No to the UEFA U21 Football Championship taking place in Israel

Israel has been chosen to host the next UEFA U21 Football Championship.

Hosting an international sporting competiton is an honour which should not be given to a country that defies international law and bars Palestinians from taking part in international sporting competitions.

Since the landmark policy passed at the TUC last year to boycott all companies complicit in the illegal Occupation, the PSC has launched a new  campaign calling supermarkets to stop using suppliers that profit  from the Occupation.

Gaza, the West Bank and Eat Jerusalem are all under an illegal occupation by Israel, which profits from exporting goods, including fruit and vegetables and herbs, grown in illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land, in to the UK.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has joined A Just Peace for Palestine’, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, and War on Want, in calling on BT to cut its ties with Bezeq International, a subsidiary of Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq.

Bezeq are deeply involved in supplying telecommunication services to illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, yet despite this, Bezeq International was accepted into BT’s ‘Global Alliance’ in January 2010.

BT has explicit commitments to upholding human rights and ethical business practices; the settlements are not just illegal but are also part of a regime that breaches Palestinian human rights under occupation. The response that BT have given so far does not address these issues but rather offers a justification for their partnership, by saying that PalTel, a Palestinian telecommunication company also use Bezeq. Such a response completely ignores the conditions that Palestinians face under the illegal occupation, as well as PalTel’s unequivocal statement that if they were permitted to build their own infrastructure, they would.

It is important we keep the pressure on who are well known for their ethical policy and are even considered as an ethical investor.

This Ramadhan, Check the Label: Don’t break your fast with Israeli dates

Ramadhan is a time of year when we remember those who are less fortunate than ourselves. When we break our fasts with dates, it would be an affront to us all if the dates were the produce of illegal Israeli settlements built on land stolen from Palestinians.

Join PSC, Friends of Al-Aqsa and Zaytoun in their campaign to urge shoppers not to buy Israeli dates – and support Palestinian farmers by buying dates from Zaytoun.

Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign – Ten Years On

July 4th 2011, marks the tenth anniversary of the launch by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign of the boycott of Israeli goods at a meeting at the House of Commons, London in 2001. Many other organisations and individuals supported this response to the call from Palestinian civil society for international action for boycotts, divestment and sanctions upon Israel.

Our archives have a number of documents showing the early stages of the campaign which we will be releasing over the next few weeks.

VEOLIA AGM: The French Connection

Tuesday, 17 May 2011 – Highlighting the international nature of the campaign against Veolia, ten campaigners from the UK traveled to Paris to join and support French colleagues at the Veolia AGM in the Les Halles area of Paris. The UK delegation was initiated and organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, BNC and London BDS.

Veolia has long been an international target of activists due to their corporate complicity in Israel’s violations of war crimes and international law. The company was awarded the contract to build and maintain the Jerusalem Light Rail project designed to connect the city of Jerusalem with the illegal settlements around it.

Moreover, Veolia operates bus services for Israeli settlers connecting illegal settlements, which is a major obstacle for a lasting and just peace for both Israelis and Palestinians. In addition, Veolia owns and operates the Tovlan Landfill in the occupied Jordan Valley using stolen Palestinian land and natural resources for the benefit of Israeli settlers.

Veolia’s subsidiary, Connex, operates bus services to Israeli settlements in the West Bank along Highway 443 which is an apartheid road. Highway 443 was built on expropriated Palestinian land and has been unavailable to Palestinian use, despite a ruling from the Israeli Supreme Court. Israel later opened the route for Palestinians in May 2010, but they are not allowed to access neither Jerusalem nor Ramallah.

In the UK, Veolia has lost contracts worth billions due to the efforts of BDS campaigners.

French activists said that they were “very impressed” by the successful actions carried out and were amazed by the activity of activists in the UK. Unlike in Britain, most BDS activists in France are forced to campaign for the boycott of settlement goods only, due to the strict French race-hate laws.

In the courtyard outside of the Louvre, activists observed an interesting structure being built. According to the signage displayed, stones were collected from houses in Bethlehem, Galilee, Hebron and the area between Israel and Syria that fell into ruins. The concrete bags displayed Hebrew wording and one of the companies involved in the project was an Israeli company called Tuff (www.tuff.co.il).

After interviewing, filming and photographing each other, the joint campaign numbering approx thirty-five BDS campaigners formed a tide of activity leafleted and talked to delegates directly outside the entrance to the AGM that took place inside the Carrousel du Louvre, a posh indoor shopping complex.

Despite being restrained by security guards when activists attempted to unfurl a banner and a photographer who was manhandled when attempting to video the action, no effort was made to evict the activists who carried placards that read “Veolia, Obey the Law” and “Veolia violates rights and disobeys international law – disinvest from Veolia.”

The majority of the delegates accepted the flyers with a cheerful “merci” and the action continued until the AGM started.

Inside the AGM, BDS campaigners – those who had purchased shares – asked questions of the chairman about Veolia’s complicity in Israel’s illegal Occupation. Antoine Frérot, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Environment looked clearly uncomfortable when, out of a total of fourteen questions asked, six came from BDS campaigners – some of which included asking if Veolia planned to pull out from the West Bank and how much in profits were lost due to Veolia’s activities providing services to Israeli settlements.

Despite interruptions by board members and the microphone being abruptly cut off, activists were successful in getting out the message that Veolia’s activities are “illegal, immoral and bad for shares” as evidenced by the applause of many shareholders.

During lunch at a nearby cafe, experiences were exchanged, successes were shared and the groundwork was laid for future joint work.

There can be no doubt among Veolia management and its shareholders as a result of this, and all the other actions by campaigners across the world, that Veolia’s reputation and brand is under a concerted attack by the global BDS movement.

For the last 2 days ( from Wed 11 May) Ahava in the US has been running a marketing campaign on the social media site Twitter under the hashtag #AhavaReborn. Members of the public were invited to submit beauty care questions with the lure of a prize of Ahava products for the best question.

US group -CODE PINK – alerted other BDS campaigners to the marketing campaign and suggested using the opportunity to tackle Ahava.

What followed can only be described as a total disaster for Ahava. From early Wednesday European time and for the next 48 hours BDS campaigners flooded the twitter stream #AhavaReborn with hundreds of messages advocating the boycott of Ahava products.  The BDS campaigners came from the US, UK, Netherlands, Occupied Palestine and elsewhere; reflecting the international nature of the campaign against Ahava.

As members of the public tweeted  #AhavaReborn with their beauty questions about cracked heels, blemishes and dry skin,  BDS campaigners quickly responded  to them with personal messages and tips- all of them around why they should avoid Ahava products.   At the same time, BDS campaigners submitted their own questions to Ahava.  Many of these were highly amusing but all of them highlighting Ahava’s complicity in Israel’s illegal Occupation.  Throughout the 48 hours, BDS campaigners also posted tweets with links to the Stolen Beauty website for background information on Ahava for those who wanted to know more.

Israeli railways admits that Deutsche Bahn pulled out of Jerusalem Light Rail project because it cuts through the West Bank, and the Financial Times links its decision to BDS pressure. Pressure mounts on Veolia – click here for more details on their loss of the Winchester/ East Hants contract. Following letters from PSC’s Director and many others, urging him to respect the call from the Palestinian LGBT community to respect BDS, Marc Almond pulls out of his Tel Aviv concert citing ‘logistical difficulties’. Israeli press has hit back, claiming that ticket sales had been poor – which seems unlikely given Marc Almond’s dedicated fanbase. Ahava’s promotional campaign on twitter gets jammed with BDS messaging just as Bt’selem release a damning report in the Israeli exploitation if the Jordan Valley and Northern Dead Sea. Yesterday evening Brighton University students union passed a full BDS motion

In other BDS news….

British lecturer listed as speaker on crime, inside an illegal settlement!

The conference, entitled ” Pink Crime – Women, Crime and Punishment” is scheduled for May 30 and a lecturer from Kings College is among those due to speak at the conference. Click here to read the PSC’s letter

Duran’Druan’ – Please don’t Fund Apartheid, Boycott Israel

CAMBRIDGE BIN VEOLIA CAMPAIGN

Press Release: Cambridge students vote to break contract with Veolia

58% of students vote to break contract with company implicated in Israeli human rights abuses

Students at Cambridge have voted to call on the University to cut ties with a company implicated in Israeli human rights abuses.

The vote calls on CUSU (Cambridge University Students Union) to campaign to have the University cut ties with Veolia, a company involved in infrastructure projects in Israeli settlements, and employed by the University on a waste disposal contract. The referendum, which closed yesterday, passed with a majority of 58% to 41%: there were 898 votes yes, 637 votes no, and 21 ballots spoilt. While a strong majority was in support, the referendum was inquorate: 7.2% of the student body voted, short of the 10% required.

Students involved in the campaign pledged to continue the campaign to ensure that Veolia’s contract, which expires in September 2012, is not renewed.

Veolia’s activities in the West Bank include bus and light rail services and the Tovlan Landfill site, all serving illegal Israeli settlements. In recent years, the international community has targeted Veolia as a company profiting from the Israeli occupation. Veolia has lost contracts worth more than €10 billion since 2005,including, just a few months ago, a £300 million contract in Ealing, London.The actions against Veolia are part of a broader international campaign following the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israeli companies and institutions.The Cambridge campaign against Veolia received letters of support from Palestinian lecturers and students, a group of 30 Cambridge academics, and the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.4

Daniel Benjamin, a student involved in the campaign, said: “With this vote, Cambridge students make a strong statement against Veolia’s criminal actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We won’t stop fighting until Veolia is off campus, but this vote itself is a fantastic show of support in the broader campaign for Palestinian human rights through boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israeli companies and institutions.”

Owen Holland, a student involved in the campaign, said: “The impressive turnout shows significant student support for the campaign. We are concerned with a number of irregularities in the vote, such as lies in the ‘no’ flysheet that went uncorrected, a lack of ballot boxes in colleges, and a number of students who found themselves unable to vote online. Though the referendum did not meet the threshold to become CUSU policy, we will be campaigning to have CUSU adopt it anyway and push the University to drop its contract with Veolia.”

http://cambridgebinveolia.wordpress.com

Take Apartheid off the Menu 2011

http://www.bdsmovement.net/activecamps/take-apartheid-off-the-menu

Export of Israeli agricultural produce is at the heart of Israel’s apartheid regime over the Palestinian people. It is an integral component of the ongoing process of colonisation and environmental destruction of Palestinian land, the theft of water, and the abuse of Palestinian workers’ rights. For decades, Israeli agricultural enterprises and farms have exploited land that was illegally expropriated from Palestinians and water that rightly belongs to Palestinians.

This weekend (November 25-27), campaigners for Palestinian rights across nine different European countries are taking action against Israeli agricultural produce exporters as part of a wave of action called Take Apartheid off the Menu.

PSC is calling on all supporters of Palestinian human rights to get involved through a variety of actions – from street protests, e-lobbying, networking and social media sites – to get more people involved in the boycott movement and help bring an end to Israel’s occupation, just like the movement against Apartheid in South Africa.

Local actions on Saturday 26 November:

Aberystwyth PSC: outside Morrisons 11 am to 12 noon; then outside the Co-op 12.15 to 1.15 pm.  http://readingpsc.org.uk/g2k/aber/

Bradford PSC: stall outside a local Co-op store 12:30pm to 3pm http://www.bradfordpsc.org.uk/ secretary@bradfordpsc.org.uk

Brighton PSC: BDS action/picket/leafleting of 2 supermarkets in Brighton. http://www.brightonpalestinecampaign.org/

Bristol PSC: Targeting Veolia http://www.bristolpsc.info/   Bristol.Nakba60@yahoo.co.uk

Cambridge PSC: 12-1.30pm in  Market Square. http://www.campalsoc.org/?page_id=41  pscinfo@campalsoc.org

Durham PSC: 11am to 2pm Town Centre to target local shops and to promote the Boycott campaign. http://www.durhampsc.org.uk/

Gloucestershire PSC: stall in central Cheltenham and will also leaflet customers outside one of the town`s Tesco stores at lunchtime. http://gloucestershirepsc.wordpress.com/

Lambeth and Wandsworth PSC:  Tesco in Brixton 11.30am and Tesco in Kennington http://lwpsc.org.uk/    info@lwpsc.org.uk

Liverpool FoP: Outside 2 Co-op stores 10.30am to 2pm. http://liverpoolfriendsofpalestine.co.uk/

London BDS  Action 12pm -2 pm Outside supermarket Strafford London (next to Stratford library). Morrisons Store, The Grove , Stratford, London E15 1EN -  Nearest tube Stratfordhttp://londonbds.org/

Milton Keynes PSC: Shopping Centre in the city Centre at Lunchtime. miltonkeynespsc@gmail.com

Norwich PSC: The Walk central Norwich from 10-2pm. http://www.norwichpsc.org.uk/

Oxford PSC: Actions at two Tesco stores on 26^th between 12 and 2pm  – one in the city centre and one in Cowley http://www.oxfordpsc.info/  Email: oxfordpsc@yahoo.com   

Sheffield PSC: 11 a.m. – 12.30 Outside the Co-op store on Pinstone St, Sheffield city centre (opposite the Peace Gardens) enquiries@sheffieldpsc.org.uk

West London PSC and Richmond Kingston PSC action outside Morrison Supermarket in Acton High Street, London W3 9LA 10am to 2pm pscwestlondon@googlemail.com

 West Surrey PSC: action outside Tesco store in Haslemere, Surrey, 10.30am. http://www.westsurreypsc.org.uk/   guildfordpsc@googlemail.com

And also:

On 3^rd December: Hereford PSC action at local supermarket.

Past events: Portsmouth PSC picketed a Tesco supermarket and Waltham Forest PSC had an action in a local Tesco supermarket last Saturday.

Other actions you can take:

- Sign the pledge – I promise not to knowingly buy Israeli goods http://bigcampaign.iparl.com/petition/7

- tweet your support today

- Supermarket phone-in: ask them to stop stocking Israeli produce until it complies with international law

- Boycott Israeli goods:  Protests, leaflets and stalls outside your local supermarket

- Petition: Don’t buy into the Israeli occupation – get it signed everywhere you go!

As well as actions, cultural events, meetings and so on during the day!

After the actions….

Send us your pictures, reports, videos of actions, as well as to your local media (and Facebook, Twitter etc.) – we will collate it and send it and circulate a report of the day of actions. 

For more information please contact us: info@palestinecampaign.org and http://www.bdsmovement.net/activecamps/take-apartheid-off-the-menu

The campaign is being supported by the CWU (Communications Workers Union) who have many members that are employed by BT.

At the BT shareholders AGM on 14^th July the CWU raised a question on behalf of the campaign. Please see the question and response below:

Phil Matthews (CWU) put the question to the BT Board

“My question is about BT’s alliance with the Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq International, who’s parent company, Bezeq, provides services to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel’s settlement policy is widely condemned by the international community as an obstacle to peace and in breach of international law, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It’s true that Palestinian Telecoms company Pal-Tel has dealings with Bezeq, but that is because they are forced to use Israeli infrastructure because they are forbidden from installing their own infrastructure in 60% of the Occupied West Bank.

What assurances can you give today that in the interests of upholding BT’s commitment to “ensuring that it is not complicit in human rights abuses” and in the interests of maintaining BT’s reputation for corporate responsibility, BT will disassociate itself from Bezeq and its operations in the occupied Palestinian territories?

Sir Michael Rake, the BT Chairman, answered the question by saying:

“We are extremely conscious of our responsibility to communities and our brand.  Bezeq is the main provider of telecommunications services in Israel, BT is a global company, and we have alliances with leading telecommunications companies right across the world.  Our strong legal advice is that we are not breaching any laws”.

The position appeared to be that if BT was to be successful as a global company it needed to have alliances with major companies abroad.  This is an alliance based on commercial interests and the company does not believe it calls into question or damages its reputation on corporate responsibility.

Phil then came back in to say

“We know that this is something that many organisations feel strongly about including Jews for Justice for Palestine, and I would urge you strongly to look at this again and reconsider”.

Sir Michael Rake simply responded

“Thank you, ok, thank you for your question”.