As people of conscience around the world marked the
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian
People, ever new actions help bring Palestinians
closer to achieving a state of dignity, says Eric
Walberg
Just in case there was an iota of doubt left in your
mind, Israel was officially declared an apartheid
state during a session of the Russell Tribunal on
Palestine in Cape Town on 7 November.
Among depositions, the Palestinian Centre for Human
Rights in Gaza cited the Fourth Geneva Convention and
the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court which prohibits "the transfer, directly or
indirectly, by the Occupying Power of parts of its own
civilian population into the territory it occupies."
This was just in time to honour the UN-endorsed
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian
People, marked on 29 November to coincide with the
anniversary of the UN vote for the Partition Plan, and
first celebrated in 1976. Boycott Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) activists in 10 European countries
staged more than 60 actions as part of a Day of Action
calling on supermarkets and governments to "Take
Apartheid off the Menu".
In the UK, 26 November was declared a national BDS Day
of Action targetting Britain's largest supermarket
chain Tesco, the only supermarket in the UK that is
openly selling illegal settlement goods. Activities
ranged from street protests, e-lobbying, relabelling,
flash protests and internetworking. While Agrexco may
be kaput as Israel's largest supplier of fresh produce
to Europe, Mehadrin has taken its place and was the
target of the European Day of Action Against Israeli
Agricultural Produce Exporters.
Demonstrators in the US boarded buses run by Veolia to
educate passengers about Israel's apartheid policies.
Boston activists launched a campaign challenging the
Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Company's contract
with Veolia. In Baltimore, activists demonstrated at
Penn Station during rush hour, singing a freedom song
and drawing connections between the Palestinian and
American struggles for equality, linking Veolia's
profiteering from racism and exploitation in
Israel/Palestine to the City of Baltimore's contracts
with its own workers.
In a cynical rearguard bid to attract Christmas
shoppers, Israel Lobby activists launched Buy Israel
Week November 28, hastily put together to counter the
growing BDS tide. Luke Akehurst, director of We
Believe in Israel, called for two BUYcott days,
featuring discount coupons, sponsored by StandWithUs,
El-Al, the Jewish National Fund and other such pillars
of Israeli apartheid.
While American sympathisers were politely tolerated in
their protests against Veolia's transport activities
in Israel, their compatriots in Palestine proper were
violently arrested for confronting Veolia and Egged,
the two major culprits, and targets of BDS activists
in Europe.
Inspired by their Western supporters, six Palestinian
Freedom Riders emulated the legendary Freedom Riders
of the American south of the 1960s, riding settler bus
148 near the illegal settlement of Psagot. Much like
those courageous black and white Americans (including
many Jews) of yesteryear, the Palestinians were
forcibly removed and arrested.
This new generation of Freedom Riders will further
inspire Westerners for whom "It is a moral duty to end
complicity in this Israeli system of apartheid,"
according to arrested Hebron resident Badee Dwak.
Fellow arrestee Basel Al-Araj minced no words: "The
settlers are to Israel what the KKK was to the Jim
Crow South -- an unruly, fanatic mob that has enormous
influence in shaping Israeli policies today and that
violently enforces these policies with extreme
violence and utter impunity."
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker wrote:
"Board the buses to Everywhere. Sit freely. Go into
Jerusalem with my blessing. Like many of my country
people, I have witnessed this scenario before and know
where it can lead. To a straightening of the back and
a full breath taken by the soul. Some of us have shed
blood, others have shed tears. Some have shed both.
All sacred to the cause of the dignity we deserve as
beautifully fashioned citizens and Beings of this
Universe."
Sadly, as he honoured the Freedom Riders of the 1960s
for their courage and dedication fifty years ago,
President Barack Obama had no such words for the
equally brave ones in Israel today.
In the Arab world, 29 November activities took BDS the
logical extra step, with 7,000 Jordanians gathering in
the Jordan Valley and marching to the Israeli border
to condemn Israel's settlement expansion, calling for
the liberation of Al-Quds (Jerusalem), home to the Al-Aqsa
Mosque, which is the second holiest site for Muslims.
"We sacrifice our souls and blood for Al-Aqsa Mosque
and Al-Quds," the Jordanians chanted after noon
prayers, calling on Jordanian authorities to scrap its
peace treaty with Israel.
Even as 100,000s of Cairenes gathered to defend the
Egyptian revolution in Tahrir Square 26 November, a
rally co-sponsored by Al-Azhar and the Union of Muslim
Scholars attended by 5,000 called on Muslims to fight
"Jerusalem's Judaisation". Al-Azhar Imam Ahmed Al-Tayeb
said: "We are telling Israel and Europe that we shall
not allow even one stone to be moved there." Activists
chanted: "Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv, judgment day has come."
In other boycott news, a victory for a clutch of brave
and principled tennis fans arrested for protesting at
the New Zealand Women's Tennis Open last December,
which featured Israeli Shahar Peer. After a year of
trials, they were finally exonerated in a landmark
decision by High Court Justice Paul Heath, who said
"Disruption of an individual's enjoyment of a sporting
event was not the same as disruption of public order."
Quipped a free John Minto, "Annoyance is not a crime,
annoyance is part of being in democracy." The judge
said it was clear the protest was meant to convey to
the tennis player the concerns at the way Israel
treated the Palestinian Territories.
In contrast to the tidal wave of Western artists now
boycotting Israel-linked events (the Yardbirds just
cancelled a scheduled Tel Aviv show), iconic singer
and actor Barbra Streisand performed at a fundraising
gala in Los Angeles for Friends of the IDF. Streisand
supports OneVoice, which promotes a two-state solution
that fails to address structural injustices and has
long been discredited. Guests of honour included media
magnate Haim Saban and former Israeli Military Chief
of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, who commanded the attacks on
Gaza in 2008-09 which killed 1,400 Palestinians. An
Israeli propaganda video about Streisand's appearance
at the gala features armed Israeli soldiers running in
a scenic sunset. A shameful sunset in her own career.
In a wonderfully shocking divestment move, Israeli
powers-that-be are furious at BNP Paribas for shutting
down its operations in Israel. Bank of Israel Governor
Stanley Fischer, Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz and
Banks Supervisor David Zaken believe the bank's board
of directors caved to pressure groups, in the first
case in years of a foreign bank leaving Israel. BNP
Paribas has had operations in Israel since 2003. The
bank claims it sustained serious damage from the Greek
crisis, yet the only foreign branch it is closing is
its Israeli one.
Unfortunately, as yet, no international governmental
sanctions against Israel have been imposed in the past
few months. On the contrary, the US continues to
oppose attempts to boycott Israel, putting great
pressure especially on Arab League states, which
officially support BDS. Under US antiboycott
legislation enacted in 1978, US firms are prohibited
from compliance with any such boycott directly or for
a third party, and are required to report any such
request to the US Department of Commerce. The WTO is
an accomplice, as Israel is supposed to be treated as
a Most Favoured Nation by member states.
This pressure has unfortunately had its effect.
Morocco and Gulf Coordination Council members,
especially Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, acceded to US
arguments that boycotting Israel harmed the "peace
process" and turn a blind eye to third-party economic
relations with Israel and even quietly conduct direct
trade.
But the Arab Spring is forcing these truant
governments to wake up to their people's demands. And
the US showpiece for its vision of the new Middle East
-- Iraq -- doesn't dare end boycott activities, which
were the hallmark of Iraqi politics prior to the US
invasion.
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