Thanks for Embracing BDS of Apartheid Israel, Pete Seeger!

Never say never 🙂 After playing in a deceptive virtual rally for the greenwashing Israeli Arava Institute which partners with the state land-grabbing device, the Jewish National Fund, Pete Seeger has had an epiphany, altered his stance and now supports BDS!

During a January meeting at his Beacon, NY home with representatives from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and Adalah-NY, Pete Seeger explained, “I appeared on that virtual rally because for many years I’ve felt that people should talk with people they disagree with. But it ended up looking like I supported the Jewish National Fund. I misunderstood the leaders of the Arava Institute because I didn’t realize to what degree the Jewish National Fund was supporting Arava. Now that I know more, I support the BDS movement as much as I can.”

Applaud Pete’s reversal in favour of justice and human rights by liking his facebook fan page and posting a message of approval.

Meanwhile, Israel continues to delegitimise itself by reprehensible actions toward children not of its preferred ‘flavour’ and pass unsavoury anti-boycott legislation (albeit watered down from the original fascist draft) in the Knesset..

the Israeli government may deport children from the Bialik Rogozin school, including one of the stars of “Strangers No More”:

Just a week after the Israeli media runs its hip-hip-hooray! reports of the win, the Oz Unit will start rounding such kids up. And one of the children is the 10-year-old star of the film. According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel:

…10-year-old Esther who starred in the movie is facing a probable deportation alongside an estimated 120 pupils from her school. Esther fled from South Africa and arrived in Israel with her father four years ago – thus missing the five-year mark set as a condition to remaining in the country.

Interview with Omar Barghouti and Hind Awwad on the Palestinian BDS Campaign

Palestine / Israel Links

The Israelis keep bulldozing their village, but still the Bedouin will not give up their land
Arabic and Hebrew: The Politics of Literary Translation
A challenge to Israel’s mass propaganda
Adidas: Apartheid is not fair play, drop sponsorship of Jerusalem marathon
John Pilger: Behind the Arab Revolt is a Word We Dare Not Speak : The revolt in the Arab world is not merely against a resident dictator but a worldwide economic tyranny designed by the US Treasury and imposed by the US Agency for International Development, the IMF and World Bank, which have ensured that rich countries like Egypt are reduced to vast sweatshops, with half the population earning less than $2 a day. The people’s triumph in Cairo was the first blow against what Benito Mussolini called corporatism, a word that appears in his definition of fascism.
What Ian Did Next: McEwan in Jerusalem
FM KEVIN RUDD: Australia’s foreign policy interests in the Middle East 22Feb11
McEwan’s lousy acceptance speech, and reasons to be be cautiously optimistic
Israeli Gov’t May Deport Children Attending Tel Aviv School Featured In Oscar Winning Documentary

Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem’s visa revoked
Great-grandson of S.Y Agnon to McEwan: Don’t shake hands with apartheid
Award-winning Gaza journalist Mohammed Omer speaking in NYC area Mar 2-5
Israel should be given the South African treatment
Right of reply: The Palestine papers revealed nothing – Erekat in denial mode
Sewage without borders : Israel used money it owes the Palestinian Authority to treat untreated solid waste flowing into Israel, while settlement sewage still pollutes the West Bank
Talking to “socialists” about Palestine
US Palestinian Community Network to PA – ‘You’re fired’
Crying foul over criticism of Israel
Swedish FM, in rare move, to spend night in Nablus
The ‘Israel First’ Myth : simpering colonialism
Revised anti-boycott bill passed in Knesset Law Committee
Bay Area Says “Drown Out Apartheid” at Israel Philharmonic Performance
‘Gevalt, They’re Delegitimizing Us’ -a new play by Avigdor Lieberman and Benjamin Netanyahu
Pete Seeger endorses BDS, shuns Jewish National Fund
Oscar night at J St: Michael Sfard says Israel made ‘an immoral choice’ and makes it again, every day
Human rights lawyer Franklin Lamb detained in Beirut
Pete Seeger officially joins anti-Israel boycott
Israel vows to raze all illegal outposts built on private Palestinian land – well, really only 3.

The government will immediately dismantle all illegal settlement outposts built on privately-owned Palestinian land, with the sole exception of the house owned by slain Israel Defense Forces officer Eliraz Peretz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided on Monday in consultation with the defense minister and the attorney general.

The decision, which will be submitted to the High Court of Justice in response to 15 petitions demanding the outposts’ demolition, will apply to at least three outposts inhabited by about 100 families.

Report: Israel to legalize tens of outposts

Treacherous zio-imperialist Dennis Ross oozing sewerage about 2 states at the Jstreet convention

Egypt Links

Anti-Zionism, Anti-Imperialism and the #Jan25 revolution

Some DC pundits have been repeatedly on satellite TV stations claiming the Egyptian revolution had nothing to do with Israel or the US. Some even go as far as claiming this was “purely an internal affair.”

Those self described “ME experts” tend to neither know a word of Arabic nor visited Tahrir Square during the mass protests. The roots of this Egyptian revolt date back to September 2000, when street activism was revived again following a decade of dirty wary between the regime and the Islamist militants. There is a chain reaction linking those protests which broke out in solidarity with the Palestinian intifada to the current revolt.

Libya Links


Gadaffi: ‘’I am a delusional freak, who thinks that the people are protesting are protesting because they love me’’
Who is calling for American intervention in Libya?
Live Blog – Libya March 1
Libya unrest: US repositioning forces in region

Saudi Arabia Links

Why a king’s ransom is not enough for Saudi Arabia’s protesters : King Abdullah’s offer of bribes to his country’s alienated youth is no substitute for genuine reform
Saudi Arabia woke up on Wednesday to the announcement of thirteen Royal Orders that preceded the much-anticipated return of Abdullah by a few hours. The King’s “gift to the nation” signaled a major push for the improvement of everyday life of all Saudis by pumping $35 billion into comprehensive development projects in every region and corner of the Kingdom.

Bahrain Links

Protests at Bahrain’s parliament

Other Links

Searchlight poll finds huge support for far right ‘if they gave up violence’
Disgraced neocon Paul Wolfowitz appeared on CNN’s Zakaria show this morning and showed once again why he is a criminal weasel of epic proportions:
An Empire of Lies : Why Our Media Betrays Us

The imperial elites’ success depends to a large extent on a shared belief among the western public both that “we” need them to secure our livelihoods and security and that at the same time we are really their masters. Some of the necessary illusions perpetuated by the transnational elites include:

– That we elect governments whose job is to restrain the corporations;

– That we, in particular, and the global workforce, in general, are the chief beneficiaries of the corporations’ wealth creation;

– That the corporations and the ideology that underpins them, global capitalism, are the only hope for freedom;

– That consumption is not only an expression of our freedom but also a major source of our happiness;

– That economic growth can be maintained indefinitely and at no long-term cost to the health of the planet; and,

– That there are groups, called terrorists, who want to destroy this benevolent system of wealth creation and personal improvement.

These assumptions, however fanciful they may appear when subjected to scrutiny, are the ideological bedrock on which the narratives of our societies in the West are constructed and from which ultimately our sense of identity derives.

Bullying in an Aboriginal context
Independent Andrew Wilkie calls on Abbott to ‘lance the boil’ of racism in his party
White women and the privilege of solidarity

The Whitewash Apartheid Orchestra

Adalah-NY and supporters creatively protest the performance of the “Brand Israel” Israel Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall on February 22. In the background, celebrated Irish composer and prominent activist for Palestinian rights, Raymond Deane, appreciates the innovative music of The Whitewash Apartheid Orchestra*.

The Whitewash Apartheid Orchestra
Credit: Ellen Rachel Davidson
The Whitewash Apartheid Orchestra
Credit: Ellen Rachel Davidson

Noelle Ghoussaini from Adalah-NY explains:

“Tonight we sent a clear message to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Israeli government’s “Brand Israel” campaign that their music cannot drown out Palestinians’ calls for justice.” The US protests respond to the call from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) to boycott cultural institutions like the IPO that work to normalize Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and whitewash the oppression of Palestinians in Israel, the occupied territories, and in exile.

Hundreds of well-dressed concert-goers paused on the edge of the sidewalk in front of Carnegie Hall, and looked across the street at the protesters’ signs, and listened to their chants and songs. Many were handed a mock IPO program that featured a cover photo of a past IPO performance in front of Israeli tanks for the Israeli army, and, on the inside, the PACBI’s call for an international boycott of the IPO.

Protesters held signs saying, “Israel Fiddles while Palestine Burns,” “Justice Presto not Lento,” “Without Justice There’s No Harmony,” and “Boycott the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra;” and they carried a banner with the words “Don’t Harmonize with Israeli Apartheid,” surrounded on each side by a violin with a rifle barrel as its neck. Protesters chanted, “We love Gustav, we love Mahler, but occupation makes us holler;” “For liberation take a stand, don’t let Is-ra-el rebrand;” and “Muslims, Jews, Atheists and Christians, stand for justice like Egyptians.”

In a street theater skit, a protester­­-turned-IPO conductor asked the crowd, “How can apartheid continue without us promoting the new, positive, aesthetically vibrant and civilized Israel? Don’t forget, there is “art” in “apartheid.” The conductor instructed three violinists to play progressively louder in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to drown out and cover up Israeli crimes against Palestinians that kept welling up behind the orchestra.

View the complete photo collection.

* Raymond Deane’s work “March Oubliee” will feature at a concert with Irish ensemble, the ‘Fidelio Trio’, in the Leonard Nimoy Thalia on the 24th February at 7.30pm.

The Fidelios Trio will also conduct a residency at the University of Illinois on the 27/28 February playing “March Oubliee”.

Other Current BDS Actions to Support

Support BDS in Marrickville – send a Marrickville Councillor a note of encouragement for their important stand for human rights.
CJPP Carry Bags – An environmentally-friendly, Palestine-friendly, ecosilk shopping bag. Strong, light and compact, to fit in your handbag or pocket. A stylish alternative to plastic bags!

Palestine / Israel Links

Fox reverses poll results to portray public as anti-union
This is the occupation: A letter from a reasonable woman
PFLP condemns Gaddafi regime’s massacres against the Libyan people | Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Israeli airstrikes injure 16 Gazans
Army, Settlers, Destroy Palestinian Olive Trees in Al-Jab’a
Netanyahu: Mideast instability could last for years – dreaming of regional conquent still
The emergence of a new Arab world?
Obama’s folly: the human cost of the West Bank settlements

Libya Links

If the tide turns: some pros and cons of military intervention in Libya

Saudia Links

Saudi’s $36bn bid to beat unrest

Other Links

Dozens slaughtered by US forces in Afghanistan-Pakistan air attacks

One village resident told Pajhwok Afghan News that foreign forces intercepted a vehicle taking the wounded father to hospital, halting it for two hours. “The troops beat us and tied our hands,” the man, Psarlay, said. “Meanwhile, Patang died because of excessive bleeding.”

Another resident, 26-year-old Ezatullah, told the Wall Street Journal: “The house was completely destroyed by the strike. Only two children [aged] four and six survived.” He added that “thousands of people attended the funeral of the slain family Monday and are planning a protest against coalition forces Tuesday”.

Deputy AG loses job after tweet drama
Dept. Attorney General Jeff Cox is now Former Dept. Attorney General Jeff Cox and no longer is part of the Indiana AG’s office.
Rahm Emanuel, Barack Obama & Neo-Liberalism are the Daleys’ Gifts to Chicago and the Nation. Thanks.
Fox reverses poll results to portray public as anti-union
Ruling on Assange’s Extradition Is Due on Thursday
The origins of the ALP
Egypt May End the ‘Obama Arms Bazaar’ – NOT!
Military budget of the United States

For the 2010 fiscal year, the president’s base budget of the Department of Defense rose to $533.8 billion. Adding spending on “overseas contingency operations” brings the sum to $663.8 billion.[1][2]

When the budget was signed into law on October 28, 2009, the final size of the Department of Defense’s budget was $680 billion, $16 billion more than President Obama had requested.[3] An additional $37 billion supplemental bill to support the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was expected to pass in the spring of 2010, but has been delayed by the House of Representatives after passing the Senate.[4][5] Defense-related expenditures outside of the Department of Defense constitute between $319 billion and $654 billion in additional spending, bringing the total for defense spending to between $1.01 and $1.35 trillion in fiscal year 2010.[6]

It’s Not Simply a Question of Different Views

In your next spare five seconds, please make sure to join the new 20 Days to Macy Gray Project Facebook group. Let’s help educate performers it’s just not cool to provide the apartheid Israel government with a propaganda gift, no matter how much stars might think their fans need them.

Long Live Palestine! this is for the child that is looking for an answer …

Palestine / Israel Links

Ntsebeza, former Truth & Reconciliation Commissioner, backs call for Israel boycott
Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees (PFUUPE) wishes to reiterate its firm opposition to any bilateral or multilateral relationships between Palestinian and Israeli academic institutions (PACBI)
Emir Kusturica, do not go to Israel!
The man in the high castle: a look at Galant’s house
Israel’s Man in Palestine
JNF, BDS and the Beduin
Israel already being Arizona, meaning with discriminatory laws like Arizonan’s anti-immigrant law
IOF troops injure four pregnant women in Shufat
The IDF: Lying as Usual (vers. 2,684,318)
Latest official lies from the IOF abour Jawaher Abu Rahma’s death from unofficial sources : IDF findings: Palestinian woman died of Atropine overdose
IDF Spokesperson: We Made It All Up …Don’t We Always?
71 Palestinian Women Forced to Labor at Checkpoints-Israelis Deny Women Access to Hospitals, Clinics
Israeli Racism
UN says demolitions of Palestinian houses in occupation jumped 60 percent, ‘09 to ‘10, keeping pace with settlement boom
Pathetic – no charge from the murderous zionist entity : Soldier Who Shot Sleeping Palestinian Man “Discharged From Duty”
Ian McEwan says he will accept Jerusalem prize
Hamas: The release of Abu Assaud was her legal right, not a favor from anyone
Israeli army discharges soldier for shooting Palestinian civilian
Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (13-19 January 2011)
LSE Israel Boycott Debate [mp3] Dr John Chalcraft & Professor Daniel Hochhauser
No place to sleep for Lydd family
Letter Urges Obama To Support UN Resolution On Israeli Settlements
New J Street Policy Statement on Settlement Expansion & UN Security Council Resolution

Wikileaks Links

WikiLeaks Admission: US Officials Say Damage from Cables is Limited
WikiLeaks [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED] by John McCarthy [pdf]
Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the mines we go! 22.10.2008: MINERALS ABOUND IN AFGHANISTAN, AN UPDATE ON THE SECTOR
24.10.2007: KAZAKHSTANI BUSINESSMAN AGAIN REQUESTS USG HELP WITH BID FOR AFGHAN MINE
Strong reactions in Turkey to Wikileaks revelation of CIA flights
Why the media blackout of WikiLeaks-Belarus scandal?
WikiLeaks: US attempted to purchase KH-31 missiles in Belarus : ‘Below is the full version of the documents provided to the online Naviny.by newspaper by representative of the WikiLeaks media organization Israel Shamir.’

Other Links

Belarus: Repeated searches at offices of Human Rights Centre Viasna
A State of Permanent Human Bondage – Iraq
Adriatic Sea Ruined By NATO Weapons, Depleted Uranium, Toxic Waste
CIA-trained ‘terrorist’ in US court : Accused of killing 73 in an airline bombing, Luis Posada Carriles charged with immigration violations, not terrorism.
Thousands march against Tunisia’s “unity” government
World Focus: France favoured autocracy as a bulwark against radical Islam
Baby Doc’ wants Haiti presidency : Former president Jean-Claude Duvalier seeks a return to power, despite facing corruption and theft charges.
A Culture of Denial: Criminalization in the US
L’Autorité palestinienne interdit une manifestation de soutien à la Tunisie
First – in the name of all Tunesien people – I want to thank Anonymous. Anonymous were the only ones to help us. Anonymous has blocked all governmental websites [of Tunesia] because they [the Tunesien government] have blocked? our internet access so we may not get information. Thank you Anonymous! We want to let you know that you have found new allies and that there are many more people living in oppresion.

Witchhunts of Human Rights Activists : a Symptom of Serious US Malaise

Managing Editor of the excellent Electronic Intifada, Maureen Murphy, has been served by the FBI with a summons to appear before a US Grand Jury.

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

On the 20th December, Electronic Intifada reprinted a United States Palestinian Community Network press release in support of US Palestinian activists and other community activists harassed by the FBI.

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.

Next, subscribe and donate to the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

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

Wikilinks

Transcript: The Assange interview – abominable interview by the increasingly popularist BBC
Is Karl Rove Driving the Effort to Prosecute Julian Assange?
WikiLeaks’ Assange fires back at The Guardian to competitor
I receive death threats from US soldiers: Assange
WikiLeaks cables: Iraq security firms operate ‘mafia’ to inflate prices
Julian Assange defends decision not to face questioning in Sweden
WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange issues threat and complains about … leaks
Nothing in the Wikileaks documents? Please
Assange Responds To Time Naming Zuckerberg Person of the Year
WikiLeaks cables: Bangladeshi ‘death squad’ trained by UK government
WikiLeaks cables: Lamb sales behind New Zealand’s ‘flap’ with Israel
WikiLeaks cables: McDonald’s used US to put pressure on El Salvador
Cablegate And Sudan : $ 9 billion Man !!
US embassy cables: US anger over Fahrenheit 9/11 screening at New Zealand Labour Party fundraiser
CIA launches task force to assess impact of U.S. cables’ exposure by WikiLeaks WTF!!
Reporters Without Borders to host mirror site for WikiLeaks
Rundle: the trouble with being Assange
WikiLeaks cables: Vatican vetoed Holocaust memorial over Pius XII row
Rundle: police procedures ignored in Assange interviews
WikiLeaks and the Secrets that Deceive
Raw Story report confirmed: Bank of America is Wikileaks’ target
WikiLeaks and Turkey
The #Wikileaks Forums
Yours Obediently, Europe

Australian Wikilinks and other Australian Links

Haneef settlement figure kept under wraps

Palestine / Israel Links

The smoking cable: Israel said it had ’secret accord’ with U.S. over expanding settlements even as Obama said in Cairo they must stop!
FBI delivers subpoenas to four more anti-war, solidarity activists as U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald Expands Witch Hunt
Has racism become acceptable?
Israeli arms firm to benefit from EU-funded research
Israel Effectively Denies Palestinian Victims of Operation Cast Lead Access to Justice: PCHR files petition to Israeli Supreme Court
“Guys, I just totally raped this student chick!”

Hundreds in Tel Aviv call for deportation of foreign workers, refugees
Israeli Intransigence Lets BDS Into the Mainstream
Israeli MK meets Austrian far right chief; irks local Jews
Arabs: Political environment to blame for attacks
NYT vs. WaPo on Life in Gaza
How to spend 40 years morally corrupting a society
Limited Judaisation – changes to racist Knesset Bill – ‘The sponsors have agreed that the bill will be limited to communities comprising up to 400 families, down from 500 in the original proposal. In addition, it will apply only in the Negev and Galilee, and not throughout the country. ‘
Thirteen-year-old Sentenced to 21 Days House Arrest in Jerusalem
Israel to blame for deadlock in Mideast peace talks : Erdogan is only half right – the US is primarily to blame because of its stupid policies which support Israel at the expense of Palestinian rights
Palestinian refugees: Israel’s demographic policy and right of return
Deck London’s Walls with Bethlehem’s Calls
Migrants fearful after rally
PSCC Media Coordinator May Face Prison for Riding a Bicycle
Human rights NGO monitoring Palestinians’ legal rights gets robbed of internal use documents

Other Links

5 Ridiculous Things You Probably Believe About Islam
Richard Holbrooke: A Statesman’s Statesman — if You Take Your Diplomacy Straight up Without Principles as a Chaser
Obama wants to keep suspects in jail for as long as he wants
How Energy Use Dwarfs the Power of Facebook and Twitter
In a big antiwar piece, Mearsheimer dares to say ‘why they hate us’
Spanish Legislature Rejects Hollywood-Backed Copyright Law Changes
Terrorist by Association : The Justice Department targets nonviolent solidarity activists
Guantánamo Prisoners Sacrificed in Political Horse-Trading
Why Turkey is not turning Islamist
Turkey and Syria aim to change region’s destiny
Christmas Sweater Club Punished At Local High School – US insanity
UN capitulation to Colombo criminals

UPDATE ON THE WITCHHUNTS

Standing together against US government witch hunt
Statement from Palestine solidarity activist Maureen Murphy on receiving a subpoena
Flashpoints: U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald Expands his Witch Hunt against anti-war and Palestine solidarity activists in the Chicago area. We will speak to one of those who was subpoenaed by the FBI. Also Obama takes executive action in support of indefinite detentions without trial, of so-called enemy Combatants
FBI Expands Probe into Antiwar Activists

Paul Howes, the Histadrut and Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions of Israel

In 2005, Palestinian civil society called for solidarity from the international community and people within Israel for the institution of boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel similar to those instituted against apartheid South Africa until Israel recognises the right of Palestinian people for self-determination and conforms with international law. The call is supported by Palestinian political parties, unions, associations, coalitions and organizations representing the three integral parts of the people of Palestine: Palestinian refugees, Palestinians under occupation and Palestinian citizens of Israel.

These non-violent punitive measures should be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

As Australian trade unions prepare to take a motion for BDS to the ACTU, it is important for Australian workers to understand why it is essential to support boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel in solidarity with Palestinian trade unions, including the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) .

The trade union boycott works very like the consumer boycott or divestment campaign at an institutional level. It means that trade unions cut economic, social and political ties with Israel and build ties with Palestinian unions. Much the same as the huge role they took on in fighting against Apartheid South Africa, their emphasis on international workers solidarity can be a real rallying cry against Israeli Apartheid.

Trade unions need to be informed about the discriminatory nature of Israel’s Histadrut, which from its inception aimed to replace Arab workers with Jewish ones under a “conquest of labour” policy. Israel’s occupation aims to further conquer Palestinian labour through a series of joint industrial zones wherein Palestinians will essentially work as migrant workers on their own land for low wages in poor conditions without the option to organise. The Histadrut is the only trade union in Israel and continues to work on a racist framework that leaves Palestinian workers facing apartheid labour conditions in Israel itself.

To support BDS, trade unions can pass motions, measures and resolutions condemning Israeli occupation and apartheid; promote a consumer boycott among their members and citizens; change purchasing
and investment policy to ensure that trade unions are not contributing financially to the occupation; and partner with Palestinian unions.

Australians for Palestine have prepared an excellent BDS Manual for download.

The Israeli labour organisation, the Histadrut, is first and foremost a state-allied endeavour rather than a worker organisation. As Zureik says:

It is a mistake to equate the Histadrut with other, secular and universalist, trade union movements of this century. While one of the aims was to improve the conditions of the Jewish working class in Palestine, its raison d’etre was to ensure the creation of a jewish state, with Arab-Jewish working-class solidarity a secondary factor. After all, it was under the auspices of the Histadrut that the underground Zionist military force, the Haganah, was established.

Yago:

“However, the evolving labour bureaucracy is not to be confused with those of Western Europe or the US [or Australia]. It was not the product of a mass workers movement; rather it was always an integral part of an expressedly nationalist movement. Its task was not solely to divert working class struggles, but to eliminate part of the working class (the Palestinian Arabs) from labour market competition in order to accomplish the two-pronged state building programme of the Zionist movement – ‘conquest of labour/conquest of land’.”

The Histadrut, which approved of the outrageous Israeli Cast Lead massacre of the Gazan people in 2009, also actively supported the South African apartheidists.

Iskoor steel company, 51 percent owned by Histadrut’s Koor Industries and 49 percent by the South African Steel Corporation, manufactured steel for South Africa’s armed forces. Partly finished steel was shipped from Israel to South Africa, enabling the apartheid state to escape tariffs. [7]

Other Histadrut companies such as Tadiran and Soltam were equally complicit in supplying South Africa with weaponry. [8] Histadrut also helped build the electronic wall between South Africa/Namibia and neighboring African states in order to keep the guerrillas out. [9] It was a precursor of Israel’s wall in the West Bank.

Pinhas Lavon, secretary-general of Histadrut in 1960 described it as “a general organization to its core. It is not a trade union …”

The Histadrut has also exploited Palestinian workers and their union movement.

The exploitation of Palestinian workers from the occupied territories was institutionalized by an Israeli cabinet decision of October 1970. It provided that the military administration should supervise their employment. Their wages would be distributed by the payments department of the National Employment Service. Histadrut was a partner in this arrangement. National Insurance coverage was permitted in only three areas: work accidents, employer bankruptcy and a grant on the birth of a child in an Israeli hospital. Ten percent of the wages of Palestinian workers went to a special “Equalization Fund,” which was supposed to supply the population in the occupied territories with social and cultural services. In fact, this money was used to finance the occupation. The workers did not receive unemployment and disability benefits, old-age pensions, a monthly child allowance or vocational training.

In addition, each Palestinian worker had to pay one percent of his or her wages as dues to Histadrut. Workers saw nothing in return and now a fraction of this money has been returned, as a propaganda ploy, to the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions. When the Shin Bet intelligence service used work permits as a means to coerce Palestinian workers to collaborate, with those who refused being placed on a blacklist and their work permits cancelled, Histadrut again did nothing. [39]

Although many Australian unions already support BDS, AWU union boss Paul Howes seems to be under a false impression that the Histadrut is a union like any other.

“We don’t believe that it’s in the interests of Palestinian or Israeli workers to seek to divide them in the peace process,” Mr Howes said.

In a recent address to the Zionist Federation of Australia, Howes stated:

I think I am upholding that union tradition when I support the trust-building co-operative projects that the Israeli trade union movement – led by the Histadrut – and the Palestinian trade union movement – led by the PGFTU – are promoting.

If you truly believe that a-worker-is-a-worker-is-a-worker then the function of any trade union is to ensure fair pay for a fair day’s work and a safe and healthy workplace.

This applies to an Israeli worker , this applies to a Palestinian worker.

I can’t see how you can discriminate between an Israeli worker and a Palestinian worker. (Let alone a foreign worker from Asia or Africa working in Israel)

Paul appears oblivious to historical and current exploitation of and discrimination against Palestinian workers by the Histadrut as much as he is ignorant of the fact that the main Palestinian union, the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions’ (PGFTU), supports BDS.

In September 2009, the Histadrut claimed to have rectified some of its malfeasance.

In 1995 our two organisations signed an unprecedented agreement in which fifty percent of all dues from Palestinians employed by Israeli employers would be remitted to the PGFTU. Unfortunately, the
agreement was not fully implemented due to security conditions. However, under the auspices of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), headed by Guy Ryder, we successfully finalised and
implemented the agreement in June 2008. As a result, US$3.6 million has been transferred to the PGFTU, both in arrears and in ongoing payments.

Yet according to Kav LaOved and The Alternative Information Centre (AIC), “The Economy of the Occupation”, the Histadrut has returned but a pittance of the monies extracted from exploited Palestinian workers:

“The calculated amount of debt without interest is NIS 3.082 billion, and with interest the amount reaches NIS 8.350 billion. It is important to note that this calculation is accurate to 2009, in 2008 prices, and does not include central elements for which information is not available. The calculation is therefore lacking.”

And further skullduggery:

“Addititionally, the Department deducted an additional 2.74% for a Provident Fund and health tax, which were included in the same package of deductions as organising fees for the Histadrut. The health tax covered health insurance of the workers in the OPT. It is unknown to us where the money deducted for the Provident Fund went and on what authority it was deducted.

“On the basis of a circular of the Department of Payments, we know that for the Provident Fund, NIS 0.54 were taken from every worker in the construction sector for each day of work at least until 1993, ie. 3.1% of their salary. From here we calculated that from 1970 to 1993, NIS 152 million (in 2008 prices) were taken from them for the Provident Fund. We do not know if this deduction continued after 1993, but we do know that the workers did not receive a Provident Fund.

“Under the false definition of Palestinians as ‘daily’ or ‘temporary’ workers, a majority of the benefits determined in the collective bargaining agreements of the Histadrut with the employers were stolen from Palestinian workers, including increments for security, family upkeep, grants for not missing work, a 13th salary in the agricultural sector and more.

The Histradut has expressed its support for removing “security checkpoints in the context of the renewed security situation” and called upon “the Israeli government to dismantle all illegal outposts.” It also supports the abandoned Roadmap and collapsed two state solution, yet does not expressedly support the end to Israeli colonialism in the Occupied Territories. Nor does the Histadrut protect Palestinian workers in the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“The settlement factories are manned primarily by Palestinian labourers, who work in miserable conditions”, says Fathi Nasser, legal advisor with the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU). “The employers of these factories disregard labour laws and should the worker complain, he will be dismissed”. According to Nasser, as it is so difficult to obtain authorisation to take a case before an Israeli court, providing real legal protection to these workers is very complicated.

The Democracy and Workers Rights Centre (DWRC) tries to protect workers by educating workers on how to use their rights. “Officially, Palestinian workers in the West Bank’s industrial zones are entitled to the protection of Israeli labour laws but employers find many ways to avoid giving Palestinians their rights”, DWRC’s coordinator of the Legal Aid and Human Rights Project, Hwayda told us. The organisation was created in response to the failure of Israel’s major labour union, Histadrut, to represent Palestinian workers.

No excuses, Paul Howes, it’s time for you to move to the right side of history. Do not put a cold-blooded thirst for the political approval of the duplicitous Australian zionist lobby before the call of Palestinian workers. You’ve shown you can stand up for justice for Australian workers. Let’s see your real mettle – can you change your mind when faced with the facts? Support BDS and help Palestinian people achieve freedom and justice.

As Palestinian Rifat Odeh Kassis from Kairos says:

If you reject BDS as a valid way to call for change, and as a right in and of itself – a right that should be defended by any true democracy – then what other means do you propose for creating peace in our region? In a time when bloodshed has been the primary tactic, negotiations are an exercise in humiliation, and voices like yours continue to suggest that Palestinians have no rights to defend in the first place, BDS is an effective, nonviolent tool that strengthens – and unites – Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers alike.