Transcript From South Africa to Israel/Palestine: Using Boycott to

Resistance Strategies and
boycott, Divestment, and
Sanctions (BDS)
Israel Apartheid Week - 2010, AUB
Rania Masri
Greenresistance.wordpress.com
Already Established…✔✔✔
 Israel is an Apartheid State -- throughout the
land of Palestine– 
 The prolonged occupation and colonization of Gaza and the
West Bank, including east Jerusalem, and other Arab
territories;
 The system of racial discrimination against Palestinian
citizens of Israel; and
 The persistent denial of the UN-sanctioned rights of the
Palestinian refugees, paramount among which is their right
to reparations and to return to their homes of origin, in
accordance with UNGA Res. 194.
… Already Established ✔✔✔
 Israel is an Apartheid State -- throughout the land of
Palestine– ✔✔✔
 Israel, as a Zionist State, is – and will continue to be –
an enemy to Lebanon and Lebanese - ✔✔✔
 Israel, as a Zionist State, is – and will continue to be – an
enemy to the region (dictatorial, oppressive, fascist regimes
aside)- ✔✔✔
 Zionism is an enemy to all - ✔✔✔
Similarities in struggle against apartheid:
South Africa and Palestine
Global Anti-Apartheid Movement
 “… what prevented South Africa’s white supremacist government
from escalating their own violence to Israeli levels of cruelty and
audacity was not that they had greater scruples than the Zionist
regime. It was recognition that they alone could not stand against a
global anti-apartheid movement that was in solidarity with the
internal resistance.

“Israel’s ‘military deterrent’ has now been repeatedly discredited as a
means to force Palestinians and other Arabs to accept Zionist
supremacy as inevitable and permanent. Now, the other pillar of
Israeli power — Western support and complicity — is starting to
crack. We must do all we can to push it over.” – Ali Abunimah, 2009
Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions (BDS)
 Boycott: Form of pressure through non-
cooperation.
 Divestment: The selling of stocks or bonds from a
company profiting from unjust practices.
 Sanctions: Economic and diplomatic restrictions
imposed by governments against other
governments.
Critical Elements for Change, from the
South African example
1.
Sustainability (long-haul)
2.
Careful research
3.
Linking of struggles
4.
Support of Palestinian grassroots organizations
… and
… The Key
BDS applies pressure on a target government to change
its unjust policies by consistently and systematically
isolating it internationally.
So what does that mean for our actions…?
Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions (BDS)
 Boycott: Form of pressure through non-cooperation.
Consumer actions include product (economic
boycott), academic, cultural, and sports boycott.
 Divestment: The selling of stocks or bonds from a
company profiting from unjust practices. This is done
by institutional investors like churches and
universities.
 Sanctions: Economic and diplomatic restrictions
imposed by governments against other governments.
Which Companies to Boycott?
 Companies that invest in Israel/OPT
 Companies that invest in Israeli firms
 Companies that make gifts to Zionist Charities
 Companies that support Zionism
 Companies that open research enters in Israel
“From the depth of our hearts – thanks to the IDF.”
Tel Aviv highway, April 2002
Gush Shalom & Moulouk Y. Ba-Isa, www.indymedia.org.il/imc/israel/webcast/25130.htm
Burger King’s branch at Maale Adumim
(picture from settlement’s web-site)
•
“Maale Adumim is home to
many American immigrants
who particularly felt at
home with the kosher
Burger King in their
midst.”*From “Burger King
Meddles in Mid-East Politics
and Loses”

in Kosher Today, Sept.,
1999
Coca-Cola supports Israel
:Economically
Prigat Juice
Neviot Water,
$25 M
Golan Heights
Winery
Kosher Today, Aug. 18, 2003; Sharon Berger, Jerusalem Post, July 17, 2000;
Coca-Cola stepping into wine market,” Yediot Ahranot, Jan. 23, 2002.
Coca-Cola supports Israel
 …By sponsoring Israeli
sports teams
 Coca-Cola sponsors
Israel’s national
basketball team, “in which
it invests great amounts
of money annually” as
well as Israeli national
marathons, tennis
competitions, etc.*
*www.cocacola.co.il/information/cola-israel/index.htm
Coca-Cola supports Israel …
 by promoting Israel
as an international
arts center.
 Coca-Cola funds the
yearly public
sculpture and jazz
festival in Arad.
www.cocacola.co.il/information/cola-israel/index.htm

“While the local Israeli
market is small and unable
to generate significant tax
revenue, approximately
40% or more of
government expenditure
goes to military. Thus, little
money is left over for other
social services.

Social giving literally saves
the state money.”*
Zionist
*Joseph Morgenstern, The Origins of Israeli High-Tech, Jewish Virtual
Library, www.us-israel.org/jsource/Economy/hitech.html
By
turning
this:
Askalan, an Arab town, in 1975
into this:
A Coca-Cola factory
In 2003, Coca-Cola paid $8.4 million to the
Israel Land Administration for land on which to build
a Coca-Cola factory in Askalan.*
A Coca-Cola factory
*Elazar Levin, Jerusalem Post, June 15, 2003
Coca-Cola supports Israeli occupation of
the Golan Heights
 Coca-Cola’s investment in
the Golan Heights Winery
helps make the occupation
economically viable and put
economic pressure on the
Israeli government not to
return the Golan to Syria.*
Commercial vineyards in the
Occupied Golan Heights
*The Future of Water and Wine,” Jerusalem Post, Dec. 17, 1999
 So while Coca-Cola in
Lebanon plants trees in
Jezzine to grow a better
public relations image…
…on the other side of the border, Coke is supporting
the community that steals the land and water.
Kiryat Shmona built on
Lebanese land.
Any wonder why they’re drinking
Coke in Kiryat Shmona?
Nestle owns 50.1% of Osem, an Israeli
foods company

Nestle-Osem runs a 700
m2 factory in Sderot,
 in 2002 the company
opened a 1,700 m2
research and
development (R&D)
center there.
Nestle…in sum
 builds on stolen Palestinian lands
 covers up the ruins
 provides jobs and opportunities that realize the
Zionist goal of a purely Jewish presence in Israel
 then sells the products of such an apartheid system
abroad so that the Israeli economy can flourish
Linking struggles…
 Nestle…
 Coca-Cola…
 McDonalds…
 And many others
More recently in Lebanon…
 Gloria Jean’s Coffee (Australian franchise)
 Has a store in “Israel”
 H & M (Spanish company)
 Will open the 1st of 6 planned stores in occupied
Jerusalem on 11 March
Not just economics…
Elton John's world tour includes a
Carlosconcert
Santana has already
in
Tel
Aviv
on
June
17,
2010.
canceled his planned concert
 Isolation.
in Jaffa this June, after
receiving several letters from
Pro-Palestinian groups, and
Human Rights Groups.
Others: Rod Steward, Rihanna, and The
Pixies to perform this summer.
He received messages that
'it's better' not to perform in
Israel.
(recent) Supporters
of BDS

Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario’s University
Workers Coordinating Committee

Fédération autonome du collégial (FAC), Quebec College
Federation

Scottish Trade Union Congress

An Australian dock workers union

British fire fighter union (Fire Brigades Union) – calls for
complete boycott of Israel (August 2009)

Academics from England, Scotland, France, United States
…and, in case it is relevant…

And Academics in Israel: Boycott Us
“We, as Israeli citizens, raise our voices to call on EU leaders:
use sanctions against Israel's brutal policies and join the
active protests of Bolivia and Venezuela. We appeal to the
citizens of Europe: please attend to the Palestinian Human
Rights Organisation's call, supported by more than 540
Israeli citizens (www.freegaza.org/en/home/):
 boycott Israeli goods and Israeli institutions;
 follow resolutions such as those made by the cities of
Athens, Birmingham and Cambridge (US).
This is the only road left. Help us all, please!”
– [January 17 2009]
Victories thus far?

In the U.S., Hampshire College (MA) set a historic precedent by announcing its
divestment from 6companies profiting from the Israeli occupation. Significantly,
Hampshire was also the first college in the US to divest from apartheid South
Africa in the 1970s.

In Wales, Cardiff University acceded to demands by students and decided to
divest from companies supporting the occupation.

In Britain, Britain's trade unions passed a resolution to boycott Israeli goods;

In South Africa, dock workers refused to off-load a ship full of products from
Israel – after a decision by the South African Trade Unions Congress to engage in
boycott and sanctions against apartheid in Israel.

In Canada, the Canadian Union of Public Employees voted to boycott Israel.

In Norway, the Norwegian Pension Fund divestment from Israel's security
company Elbit;
Victories thus far…

Motorola Israel Ltd sold its Government Electronics Department –
which made several products to enable Israel’s military occupation.
The protests had called on Motorola and its fully owned subsidiary,
Motorola Israel Ltd., to end their sales of bomb fuses, communication
devices, and surveillance equipment to the Israeli military.

a global campaign against Lev Leviev's Africa-Israel diamond company
leading to American, Norwegian, and English divestment;

The French company Veolia withdrew from operating the rail project
to connect the city center of Jerusalem with settlements in the West
Bank (June 2009)

[Arab Contractors Company… ?]
Still more victories …
 “There is a shift in the effectiveness of the BDS
movement against Israel and that if the
momentum is maintained and strengthened,
Israeli businessmen may decide to move their
headquarters away from Israel or to begin to put
pressure on the Israeli government to begin
respecting international law and ending the
occupation.” (March 2009)
Meanwhile, in the Arab World…
the past year has seen:

the opening of a Lev Leviev diamond store in Dubai;

the opening of Musa Garments, an Israeli-Jordanian
sweatshop exploiting its workers at its Irbid factory;

Abu Dhabi's Tek Signals collaborating with Israel's Orad
broadcasting company

IBC solid household waste in Saida using equipment from the
Zionist entity; and

Barouk station using telecommunications materials from the
Zionist entity.
….and
 “A Beirut publishing house is currently printing the
first Arabic translation of Amos Oz's best-selling
autobiography "A Tale of Love and Darkness." “
- Haaretz. March 3, 2010.
Lebanese Israeli trade?
Source:
Jerusalem Post,

“The true amount of Arab imports from Israel is impossible to
establish because neither side makes it public, with Israeli-made
goods moving to Arab customers through third countries - Cyprus or
the Netherlands, for example, which list the shipments as local
exports….

The hidden trade is worth about US$400 million a year - about two
and a half times what Israel sold to its official Arab trading partners,
Egypt and Jordan, in 2004 - said Gil Feiler, the director of Info-Prod
Research, a Tel Aviv consultancy specializing in Arab markets, and an
economic professor at Bar Ilan University.

Arabs of Lebanese origin in Israel sell counterfeit Lebanese
certificates of origin complete with forged government stamps.
Some Israeli factories have departments of so-called quality control
- where any Hebrew writing or 'Made in Israel' marks are removed
from product components. "I saw it with my eyes," he said. There
are even ships that sail from the northern Israeli port of Haifa to
Beirut, Lebanon - "there is a way to do it," Feiler said, adding that
the Beirut Port Authority would denies the practice exists.”
4, March, 2010
But Wait…
Let’s Assess.
 The key is De-Legitimization …
 To De-Legitimize Zionism, Israel
 To ensure that relations with Israel, in
any form, are not viewed as normal.
There is no ‘normality’ in occupation and
apartheid.
Breadcrumbs?
 Arab regimes used to compete for propaganda for the
liberation of Palestine. Now certain Arab regimes
compete for Israeli acceptance.

Rather than anti-normalization becoming stronger –
particularly since the Israeli atrocities are ongoing and
increasing – there are those who seek to placate and
surrender, to weaken the call and action towards justice
and liberation and rather strengthen the acceptance of
mere breadcrumbs.
 The acceptance of mere breadcrumbs will give us only
breadcrumbs.
Legitimacy of the illegitimate: threatened

“Israel's international standing
is in dire straits, as the
legitimacy of its policies,
positions, military operations,
and even its very existence as a
Jewish-Democratic state, are
constantly contested and, as
some claim, its legitimacy
abroad is being eroded.”
- Winning the Battle of the Narrative.
Working Paper for the 2010
Herzliya Conference. Feb. 2010.

"There are millions of Indians
who love us, a billion Chinese
who love us, and millions of
evangelicals, who love us. We
have a problem with Sweden,
but we're working on it.”
- Shimon Peres, Feb. 20, 2010. (J.
Post)
Let’s Remember.
 Lebanon is not Sweden
 Lebanon is not Jordan or Egypt
1955 Lebanese Boycott Law
If …
 IF the 1955 Lebanese Boycott Law did not exist,
we’d call for it
 IF the Lebanese Boycott Law is not adequately
enforced, let’s enforce it
The Statement of Academics in Lebanon
 …. We further call on the enforcement of Lebanese
anti-normalization laws with Israel, and thus for
the prosecution of individuals and institutions in
Lebanon that violate those laws and conduct
collaborations, associations or investments in
Israel or with Israelis.
www.boycottzionism.wordpress.com
 What does anti-normalization mean for the
academic community?
 What does it mean to separate “politics” from our
“professions”?
 We are calling for liberation, for freedom; are we
ourselves free? Specifically, if we – as organizations
- receive funding, say, from USAID, will we be free
to stand against Israel, against Zionism and to stand
with Palestinians?
Part of this presentation was
from a presentation:
 Designed and researched
by Kirsten Scheid
 Picture credits:
www.arij.org;
www.inminds.co.uk
Official end of presentation.
