Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign

Video: Israel and Canada – Allies in apartheid, allies in colonialism

biac — Mon, 07 May 2012 02:46:21 +0000

Jase Tanner of Rabble.ca’s RabbleTV recently posted two videos of BIAC’s March 5 event, Israel and Canada: Allies in Apartheid, Allies in Colonialism, featuring speakers Glen Coulthard and Mike Krebs exploring the connections between the settler colonial nature of Israel and Canada, as well as the potential in indigenous resistance in both locations.

Please view the videos below:

May 15 & May 19: Vancouver Commemorates al-Nakba

biac — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:40:24 +0000

On the 64th anniversary of the occupation of Palestine, and as the Palestinian people enter the 64^th year of dispossession and exile, the Vancouver Coalition to Commemorate Al-Nakba is organizing 2 events to commemorate the Nakba, stand against the continuing Nakba, and call for the right of return for Palestinian refugees and freedom for Palestine. 64 years after the Nakba – the war of 1948 in which over 800,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes and land and the state of Israel created on that land – Palestinians continue to struggle for their right to return, for freedom from occupation, for justice, and against the Nakba that continues today.

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/280652725354822/

Save the date now and plan to be part of these 2 important events!

Tuesday, May 15
6 PM – 10 PM
Free Community Supper: Sharing Stories, Creating Resistance
Unitarian Church, 949 W. 49th St. Vancouver
This community supper will bring together the community to share stories, creative work, and discussions about indigenous resistance, continuing Nakba, and struggles for freedom.

Saturday, May 19
2 PM
MARCH OF RETURN: MARCH FOR PALESTINE
Gather at Clark Park (14th and Commercial) at 2 PM, March to Grandview Park
Rally at Grandview Park

March and rally commemorating the Nakba, standing against the continuing Nakba, calling for justice, freedom and return for Palestine! We will also stand against Canada’s complicity and its own genocide of indigenous people. Creative actions welcome! This is a family friendly march.

The Vancouver Coalition to Commemorate Al-Nakba includes the Alliance for People’s Health, Arab Student Association – UBC, Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign, Canada Palestine Association, Canadian Boat to Gaza, CanPalNet, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Independent Jewish Voices, No One Is Illegal – Vancouver Unceded Coast Salish Territories, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Seriously Free Speech Committee, Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG), Solidarity For Palestinian Human Rights-UBC (SPHR-UBC). To join the coalition or for more information please contact nakbavancouver@gmail.com.

Video: Vancouver protest for Palestinian political prisoners

biac — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 07:29:43 +0000

Activists in Vancouver with the Alliance for People’s Health, the International League of People’s Struggle, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign and Canada Palestine Association picketed the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on April 17, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, calling for freedom for Palestinian prisoners and support for their ongoing hunger strike.

Videos of picket:

Statement: Boycott the Jim Pattison Group

biac — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 04:23:45 +0000

The following is a statement issued by the Canada Palestine Association, Vancouver. The Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign – Vancouver is one of the endorsers of this statement (see below.) All endorsements should be sent to info@cpavancouver.org and will be noted on CPA’s website.

Jim Pattison Supports Israeli Apartheid and Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians

March 9, 2012 – Canada Palestine Association calls on all supporters of the Palestinian peoples struggle to boycott Jim Pattison and his business empire. Jim Pattison, sole owner and CEO of the Jim Pattison Group, is worth $US 5.8 billion (as of March 2011), and was ranked by Forbes as the 3rd wealthiest person in Canada and 173rd in the world. Pattison is a true representative of the 1% Canadian rich who are monopolizing wealth for their personal interests. He is also a reactionary Evangelical Christian Zionist (or as the Israeli media called him, an “Evangelical billionaire”) who has financially supported many right-wing projects, including last year a donation of NIS 10.6 million ($2.9 million) to “Israeli Roots Journey”. This project is run by the group Mibereshit(1), is co-funded by the Israeli state, and has been referred to by some teachers in Israel as “incessant indoctrination”.

Marc Belzberg, who serves as the Chairman of Mibereshit, stated in an article he wrote:

“Our flagship project, Masa Yisraeli – An Israeli Roots Journey, has offered what can aptly be described as a 6-day Birthright-like experience to 60,000 grade 11 students (since 2006).

The project has made such a profound impact on the country that the Israel Defense Forces asked for a parallel program for its officers and commanders in training several years ago and now thousands participate annually.

The Government of Israel – through its Ministries of Education and Defense – is our partner in this undertaking. But it is a huge undertaking – because for every dollar it contributes – we need to raise two more. We are deeply indebted to the Jim Pattison Foundation, United Israel Appeal of Canada(2) (our emphasis), The Genesis Philanthropy Group, The Claims Conference and Friends of the IDF, whose support has seeded and helped keep this initiative afloat.”

We urge all our supporters locally and overseas to expose Jim Pattison’s complicity in Israeli apartheid, ethnic cleansing and war crimes against the indigenous Palestinian people. Boycott all divisions and outlets(3) of the enormous and global Jim Pattison group, which boasts 455 locations world wide. Join us by endorsing this campaign and sending the message that oppression of the Palestinian people will not be tolerated!!

Footnotes:

1. Mibereshit was originally set up by Rabbi Moti Elon who no longer holds a position with the group and was charged in Oct. 2011with sex crimes.
2. Federation CJA is responsible for “allocations through United Israel Appeal Federations Canada (UIAFC) to Israel”, and all donations to Federation CJA are tax-deductible in full.
3. Car dealerships; Food companies including Canfisco, Buy-Low Foods, SunRype and Overwaitea Food Group (Save-On-Foods and PriceSmart Foods); Entertainment companies; Export and Financial companiesincluding Westshore Terminals, Real Estate Group and Great Pacific Capital; Pattison Outdoor Advertisingincluding billboard advertising; and the Broadcast Group which includes 29 FM stations and three “independent” television stations in western Canada.
——————-
Group Endorsers:

Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians, Montreal
American Muslims of Puget Sound
BDS South Africa
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign (BIAC), Vancouver
Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within, Israel
Canada Palestine Association, Halifax
Canadian Boat to Gaza
Code Pink Women for Peace, Lower Mainland, BC
One Democratic State Group (ODSG), Gaza, Palestine
Palestine House, Toronto
Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU), Montreal
Palestinian Association of Hamilton
Palestinian Students’ Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel (PSCABI), Gaza, Palestine
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee, West Bank, Palestine
Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA), Carleton University, Ottawa
US Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI)
Voice of Palestine, Canada

Individual Endorsers:

Amir M. Maasoumi, Montreal
Andrew Phillips
Annette Wegiel, Vancouver
Betty Beeching
Donald Patterson, Montreal
Edwin Daniel, Victoria.
Genevieve delmas Patterson, Montreal
John Beeching
Lisa Barrett, Vancouver.
Mazin Qumsiyeh, Professor, Bethlehem, Al-Quds, and Birzeit Universities, Palestine
Richard Bevis, Vancouver
Robert McInnes, Victoria, BC.
Roger Lagassé
Wael Ghuneim

Yves Béhar, Sodastream is not ethical, so it cannot be beautiful!

biac — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:50:30 +0000

BIAC is a signatory of the following letter to designer Yves Behar, authored by BDS-Italia and Stop SodaStream-Italia:

Dear Yves Béhar,

We recently learned of your collaboration with Sodastream, the Israeli producer of home carbonation devices, and that you will be presenting a new design for the company at MOST in Milan.

As human rights activists and supporters of the BDS campaign, the 2005 Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel[1], we feel compelled to inform you that behind the image promoted by Sodastream of a socially responsible, eco-friendly business is actually a company operating in blatant violation of human rights and international law.

As evidenced in the company’s own annual report, Sodastream’s main manufacturing facilities are located in an Israeli settlement built illegally in the occupied Palestinian territories.[2]

Since 1996, Sodastream has been directly supporting the illegal settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, via municipal taxes it pays, taxes used exclusively for the settlement’s growth and development.[3]

In addition, Sodastream is contributing to the pollution of Palestinian land and water. Ma’aleh Adumim manages the infamous Abu Dis landfill[4], and also built on land confiscated from Palestinians, where over 1,100 tons of waste from Jerusalem and Israeli settlements are dumped every single day. The Israeli Ministry for the Environment has stated that the landfill is “polluting nearby streams and land”.[5]

To use one of your mottos, this is not ethical, so it cannot be beautiful!

We, therefore, urge you terminate your collaboration with Sodastream, thereby giving credit to your concept of “Design for Good” with “a responsibility to the world around us.” A commitment to sustainability cannot be detached from respect for human rights and international law.

Due to facts detailed above, Sodastream has become the object of an international boycott campaign, from North America to Europe and Oceania. In Italy, a letter calling on retailers to suspend sales of Sodastream has been signed by over 1100 individuals, together with over 30 groups, NGOs and associations.[6]

Italy’s largest environmental organization, Legambiente, which had previously agreed to sponsor Sodastream products, canceled the contract in 2010 upon learning of the company’s grave violations. In February of this year, following the continued improper use of the organization’s logo, Legambiente sent formal notice to Sodastream warning that legal action would ensue if use of their logo did not cease immediately.

It is conceivable to think that Sodastream chose to engage your talents not only for the unquestionable quality of your award winning designs, but also for your commitment to “creating projects that are deeply in-tune with the needs of a sustainable future,” using your commendable convictions to greenwash the company’s complicity with the Israeli government’s brutal occupation.

If you truly believe “design is a real agent of change,” then we call on you to be that agent of change and terminate your relationship with Sodastream.

Stop Sodastream – Italia
BDS Italia

CODEPINK: Women for Peace (USA)
Sacramento BDS (USA)
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 87, Sacramento, CA (USA)
Critical Jewish Voice (Austria)
Women in Black Vienna (Austria)
Arab American Student Union, Wayne State University (USA)
Palestine Human Rights Campaign, Auckland (Aotearoa-New Zealand)
Auckland University Students for Justice in Palestine (Aotearoa-New Zealand)
Students for Justice in Palestine, Victoria University, Wellington (Aotearoa-New Zealand)
Jews for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (Sweden)
Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel (USA)
Sacramento Area Peace Action (USA)
Philly BDS (USA)
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign – Vancouver (Canada)
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USA)
Solidarity (USA)
Canada Palestine Support Network (Canada)
Palestine Israel Action Group of Ann Arbor Friends Meeting, Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA)
InterDenominational Advocates for Peace (IDAP) of Ann Arbor, Michigan (USA)
Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights (USA)
BDS Group Berlin (Germany)
German Palestinian Association (Germany)
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
University of Toledo Students for Justice in Palestine (USA)
Jewish Voice for Peace-Detroit (USA)
Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel (USA)
Boycott Israel Network (UK)
Jewish Voice for Peace (USA)
Australians for Palestine (Australia)
Palestine Solidarity Association (Sweden)
Middle East Crisis Response (USA)