Practical Action for Palestinian Rights

Sunday November 27, 2005 17:12

by David L

IPSC hold Conference on Disinvestment and Boycott

About 40 people gathered in the Teacher’s Club on Saturday, November 26th to discuss the practicalities of disinvestment and boycott of Israel as a means of defending Palestinians. This is a report on that conference.

With a panel that included two speakers from Israel – Dr Ilan Pappe and Dr. Oren Ben-Dor – the discussion ranged from broad debates around the boycott to the more practical issues of how to launch and conduct a boycott and disinvestment campaign.

Issues
The case of South Africa, where civil society boycott – conducted by both Unions and NGOs - led to state sanctions was highlighted by both Terence McCaughey and Brendan Archibald of MANDATE. Brendan stressed that we need the lead of the Palestinian people in deciding what to do, and noted that over 80 Palestinian NGOs are supporting the call to boycott. There was total agreement that any action must avoid the canard of being anti-Jewish; that it is the illegal actions of the Israeli state which is being targeted.

CRH
While most were in favour – theoretically – of boycotting Israeli goods and cultural products (including an academic boycott) and of promoting financial disinvestment, some thought a general boycott was not pragmatic at this time, and that we should concentrate on certain companies which benefited from the occupation. CRH, an Irish company which owns 25% of the cement industry in Israel, and which is helping to build the Wall in the West Bank was signalled out as a company which should be targeted through a sustained disinvestment campaign. For more on CRH in indymedia:
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=65558&search_text=CRH
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=65451&search_text=CRH

Academic Boycott.
Dr Ilan Pappé, a noted supporter of the boycott of Israeli academic institutions who has been on a speaking tour of Ireland, outlined the complicity of Israeli academia in the occupation. Israeli academia, he noted, provides a ‘cloak of respectability’ to the actions of the Israeli state, as well as very practical assistance to the occupation. Israelis now believe that they can do what they want to the Palestinians without anyone else caring; he promoted a boycott as a non-violent way of showing them this is not the case.
For more by Pappé on the academic boycott:
http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,1490283,00.html
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,1464206,00.html

And for more articles by him, check out the list at
http://student.cs.ucc.ie/cs1064/jabowen/IPSC/php/customSearch.php?m1=1&m3=3&sMask=ynyynn&lv=2&d0=1&d1=n&w5=Ilan+Pappe&c4=e&o1=n

Practical Action
To find out more about the boycott and what’s happening, the best thing to do is to contact the Irish Palestinian Solidarity Movement who, like MacDonalds, has branches all over. You can go to their website at http://www.ipsc.ie or email them at supportpalestine@ireland.com

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Comments (2 of 2)

Hello from "close to" the EU-Med conference 2005!

by iosaf

Mon Nov 28, 2005 13:59

barcelona

35 states of the mediterranean have seen their mafia like bosses assemble this weekend amidst the most serious security measures I've yet seen in this city, under the joint "chairmanship" of Spain and the UK (as president of the EU).

One by one all the EU states are dropping in on the "Forum" complex which some might remember was built for a showcase of "cultural hegomony" in 2004. Mr Ahern of Ireland will arrive shortly.

At the last moment, (due to security reasons) Sharon PM of Israel could not come and the Israeli delegation is decidely "low level" however, the Palestinian Authority is represented at its "highest level". The fulfillment of the "barcelona declaration" which was made here in 1995 would present an option to the US "road map" for an Israeli/Palestinian settlement. The decision by the Israelis to downgrade their delegation must be seen a rejection of that option.

Yesterday there were as the day before a variety of protests and concentrations against this "summit of mafia bosses" who "speak of peace and prosperity" but are only interested in "neo-colonization" of the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean. Though attended by Palestinian support groups, the CNT, IU, Greens and other left groupings there was a notably absence of Catalan republican independence groups and other traditional groups who support street demonstrations.
The result was a very disappointing turn out.

The Summit itself has had trouble on the definition of "terrorism", which follows earlier British efforts at this level of international co-operation / bullying during and after the G8.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4477054.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4474986.stm
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/650944.html

{"The draft text of the "Code of Conduct on Countering Terrorism" declared "all peoples have the right of self-determination," but that "terrorist attacks cannot be justified or legitimized by any cause or grievance."}

The British have also pushed their definition of terrorism at their "commonwealth summit" this week, where unsurprisingly it was accepted.

For their part the Spanish are pushing the "alliance of civilisation" proposals of Zapatero at the UN in 2004 (a plan which has the "nominal support" of Jordan and Morocco amongst the arab states of the mediterranean. As such the "right to determination" of the peoples of the mediterranean is "also to be recognised". Obviously this very issue lay behind the first "conference of nations without state of the mediterranean" which closed last week in Barcelona and saw delegates of independence groups from all those "little nations without states but flags" with the addition of Western Sahara (though not mediterranean).

I'll be honest with ye, the CNT described this as a "mafiosa summit" & I agree, and they have closed our city where we live to hold it. We have AWACS! We have armed guards! We have the navy! We have men in dark glasses with curly wires! We have less stops on the metro, just in case we thought about blowing them up from underneath. And meanwhile they sit in their triangular building protected in all manner of strange ways from the Truth.

Migrants lie lost and frozen in the sea these last days, they talk about their "soft European power" as an option to the "US hard military might". The poor and the ordinary workers of Europe can not afford to live in their own cities thanks to market liberalisation and speculation of their urban resources. The only prosperity that can really be offered to the countries of the maghreb is "starbucks, hotels, casinos, yacht clubs, and holiday homes for those pale people who get paid too much up north and need retire".

All I can wonder is why are these mediocre masters of the world seem so scared? Afterall history has now proved, terrorists don't bother with them. Its _our metro_ which is at risk today.

Insightful

by Ali H.

Wed Nov 30, 2005 13:50

comments as usual Iosaf.

On the subject of bullying have you given any thought to a post about the anti-Catalan boycott promoted by the Spanish right-wing?

It seems pretty obvious that the powers that be want to cut off all avenues in terms of dissent, whether violent or non-violent in order to maintain the status quo.

Apparently the UK is the extreme where 33% of black males have now been permanently DNA typed owing to lax definitions of data-retention laws and broad definitions used in DNA sampling legislation.

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Comments (2 of 2)