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Latest news from BIGCampaign
The Wall built on Occupied Palestinian Land was declared illegal by the International Court of Justice in 9/7/2004: It reminded Goverments that
" All States are under an obligation not to recognize the illegal situation resulting from the construction of the wall and not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by such construction; all States parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949 have in addition the obligation, while respecting the United Nations Charter and international law, to ensure compliance by Israel with international humanitarian law as embodied in that Convention."Despite this decision by the International Court of Justice and the subsequent passing of a similar resolution in the UN General Assembly by 150 votes to 6, Western Governments led by George Bush in the United States and followed by our own Tony Blair have given Israel whole hearted support and have not done anything to ensure compliance. This has been the case over the last 60 years of Israel's flouting of international law and denial of basic human rights to the Palestinians. So civil society needs to act as happened before with South Africa. HJFP/PSCThe Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has a very active boycott campaign and HJFP acts with other branches of PSC spreading the message. We have an ongoing campaign of boycott leading we hope to the kind of pressure brought about by the Anti-Apartheid movement.10/7/07
Years of Palestine Solidarity Campaign work with the trade union movement is bearing fruit with a summer of motions from leading UK and Irish trade unions calling for the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and for multifaceted sanctions on Israel.It began with the historic UCU (Universities and Colleges Union) motion on 30th May this year, condemning Israeli academia’s complicity in the occupation and demanding a debate within the union for an academic boycott. The UCU decision was followed by a motion on 18th June by AMICUS condemning the building of the illegal Wall and settlements and on 21st June by UNISON, which represents over 1.3 million NHS and service workers in the UK, calling for an economic, cultural and academic boycott, while demanding an end to the sanctions imposed on the Palestinians. The NUJ (National Union of Journalists) called for an end to Israeli aggression and occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. The TGWU, the biggest general workers union, seconded this call last week at their annual conference in Brighton. Irish Congress of Trade Unions -representing trade unions and trades councils from the whole island of Ireland- passed two motions highly critical of actions of the Israeli government’s oppression of the Palestinian people. The two motions condemned Israel for its human rights abuses, its policy of ethnic cleansing and its war crimes and adopted the call for boycott and divestment. Boycott Israeli Goods campaign The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) in advocating selective sanctions says"We also note with satisfaction the many Jewish and Israeli organizations who support the idea of selective sanctions on Israel: European Jews for a Just Peace (a coalition of 16 Jewish groups from eight European countries); Not in My Name (US); Matzpun (Israel/International); Jews Against the Occupation (NYC Chapter); the petition of South African government minister Ronnie Kasrils and legislator Max Ozinsky, which has gathered more than 500 signatories from South African Jews; Jewish Voices Against the Occupation (US); Jewish Women for Justice in Israel and Palestine (US); Gush Shalom (Israel); Jews for Global Justice (US); and Visions of Peace With Justice (US), among others."ICAHD call for sanctions Presbyterian Church in USA"In July 2004 , the Presbyterian church in the US became the first major denomination to agree a formal boycott of Israel.The network said it would press leaders of the 75 million Anglicans and Episcopalians worldwide to impose sanctions on Israel after an eight-day visit to the occupied territories". The Guardian -- Anglican group calls for Israel sanctions Church of EnglandThe Synod of the Church of England decided in February 2006 to divest from companies whose products are used by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories. Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury supported the decision.The New England Annual Conference of United Methodist on June 11 passed a resolution calling for voluntary divestment from companies that profit in a significant way from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. A committee will be formed to prepare a list of such companies within six months. The list will then be submitted to Methodist churches and investment managers in the New England Conference. They will be urged to consider divesting from these companies. Norwegian Provincial Parliament of Sor-Trondelag Votes to Boycott Israeli GoodNidal Hamad - Oslo 15 December 2005"Today the Norewegian friends and supporters of Palestine had one of their dreams come true. The Provincial Government of Sor-Trondelag, (which includes Trondheim, Norway's third largest city and comprises almost 20 percent of Norway's population) voted by a majority to boycott Israeli Goods". www.safsaf.org GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATESMonday, November 28, 2005 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Green Party of the United States has endorsed a statement calling for a comprehensive strategy of boycott and divestment that would pressure the government of Israel to guarantee human rights for Palestinians. http://www.gp.org/press/pr_2005_11_28.shtmlArchitects threaten to boycott Israel over 'apartheid' barrier 10 February 2006A group including some of Britain's most prominent architects is considering calling for an economic boycott of Israel's construction industry in protest at the building of Israeli settlements and the separation barrier in the Occupied Territories.Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine, whose members include Richard Rogers and the architectural critic Charles Jenckes, met for the first time last week in secret at the London headquarters of Lord Rogers' practice. He introduced the meeting, and the 60 attendees went on to condemn the illegal annexation of Palestinian land and the construction of the vast fence and concrete separation barrier running through the West Bank and Jerusalem. Architects threaten to boycott Israel over 'apartheid' barrier Egyptian Boycott broadens outMany Egyptians have been boycotting Israel for decades. In 2002 the Egyptian Society for Boycotting Zionist and American products set up the boycott strategy in a systematic way. The Egyptian Committee prepared the unified list through specialized economic experts, who applied strict rules to be followed. First rule applied is boycotting all Israeli companies and products, as well as affiliates thereof. Second rule is selecting a sample of U.S. and Western products, as a message to the U.S. and other pro-Israel states to the effect that bias to Israel will hurt the interests of such states. Third rule is to guarantee an alternative to the boycotted product. Then making sure that boycotting any product will have no negative impacts on the Egyptian economy. Finally, only companies and goods meeting the boycott measures are to be included in the unified list. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=3148CUT, the Brazilian equivalent of the British TUC, has called on Latin American members of the trade body Mercosur not to sign a trade deal with Israel. The CUT note the effect of the "apartheid wall" and call on the Mercosur block to set up trade links with Palestine instead. |