Jon Booth, McGill Daily Nov. 18 2010.

Photo: Drawing comparisons to South African apartheid policies, the Israeli military forces Palestinians to carry identification documents that restrict their movement.

The word apartheid is one of the most controversial parts of the Palestinian solidarity movement. Opponents of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) campaign claim that the word apartheid is a slur used solely to delegitimize Israel. We in Tadamon!, however, believe this term is an accurate legal description of the Israeli state, and do not shrink from using an accurate term because it is controversial.

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by Sami Kishawi Sixteen Minutes to Palestine Nov. 19 2010

Photo: Israeli occupation soldiers in the Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

Today marks another win for the global boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) movement against corporations that profit from severe human rights violations. Chicago’s very own DePaul University just announced that their dining services will be discontinuing the sale of hummus manufactured by Sabra, an Israeli brand known for its vocal and material support of Israeli Defense Forces. The administration has temporarily suspended the sale of Sabra products and will likely move towards permanently banning the brand from campus.

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guardian.co.uk by Kieron Monks Friday 19 November 2010

Photo Israeli apartheid wall near occupied Jerusalem.

“Peace Starts Here” is the slogan adopted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to promote its work in the Palestinian territories. But why does peace “start here”? Why not 60 years ago when UNRWA began its work with Palestinian refugees? Or 60 years in the future, when we will still be debating the same problems if the aid models do not change.

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Gisha November 2010 via Mondoweiss

Photo Palestinian in Gaza Strip holds stones.

The eve of Eid al-Adha celebrated this week brought news of a shortage of flour in the Gaza Strip. For the past two weeks, traders and flour mill owners have warned of shortages of wheat in the Strip, claiming that the mills have been providing about half of their production capacity. The mathematical formulas, which the army used to determine the level to which they would allow the stock of flour in Gaza to be reduced, are no longer in effect. So why is there a shortage?

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by Simona Sikimic & Wassim Mroueh Daily Star Tuesday, November 16, 2010.

Photo Beirut skyline view from civil war destroyed building.

People across the country prepared for three days of relative calm as they planned to gather with family and friends Tuesday to celebrate Eid al-Adha.

The break is viewed by many as much-needed reprieve from the heated political rhetoric that has raged over the impending indictment from the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and engulfed Lebanon in a spiral of mistrustful bickering, threatening to reignite sectarian strife.

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Report Defence for Children International – DCI Palestine October 2010 download PDF

Photo Israeli occupation forces patrol the Old City of Hebron, in occupied Palestine.

In October, DCI-Palestine collected information relating to the arrest of 17 children from the Silwan neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, although lawyers and fieldworkers for DCI-Palestine estimate that the overall number of children arrested in the Silwan neighbourhood in October is considerably higher.

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photos from Artists Against Apartheid feat. Obsesión @ BDS Quebec conference.

Photo Mickey Boston Cuban hip-hop group Obsesión at Artists Anti Apartheid.

Photographer and artist Mickey Boston captured a couple striking portraits of celebrated Cuban hip-hop group Obsesión performing at Artists Against Apartheid during the Quebec/Canada-wide BDS conference in Montreal on October 23 2010. Obsesión performed along side members of Montreal hip-hop group Nomadic Massive, also taking the stage during the concert was Detroit based hip-hop artist Invincible and celebrated Montreal MC The Narcicyst, who performed to a packed house with hundreds gathering for the rising Artists Against Apartheid concert series.

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by Seumas Milne guardian.co.uk Wednesday 10 November 2010

Photo Palestinian boy holds national flag during rally in occupied Palestine.

In a quiet street in the Sheikh Jarrah district of occupied East Jerusalem 88-year-old Rifka al-Kurd is explaining how she came to live in the house she and her husband built as Palestinian refugees in the 1950s. As she speaks, three young ultra-orthodox Jewish settlers swagger in to stake their claim to the front part of the building, shouting abuse in Hebrew and broken Arabic: “Arab animals”, “shut up, whore”.

There is a brief physical confrontation with Rifka’s daughter as the settlers barricade themselves in to the rooms they have occupied since last winter. That was when they finally won a court order to take over the Kurd family’s extension on the grounds that it was built without permission – which Palestinians in Jerusalem are almost never granted. It is an ugly scene, the settlers’ chilling arrogance underpinned by the certain knowledge that they can call in the police and army at will.

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Haaretz Nov. 2010

Photo Richard Wainwright Residents and protesters gather in the village of Nil’in to demonstrate against land confiscation and the Separartion Barrier running through their land.

A group of leading Israeli film and television artists have signed onto an online petition supporting the right of theater actors to refuse to perform in the newly opened arts center in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.

“A number of Knesset members and ministers from Yisrael Beitenu and Likud and other right-wing figures are calling for cutting off funding to artists that this week called for a boycott of the cultural center in Ariel,” the online petition said.

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BDS Quebec conference final statement Nov. 2010

Photo Palestinian flag flying in sky at demonstration against Israeli apartheid.

As part of the growing global movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid, grassroots organizations in Montréal successfully hosted a conference aimed at moving forward the BDS movement in Québec. The conference, which took place October 22 to 24 at the Université de Québec à Montréal, brought together hundreds of people concerned about social justice and human rights from across Canada and around the world.

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