Consumer Offensive to push for Peace in Palestine

by RED BHOY Mon Jul 12, 2004 14:06

What have Israel ever done for us??? Its a pity there wasnt more Palestinian goods sold here so we could all go out and buy Palestinian goods instead of goods produced by the Fascist occupiers of the Holy Land!!

by Jim Monaghan Mon Jul 12, 2004 14:43

http://MondeDiplo.com/2004/07/14rodinson
The above article on Israel from 1967 shows the morass Israel is in in spite of its many victories. It presides over a virtual prison camp of the Palestinian people. The Palestinians cannot be eliminated in spite of whatever their wishes. At some piont the price of keeping Israle in arms will be too much for an overstretched USA. The EU will tire of giving favourable trade deals to Israel.We should agitate for an end of these deals and a boycott of trade with Israle, a trade in goods stolen or grown on stolen land. Leave Jaffa oranges where we used to put Outspa, leave it on the shelf
Even now a lot of the Israeli support in Ireland rests with Christian fundamentalists who predict the end of the world when the Jews return to the Holy Land.With cranks like that for support they should not rest easy.
In spite of to Hell or to Connacht the native people here were not eliminated and neither will the Palestinians.

by Starstruck - UCD Left Mon Jul 12, 2004 16:14

Correct title of above article....

by Mihall O Heir Mon Jul 12, 2004 19:47 mihall at yahoo dot com

Whats good for Israel is good for Ireland

Let the Arabs build their own high tec places and then their know how can be imported here -if you can wait for them to stop bombing civillians who are innocent .

Meanwhile the Irish economy benefits greatly from Israeli goods , cooperation and know how and exchange of ideas .

by Danny Boy Mon Jul 12, 2004 19:58

Are you for REAL ?

The only fascist rulers in the Holy Land have been ARABS , -in he Arab occupied areas ruled by Yassir Arafart , Kings Hussein and Abdullah ,preceeded by the Turks .
Even the Brits were better than that for the 30 years they were there !

ISRAEL IS REAL and is a REAL democracy and even its Supreme Court talked more sense last week than all the HAGUE COURT of INJUSTICES Judges put together .
[ They came from Egypt , Jordan, Sierra Leone , China , Venezula , etc --all real FASCIST regimes ]

by Elaine Mon Jul 12, 2004 22:36

For those who hold the opinion that boycotting Israel's goods might make a difference, just click on the link. Consumers have more power than they realise. Most companies/ countries don't give a damn for your censure, don't care if you protest their actions... all they care about is where you spend your cash. If you stop giving them financial support you have them by the short and curlies. Look at the successful and peaceable action of the Dunnes workers who refused to handle South African produce during the apartheid years. They raised the bar for all of us.

by wonderer Tue Jul 13, 2004 00:22

the sotuh african boycott is often given as example for an israely boycott, i can't remember the sit back then, but perhaps it seemed more clear cut or why was "sucessful" then and there isn't a similar reaction to this dilemma?

by Elaine Tue Jul 13, 2004 03:46

1984: A Dunnes Stores worker refused to handle South African goods. When she is suspended, her colleagues go on strike. Mary Manning was that brave woman's name.
At the time, if memory serves, they had very little support from the public but over time that support grew. Afterwards they were considered heroes who made a moral stand. It seems to take a while for the public conscience or should that be consciousness, (perhaps not) to catch up with reality.

"Management of Dunnes Stores say the strikers should leave their politics behind them when they come to work. The strikers, nine women and one man, have all suffered personal and financial hardship because of their stand against apartheid."

- http://www.newint.org/issue146/briefly.htm

Their strike lasted until 1987!!!! Now that's what I call an action.


They were invited to visit and witness first hand the conditions in South Africa at the time, by the then Bishop Tutu but were refused admission to South Africa until they had filled out a visa application...

"The party set off on Monday but, when waiting to board their flight at London Airport that night were informed by a South African official that most of them would be required to complete visa applications before they could be admitted to South Africa, the normal visa exemption having been rescinded in their cases. The party were eventually let proceed by the British Airways authorities without completion of the visa application forms. Upon reaching Johannesburg the group were held, apparently under guard, in the transit area of the airport for a number of hours and were not permitted to proceed through immigration. They were later returned to London on another British Airways flight where they arrived yesterday morning."

"These young people, when they first embarked on their action in mounting pickets outside Dunne's Stores, were not politicised. But it has interested me greatly to see their politicisation occur over the time since they first decided not to handle South African goods. They would certainly have examined clinically and efficiently the system up close and they would have come back and told us exactly what they found there. Therefore, it is clear proof, if proof were needed, that South Africa has a great deal to hide and that it certainly is not prepared to expose it to the critical analysis of these young Dunne's Stores workers."

Above quotes taken from a debate in the Oireachtas circa '85. Between the workers NVDA and the support and solidarity of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement they made it a national issue. It resulted in a ban on imports of Fruit and Vegetables from South Africa.

- http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/S/0108/S.0108.198507110007.html

This gives a brief overview of the Irish Anti-Apartheid Movement (IAAM), mentions the Playwrights Boycott and the Dunnes Strike and is a lesson for all on the Left on how to run a very, very successful campaign. First get the people on your side...

http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/classroom/pages/projects/grade12/lesson-2/unit3-ireland.htm

More at...

http://www.education.gov.za/index.asp?src=mvie&xsrc=253


More goods and companies to boycott at http://www.home.zonnet.nl/ireland22/blackl1.htm

And this was all before Ben Dunne was found on the balcony of a hotel in Florida, whacked out of his head on Cocaine and in the company of a prostitute. Ahhh, but that's another story

by moonwolf Tue Jul 13, 2004 05:32

this drivel dosen't warrant a response. check out the link for NVDA opportunities in the occupied territories

by Ali H. Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:04

When the Israelis attempt to control the fertility of their own Muslim citizens isn't that facism?

The Israeli regieme is characterised by its willingness to do business with the Turks, King Abdullah, Colombia etc. supplying them with arms and training with which to subdue their civilian populations. A bit difficult for them to occupy the moral high ground then isn't it?

As for the supposed benefits of trade with Israel there is preccious little export of Irish goods there and the trade in the other direction is mainly foodstuffs produced on occupied Palestinian lands and textiles both of which are produced under a highly subsidised system which robs from the poor and gives to the rich.

We are not dependent on them, but they certainly are dependent on access to our markets. There are plenty of alternatives to Israeli produce, South Africa for one. South Africa needs our money to help fight it's AIDS epidemic and to distribute wealth equitably, and every SA orange or packet of herbs you buy will help to support a country worthy of admiration and praise.

As pointed out by others the South African boycott was highly successful. What is strange is that while there was large scale human rights abuse in SA it pales into insignificance when compared to the brutality meted out to the Palestinians, from helicopter gunships, F16s and tanks with reckless abandon and complete disregard for the lives of civilians.

Surely it is time to bring the Israeli apartheid regieme to heel by the tried and tested means: a boycott!

by Ali H. Tue Jul 13, 2004 10:19

The boycott Israel movement’s purposes and goals can be summed up as follows:

· To hurt Israel politically and economically.
· To let the Palestinian people know that they are not forgotten and that the justice of their cause is recognized.
· To pressure Israel to end the occupation.
· To pressure the European Union and national governments to stop trade agreements and to end military, industrial and secret service relation with Israel.
· To persuade businesses to stop trading with Israel
· It opens the opportunity for people to be ethical consumers and holiday makers: “Do not holiday in apartheid Israel” as one slogan reads.
· It is a way of non violent protest.
· Several Islamic movements call for a specific support of Palestinian goods and services.
· The academic boycott is to encourage the Israeli academics specifically to take a more active part in the struggle and resistance against the Israeli government and specifically against the occupation.

Does the boycott movement in Europe hurt Israel or not? Yes and no; the damage is more
psychological than economical. Only a huge push by European consumers to boycott Israel,
like the mass boycotts that rocked South Africa during its apartheid regime, would bring a
serious downturn on Israel's export sector, but it is unlikely that boycott supporters will rally
the sort of global consumer consensus that would be needed to mount such an effective
boycott.

Because many of Israel's products are high-tech components rather than end products a boycott of agricultural products alone will be of limited success. What is required is pressure on academics, businesses and government to sever their ties to the Israelis in order to seal their fate.

Boycott Israel!

by kokomero Wed Jul 14, 2004 22:33

after all the Pope is against the apartheid wall and mistreatment of Palestinians too isn't he. And the UN too.

Boycott Israel until they build their wall on the green line and get out of the occupied territories!

by say no more Sat Jul 17, 2004 00:20

If there's one place that really needs boycotting it's the USA... or is that too inconvenient??
Come to think of it, we should be boycotting ALL the eco-fuckers and their corporations. As they say: "Don;t shop, it just encourages them"
x

by Andy Fri Aug 10, 2007 18:11

http://www.indymedia.ie/article/60469?author_name=Andy&...03903

by Fin Sat Aug 11, 2007 08:51

That article is about someone caleed paddy monaghan. The Sunday independant though will probably run with that if stuck for a few pound

by jane jackson - n/a Tue Jan 01, 2008 16:11

people are sometimes driven by misguided ideals to commit atrocities. On both sides there has been terrible misdeeds and at this stage of the conflict to suppport one side above the other would be a mistake. As was shown in Northern Ireland it was not until meaningful dialogue between all factions was established under Mo Mowlam that the road to peace for all was finally embarked upon. Move on Israel and Palestine there are children being born today that don't need the weight of past conflicts on their small shoulders.

by anti-semanitcs Thu Jun 03, 2010 10:45

Dont forget, They really are everywhere

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3663679,00.html

You can see that some posters may not be all that they seem

[edited by moderator to remove reference to hidden post].

by anti-semanitcs - the regressive hypocrite party Thu Jun 03, 2010 12:35

Seems to me its fundamentalist self-definition is fundamentally flawed; in that a bunch of extremists who just happened to be of Hebrew culture rowed in behind the pipedream(wonder what was in his pipe?)of a Hungarian lawyer(Theodor Hertzl) and journalist who caught a chill from what was an anti-semitic flu in France when a Jewish officer(Alfred Dreyfus) was fitted up for treason.He initiated the project for a Jewish homeland to escape centuries of(mostly Christian,European)persecution.The Jewish conception of themselves as a race and tribe apart was reinforced for many by this out-group hatred(which has not gone away)and the sickness went virulent in Nazi Germany(with a little help from its global,often corporate competetive, friends) who still semi-hibernate in all our woodwork.It paddled about in the shadows(Zionism,Hertzl's project) pickiong energy from the waves from the general tide of romantic nationalisms current in the period.Irishism was doing the same thing at the time,drawing a lot of its energy from the reaction to the famine horrors.
Nationalism,like most of us,can be healthy,or overblown and cancerous.When it goes carcinogenic the symptomatic indicators are simplistic,growth- and challenge-averse thought patterns fuelled on a cocktail of personal and social fears that ultimately,if not externally checked, go metastatic.Racism is the sickness.It can be Irish,Teutonic,Aryan,French(they call it chauvinism after one of Napoleon's vets)or any other mythological division of the singular human race,including any bunch of Semites of whatever their chosen creed.It seems to be particularly strong where you get the 'race' and religion so closely embedded as with the current manifestations in Zionist ,exclusionary Israel.This is probably too long to be accepted,but I get tired of simplistic self-satisfying point-scoring righteous wind.In short Niamh,if your going to compete in the human race,you're gonna havta lose the Jewish race that the Zionists,like the white man,often confuse with the one and only.The fundamentalisms stem from keeping the brain lodged in the fundament.Not psychologically conducive to health.The upshot is that the Palestinians are paying the price for European crimes.Hope that helps rather than hinders.Correct me if I have it rongw.Shalom.

by anti-semanitcs Thu Jun 03, 2010 13:04

[edited by mod to remove reference to hidden comment]
Lenni Brenner, an Israeli historian, wrote 2 very good books about the origins of political Zionism and it's very obvious close connections to Nazism. The first of these is "Zionism in the Age of the Dictators - A Reappraisal " - - the full copy is free online at the link - http://www.marxists.de/middleast/brenner/Lenni

The 2nd of Brenner's books is titled "51 Documents: Zionist collaboration with the Nazis"

Although historians have examined Nazism in detail in all its complexity, the present general public, world-wide, is interested in little more than the Holocaust, the Jews as victims. Few, Jew or gentile, know anything about the range of Jewish politics in the Hitler era.

What happened to the Jews is constantly utilized in Zionist propaganda as justification for the creation of the Israeli state, the silver lining around the dark cloud of desolation. That's the tip off that there is something missing: What did the Zionists do for the Jews? There is no '51 Documents: Zionist Resistance to the Nazis.'

The Nazi era is the most discussed period in history, yet most Jews and others are unaware of the interaction between Zionism, Hitler and Mussolini. This book brings to light, through the use of actual historic documents, the disservice that the Zionists did to Jews before and during the Holocaust. Some of these documents were published in English decades ago, but are only now seeing the light of day. Others are being translated into English here for the first time. Included are excerpts from Propaganda Minister Goebbels' newspaper, Der Angriff, detailing an SS-man's visit to Palestine as the Zionists' guest. Readers will also learn about Adolf Eichmann's account of his personal dealings with Hungarian Zionist Reszo Kasztner, who was later assassinated in Israel as a Nazi collaborator who betrayed 400,000 Hungarian Jews. Also revealed is pro-Zionist propaganda put out by the Nazis, such as a medal for getting Jews to Palestine and a Nazi board game where the object is to move Jews to Palestine. The documents contained in this book were selected with due care so that a rounded picture of history emerges. The author concludes that Zionism betrayed the Jews; and the evidence that led him to that conclusion is contained in this book."

The Plot to Stigmatize "51 Documents" on Amazon.com - http://www.counterpunch.org/brenner05252005.html

But the documents demonstrate that collaboration began when Hitler came to power, years before the Holocaust. In 1933, the Zionistischen Vereinigung für Deutschland, the German Zionist Federation, sent a secret message to the Nazis:

"May we therefore be permitted to present our views, which, in our opinion, make possible a solution in keeping with the principles of the new German State of National Awakening.... It is our opinion that an answer to the Jewish question truly satisfying to the national state can be brought about only with the collaboration of the Jewish movement that aims at a social, cultural, and moral renewal of Jewry.... Zionism believes that a rebirth of national life, such as is occurring in German life through adhesion to Christian and national values, must also take place in the Jewish national group.... On the foundation of the new state, which has established the principle of race, we wish so to fit our community into the total structure so that for us too, in the sphere assigned to us, fruitful activity for the Fatherland is possible.... Our acknowledgment of Jewish nationality provides for a clear and sincere relationship to the German people and its national and racial realities.... [W]e do not wish to falsify these fundamentals, because we, too, are against mixed marriage and are for maintaining the purity of the Jewish group."

The ZVfD wasn't thinking about any future slaughter of Jews. To the contrary, they proclaimed that
"[A] self-conscious Jewry here described, in whose name we speak, can find a place in the structure of the German state, because it is inwardly unembarrassed, free from the resentment which assimilated Jews must feel at the determination that they belong to Jewry, to the Jewish race and past. We believe in the possibility of an honest relationship of loyalty between a group-conscious Jewry and the German state."

They went further.
"For its practical aims, Zionism hopes to be able to win the collaboration even of a government fundamentally hostile to Jews, because in dealing with the Jewish question no sentimentalities are involved but a real problem whose solution interests all peoples, and at the present moment especially the German people.

The realization of Zionism could only be hurt by resentment of Jews abroad against the German development. Boycott propaganda ­ such as is currently being carried on against Germany in many ways ­ is in essence un-Zionist, because Zionism wants not to do battle but to convince and to build.... Our observations, presented herewith, rest on the conviction that, in solving the Jewish problem according to its own lights, the German Government will have full understanding for a candid and clear Jewish posture that harmonizes with the interests of the state."

[Critics of Lennii Brenner's book] charge that the synopsis misrepresents "pragmatism for collaboration (particularly before the Nazi's policy of extermination was known about) as if Zionists and Nazis shared the same ideals is insulting and disingenuous."

But [the Zionists] called for "a solution in keeping with the principles of the new German State of National Awakening." After all, "Zionism believes that a rebirth of national life, such as is occurring in German life through adhesion to Christian and national values, must also take place in the Jewish national group.... [W]e do not wish to falsify these fundamentals, because we, too, are against mixed marriage and are for maintaining the purity of the Jewish group." . . .

No honest impartial observer could read those last 2 statements made by the Zionists and come to any other conclusion than that the Zionists were quite clearly saying to the Nazis:

"We Zionists share all the Nazi values - we are the same as you"

Indeed Hitler himself recognised this from an early point - in his book "Mein Kampf" he obviously recognised Zionism being essentially a twin of Nazism, which lead him to write the following passage in praise of Zionism:

""And whatever doubts I may still have nourished were finally dispelled by the attitude of a portion of the Jews themselves. Among them there was a great movement, quite extensive in Vienna, which came out sharply in confirmation of the national character of the Jews: this was the Zionists." - Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf"

by anti-semantics Thu Jun 03, 2010 13:35

If you're really in the mood for a good laugh, guess what one astute netizen found! http://emberapp.com/bangpound/

"Weapons cache" photos, supplied by the IDF, which are in fact photos dating back to 2003, 2006 and who knows when else. http://emberapp.com/bangpound/images/weapons-found-aboa...flic/

Who knew the Mavi Marmara could travel through TIME, as well as the Mediterranean?

Photographic proof that the israelis are falsifing 'evidence'

Photographic proof that the israelis are falsifing 'evidence'

by anti-semanticism Thu Jun 03, 2010 20:40

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=39354

One of the most contentious aspects of Israel's illegal blockade is the huge number of banned items which are not allowed into the Gaza Strip for "security reasons" -- items such as pasta, sage and toilet paper.

Despite Benjamin Netanyahu's promise, in the wake of Monday's raid, that "any goods" would be allowed in, except weapons and materials for making arms and cement -- aid agencies say nothing has changed on the ground.

by Zionism makes me want to vomit Thu Jun 03, 2010 20:55

After having stormed the vessels, the detained activists said Israeli forces confiscated all mobile phones, laptops, and cash. They told lawyers that Israeli commandos began firing live ammunition, rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear-gas canisters from helicopters without prior notice, which caused panic and confusion amongst those on board.

The overhead helicopters terrified the passengers, with many having assembled for the Muslim dawn prayer.

Syrian activist Shatha Barakat said that when she tried to go to the upper deck of one of the ships to help the injured, she saw blood stains everywhere and heard gunshots from all directions. Offering first aid to an elderly man who was struck, Barakat said all on board the vessel were unarmed. Israeli soldiers, she said, were hit by random fire from military helicopters overhead.