Electronic Intifada : Activism News

Palestinian students at Israeli universities support academic boycott

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:25:06 PST

We are Arab students at the Israeli universities writing to you in support of the proposed academic boycott of Israeli academic institutions. We believe that the boycott is timely and hopefully will help in upholding moral values of fairness, justice and equality which have been sorely missed in our region.

Activist confronts Netanyahu at Washington conference

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:14:04 PST

At the Annual Conference of the United Jewish Federations in Washington, DC, during the plenary session by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, CODEPINK peace activist Midge Potts stood up with a banner that said "End the Siege of Gaza" and shouted "Stop the blockade of Gaza, Shame on you, Netanyahu." She was dragged out of the meeting by security guards.

Israel targeting the boycott movement

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:20:40 PST

For nearly six weeks now Mohammed Othman, a prominent Palestinian activist and an outspoken advocate of the nonviolent boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, has been held in an Israeli military prison without charges. On 22 September 2009 Othman, 34, was detained at the Allenby Crossing as he attempted to enter the occupied West Bank from Jordan. He was returning from a trip to Norway, where he met with Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen, amongst other officials. Mya Guarnieri reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Sussex University students vote to boycott Israeli goods

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:42:56 PST

Students at the University of Sussex, England have voted to boycott Israeli goods. The decision follows the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel, which calls upon the Israeli state to respect international law and end the occupation of Palestine. In a campus-wide referendum, 56 percent of students voted in favor of the boycott.

New York Mets called on to cancel settlement fundraiser

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:42:10 PST

Eleven organizations from the US, Palestine and Israel have called on baseball's New York Mets to cancel a 21 November dinner at the Caesars Club at Citi Field for the Brooklyn-based Hebron Fund. The dinner is a fundraiser for Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank City of Hebron.

Israeli minister's speech disrupted at London university

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:06:27 PST

Students protested and disrupted a lecture on Monday at the London School of Economics (LSE) by Daniel Ayalon, the controversial Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel. More than 50 students and activists greeted Ayalon outside of the lecture on LSE's campus with placards and banners, while inside audience members heckled the controversial minister as a "racist" and "murderer" in relation to the illegal occupation and violence carried out by the Israeli state.

VIDEO: Citizens arrest, disruption of Olmert in San Francisco

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:17:18 PST

Twenty-two activists were arrested at Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's speech to the World Affairs Council on 22 October between 6:30 and 7:30pm at the Westin St. Francis Hotel at Union Square in San Francisco. Inside the auditorium, activists began disrupting the event by placing Olmert under citizens arrest.

Israeli Jews take on settlers

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:30:42 PST

AWARTA, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Away from the media spotlight that focuses on the widening chasm between Israelis and Palestinians, a group of Israeli humanists is quietly working to break down barriers with their Palestinian neighbors. Rabbi Arik Ascherman, director of Israel's Rabbis for Human Rights, has been used as a human shield, arrested, and beaten up several times by Israeli security forces while defending Palestinians.

EI exclusive video: Protesters shout down Ehud Olmert in Chicago

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:54:48 PST

Approximately 30 activists -- mainly students from area universities -- disrupted a lecture given in Chicago by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday which was hosted by the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy. While Olmert's speech was disrupted inside the lecture hall, approximately 150 activists protested outside the hall in the freezing rain.

FIFA urged to give the red card to Israel

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:08:24 PST

We challenge FIFA to live up to the letter and the spirit of its statutes and to seize this opportunity to prove to the world that it stands for a more just world by sending Israel an unmistakeable threat of exclusion. This would be an important victory for human rights -- not only for the Palestinian people, but also for the international football community.

Israeli highschoolers choose jail over occupation army service

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:06:44 PST

Israeli youth who refuse to cooperate with Israel's military occupation are sent into a lengthy and relentless labyrinth of court martials and consecutive jail terms in what Israeli lawyer Michael Sfard calls a "price tag" meant to deter other young Israelis from non-participation. "Otherwise," he says, "[the Israeli government's] argument says, everyone -- of ideological or personal reasons -- will refuse to serve." The Electronic Intifada contributor Nora Barrows-Friedman recently interviewed two young Israeli women who have refused to serve in the army.

Night raids in Bilin target activists

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:44:27 PST

For the last three months, residents of the West Bank village of Bilin have been subjected to constant night raids by the Israeli military in retaliation for the village's five-year campaign of nonviolent resistance against Israel's wall being constructed on their land. Members of the Bilin Popular Committee have been arrested as well as teenagers and young boys from the village in order to obtain forced confessions against committee members. Bilin Popular Committee's Media Coordinator Abdullah Abu Rahme tells the story of the 16 September 2009 raid of his home to The Electronic Intifada contributor Jody McIntyre.

Israeli forces arrest anti-wall organizer

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:03:21 PST

Palestinian human rights defender and activist Mohammad Othman was arrested by Israeli forces on 22 September 2009. It is believed that Mohammad's arrest is related to his human rights activism. In the last few years, Mohammad has been extremely active in his advocacy efforts by briefing activists and officials, locally and internationally, on Israel's illegal construction of the wall, informing the media on daily developments and monitoring human rights violations.

Settlement university dropped from prestigious architecture competition

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:48:59 PST

The University Center of Ariel in Samaria (AUCS) has been excluded from the Solar Decathlon, an international university competition promoting sustainable architecture. The self-styled AUCS, claiming to represent Israel, though situated in the illegal settlement of Ariel in the occupied West Bank, was one out of 20 architecture teams short-listed from university entries last April to compete for the Solar Decathlon-Europe 2010. The Spanish Government together with the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid organizes this most prestigious competition for sustainable architecture in the world.

Boycott movement derails Jerusalem's transit system

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:29:54 PST

An ill-fated light railway under construction in Jerusalem was originally heralded by Israeli officials as a way to cement the city's "unification" four decades after the city's Palestinian half was illegally annexed to Israel. But the only unity generated among Jewish and Palestinian residents after four years of disruptions to the city's traffic and businesses is general agreement that the project is rapidly becoming a white elephant. Jonathan Cook reports.

UK trade unions overwhelmingly pass boycott vote

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:13:15 PST

In a landmark decision, Britain's trade unions have voted overwhelmingly to commit to build a mass boycott movement, disinvestment and sanctions on Israel for a negotiated settlement based on justice for Palestinians. The motion was passed at the 2009 TUC Annual Congress in Liverpool today (17 September), by unions representing 6.5 million workers across the UK.

Veolia still intertwined with Israel's occupation

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:03:31 PST

After years of campaigning by Palestine solidarity activists to end the French transportation giant Veolia's complicity with Israeli violations of Palestinian rights, it was reported in early June that the company planned to end its involvement in an Israeli light rail project being built on occupied Palestinian land. However, contrary to Veolia's reported intention to abandon the light rail project, the company seems to be conducting business as usual with Israel. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Targeting Britain's war industry

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:34:48 PST

"Warfighters around the world rely on Brimar products every day," a small company from Manchester in northwest England boasts on its publicity material. Brimar makes screens and viewfinders which allow helicopter pilots and tank gunners to carry out their bloody jobs in Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan. But a new local campaign is looking to turn Brimar's boast on its head, and it's just one of a number of British campaigns confronting the companies which arm the Israeli military. Sarah Irving reports for The Electronic Intifada.

Palestinian village calls for Swedish divestment from occupation

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 11:28:03 PST

We have learned with dismay that Sweden, a great supporter of human rights worldwide, has invested its pension fund AP1 in at least ten companies that support Israel's human rights abuses and violations of international law. One of those companies, Israel Discount Bank, is directly involved in settlements on Bilin's stolen land, and all the companies are involved in destroying hopes for justice and peace in Palestine.

Protesters of Toronto festival's Tel Aviv spotlight saluted

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:02:02 PST

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) salutes the filmmakers, artists and cultural workers who drafted and endorsed the Toronto Declaration: No Celebration of Occupation protesting the Toronto International Film Festival's City to City Spotlight on Tel Aviv. The impressive list of signatories includes long-time supporters of a just peace and Palestinian rights and newer friends, all of whom we sincerely thank.