open letter to Amnesty International, July 30, 2009

Photo: Israel’s apartheid wall in Palestine.

In May, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) called on singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen to heed the Palestinian call for a cultural boycott of Israel and avoid complicity with Israel’s violations of international law by cancelling his planned September concert in Israel, particularly in view of Israel’s war crimes in Gaza earlier this year. Sadly, according to a July 28 article in the Jerusalem Post, Amnesty International USA has agreed to cooperate with Cohen in dealing with Israel on the basis of business as usual.

Amnesty International USA will serve as sponsor of a new fund that will whitewash the money raised at Cohen’s concert in Israel by using it to finance programs for “peace.” Being one of the world’s strongest proponents of human rights and international law, you shall thus be subverting a non-violent, effective effort by Palestinian and international civil society to end Israel’s violations of international law and human rights principles. We call on you to be true to your values and immediately withdraw support for Leonard Cohen’s ill-conceived concert in Israel.

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Haartez, by Amira Hass, July 27th, 2009.

Photo: Palestine solidarity graffiti in Europe.

Norway is reexamining its investments in several Israeli companies, in particular Elbit Systems. Two representatives of the Council on Ethics of the Norwegian finance ministry visited Israel at the beginning of June, in the wake of growing criticism of Israel in Norway in the months following last winter’s Israeli offensive in Gaza. The representatives met with, among others, groups of Palestinians and Israelis who claim that Norway invests in businesses directly involved in the Israeli occupation, which, they say, contradicts its commitment to abide by international law and to a just solution for the area.

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Jerusalem Post, July 29th, 2009, by Abe Selig.

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Photo: Smoke over Gaza during Israeli army bombardment.

At a recently opened eco-friendly bar in Tel Aviv, customers can enjoy vegan delicacies, politic with left-wing activists or indulge in green-colored beer.

But wearing green may get them thrown out.

The Rogatka Bar – the word means “slingshot” in Russian and was used colloquially to describe slingshots used by Palestinian youth during the first intifada – has found itself at the heart of a fiery debate, after Army Radio reported earlier this week that the vegan eatery does not allow entry to IDF soldiers in uniform.

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featuring celebrated Palestinian hip-hop ensemble DAM with Iraqi rapper Narcicyst

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 28th, 20h00
$10 in advance | $15 at door
purchase tickets admission.com
Café Campus
57 rue Prince-Arthur Est
Montreal, Quebec

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Report from Bil’in, July 24, 2009.

Photo: ActiveStills. Israeli army launches tear gas over Bil’in, Palestine.

Immediately after Friday prayers today, Bil’in citizens, International supporters, and Israeli activists went out in a demonstration, raising Palestinian flags and banners condemning the occupation policies of building the wall, land confiscation, building settlements, roads closures, the siege of cities, killing civilians, house raids, and the arresting of children.

Palestinian Minister of Affairs Related to the Apartheid Wall, Mr. Maher Ghuneim, also participated in the demonstration, and listened to a comprehensive explanation from the Popular Committee for Resistance Against the Wall about the experiences of the Bil’in community and its most recent developments. The Minister affirmed the government’s support for the popular resistance, pointing to the fact that there are no current negotiations on the question of the presence of settlements and the wall.

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Philippa Hawker, The Age, July 18, 2009

Photo: Matthew Cassel. Gaza, Palestinian refugees displaced in Israeli bombardment.

English filmmaker Ken Loach has withdrawn his film Looking for Eric from the Melbourne International Film Festival because the festival receives funding from the Israeli Government.

Loach told the festival if it did not reconsider the sponsorship, he would not allow the festival to screen his film.

In a letter to festival executive director Richard Moore, he said that “Palestinians, including artists and academics, have called for a boycott of events supported by Israel”. He cited “illegal occupation of Palestinian land, destruction of homes and livelihoods” and “the massacres in Gaza” as reasons for the boycott. It was, he said, aimed “not at independent Israeli films or filmmakers”, but at “the Israeli state”.

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July 8th, 2009 report from www.forward.com

Photo: Gueorgui Tcherednitchenko. Cameras cover Israel’s wall in occupied Palestine.

The expulsion of an Israeli journalists’ union from the International Federation of Journalists is mired in a murky cocktail of politics and money.

The Israeli group –— the National Federation of Israel Journalists — was ousted June 7 in a unanimous vote of the international union’s executive committee. The vote immediately raised the specter of another effort by international unions to boycott Israel for political reasons; recently, a number of academic unions around the world have voted to boycott Israeli professors.

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Hour July 16th, 2009, by Stefan Christoff.

Photo: ActiveStills: Israeli night invasion into Bil’in village.

Palestinian activists from Bil’in village say the Israeli military has raided their village almost daily this week. They claim the early morning raids are linked to a recent lawsuit filed by the village in the Quebec Superior Court.

Last month Bil’in launched the lawsuit against two Montreal-based companies, Green Park International and Green Mount International, claiming they played a role in building Israeli-only settlements on Palestinian lands in Bil’in, an act they say is illegal under international law and under Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act, established in 2000.

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for immediate release: Thursday July 9th, 2009.

Photo: ActiveStills. Israeli occupation soldiers at popular protest in Bil’in, Palestine.

Military raids launched by Israeli forces in Palestine in parallel to court case in Quebec

Israeli army forces are launching night-time military raids on Bil’in village in Palestine.

Bil’in recently made headlines in Canada after the village launched a lawsuit in Montreal against two Quebec registered companies constructing Israeli settlements on the village’s land.

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Interview with Palestinian poet Suheir Hammad, by Stefan Christoff for Hour.ca

Photo: Abdel Rahman al Mozayen, “Children of the Intifada”

Celebrated Brooklyn-based Palestinian poet Suheir Hammad creates poetry remarkable for its precision and ability to cut to the heart of some of the most profound political conflicts of our time.

Her voice is shaped by Palestinian history, yet offers contemporary insights into a culture often misrepresented in the media. She builds on the work of Palestinian artists like the late Mahmoud Darwish – those who have played a key role in capturing the national voice of a Palestinian nation that remains absent from the world map, but is ubiquitous in the minds of millions around the world. Hammad’s poetry paints a full picture of the immediate conditions and historical injustices faced by the Palestinians.

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