Wael Mahmud Qasem, the prisoner with 35 life sentences

Уаел Махмуд Касем е палестински затворник, осъден на 35 доживотни присъди + още 40 години, общо 3505 години затвор.
Уаел е роден на 25/3/1971г и израснал в Силуан, Ал Кудс - в непосредствена близост до Месджид Ал-Акса. Обвинен е в създаването на клетка на съпротивителното движение в Силуан и в организацията на операции срещу окупацията.
Женен и баща на 4 деца.
Върни го при семейството му, я Аллах и им позволи много рамадани заедно в служба на Теб!

سلسة أقمار المقاومة:
القمر السابع:
الأسير القسامي / وائل محمود قاسم
من مدينة القدس المحتلة
مسؤول خلية سلوان المقدسية
الحكم: خمس وثلاثين مؤبد + أربعين سنة (ما يعادل 3505 سنة )
ولد في 25-3-1971م متزوج وأب لأربعة أطفال.
ولد في قرية سلوان في مدينة القدس وترعرع فيها سلوان البلد المحاذية للناحية الجنوبية للبلدة القديمة القدس وتطل في بعض أحيائها على المسجد الأقصى المبارك.
التهمة: مسئول عن تأسيس خلية سلوان المقدسية المتهمة بتنفيذ عدة عمليات استشهادية أبرزها عملية ريشون لتسيون التي أودت بحياة عشرات القتلى الصهاينة

MECA launches new online store, Shop Palestine!

Donate Now » Follow Us On Twitter Like Us On Facebook Forward To A Friend SHOP PALESTINE | Beautiful Crafts from Across the Middle East! Dear Friend, The Middle East Children's Aliance (MECA) is thrilled to announce the launch of our new online store, Shop Palestine!  As part of our work to aid Palestinian children and families, MECA buys and sells Palestinian crafts and goods to support the talented craftspeople in Palestine, help them generate income, and protect their way of life.  Several months ago, we wrote you when our shipment of Gaza crafts was held up by Israel, and the livelihoods of many Palestinian artisans were at stake. Since then, MECA Executive Director, Barbara Lubin, has traveled to Palestine twice, and carried these beautiful handmade items back with her. Today, we continue our efforts to break Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza by making Palestinian products available for purchase online. All proceeds from the sale of these items will go to support the Palestinian craftspeople, as well as MECA programs. Please enjoy our featured items including handwoven rugs, 100% pure olive oil soap, Middle Eastern books, and more! We also encourage you to continue checking our Shop Palestine page as we add more products including unique scarves, stunning Palestinian embroidery, and handmade jewelry. And if you're local, we invite you to shop directly at our Berkeley office, where you can pick up a jar of honey, a bottle of olive oil, pottery, and much more. Happy Shopping! Warm regards, MECA Staff

Copyright © 2012 Middle East Children's Alliance, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up, made a donation, signed a petition, or attended an event with the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA). This mail program allows you to directly manage your communication preferences. Please contact MECA with any questions at 510 548-0542. Our mailing address is: Middle East Children's Alliance 1101 Eighth Street Suite 100 Berkeley, CA 94710

Hasan Abdurrahman Salama, the prisoner with 48 life sentences

Хасан Абдуррахман Саляма е името на третия затворник с най-дълга присъда в израелските затвори.
Той е на 41г.
Осъден е на 48 доживотни присъди + 20 години, общо 4772 години затвор. Арестуван на 17 май 1996г, досега е излежал 16 години, повече от 13 от тях в пълна изолация.

سلسلة أقمار المقاومة
القمر الثالث: حسن عبد الرحمن سلامة
صاحب أعلى ثالث حكم في المحاكم الصهيونية
العمر: 41 عام
الحكم : 48 مؤبد + 20 عام (ما يعادل4772 عام)
تاريخ الاعتقال :17/5/1996م
التهم الموجهة إليه: قيادة عمليات الثأر المقدس التي أودت بحياة 45 قتيلا صهيونيا ومئات الجرحى
الانتماء: كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام
قضى في العزل الانفرادي : أكثر من 13 عام

Mohammad Abu Warda, the prisoner with 48 life sentence

Мохаммад Абу Уарда е четвъртият подред палестински затворник в класацията на най-високите присъди. Роденият на 17 януари 1976г. Мохаммад, е приятел и другар по борба на Хасан Саляма, арестуван е на 4 ноември 2002г и осъден на 48 доживотни присъди. По-рано е излежал 6 години в затворите на палестинската власт.

По време на годежа си с Нура, също муджахида, той й казал, че е създаден за мъченичество и няма да позволи на евреите да го заловят, дори ако го разкъсат на парчета.

"Как ни се дава вечен живот, а ние го отказваме и как Аллах да ни даде Дженнет, а ние да не сме доволни?! Това е животът ми, Нура, и ако би искала това щастие, в което аз живея - приеми!"

سلسلة أقمار المقاومة:
القمر الرابع رفيق درب الأسير حسن سلامة
الأسير القسامي: محمد أبو وردة
تاريخ الميلاد: 17/1/1976م
تاريخ الاعتقال:4 /11 /2002 في كمين محكم لم يتمكن خلاله من المقاومة
الإقامة: مخيم الفوار – خليل الرحمن
البلدة الأصلية: عراق المنشية
الحكم : 48 مؤبد
التهمة: إرسال الاستشهاديان مجدي أبو وردة وإبراهيم السراحنة من نفس الفوار بالخليل لتنفيذ عملية مزدوجة في مدينة القدس المحتلة والتي أسفرت عن مقتل العشرات من الجنود الصهاينة والمستوطنين وكذلك الوقوف وراء عملية الشهيد رائد الشرنوبي من نابلس كل ذلك بتخطيط مع القائد القسامي حسن سلامة.
حوكم في محاكم السلطة الفلسطينية بالسجن المؤبد قضى منها ست سنوات بتهمة المشاركة في إرسال مجاهدين لتنفيذ عمليات استشهادية أدت لمقتل وإصابة عشرات الصهاينة.
من أقواله لخطيبته المجاهدة أم حمزة وهو يتقدم لخطبتها : "لقد خلقت للشهادة ولن اسمح لأبناء يهود باعتقالي حتى لو مزق جسدي إربا إربا ،وكيف نمنح الحياة الدائمة ونرفض وكيف يعطينا الله جنات الخلد ولا نرضى ،هذه هي حياتي يا نورا وان كنت تحبين هذه السعادة الغامرة التي أعيشها عليك بالموافقة .

Mohammad Hasan Ahmad Arman, the prisoner with 3564 years sentence

Затворникът Мохаммед Хасан Ахмед Арман е осъден на 36 доживотни присъди, равняващи се на 3564 години!
Той е роден на 22/11/1975г в с. Харбата Бени Харет, до Рамалла. Израстнал в джамиите и възпитаван в семействата на братята, той наизустявал сури от Корана.
Оженил се през 1996г, станал баща на 3 деца - Билял (1997г), Иман (1998г) и Салсабил (2001г).
Арестуван е през 2002г и осъден по обвинения в организиране на едни от най-силните операции, проведени от палестинската съпротива.

Стори килиите им просторни и ги дари с доволство и спокойствие, я Аллах, грижи се за всичките ни пленници, на Теб ги поверяваме и на свобода от Теб се надяваме!

سلسة أقمار المقاومة:
القمر السادس: الاسير محمد حسن احمد عرمان
تاريخ الميلاد ٢٢\١١\١٩٧٥ في قرية خربثا بني حارث غرب برام الله كبر في مساجدها و تربى في أسر الإخوان وحفظ من سور القرآن حتى كبر على المعاني السامية.
المؤهل العلمي : تنقل في المدارس التالية دير عمار و نعلين خربثا بني حارث .
تاريخ الزواج ١٣\ 7\ 1996
الاولاد بلال رزق به عام ١٩٩٧
ايمان رزق بها عام ١٩٩٨
سلسبيل رزق بها ٢٠٠١
التحق محمد بكتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام في أواخر عام 2001م أثناء اندلاع انتفاضة الأقصى ، ليبدأ العمل مع القائدين القساميين الأسيرين إبراهيم حامد وعبد الله البرغوثي مشكلاً خلية اعتبرها الاحتلال الأخطر على أمنه، مركزا ً جهده في المراحل الأولى على قنص جنود الإحتلال ومغتصبيه ، و تعرض الأسير عرمان للاعتقال عام 2002، عندها قامت المحاكم الاحتلاليه بتوجيه حكم قاس وجائر بـ36 مؤبدًا، حيث تتهمه قوات الاحتلال بالوقوف وراء عمليات استشهادية أدت إلى مقتل 35 إسرائيليًا.
الحكم يعادل:3564 سنة

Grave No

Abbas as-Saeed, the prisoner with 3615 years life sentence

Аббас Ас-Сайиед е петият подред затворник с най-дълга присъда в ционистките затвори. Той е осъден 35 пъти на доживотен затвор + още 150 години, общо 3615 години затвор!
Наричан още Абу Абдуллах, той е роден в религиозно семейство в гр.Тулкарем през 1966г. Изучава машинно инженерство в университета Ярмук, Йордания. Ционисткото разузнаване приписва на Аббас най-големите операции срещу окупацията.
Аббас Ас-Сайиед се отличава с изключителна сила и желязна воля, неприсъщи за повечето хора, твърдостта и упоритостта му станали пословични из килиите на затворите и името му било споменавано сред тези, които наричат "мъжете сразили Шабак".

Аллах да бъде с него всеки миг и да отвори вратата към свободата му скоро!

سلسلة أقمار المقاومة:
القمر الخامس: الأسير عباس السيد
محكوم بالسجن المؤبد 35 مؤبد و150 سنة ما بعادل 3615 عام
ولِد الأسير أبو عبد الله لأسرة متدينة تلتزم تعاليم الإسلام في مدينة طولكرم في العام 1966 .
درس هندسة الميكانيك في جامعة اليرموك الأردنية .
تنسب المخابرات الصهيونية إلى عباس المسؤولية عن كبرى العمليات الاستشهادية في تاريخ دولة الاحتلال و هي العملية المعروفة باسم عملية فندق البارك و التي نفّذها الاستشهادي عبد الباسط عودة و أدّت إلى مقتل (32) صهيونياً و إصابة (150) آخرين بجراح ، إضافة إلى علاقته بعملية "هشارون" الاستشهادية التي نفّذها القسّامي محمود مرمش و التي قتل فيها (5) صهاينة و جرح عدد آخر .
عباس السيّد ليس بالرجل العادي أو لنقل إن الله منحه قوة عجيبة و قدرات قلّما يتّصف بها الناس ، مظهره المتأنق كان يخفي عزماً من حديد حسده الصمود الأسطوري له في زنازين الاحتلال و باستيلات التحقيق حيث أصبح اسمه متداولاً في كراسات أمن (حماس) داخل السجون و المعتقلات تحت عنوان "رجال قهروا الشاباك"

Grave No

Disney just denounced Ahava

July 24, 2012
Dear Milena,
Last week Abigal Disney announced that she was disowning her share of her family's investment in Ahava cosmetics. Abby is a principal investor in Shamrock Holdings, the Roy E. Disney Family Fund that owns about 18% of Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories. She said, “I cannot in good conscience profit from what is technically the ‘plunder’ or ‘pillage’ of occupied natural resources and the company’s situating its factory in an Israeli settlement in the Occupied West Bank.” Read the full statement and see the excellent press coverage.

You can thank Abigail Disney for her brave stand by signing our e-card here. 
In addition to this campaign victory, earlier this month the Presbyterian Church (USA) overwhelmingly passed a boycott of all Israeli settlement products, specifying Ahava in their resolution. Over a dozen rabbis signed onto the Stolen Beauty letter of support to the church for taking this courageous stand. CODEPINK co-director Rae spoke at the Presbyterian General Assembly in favor of the boycott and co-authored this open letter to the church. In May the United Methodist Church also voted to boycott Israeli settlement products.
As we move forward with the campaign, our next target isNordstrom, a retailer that takes pride in being “socially responsible.” With churches and people of influence speaking out against Ahava’s occupation profiteering, Nordstrom needs to stop selling these illegal settlement goods.
You can send a letter to CEO Blake Nordstrom by clicking here.
Israel claims to be the “only democracy in the Middle East,” but it will never be a true democracy while it subjugates millions of Palestinians. We believe the most effective route towards a peaceful future for all in Israel and Palestine is through making the occupation more costly in both financial and moral terms. We are standing up for dignity, equality and justice as part of the Global BDS Movement.

Thank you for your work and support to make this campaign possible.
Onward ever,
Nancy K, Jodie and Rae

Thank You Abigail Disney!

On July 16, Abigal Disney announced that she was disowning her share of her family's investment in Ahava cosmetics. Abby is a principal investor in Shamrock Holdings, the Roy E. Disney Family Fund that owns about 18% of Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories. She courageously said, “I cannot in good conscience profit from what is technically the ‘plunder’ or ‘pillage’ of occupied natural resources and the company’s situating its factory in an Israeli settlement in the Occupied West Bank.”

Palestine: Remembering Political Cartoonist Naji Al Ali

Today, [July, 22] marks the 25th anniversary of the assassination of Palestinian political cartoonist Naji Al Ali, famous for his criticism of Arab autocratic regimes, and Israel.

” 25 years over the assassination of Naji Al Ali”
photo: Facebook Page Handala

Al Ali was born in Al-Shajara village in either 1936 or 1937. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, which resulted in the creation of the State of Israel, Al Ali was among hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to be expelled from their homes. With his family, he moved to a refugee camp in Southern Lebanon.

On this same day in 1987, Al Ali was shot in the face in London. As a result, he spent five weeks in a coma before passing away.

On this 25th anniversary, netizens from Palestine, and the entire Arab region have been paying tribute to Al Ali, by sharing his caricatures and quotes.

Handala:

Handala writing on the wall: “Revolution until Victory”
Caricature by Naji Al Ali

Handala is undeniably Naji Al Ali's timeless star. Through Handala, Al Ali criticized and ridiculed Arab leaders, and societies, Israel, and US involvement in the Arab region.

Twitter user Yousef M. Aljamal tweeted Naji Al Ali's quotes on Handala. Here are some of these tweets:

@YousefAljamal:
“I drew him as a child who is not beautiful; his hair is like the hair of a hedgehog who uses his thorns as a weapon”, #Handala #NajiAlAli

@YousefAljamal: “His hands are clasped behind his back as a sign of rejection at a time when solutions are presented to us the American way.” #Handala

@YousefAljamal: “Handala was born ten years old, and he will always be ten years old.”

@YousefAljamal:
“At that age, I left my homeland, and when he returns, Handala will still be ten, and then he will start growing up”

@YousefAljamal:”The laws of nature do not apply to him. He is unique. Things will become normal again when the homeland returns.”

@YousefAljamal: “I presented him to the poor and named him Handala as a symbol of bitterness.”

@YousefAljamal: “At first, he was a Palestinian child, but his consciousness developed to have a national, global and human horizon.”

Timeless Caricatures:

Handala turning his back to the viewer. At the grave “I think therefore I am” is written. Another immortal Caricature by Naji Al Ali- shared by twitter user @CultureofFear

Al Ali might be dead, but his caricatures have proved to be immortal, and timeless.

@iFalastenya: قتلوه ولكن حنظلة ما زال حيٌ يرزق. ‎‫#ناجي_العلي‬‏

They killed him [Naji Al-Ali] but Handala is still alive

@ZahretTshreen ‪#‬‫ناجي_العلي‬ أصبح بتنبؤاته قائدا لكل شباب ‪#‬‫فلسطين‬ حتى بعد رحيله بربع قرن .. مازالت رسوماته تحكي واقعنا المريرpic.twitter.com/WO6C17WR

@ZahretTshreen: With his predictions, Naji Al Ali has become a leader of the Palestinian youth a quarter of a century after his death…His drawings still tell the story of our bitter reality

Over the years, Handala has stood as a symbol for Palestinian resistance and the right to return.

@occupytheory: #Handala continues resisting / حنظلة لا يزال يقاوم / #OWS #globalsolidarity #Syria #Egypt #Palestine #Bahrain #Yemen #Libya #Tunisia #Greece

@__Hossam: رحم الله من رسم حنظلة … حنظلة يا ‪#‬‫ناجي_العلي‬ مازال ينتظر العودة , ومازال ينتظر القدس , ومازال ينتظر وطن محرراً يحتضنه …

May the one who created Handala rest in peace…O Naji Al Ali, Handala still awaits returning [home]…still awaits Jerusalem, and still awaits a liberated home that embraces him

The 10-year-old boy also stands by the side of ordinary Arabs.

Mohamed Diaa from Egypt tweets:

#Handala was reflecting the suffering of Arab people under the dictatorship regimes. RIP #NajiAlAli

Who Killed Naji Al Ali?

It is still unknown who assassinated Al Ali, but there have been speculations about the involvement of Israel.

@NadeenR: tweeted:

#Israel is not afraid of those holding a weapon as much as of those holding a pen. RIP Naji Al Ali. #Palestine

However, Al Ali did not only criticize Israel. Criticism of autocratic Arab rulers, and the Palestine Liberation Organization were common themes in his cartoons.

“He criticized everyone, I was told, Israelis, the PLO [The Palestine Liberation Organization] , Arab regimes. No one knows who killed him. Everyone had reason”, said comics artist and journalist Joe Sacco on Naji Al Ali in the introduction for the book A Child in Palestine.

The world may never know who was behind the assassination of Naji Al Ali, but the world will always remember him, and his imperishable character, Handala.

For more information about Naji Al Ali, and his work in English, check out this PDF document prepared by Arab American artist Fayeq Oweis.

Source

Akram Rikhawi’s family: “Are they waiting for him to return to us in a coffin?”

Akram Rikhawi’s family and I at their house in Rafah during the power-cut (by Magne Hagesæter)

The Palestinian football player Mahmoud Sarsak walks freely in Gaza’s streets and alleys, breathing victory among the steadfast people of the Gaza Strip. He acquired his strength to hunger for 96 days from Mahatma Gandhi’s words, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” Gandhi’s promise came true, and Mahmoud actually won the battle of empty stomachs. Read my account of visiting Mahmoud Sarsak after his release.

Mahmoud was released from the Ramla Hospital Prison on July 10 after he revealed Israel’s crimes against humanity and made it submit to his demands. But his happiness remained incomplete. His thoughts are still in a place he described as “a hospital for torture, not for treatment,” with his comrades he left there, especially Akram Rikhawi, Palestine’s longest hunger striker in history.

About 6:00 pm on Thursday, the 99th day of Akram Rikhawi’s hunger strike, I saw a tweet: “Help us in spreading the truth about Prisoner Akram Rikhawi who might die at any moment #PalHunger”. As I read it, I felt anger at the world’s silence. I called Mahmoud Sarsak to ask for Akram Rikkawi’s home address. He kindly answered, saying, “Come to Rafah and I’ll take you there.”

Excited, I called some friends to join me, quickly got ready, and hurried to Rafah. The one-hour drive to Rafah felt like it took ages. We arrived there around 8:30 to find Mahmoud waiting. “Is it too late already to visit Akram’s family?” I asked him. He shook his head and said, “Their part of Rafah camp is filled with Yibna refugees. They stay up very late, especially Akram’s family. I don’t think they ever sleep!”

Read full article here...

Ready for Iftar :)

First 7 passed away :)) BDS at 7!

BDS at 7! – Celebrating, reflecting and further mainstreaming 

http://www.bdsmovement.net/2012/bds-at-7-9206

Occupied Palestine, 9 July 2012 – Seven years after the Palestinian civil society call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel was launched, the global BDS campaign has become stronger, more widespread, more effective and certainly more diverse than ever—a true cause for celebration by all those groups and conscientious citizens of the world who contributed to this success. However, Israel’s intensifying violations of international law and basic Palestinian rights, the direct threat Israel poses to the freedom of peoples across the region, and the impunity that Israel still enjoys are cause for reflection and the continuous fine-tuning of our strategies to further spread BDS and further isolate Israel as a world pariah, just as South Africa was under apartheid.

Thanks to the BDS movement, the struggle for the basic rights of the entire Palestinian people has taken a major leap during these last seven years, reaching wide audiences and achieving concrete achievements in major European countries, South Africa, Latin America, India, the Arab world, Australia, New Zealand and even North America. Following on from a similar round up published to mark five years of BDS, the Palestinian BDS National Committee, the broad Palestinian civil society coalition, has put together the following selection of highlights gives a taste of the spectacular growth of BDS over the last two years.

The global reach of the BDS movement is maybe best highlighted by this year’s edition of the BDS Global Day of Action which took place in 23 countries and the 8^th annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) was organized this year on campuses in 202 cities across the world, causing near panic in the Israeli public diplomacy ministry, which scrambled 100 envoys to counter IAW around the world.

Popular consumer boycotts of Israeli products and campaigns against companies that export and sell Israeli products, particularly those implicated in Israel’s illegal colonies in the occupied Palestinian territory, have not only raised awareness among ordinary citizens in countless cities across the world but led to significant damage to complicit Israeli companies:

- Agrexco, Israel’s former largest exporter of agricultural produce, entered liquidation towards the end of 2011, following a campaign of blockades, demonstrations, lobbying of supermarkets and governments, popular boycotts and legal action in more than 13 countries across Europe. The campaign against the company was a major factor behind the lack of investors’ interest to salvage it.

- The largest Co-operative in Europe, the Co-Operative Group in the UK, introduced a policy to end trade with companies that source products from Israel’s illegal settlements, following a determined campaign by Co-Op members. Campaigners are working to pressure other supermarkets to adopt a similarly comprehensive position.  Many supermarkets across Europe already claim not to sell produce from illegal settlements.

- A sustained campaign against Ahava, the Israeli cosmetics company situated in an illegal Israeli colony, forced the company to close its flagship London store and retailers in the UK, Norway,Japan and Canada to announce boycotts of the company.

Inspired by the integral role that Israeli academic institutions play in developing the knowledge and technology behind Israeli occupation, colonization and apartheid, and planning and justifying Israel’s worst crimes, academic boycott campaigns have spread to campuses across the world:

- Setting a worldwide precedent for the academic boycott of Israel, the University of Johannesburg severed ties with Israel’s Ben-Gurion University in 2011, following a campaign backed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and over 400 South African academics.

- Campaigns against EU-funded collaboration with private Israeli companies and Israeli universities have sprung up at campuses across Europe in response to a call from Palestinian academics and civil society.

- Academic unions in the UK and Canada have voted to support various academic boycott campaign initiatives. There are also active academic boycott campaigns in India, the US, South Africa, Ireland, Chile, Brazil, Pakistan, and in many European countries.

Rapidly losing support around the world and recently again voted one of the most negatively viewed countries in the world, Israel’s attempts to whitewash its system of colonization, occupation and apartheid using culture is increasingly thwarted by a highly visible cultural boycott:

- Scores of artists — especially musicians and filmmakers — and writers have refused to perform in Israel or cancelled scheduled performances following pressure from the BDS movement including Bono, Snoop Dogg, Jean Luc Godard, Elvis Costello, Gil Scott Heron, Carlos Santana, Devendra Banhart, Faithless, the Pixies, Cassandra Wilson, Cat Power, Zakir Hussain.

- Many artists and other cultural figures now speak publicly of their support for BDS: Roger Waters, Alice Walker, Naomi Klein, John Berger, Judith Butler, Etienne Balibar, Ken Loach, Arundhati Roy, Angela Davis, Sarah Schulman, among others.

- Israeli artists who accept funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are required to sign a contract committing them to be part of Israel’s cultural public relations offensive. Protests and campaigns against state-backed performances — such as those by the Batsheva dance company, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Habima theater, and the Jerusalem Quartet — are now common place in Europe and North America, forcing some cultural venues to defend or retract their decision to host representatives of Israel and persuading others not to invite state-backed Israeli artists at all.

In the related field of sports boycott:

- The inspiring 93 day hunger strike by imprisoned Palestinian national football team player Mahmoud Sarsak, who was detained and subsequently held without trial by Israel in 2009 while attempting to leave Gaza to play an international match was met with calls for his release by footballing superstars and FIFA, the international football federation. Sports clubs in Gaza and footballing legend Eric Cantona have criticized the European football association for awarding Israel the right to host the 2013 under-21 football tournament.

- The Egypt Football Association announced that its national teams would no longer wear Adidas kit over the company’s sponsorship of an Israeli marathon that violates international law and whitewashes Israel’s illegal occupation of Jerusalem. Calls for boycotting Adidas were issued by the Council of Arab Sports Ministers and by the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC).

- US basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar cancelled a scheduled public visit to Israel.

Corporations, both Israeli and international, play a key role in facilitating Israeli apartheid.Divestment campaigns are raising the price of corporate complicity with Israeli violations of international law and changing corporate attitudes towards doing business with Israel:

- French multinational Veolia has been targeted since November 2008 due its provision of infrastructure services to illegal settlements, including the Jerusalem Light Rail. Local municipalities across Europe and Australia have decided not to award Veolia contracts worth at least $14 billion following BDS campaigns. An increasing number of municipal authorities have implemented policies excluding Veolia from bidding on local contracts. Several European banks have divested from the company as well. Veolia has been forced to admit the damage the BDS campaign has caused it and subsequently announced plans to withdraw from some illegal Israeli projects.

- Several European banks have also divested from Alstom, one of Veolia’s partners in the Jerusalem Light Rail. Alstom lost a $10 billion contract to build the second phase of the Saudi Haramain Railway project following a concerted campaign of pressure.

- Following a concerted campaign in the US, Caterpillar was removed from MSCI-ESG, an influential ethical investment index over the use of its bulldozers and equipment to destroy Palestinian homes. This led to TIAA-CREF, the US pension fund giant targeted by a wide US civil society coalition, removing the company from its Social Choice Funds.

- The European Parliament elected not to renew a contract with G4S following action by Palestine solidarity groups. G4S is a private security company that Palestinian civil society has called for action against over its contract with the Israeli Prison Service and its resulting complicity with the detention of Palestinian political prisoners.

- The Norwegian government pension fund and 12 other European finance institutions haveexcluded Elbit Systems from their portfolios. Elbit is an Israeli military company involved in constructing Israel’s illegal wall.

Responding to ever-increasing public anger with Israel’s occupation and denial of basic Palestinian rights, a number of governments have started to introduce sanctions against Israel:

- Turkey and Norway have both announced decisions to suspend military relations with Israel and Turkey is pursuing legal action against Israel over its killing of 9 Turkish citizens on the Freedom Flotilla in 2010. Bolivia, Venezuela, Qatar, Mauritania and several other countries also took action in response to the attack.

- A call from Palestinian civil society for a comprehensive military embargo on Israel last July was supported by Nobel Peace Prize winners Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mairead Maguire, Betty Williams and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and civil society groups around the world representing millions of people.

The campaign to Stop the JNF has gone from strength to strength, forcing the leaders of all of the major UK political parties, including Prime Minister David Cameron, to end their patronage of the organization, successfully persuading the authorities in the Swiss town of Geneva to disassociate the city from the JNF and winning support of numerous mainstream organizations.

In the trade union movement, labor-led sanctions and BDS initiatives have become the leading form of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle:

- BDS principles and tactics have been formally endorsed by national trade union federations in South Africa, UK, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, the Basque Country, Brazil and other countries across Latin America, in addition to scores of national and local unions. Africa’s largest trade union federation, ITUC-Africa – representing 15 million workers from 56 African trade union federations has endorsed BDS and the European Trade Union Congress is currently taking action against produce from illegal Israeli settlements.

- Trade unions are initiating concrete campaigns and actions, such as the heroic blockades of Israeli ships by dockworkers in South Africa, Sweden, and California, and the campaigns by the London region of the UK Rail, Maritime and Transport union against Alstom, due to its complicity with an illegal occupation infrastructure project, and by the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees (Fagforbundet) against Ahava and other companies complicit with Israeli violations of international law.

- Some major trade unions, particularly in Europe, are taking steps to sever links with the Histadrut, the colonial Israeli trade union entity that has always played a key role in Israel’s system of oppression over the Palestinian people. Most recently, Unison, the UK’s second largest trade union with 1.3 million members, voted to reaffirm its position of suspended relations with the Histadrut.

Following a call for concrete solidarity from Palestinian Christians entitled Kairos Palestine,churches around the world have adopted BDS-related actions:

- In the US, the Quaker Friends Fiduciary Corporation (FFC) divested $900,000 in shares of Caterpillar, targeted over its sale of bulldozers to Israel that are used to violate Palestinian rights. The worldwide United Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church in the US have both called on their members to boycott produce from illegal Israeli settlements.

- In the UK, the Methodist Church and the Quakers in Britain recently called on the UK government to ban trade in products from illegal Israeli settlements.

At university campuses across the world, the student movement in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle continues to rapidly emerge:

- In North America, students are developing sophisticated and widely supported campus divestment initiatives, with student unions in Regina and Carleton in Canada and National Movímíento Estudíantíl Chícan@ de Aztlán (M.E.Ch.A), the largest association of Latin@ youth in the US, and the student government at University of Massachusetts-Boston voting to support divestment and other BDS initiatives. The first student-led BDS U.S. national conference was held at the University of Pennsylvania earlier this year following a successful national student  conference at Columbia University last year.

- BDS student groups are growing across Europe. In the UK the National Union of Students hasendorsed student campaigns that have succeeded in ending relationships between universities and Ahava and Eden Springs. Edinburgh University Student Association voted to end its contract with G4S.

With the eruption of peoples’ upheavals across the Arab world, or what came to be known as the Arab Spring, massive solidarity with Palestinian rights in Arab countries is increasingly being channeled in effective BDS campaigns, especially in Lebanon, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar and Kuwait.

The Israeli establishment is growing increasingly concerned with the growth of the BDS movement. Israeli President Shimon Peres recently cited fear of the impacts of BDS as a reason to “make peace”. Meanwhile, top Israeli business leaders have launched their own “peace initative” out of fear of the impact of BDS. Some Zionist leaders are also starting to call for change in Israeli policies out of fear of BDS. The leading Israeli think tank the Reut Institute has spoken of BDS as a “strategic threat”, prompting the Israeli government to pass a draconian law forbidding any citizen from supporting BDS or any partial boycott. There is a real and growing fear within Israel that it is becoming a pariah state in the way that South Africa once was.

Against the backdrop of continued success and the reactions from Israel, we look forward to working with trade unions, NGOs, faith groups, solidarity organizations, people’s movements and people of conscience all over the world to continue to spread BDS as an effective and morally compelling tool in support of the Palestinian struggle for comprehensive rights. Israel realizes it and so do we: BDS is spreading and having a significant impact on Israel’s occupation, colonization and apartheid; it is time to push even further into the mainstream to entrench Israel’s pariah status. Only thus can Palestinians regain their rights and exercise self-determination, and without that there can never be a just and sustainable peace in the entire region.

BNC Secretariat