Folk music legend Pete Seeger endorses boycott of Israel

Pete Seeger and Jeff Halper of ICAHD

This news comes today from Adalah-NY, a member group of the US Campaign, following a letter campaign that we started about six months ago, targeted at Pete Seeger.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, 28 February, 2011

Folk music legend Pete Seeger has come out in support of the growing Palestinian movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel as a program for justice for Palestinians and a route to peace in the Middle East.

Seeger, 92, participated in last November's online virtual rally "With Earth and Each Other," sponsored by the Arava Institute, an Israeli environmental organization, and by the Friends of the Arava Institute. The Arava Institute counts among its close partners and major funders the Jewish National Fund, responsible since 1901 for securing land in Palestine for the use of Jews only while dispossessing Palestinians. Although groups in the worldwide BDS movement had requested that he quit the event, Seeger felt that he could make a strong statement for peace and justice during the event.

During a January meeting at his Beacon, NY, home with representatives from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) and Adalah-NY, Pete Seeger explained, "I appeared on that virtual rally because for many years I've felt that people should talk with people they disagree with. But it ended up looking like I supported the Jewish National Fund. I misunderstood the leaders of the Arava Institute because I didn't realize to what degree the Jewish National Fund was supporting Arava. Now that I know more, I support the BDS movement as much as I can."


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Organizers of "Israeli Apartheid Week" petition NYC LGBT Center over cancellation of fund-raiser

The New York City coordinating committee of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) has launched a petition to New York's LGBT Center, in response to the center's sudden decision not to host IAW's March 5 event, "Party to End Apartheid."

The event was to be a benefit for two groups preparing to send another aid ship to Gaza: "Existence is Resistance," and the "Siege Busters Working Group," whose membership includes Emily Henochowicz, a Cooper Union art student who lost an eye while peacefully protesting in the occupied West Bank.

The LGBT Center, which hosts hundreds of diverse events per year, canceled the event after a prominent local right-wing gay activist, Michael Lucas, organized a boycott against it. Lucas is known for his "Men of Israel" films.

IAW's NYC coordinating committee has released a statement in response to the cancellation, and will attempt to collect as many petition signatures as possible.

Sign the petition...

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Take Action on March 30th: Join the 3rd Global BDS Day of Action!

As popular uprisings continue across the Middle East, boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) organizing is heating up in the United States!

March promises to be a month full of creative events and actions, starting with Israeli Apartheid Week and wrapping up with a BDS Day of Action on March 30th, Palestinian Land Day. Please be a part of it!

Palestinian Land Day, "Yom al-Ard," commemorates the Israeli military's 1976 killing of six young Palestinians as they protested the Israeli government's seizure of Palestinian land. The day has since become a symbol of Palestinian resistance to land theft, colonization, occupation and apartheid.

The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) is calling on supporters around the world to unite in a March 30th Day of Action by organizing BDS activities supporting: divestment; consumer, cultural and academic boycott; legal action and media activism. Click here to read the full call.

Not sure what to do? There's something for everyone! Here are just a few ideas:

 Host a "Stolen Beauty" House Party. Still cold outside? Gather friends and laptop computers for some online activism to promote the campaign to Boycott Ahava. Enjoy tea, cookies, and good company while you publicize Ahava's occupation profiteering. Click here to write CODEPINK for details.
 Gather signatures for the "TIAA-CREF: Divest from Occupation" Campaign. Pass around this petition at work, at school, in your faith community or any institution where TIAA-CREF retirement plans are offered. Last fall, one professor at the University of Massachusetts collected 80 signatures from colleagues and staff. Can you beat that?

 Write an article about BDS for your local newspaper, campus publication or faith community newsletter. Click here for an example from the divestment campaign at the University of California at San Diego. Click here for a clear, compelling piece by Naomi Klein.

 Take your BDS campaign to the next level, with a flash mob, using the US Campaign's new BDS Flash Mob Step-by-Step How-To Kit!

 Host a speaker to talk about BDS. Get a speaker from the Speakers Bureau of the Palestine Freedom Project, a US Campaign member group.

 Host a public film screening to garner support for a local BDS campaign. Palestine Online Store, our member group, has a comprehensive selection here.

 Keep your eyes peeled for productions fit for cultural boycott. For example, Adalah-NY, our member group, and others are preparing to boycott productions by the Israeli Philharmonic.

Many more creative activities can connect you with a promising global movement to end Israeli apartheid. Street theatre! Poetry readings! Even just holding a sign that reads "Boycott Israeli Apartheid" on a crowded street corner will build awareness toward future BDS campaigns.

Write to bdsdayofaction@bdsmovement.net to register your action on the global Day of Action calendar. Be sure to add your event to the US Campaign's online calendar, for publication in our biweekly email newsletter, Occupation End Notes.
As we promote BDS actions on Land Day, our government ispreventing Palestinian leaders of nonviolent activism from advocating BDS in the United States. Last week the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem delayed a visa for Omar Barghouti, effectively canceling a spring tour to promote his book, Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. Barghouti was the keynote speaker at our National Annual Organizers' Conference two years ago in Chicago.

Click here for more information and ideas to take action in preparation for Land Day, and support Palestinians' human rights on their land!