Amnesty International has announced that it will abstain from any involvement in the Leonard Cohen concert in Tel Aviv and will not be party to any fund that benefits from the concert’s proceeds. Amnesty International’s announcement followed an international outcry over the human rights organization’s reported involvement in the Leonard Cohen concert fund, and an earlier international call for Cohen to boycott apartheid Israel. Read more about Amnesty int'l withdraws from Israel concert fund following campaign
A recent acquisition by the Israeli subsidiary of brick and mortar giant Irish CRH has placed the European conglomerate under increased pressure from Palestine solidarity activists. Irish CRH, formerly known as Cement Roadstone Holding, owns 25 percent of the Mashav Group, an Israeli construction firm. Mashav recently announced that it will acquire Hanson Israel, a subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement. With the acquisition of Hanson Israel, CRH is further entrenched in violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Adri Nieuwhof reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Irish construction giant digs deeper in occupation
The international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel has won several important victories in recent months. At this summer’s trade union conferences in Britain, BDS activists have made significant progress. Asa Winstanley reports for The Electronic Intifada Read more about Boycott movement takes hold in British unions
The following action alert was issued on 5 August 2009 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and groups around the world, urging Amnesty International to discontinue its involvement with a Leonard Cohen concert in Israel that effectively normalizes Israel’s violations of international law and undermines the worldwide movement to boycott Israel. Read more about Letter campaign: Israeli apartheid deserves no amnesty
Amnesty International has been urged to dissociate itself from a fund Palestinian campaigners say will be used to “whitewash” Israeli crimes in the occupied territories. The fund, which Amnesty agreed to administer, is to receive the profits from a planned concert in Israel by singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen. Currently on a world tour, Cohen has been greeted by demonstrators in several cities urging him to cancel his concert in Israel. Read more about Amnesty urged to reject "tainted" funds from Leonard Cohen concert
For the first time since the 2005 Palestinian civil society call for BDS against institutions supporting Israeli apartheid, students from North America and Palestine came together in Ramallah to share their ideas and experiences. Consisting of eight days of travel and a four-day workshop, the student delegation spent their two weeks getting connected with the struggle in Palestine in order to better articulate the BDS movement in their respective cities. Doug Smith writes for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Boycott apartheid: student delegation to Palestine
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) is writing to express its grave concern about your upcoming appearance in the “Festival Argentina-Israel” in Israel on 14 July. As an artist with a great following because of your commitment to justice, we are writing to urge you to cancel your participation in a festival sponsored by a state that is complicit in some of the worst human rights abuses of our modern era. Read more about Argentinian singer urged to cancel performance at Israeli festival
A study prepared by the School of Oriental and African Studies Palestine Society outlines Tel Aviv University’s (TAU) intensive, purposive and open institutional contributions to the Israeli military. The briefing paper presented irrefutable evidence of TAU’s deep investment in the facilitation and prosecution (at both the material and conceptual level) of what amount to war crimes. Read more about Study: Tel Aviv University part and parcel of the Israeli occupation
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) is writing with grave concern over the Melbourne International Film Festival’s cultural partnership with the Israeli state, as advertised in its promotional material. We write to urge the festival not to accept Israeli government funding or sustain this partnership with a state that practices occupation, colonialism and apartheid. Read more about Melbourne International Film Festival urged to not promote apartheid
RAMALLAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Twenty-one international peace activists were seized by Israeli naval frigates in international waters Tuesday as their boat The Spirit of Humanity tried to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza. The activists, including former US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Irish Nobel Peace laureate Mairead Maguire, and nationals from 11 other countries were part of the Free Gaza Movement (FGM) efforts to break Israel’s naval and border blockade of Gaza. Read more about Gaza aid boat crew detained, threatened with deportation
