https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2023/03/israeli-bds-day-boycott-divestment.html
COMPILED BY DICK BENNETT FOR A CULTURE OF PEACE, JUSTICE, AND ECOLOGY.
Also see: International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Nov. 29. https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2021/11/un-international-day-in-solidarity-with.html
PART OF OMNI’S NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DAYS PROJECT. https://jamesrichardbennett.blogspot.com/2020/04/omni-nationalinternational-days-project.html
CONTENTS Israeli BDS Day and Palestinian Land Day, March 30, 2023
Abel Tomlinson 3-12-23
Google Search 3-29-23
UPJ Announces FOR Showing of Documentary Boycott on legislation
blocking boycotts 3-16-23. Other ways to see the film.
Americans for Peace Now 3-7-23.
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) 2-23-23.
ARKANSAS: ACLU v. Anti-BDS Bills 7-10-22.
DIVESTMENT: AFSC Weekend Reading 6-4-22.
TEXTS
OMNI’S MONTHLY ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATION
Seeking Student Peace Activists & Upcoming Events
Dear Peace Friends, 3-12-23
We really need help promoting our upcoming antiwar peace events on the U of A campus. Are any of you still University of Arkansas students that strongly dislike war & strongly care about peace? Or, do you know any such UA students that would be interested in helping us on campus?
We need help promoting our monthly No More War Peace Protests calling for No Nuclear War with Russia or China. We must remind the public that Mutually Assured Destruction means Nobody Wins! We are also beginning to plan for a roundtable or panel discussion on the Ukraine war & more, and will need help promoting that.
Our next monthly No More War Peace Protest is on March 25th at 11 A.M. in front of the Washington County Courthouse in Fayetteville. Here is the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/732167408357126
For this next protest, we are adding an additional special focus to include peace for Palestine, so this month’s title is No More War from Palestine to Ukraine, since that war has recently faced a significant escalation in Huwara, occupied Palestine.
Major human rights organizations report that over 400 illegal Israeli settlers carried out a pogrom, setting fire to a large number of homes, cars, businesses, etc and injured hundreds of innocent Palestinians. This was done with the support of Israeli Occupation Forces and the Israeli government.
Alarmingly, none of the settlers face any accountability for their violence, and even worse, the Finance Minister of the Israeli government, Bezalel Smotrich, said the entire city of Huwara should be “erased” or “wiped out.” This is an open admission of the longstanding Israeli policy of ethnic cleansing, and a powerful incitement for the half million illegal Israeli settlers to engage in more of this vigilante mob violence.
It is especially important for Americans to rise up and say No to the war on Palestinians because it is our U.S. government that sponsors the Israeli occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Our government gives Israel $3.8 billion per year in foreign military aid, and massive political support by vetoing over 40 U.N. Security Council resolutions over the past 40 years that condemned Israeli crimes and violations of international law.
Thank You & Hope to See You Soon,
Abel Tomlinson 3-12-23
Arkansas Nonviolence Alliance, Founder
(479)283-5762
GOOGLE SEARCH, 3-29-23
Land Day BDS Movement |
https://bdsmovement.net › tags › land-day
On March 30, Palestinians will commemorate Land day, a day in 1976 when Israeli military forces shot and killed six young Palestinian citizens of Israel. These …
Palestinians in Gaza call for right of return on Land Day
Al Jazeera https://www.aljazeera.com › news › palestinians-in-gaz…
Mar 30, 2022 — Palestinians commemorate Land Day on an annual basis, dating back to March 30, 1976, when six unarmed Palestinians were killed by Israeli …
Land Day Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Land_Day
Land Day March 30, is a day of commemoration for Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians of the events of that date in 1976 in Israel. Land Day.
Land Day +972 Magazine https://www.972mag.com › topic › land-day
Independent commentary and news from Israel & Palestine.
BDS Global Day of Action to mark Land Day on March 30
The Electronic Intifada https://electronicintifada.net › blogs › michael-deas
Campaigners for Palestinian rights are again gearing up for the BDS Global Day of Action, an annual wave of protests, creative actions and media outreach in …
| UPJ 3-16-23 United for Peace & Justice is delighted to spread the word that the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR-USA), is hosting a virtual screening of the acclaimed new documentary Boycotton Tuesday, March 21st at 4:00 pm eastern time. Following the virtual screening, FOR-USA Executive Director Ariel Gold will host a live Q&A with the film’s Director Julia Bacha. https://bit.ly/BOYCOTT32123 Boycott traces the impact of state legislation designed to penalize individuals and companies that choose to boycott Israel due to its human rights record. A legal thriller with “accidental plaintiffs” at the center of the story, Boycott is a bracing look at the far-reaching implications of anti-boycott legislation and an inspiring tale of everyday Americans standing up to protect our rights in an age of shifting politics and threats to freedom of speech. Indeed, the legal debates highlighted by this new film reached the U.S. Supreme Court last month, which on Feb. 21st refused to hear arguments on these threats to our constitutionally-protected free speech rights. Click here to RSVP. Upon registering, you will receive an email with a unique Zoom link to join the screening and discussion. |
We are too late for this showing, but here are other ways to see it.
Boycott Just Vision https://justvision.org › boycott
A legal thriller with “accidental plaintiffs” at the center of the story, Boycott is a bracing look at the far-reaching implications of anti-boycott legislation …
Synopsis · Our Events · Anti-boycott Legislation Tracker · Protagonists
Boycott (2021) IMDb https://www.imdb.com › title
Boycott (2021). Documentary. When a news publisher in Arkansas, an attorney in Arizona and a speech therapist in Texas are told they must choose between ..
Boycott | Human Rights Watch Film Festival
Human Rights Watch https://ff.hrw.org › film › boycott
In Boycott, award-winning filmmaker Julia Bacha pulls back the curtain on a movement of conservative legislators and lobbyists in the United States who are …
| AMERICANS FOR PEACE NOWEmily Tamkin. “Can American Jewish Support for Israel Survive This New Government Sukri The New Republic. March 7, 2023. https://newrepublic.com/article/170937/can-american-jewish-support-israel-survive-netanyahu-government?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=EB_TNR&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1678139327-1&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=de1b7a7d-9128-48da-9626-4b5fc55e4cbc Donate Americans for Peace Now 1320 19th St, N.W. Suite 400 | Washington, District of Columbia 20036-1635 202-408-9898 | apndc@peacenow.org |
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)
Washington, D.C. – February 23, 2023
Media Contact: media@cmep.org 202-543-1222
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) Condemns Increasing Violence and Calls on the United States and Israel to Address Core Issues of Settlements and State Violence
Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) condemns the alarming increase in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli authorities and settlers. Every day brings news of new violations, killings, and provocations. Core issues–Israeli settlement activities, lack of accountability for settler and state violence, and provocations at Al-Aqsa Mosque–must be solved for cycles of violence to end. CMEP calls on the United States to do everything in its power to intervene to stop violence from both sides.
On Sunday, February 12, the Israeli cabinet moved to legitimize nine illegal Israeli outposts in the West Bank. These outposts are considered illegal by the international community, international law, and by Israel itself. Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich, a settler himself, also announced on the same day that plans were moving forward to build 10,000 new residential units in existing settlements, the largest single expansion in years.
In the past, these kinds of settlement developments have occasionally been challenged by the Supreme Court of Israel, but the new government is advancing laws that would severely curtail needed judicial oversight of Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). The massive protests taking place in Israel right now are in opposition to this move to reduce judicial oversight. These cabinet actions are a natural outcome of the radical position the new government expressed late last year to “promote and develop the settlement of all parts of the Land of Israel — in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan and Judea and Samaria.” This settlement action demonstrates that the new Israeli government is not merely radical in its rhetoric but also in its policies on core issues that fuel violence.
Wednesday, February 22, brought headlines of further violence. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) made an incursion into Nablus, killing 11 people and wounding more than 100 others. Settler groups entered and openly prayed at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Settlers cut down olive trees owned by Palestinian farmers south of Nablus.
CMEP’s executive director Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, said, “I am horrified by the latest flood of violence, the killings, the raids, the provocations. Tensions are overflowing. Families are grieving. People are scared and angry. When will the current US administration wake up and truly engage? We must act to end violence on both sides by addressing the core issues that fuel the conflict.”
Israel agreed to reduce its raids in West Bank cities last weekend in a negotiation to prevent a UN binding resolution calling for a halt to settlement activities. The raid into Nablus on Wednesday violates the spirit of that agreement.
On February 14, the U.S. State Department joined with the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. to express they “strongly oppose” Israel’s settlement expansions, stating that they “only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.”
CMEP calls on the United States to follow up on their statement with action. Words are not enough. The United States government and the Biden Administration should take a clear and explicit position that settlements are inconsistent with international law and that the United States will distinguish between settlements and Israel proper in its dealings with Israel. Furthermore, Congress must ensure that no U.S. aid to Israel is used to annex Palestinian land, forcibly remove Palestinians from their land, or demolish Palestinian structures. Only when these and other core issues are addressed can the cycle of violence end.
“As anti-BDS bills become the norm, ACLU takes free speech fight to the Supreme Court.”
Editor. Mronline.org (7-10-22).
In June, a federal appeals court upheld an Arkansas law barring state contractors from boycotting Israel, sparking concerns over First Amendment rights in the United States.
Originally published: MintPress News on July 7, 2022 by Jessica Buxbaum (more by MintPress News) | (Posted Jul 09, 2022)
Empire, Ideology, Inequality, StrategyAmericas, Israel, Middle East, Palestine, United StatesNewswireAnti-BDS Law, Arkansas, Arkansas Times, Boycott, Divest, First Amendment rights, Sanction, Supreme Court
In June, a federal appeals court upheld an Arkansas law barring state contractors from boycotting Israel, sparking concerns over First Amendment rights in the United States.
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision made last year by a panel of three judges who found that mandating a pledge to not boycott Israel is unconstitutional.
However, the recent court ruling determined boycotts are not expressive conduct and instead related to commercial activity and therefore the state can regulate such actions.
“It only prohibits economic decisions that discriminate against Israel,” Judge Jonathan Kobes, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, wrote in the court’s opinion.
Because those commercial decisions are invisible to observers unless explained, they are not inherently expressive and do not implicate the First Amendment.
“By declaring Arkansas’ Anti-BDS Law to be constitutional, the court has tacitly endorsed a Palestine-exception to the First Amendment,” Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) National Litigation Director, Lena Masri, said in a statement.
In 2018, The Arkansas Times sued the state over its Israel boycott law after refusing to sign the pledge. Originally, Arkansas Times publisher Alan Leveritt lost in District Court but won when he appealed to the Eighth Circuit Court. The state then appealed to the full appeals court and was granted a rehearing.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which represented The Arkansas Times, confirmed it plans to appeal to the Supreme Court. MORE
DIVESTMENT
AFSC Weekend Reading (6-4-22).
This week we were reminded of the power of people coming together to stand up for human rights. In 2020, AFSC and partners started a campaign calling on General Mills to stop making Pillsbury products on stolen Palestinian land. Just days ago, the company announced it had divested its Israeli business altogether, selling its stake in the subsidiary that manufactures Pillsbury products in an illegal settlement. Read more.