazeera in these files?
A: There were some meetings between people from Al Jazeera and the US embassy where the latter suggested coverage of certain things in a certain way.
There are files about a TV channel in Dubai which the Americans said can be used against Al Jazeera and when this channel tried to move in the American direction, people stopped watching it.
The Americans despite having a base here were angry about the presence of an Iranian bank in Qatar but Qatar said it would not close it but would not open new banks. Despite that this bank established many more branches in Doha. Qatar is trying to create a balance between the Arab world and the America.
The Americans appreciate having their largest base in Doha but Qatar does not agree with all American requirements and Al Jazeera is a good example for that.
I have been notified about the general rumour a few weeks ago, and shortly after about the appearance of me as involved in those allegations. I have never spoken to anyone at syriatruth or that reporter that is making these claims, nor do I know anything about any deals JA has allegedly made with Israelis.
Given what is appearing in the Scandinavian area with the involvement of Shamir and Wahlstrom I wouldn’t actually expect that to happen either. In any case, this latter statement is just my personal judgement.
I once received a test mail from a nizar.nayouf@syriatruth.net, and then a followup regarding OpenLeaks questions. A contact request to him after hearing of the allegations was not replied to.
In the last week or so I have been contacted by Israeli TV about this, as well as French Le Point today. Those are the only media outfits so far that seem to have taken interest. Other than that it seems to be mainly spreading via weird Russian and religious forums, at least from as much as I am aware of.
As I read somewhere that this alleged reporter I allegedly talked to works for Hareetz, I have asked the folks from Israeli TV if they could help find out who that is, and how to contact her. They replied that there doesn’t seem to be anyone by that name. So obviously, which was my gut feeling also, that person does not exist. Why that rumour is circulated, I dont know. I have my feelings about that and think we should give it some more time to uncover itself.
More disturbingly, the cables reveal that behind closed doors our political leaders deal incautiously with representatives of the United States and Israel. They seem to forget that they are dealing with the representatives of a foreign country, in a game that is definitely reserved for grown-ups, the world of navigating our country through the shoals of major international events. They make such forthright and absolute declarations of support that they leave hostages to fortune, giving themselves little room to negotiate on issues arising in the future on the basis of a hard-nosed assessment of where Australia’s national interest lies. Indeed, at times they give the impression they would struggle to see the difference between Australia’s national interests and those of the United States or Israel.
Despite vehement protestations by Netanyahu to the contrary, Wikileaks cables (and Netanyahu’s public admonitions), have shown Israel consistently conflates peace with Palestinians with its existential fear of Iran as number one threat, emphasising an interminable, nebulous and largely self-created security problem which inflates a deliberately marketed victimhood which the US is expected to ease and pander to at all times. In turn, this mechanism provides US military industrial plutocrats, Middle Eastern dictators and other ruling class mavens with plausible deniability for exploitation of the world’s richest sources of energy, at the expense of ordinary people of the region, negating an equitable outcome for rightsless Palestinians that would truly be in the interests of everyone’s security except those who profit from their oppression.
WikiLeaks now plans to begin sharing the cables with a wider group of regional news organisations. Julian Assange says all future cables released by WikiLeaks will either be redacted by other partner news organisations, or by WikiLeaks itself. The Guardian and its partners in the project, the New York Times, Der Spiegel, El Pais and Le Monde, will continue to share redactions with WikiLeaks for any cables they publish in future.
Assange defended one of WikiLeaks’ collaborators, Israel Shamir, following claims Shamir passed sensitive cables to Belarus’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko has arrested 600 opposition supporters and journalists since Sunday’s presidential election. The whereabouts and fate of several of the president’s high-profile opponents are unknown.
Of Shamir, Assange said: “WikiLeaks works with hundreds of journalists from different regions of the world. All are required to sign non-disclosure agreements and are generally only given limited review access to material relating to their region. We have no reason to believe these rumours in relation to Belarus are true.”
Over the past month the Guardian has published more than 200 articles based on the trove of US diplomatic dispatches obtained by WikiLeaks, and 739 of the cables themselves. All cables published by the Guardian and the four other international news organisations who had exclusive early access to the material have been carefully redacted to protect sources who could be placed in danger, and the redacted versions have been passed to WikiLeaks.
It’s annoying that the Guardian didn’t ask Assange how the Norwegian paper Aftenposten received the entire trove of documents, because I would like to know whether my suspicions are correct.
Swedish Radio, Medierna, discovered last week that Shamir’s son, Johannes Wahlström ‘is the gatekeeper of the cables in Scandinavia, and “has the power to decide” which newspapers are provided access and what leaks they are allowed to see’.
The FBI came unannounced to knock on doors at two apartments in Chicago this morning. FBI agent Robert Parker, under orders from U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office, delivered a subpoena to Maureen Murphy. Murphy, like several other individuals served subpoenas, is an organizer with the Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago.
This continues the repression unleashed by Fitzgerald on the anti-war movement since September 24th, when fourteen subpoenas were delivered to anti-war, labor, and solidarity activists in coordinated raids involving more than 70 federal agents. Armed FBI agents raided homes, taking computers, phones, passports, documents, notebooks, and even children’s artwork. A total of 23 subpoenas have been served to activists around the country.
Maureen Murphy said, “Along with several others, I am being summoned to appear before the Grand Jury on Tuesday, January 25th, in the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago. We are being targeted for the work we do to end U.S. funding of the Israeli occupation, ending the war in Afghanistan and ending the occupation of Iraq. What is at stake for all of us is our right to dissent and organize to change harmful US foreign policy.” Ms. Murphy is also the Managing Editor of the widely-read website, The Electronic Intifada.
In addition, three women in Minneapolis – Tracy Molm, Anh Pham, and Sara Martin – are threatened with reactivated subpoenas by Fitzgerald’s office and new Grand Jury dates. Tom Burke of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression explained, “It is likely the three individuals, like all the others so far, will continue to refuse to take part in Fitzgerald’s witch hunt. Fitzgerald can then call for putting them in jail as long as he wants.”
For more information: www.stopfbi.net
Contact: Tom Burke, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, 773-844-3612
Since 24 September, the FBI has raided seven Chicago and Minneapolis homes of activists and has served a total of 19 federal subpoenas across the Midwest. The targeted citizens are outspoken community organizers and students critical of US policy in Colombia, Palestine and the Middle East.
The grand jury and FBI are seeking evidence that connects the 19 activists and their “potential co-conspirators” to US-designated “terrorist organizations.” Five of the nineteen activists being targeted are Palestinian-Americans whose only crime is working tirelessly to inform fellow citizens of the realities of Israeli occupation. None of the 19 has been charged with a crime, and all deny providing material support, including money, to any foreign organization. These activists are shining examples of courage and fortitude, ordinary citizens doing the extraordinary work of building knowledge and support for justice and a common humanity
Federal harassment of our communities and associational life has grown precipitously during the last decade, as Arabs, Muslims and their allies continue to be persecuted for their lawful and necessary civic engagement. This suppression of civil rights and free speech seeks to criminalize and quell civic activism undertaken in support of Palestinian and other oppressed peoples’ struggles against US-funded occupation and war. This harassment must stop.
The United States Palestinian Community Network stands in full support of our brothers and sisters unjustly targeted by the federal government.
We assert our determination and commitment to challenge our government’s policies, both here and abroad, and will continue to defend the rights of Palestinians, our allies, and all those struggling against oppression. The USPCN upholds the constitutional right of Americans to dissent without fear of persecution, and the rights of peace and justice organizations to organize, educate, and assemble, free and unbridled.
We call upon all USPCN local chapters, members and fellow citizens, to join existing local and national efforts organized by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (http://www.stopfbi.net).
Do not be intimidated, we struggle together. Continue to speak your conscience, continue to educate, and continue to organize. Justice will prevail.
It is beyond reprehensible that the US is witchhunting honourable people who stand up for truth and justice for oppressed people. What next? Star chambers and kangaroo courts for Electronic Intifada subscribers? How can YOU help? Firstly:
@Maureen_70 : if you think the FBI shouldn’t be messing with activists be sure to call US Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald (312-353-5300) and say so #stopfbi #
Secondly, donate to Electronic Intifada so the truth can continue to ring out clearly above a cacophony of base, repressive dross.
These loathsome US measures are signs of the empire’s moral bankruptcy and desperation. When the state is challenged, when truth is spoken to power, the state devolves to authoritarianism, with FBI actions being “reminiscent of the agency’s COINTELPRO program of the 1950s and 1960s that targeted Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Black Panther leaders, among many others”.
“To resume, in a few words, the system of the Imperial government, as it was instituted by Augustus, and maintained by those princes who understood their own interest and that of the people, it may be defined an absolute monarchy disguised by the forms of a commonwealth. The masters of the Roman world surrounded their throne with darkness, concealed their irresistible strength, and humbly professed themselves the accountable ministers of the senate, whose supreme decrees they dictated and obeyed.” – Edward Gibbon, “Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire”, Chapter 3
Gal Lugassi is an Israeli conscientious objector, a member of the Shiministim, an activist with the Anarchist Against the Wall action group, and the Boycott! from Within group. She also volunteers at the Coalition of Women for Peace and with the Who Profits project.
Anarchists Against the Wall (AATW) is a direct action group that was established in 2003 in response to the construction of the wall Israel is building on Palestinian land in the Occupied West Bank. The group works in cooperation with Palestinians in a joint popular struggle against the occupation.
Since its formation, the group has participated in hundreds of demonstrations and direct actions against the wall specifically, and the occupation generally, all over the West Bank. All of AATW’s work in Palestine is coordinated through villages’ local popular committees and is essentially Palestinian led.
Mid-East peace: a time to speak – ‘Rudd made a distasteful joke about Menachem Begin carrying out ”some interior redesign” of Jerusalem’s King David Hotel – referring to a terrorist bombing in 1946 that killed 91 people. Has Rudd really has got it as a diplomat? ‘
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Samah Sabawi was be interviewed on the ABC’s Fran Kelly show tomorrow at 6.20am and will be heard again on SBS Arabic at 7.20pm tonight – Please ring in with questions for Samah if you’re around.
