Adonis Diaries

Posts Tagged ‘Boycott Israel’

The World Zionist Congress is currently in session: What else it wants?

Posted by: on: November 4, 2020

World Zionist Congress is meeting.

You might have the impression that ‘world Zionism’ is an antisemitic organization.

Or you have succumbed to the conspiracy theory…

While the World Zionist Congress is in session, with 720 delegates from over 30 countries.

by Alison Weir October 23, 2020

Menifee, CA (IAK) — I’m sometimes astounded at the fact that a major political movement over a century old is so little known among Americans – especially since it has had a momentous impact on the world in general and on the U.S. in particular, causing multiple wars, vast population displacement, and global instability.

In my travels around the US, I’ve found that most Americans know extremely little about Zionism.

I would guess that the vast majority of Americans could not define the term (that was certainly my situation for most of my life), and that a great many may Not have even heard of it.

And among those who have heard the term, many may think it refers to some antisemitic conspiracy theory.

The fact is that Zionism – according to the dictionary, “a worldwide Jewish movement that resulted in the establishment and development of the state of Israel and that now supports the state of Israel as a Jewish homeland” – is both very real and extremely significant.

Zionism succeeded in establishing the state of Israel in 1948 after decades of open and frequent covert efforts.

It promoted a successful, and extremely false, slogan – “a land without a people for a people without a land” – and succeeded in perpetrating one of the major hoaxes of the 20th century, in which victims (indigenous Palestinians) were designated aggressors while the aggressors (Zionist colonists) were portrayed as victims.

This hoax was documented by diverse authors, and perpetrated through the silencing of others.

And today this movement contains numerous powerful international entities (see the list below), while remaining largely invisible to millions of citizens of the country that gives Israel massive amounts of money, shields Israel apartheid system internationally, and has fought at many pre-emptive wars on Israel’s behalf of Israel, in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Somalia and Yemen. (The rationale is to secure the existence of the State of Israel and its dominance on the region)

The dictionary definition captures only the simplest meaning of the word, but not its deep impact: how Israel was established and what supporting Israel today enables.

As numerous historians have documented, Israel was established through a war of ethnic cleansing, in the words of a major Israeli historian, in which approximately 750,000 men, women, and children were violently expelled. Hundreds of villages were destroyed and much of the indigenous population was displaced, their ancestral homes and land confiscated and the former owners made into penniless refugees.

Today, in its pursuit of the Jewish identity mentioned in the definition, Israel continues to confiscate Palestinian land, discriminates against the remnants of the non-Jewish population that remain in the area, and holds the four and a half million people in the remaining portion of their land (the West Bank and Gaza), in two virtual prisons, their ability to leave and to return to their homes controlled by Israel.

Palestinian villages are invaded daily, people terrorized and abducted, homes and crops are regularly destroyed, youth administratively detained to “security reasons.”.

For over a year there was a weekly mass demonstration during which Israeli forces shot with live bullets unarmed demonstrators every week. More than a thousand Palestinians were handicapped from the snipers children, women, nurses, journalists…(To see these actions go here.)

Zionist movement in the US – a century of activism

As I describe in my book, the Zionist movement in the U.S. began in the late 1800s and played a significant role in the events that led to the establishment of Israel.

Today the pro-Israel lobby is probably the most powerful and pervasive special interest group in the U.S. Its members have diverse views and sometimes sharply disagree with one another on aspects of the issue, but all share one goal: support for Israel.

Israel partisans have become extremely influential in both political parties and have obtained numerous US policies of support for Israel.

Most recently, they are promoting bills to expend $19 million per day on behalf of Israel.

Altogether, 90 bills for Israel have been introduced in the current Congress alone.

In addition, there is also considerable evidence that Israel partisans were central in pushing the US into invading Iraq, and that many are similarly active in demonizing Iran. (See this, this, this, and this.)

Conspiracy theory?

Since little of the above is known by the general American public (U.S. media rarely report any of this), some Americans are under the impression that even suggesting there is a “world zionist movement” is an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

(In fact, even discussing the Israel lobby in the U.S. can be dangerous to reputations and careers.

For example, respected professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt were attacked as “antisemitic” for their scholarly work in detailing the power of the Israel lobby.)

Fact is that the World Zionist Organization has been in existence since the late 1800s, and this is just one of a number of international organizations that work on behalf of Israel.

All of these are very public – if one knows where to look.

Currently, the World Zionist Organization is holding its 38th Congress in an online format from Israel. The Congress is convened every five years.

World Zionist Organization

While US mainstream media have largely failed to even mention this organization and event, it has been big news in the Israeli and Jewish-American press, with numerous stories leading up to the event.

Below is an image from an article in the Jewish News of Northern California entitled “Your vote in Israel: Here are the Bay Area Jews running for the World Zionist Congress.”2017 World Zionist Organization

Image featured on March 3, 2020 in the Jewish News of Northern California about candidates running for the World Zionist Congress. The caption read: “2017 event in Jerusalem commemorating the 120th anniversary of the first World Zionist Congress

The World Zionist Organization (WZO) was founded in 1897. It has an elaborate structure, including a World Zionist Congress, a Zionist General Council, a Zionist Executive, and a Zionist Supreme Court.

It also has a department devoted to “repatriation” – encouraging Jews to leave their birth countries and move to Israel – and lists numerous affiliates and partners around the world.

Currently, the WZO convened its 38th Congress, with 720 delegates and observers from over 30 countries participating in a 3-day conference.

Based in Israel as usual, this year’s event is being held online because of the pandemic, and sessions are being synchronized with time zones in Israel, North America, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa.

The World Zionist Congress allocates about a billion dollars a year to various projects and is popularly known as the “parliament of the Jewish people.”

The Israeli Jerusalem Post newspaper reports that during the Congress “elections will take place for the leadership positions of the National Institutions – the World Zionist Organization, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel (Jewish National Fund-JNF), and Keren Hayesod [aka United Israel Appeal:  

“the preeminent worldwide fundraising organization for Israel, which was established in London in 1920, to serve as the fundraising arm of the Jewish People and the Zionist Movement]. Current issues on the world Jewish agenda will be deliberated…”

Among the issues to be deliberated will be how to “allocate nearly $5 billion to Jewish organizations and programs in Israel and around the world.”

The event is being live-streamed and can be viewed here.

Additional Zionist organizations:

The WZO is far from the only organization with “Zionist” in its title.

Among the others are:

Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO): founded in 1902, it currently has 250,000 members around the world.

Mizrachi, the global Religious Zionist movement: “Mizrachi is the global Religious Zionist movement, spreading Torat Eretz Yisrael across the world and strengthening the bond between the international Jewish community and the State of Israel.”

It was founded in 1902, is based in Jerusalem and has branches across the globe. It opposes the international movement supporting Palestinian rights known as BDS. It says the Mizrachi Global Summit was held on October 18th.

Zionist Organization of America: “Founded in 1897, the Zionist Organization of America (“ZOA”) is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States.” It has 25,000 members and chapters throughout the U.S.

Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America: Over a century old, it says its vision is to “strengthen a connection to Israel.” It says it is “the largest women’s Zionist membership organization in the United States. It inspires a passion for and a commitment to its partnership with the land and the People of Israel.”  (Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a lifelong member.)

American Zionist Movement: “AZM works to promote and defend Zionism in the United States; to deepen and expand the active relationship of the American Jewish Community to Zionism in a contemporary context; to facilitate dialogue and collaboration among Zionist organizations through and with the AZM; and to be the central hub for Zionist resources in America.”

(An interesting bit of history is that “Zion” was one of the names Zionist leaders considered in 1948 for the new state, before they finally settled on the name “Israel.”

(Israel means the Land of God El, the Canaan all encompassing God in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria and whom Jew considered their God too. The bedouin Jews created Jehovah as their God of war as Canaan hired them as mercenaries to fight along them. )

Still more Zionist organizations

There are also a number of other major international organizations that work for Israel. Virtually all of these organizations have large staffs, elaborate structures, and multi-million dollar budgets.

Their websites provide an abundance of information about their global reach and diverse activities. Many openly state that they work to oppose the international movement to boycott Israel, which has been organized because of Israel’s long documented human rights abuses.

Known as “BDS” (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions), the movement “upholds the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity.”

(BDS is demanding that countries boycott the product generated in the occupied land of West Bank by illegal settlers and settlements)

Below is a partial list:

• World Jewish Congress (WJC) is another international congress that supports Israel. According to its website, the WJC “represents Jewish communities and organizations in 100 countries around the world. It advocates on their behalf towards governments, parliaments, international organizations and other faiths.”

The WJC represents significant global wealth. Its annual gala held in New York last year was, as I wrote in a detailed article, attended by billionaires, Russian oligarchs, Ukrainian ambassadors, international financiers, the Rothschilds, and assorted other glitterati.

• World Holocaust Forum is another international entity that supports Israel. It is held in Israel and was founded and run by Russian-Israeli oligarch Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor.

Last year, at least 45 world leaders attended his fifth event. Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper called it “an airlift of presidents, prime ministers and royalty from around the world.” Kantor, a billionaire known for unscrupulous business practices, is president of the European Jewish Congress and heads up a network of pro-Israel international entities.

In an interview for a Zionist publication, Kantor was asked: “Why are you so interested in Holocaust education and in creating big events to memorialize the Holocaust?” Kantor answered:

The Holocaust was an essential tool used to bring about the establishment of the State of Israel. In 2006, it is the most effective tool we have to fight against anti-Semitism and to protect Israel.”

Holocaust Forum

Some of the world leaders from 49 Countries who came to Israel for Kantor’s World Holocaust Forum. Source | Israel Hayom

AJC member list

Source | AJC

• Jewish Agency for Israel has been in existence for 90 years, has branches around the world, and encourages people to move to Israel. It has a branch in the US where donations to it can be deducted from U.S. taxes. It states that it works to oppose BDS.

• B’nai B’rith International has been in existence for 175 years and had a connection to Israel from the state’s earliest years. Like many of the organizations, it periodically works to prevent events supporting Palestinian rights.

• Maccabi World Union, headquartered in Israel, spans five continents, is in 80 countries, has 450 clubs, and 450,000 members. Its website says it’s “a Zionist organization that utilizes sports as a means to bring Jewish people of all ages closer to Judaism and Israel.”

It has a multitude of programs focused on Israel and works to “fight BDS.”

• Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 and played a major role in transferring Palestinian land to Israel. It is holding its national conference right now (video here).

Like many of these entities, it has a presence in the U.S. and has acquired tax deductible status.

• American Jewish Committee (AJC), despite its name, is yet another international organization. It has 30 offices around the world in Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia-Pacifiic, and Israel. It also has numerous regional offices throughout the US.

Note: I posted many articles on How the State of Israel was established and which colonial powers and personalities actively worked toward that plan

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A few positions western news medias won’t disseminate about Stephen Hawking

Posted by: on: March 17, 2018

 

How Stephen Hawking supported the Palestinian cause

I support the rights of scientists everywhere to freedom of movement, publication and collaboration,

The renowned scientist, who has passed away, will be remembered not only for his work, but his support for Palestine.

Hawking made headlines in May 2013 when he decided to boycott a high-profile conference in Israel where he was scheduled to speak [File: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images]

Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned scientist who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 76, was known not only for his groundbreaking work but also for his support for Palestine.

Hawking, who had motor neurone disease, made headlines in May 2013 when he decided to boycott a high-profile conference in Israelwhere he was scheduled to speak.

The physicist was working at the Cambridge University in the UK at the time.

The Presidential Conference, an academic event held in Jerusalem, was being hosted by the late Israeli President Shimon Peres.

In a letter Hawking sent to the organisers on May 3, he said the “policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster”.

“I accepted the invitation to the Presidential Conference with the intention that this would not only allow me to express my opinion on the prospects for a peace settlement but also because it would allow me to lecture on the West Bank.

“However, I have received a number of emails from Palestinian academics. They are unanimous that I should respect the boycott. In view of this, I must withdraw from the conference.

“Had I attended, I would have stated my opinion that the policy of the present Israeli government is likely to lead to disaster,” the letter read.

And, with the approval of Hawking, the British Committee for Universities of Palestine, an organisation of UK-based academics to support the academic boycott of Israel, said in a statement at the time: “This is his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.”

Hawking’s decision was widely celebrated by Palestinian activists and academics.

“Palestinians deeply appreciate Stephen Hawking’s support for an academic boycott of Israel,” Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), said.

“We think this will rekindle the kind of interest among international academics in academic boycotts that was present in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.”

Ali Abunimah, a Palestinian-American journalist, wrote: “When we look back in a few years, Hawking’s decision to respect BDS may be seen as a turning point – the moment when boycotting Israel as a stance for justice went mainstream”.

Support for Palestinian students

Hawking’s sympathy with the Palestinian cause extended beyond a boycott of Israel.

Last year, he asked his millions of Facebook followers to contribute financially to the Palestinian Advanced Physics School – a physics lecture series for masters students in the occupied West Bank.

“I support the rights of scientists everywhere to freedom of movement, publication and collaboration,” he wrote.

Screenshot from Stephen Hawking’s official Facebook page calling on his followers to raise funds

Hawking also publicly congratulated in a video on his Facebook page Hanan al-Hroub, a Palestinian woman who won the Global Teacher Prize for 2016.

“You are inspiration to people everywhere,” he said.

“In a society torn apart by conflict, where children are regularly exposed to violence, Hanan Al Hroub is building trust and supporting children suffering psychological trauma – from the heart of her classroom.”

Source: Al Jazeera News

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I’m Jewish, and I want people to boycott Israel

Posted by: on: June 30, 2016

I’m Jewish, and I want people to boycott Israel

Israel must be held accountable for its human rights abuses.

By Rebecca Vilkomerson. PostEverything. June 24, 2016
Rebecca Vilkomerson is the executive director of Jewish Voice for Peace

In 2009, I was living in Tel Aviv during Operation Cast Lead.

During that offensive, Israel killed about 1,400 Palestinians in Gaza. When small numbers of us went out into the streets to protest the war, we were often pelted with eggs or attacked by passersby.

When I dropped my children off at their preschool, parents chatted as if nothing unusual was going on.

When they asked me what was wrong, I would tell them I was deeply upset about what was happening just 40 miles away. Their response: awkward silence, or an angry defense of Israel’s actions.

I wanted to take concrete action to bring about freedom and full rights for Palestinians.

So I embraced the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. The non-violent effort, started in 2005 by a broad coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations, is a call for solidarity from the international community until Israel complies with international law and ends its violations of Palestinian rights.

It’s hard going though — the governor of my own state, New York, recently condemned BDS in a unilateral executive order.

Seven years later, there have been two more horrific assaults on Gaza.

About 500 Palestinian children were killed in 2014. Even when there are no intensive bombing campaigns, Palestinians in Gaza live under siege.

West Bank residents are severely curtailed by Israel’s matrix of control in the area, including checkpoints, administrative detention and home demolitions. Inside Israel, Palestinians with Israeli citizenship live in a system of unequal laws and rights. Outside of Israel, refugees cannot return home.

Of course, during this time there have been attacks on Israeli civilians too. These are a horrifying symptom of ongoing occupation and repression, as Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai pointed out after a recent attack in Tel Aviv killed four Jewish Israelis.

I believe that Israel won’t change its policies until outside pressure becomes impossible to ignore. BDS is a powerful way to encourage the state to act.

And during my time with the movement, we’ve had growing success. Mainstream churches have divested from companies profiting from the occupation. Dozens of American campuses have passed divestment resolutions.

More than 100 artists refuse to perform in Israel, and multinational corporations like G4S and Veolia have withdrawn from the Israeli market.

During this time, there’s also been a shift in public opinion. A 2015 Brookings Institute poll found that 49 percent of Democrats support imposing economic sanctions against Israel over settlement construction.

A Pew poll released last month found that for the first time, liberal Democrats were more sympathetic to Palestinians than to Israelis. In May, the research firm Ipsos found that one-third of Americans support the boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel until it respects Palestinian rights.

But our efforts have been threatened here in the United States by a nationally coordinated, well-funded strategy financed by the Israeli government and advocacy organizations.

Over the last year, 22 states have introduced or passed anti-BDS legislation. Many of these measures make it illegal for states to do business with companies that support BDS.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has escalated that strategy with a draconian executive order that would create a blacklist of companies and organizations that choose not to invest in Israel or that advocate for BDS. Cuomo’s executive order circumvented the state legislature, where opposition from supporters of Palestinian rights and free speech, including many members of Jewish Voice for Peace, had successfully stalled the anti-BDS legislation in committee.

This is wrong. It’s not discrimination to hold a state accountable for its violations of international law and human rights abuses. The state of Israel is not the same as the Jewish people.

My daughters who I dropped off at preschool in Tel Aviv in 2009 are now middle-schoolers in Brooklyn. If as Israeli citizens they choose someday to live in Israel/Palestine, I hope it will be a place where all people, Jewish and Palestinian, can live in equality and freedom.

I believe that BDS is the best tool that we have to make that vision a reality. We will look back on the attempts to legislate against BDS as the last desperate attempts to shield Israel from much-needed pressure to change its policies. Cuomo is standing on the wrong side of history.

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NYU Graduate Student Organizing Committee support BDS against Israel

Posted by: on: April 24, 2016

 

“Defining political issue of our time”:

NYU grad student union overwhelmingly votes to boycott Israel over violations of Palestinian human rights

BDS is an international grassroots movement that uses peaceful economic means to pressure Israel into complying with international law and respecting Palestinian human rights. The campaign was called for by Palestinian civil society and by major trade unions in the occupied Palestinian territories.

NYU Graduate Student Organizing Committee is first private university labor union to support  ‪#‎BDS‬, as movement grows

Friday, Apr 22, 2016 Remi Kanazi shared this link

“Defining political issue of our time”: NYU grad student union overwhelmingly votes to boycott…
NYU Graduate Student Organizing Committee is first private university labor union to support BDS, as movement grows
t.co|By Ben Norton

Graduate students at New York University have overwhelmingly voted to boycott Israel in protest of its violation of Palestinian human rights.

Exactly two-thirds of voting members of the graduate student union the Graduate Student Organizing Committee, or GSOC-UAW 2110, supported a referendum on Friday that calls for New York University and United Auto Workers International to withdraw their investments from Israeli state institutions and international corporations complicit in violations of Palestinian human and civil rights.

At least 645 union members participated in the vote. An additional 57 percent of voting members pledged to uphold the academic boycott of Israel, refraining from participating in research and academic programs sponsored by institutions funded by the Israeli government.

The union says this “was an unusually large membership turnout, a testament to union democracy.” It explained in a statement that the vote took place after a period of “vigorous debate and engagement with the union among wide layers of graduate workers.”

“After months of mass mobilization and a four-day election, GSOC members have taken a clear stand for justice in Palestine,” explained Shafeka Hashash, a member of the union’s Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, or BDS, caucus.

“This historic endorsement of BDS by GSOC at NYU occurs in the wake of growing momentum for the movement across university campuses and labor unions nationwide,” she added.

BDS is an international grassroots movement that uses peaceful economic means to pressure Israel into complying with international law and respecting Palestinian human rights. The campaign was called for by Palestinian civil society and by major trade unions in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The Graduate Student Organizing Committee is a labor union representing more than 2,000 teaching assistants, adjunct instructors, research assistants and other graduate workers at New York University, or NYU. It is the first recognized graduate worker union at a private university in the U.S.

The union says its referendum vote it sets “an important precedent for both solidarity with Palestine and for union democracy.”

“In addition to bringing material gains for their members, NYU graduate students are reclaiming the union as a political platform for social justice causes,” explained Maya Wind, an Israeli activist and Ph.D. student at NYU who is a member of the union.

“Through the recent mass mobilization for justice in Palestine we have taken a stand on one of the defining political issues of our time,” she added. “The referendum success is indicative of the traction the movement is gaining across university campuses, and increasingly among graduate students.”

The referendum also calls on NYU to close its sister program in Israel’s Tel Aviv University, which the union says violates its own non-discrimination policy.

A recent U.S. State Department report acknowledged the “institutional and societal discrimination against Arab citizens of Israel,” as well as the unlawful killings, excessive force and torture people endure at the hands of the Israeli military in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.

The BDS movement is growing rapidly throughout the U.S. and the world.

In the past week, at least two major graduate student unions voted to endorse a boycott of Israel. The Graduate Employee Organization at the University of Massachusetts Amherst passed a BDS resolution by referendum, as well as the City University of New York Doctoral Students Council, which approved an academic boycott measure overwhelmingly via vote.

“The impact of NYU’s referendum will not only reverberate across private academic institutions where unionization efforts have gained momentum, but across the American academy more broadly,” GSOC said in a statement.

At least 8 major U.S. academic associations have voted to boycott Israel in protest of its violation of Palestinian human rights, including the American Studies Association, the American Anthropological Association, the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association and the Association for Asian American Studies. Many of these votes had resounding majorities in favor.

Several national unions have also made similar votes, including the United Electrical Workers union.

Despite the democratic nature of these votes, the efforts have faced huge backlash.

Legislators around the U.S. are proposing bans on boycotts of Israel, which legal experts say is unconstitutional.

When the University of California system’s graduate student union voted to endorse the BDS movement by a landslide in 2014, Salon exposed how the small pro-Israel opposition derailed the democratic process with the help of a prominent law firm that has defended powerful multinational corporations like Wal-Mart, Amazon, Apple and Chevron. Under this pressure, the United Auto Workers International Executive Board nullified the vote, even while admitting that it was thoroughly democratic.

NYU’s graduate student union also says the UAW Local 2110 Executive Board “attempted to interfere with democratic elections to union leadership bodies.” GSOC condemned union executives for having “cracked down on their own membership” in an undemocratic manner.

Ph.D. student and union member Sean Larson told Salon the local executive executive board has disqualified a large number of candidates for the leadership election, “disputing our membership criteria eligibility and the eligibility for candidates to run in both elections.”

GSOC is pushing back against the backlash. “In the fight for social justice and against repression, the BDS movement and union democracy are natural allies,” the union affirmed in a statement.

“By empowering the members themselves to speak, the emerging movement for union democracy among graduate students is helping to lead these efforts. Rank-and-file democracy is the future of the labor movement, and the labor movement can secure a vigorous future for BDS in the United States.”

Ben Norton is a politics staff writer at Salon. You can find him on Twitter at @BenjaminNorton.
Note: The picture below is for a Jew wrapping himself in a plastic bag on a plane in order Not to get contaminated by impure passengers 

يهودي متعصب يسافر بكيس على متن طائرة، خوفاً من الاحتكاك بالناس وفقدان “طهارته”. الصورة نُشرت للمرة الاولى قبل ٣ سنوات.

Hauvick Habéchian's photo.
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After centuries of archaeological digging. And nothing found: Bible and Torahs not based on historical facts

Posted by: on: August 25, 2014

Bible and Torahs not based on historical facts

Just a collection of stories of customs of the Land

Nothing found after centuries of archaeological digging

The Israeli Archaeology Professor Zeif Hertzog stated that after 70 years of steadfast and persistent archaeological digging in Palestine, the State of Israel was totally unable to discover any artifacts or pieces of evidence that there existed any kingdoms of David or Solomon,

Or that the Jews immigrated to Egypt or ever crossed the Sinai from Egypt,

Or conquered any piece of land in Palestine or Syria.

He resumed: “All the expert know these facts, but they don’t dare come forward to state their expert opinions for the public to be familiar with the facts. They know that all the stories in the Bible are pure popular fictions…”

I have posted many articles stating that the Bible and all the Religious Books from around the world describe the customs and traditions of their Lands, and disseminated in writing the verbal myths of their communities.I

have posted around two dozen articles on that topic.

The next two links are a starter:

1. Bibles or Repository of Customs https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/the-bibles-a-repository-of-the-customs-in-the-near-east/
2. Jerusalem or Ur Salam (city of Peace) https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/as-history-dust-settles-jerusalem/

‎Nothing found after centuries of archaeological digging: Bible and Torahs not based on historical factsThe Israeli Archaeology Professor Zeif Hertzog stated that after 70 years of steadfast and persistent archaeological digging in Palestine, the State of Israel was totally unable to discover any artifacts or pieces of evidence that there existed any kingdoms of David or Solomon, or that the Jews immigrated to Egypt or ever crossed the Sinai from Egypt, or conquered any piece of land in Palestine or Syria.He resumed: “All the expert know these facts, but they don’t dare come forward to state their expert opinions for the public to be familiar with the facts. They know that all the stories in the Bible are pure popular fictions…”I have posted many articles stating that the Bible and all the Religious Books from around the world describe the customs and traditions of their Lands, and disseminated in writing the verbal myths of their communities.I have posted around two dozen articles on that topic. The next two links are a starter:1. Bibles or Repository of Customs https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/the-bibles-a-repository-of-the-customs-in-the-near-east/<br /><br /><br /> 2. Jerusalem or Ur Salam (city of Peace) https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2009/08/09/as-history-dust-settles-jerusalem/<br /><br /><br /> غزه الان: اعتقال طفل ......!!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;<br /><br /><br /> &lt;p&gt;الصورة للطفل خالد محمد يوسف كنعان، من قرية بورين قرب نابلس&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;<br /><br /><br /> ابن الـ 13 سنة&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;<br /><br /><br /> أريد من كل من شاهد الصورة يعملها شير لتصل لكل العالم” src=”&lt;a href=https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/t1/s403x403/1654371_652019011500364_2141373559_n.jpg” width=”403″ height=”302″ />The child Khaled Muhammad Youssof Canaan(13 of age) and from Gaza was arrested by Israeli soldiers. Khaled is originally from the town of Bourine near Nablus.Israel is a War Criminal<br /><br /><br /> ‘s photo<br /><br /><br /> .Try something new today!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;<br /><br /><br /> Boycott Israel.” src=”&lt;a href=https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/t1/p240x240/71488_585949141495911_1333950098_n.jpg” width=”360″ height=”240″ />Try something new today! Boycott Israel.The Arabic transcript of Zeif Hertzog, and Nevine Sadek<br /><br /><br /> ‘s photo<br /><br /><br /> .‎
أليسار كنعان
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Hot posts this week (Aug. 1/2014)

Posted by: on: August 9, 2014

Hot posts this week (Aug. 1/2014)

Avoid red bar-codes: Boycott Israel and companies collaborating with Apartheid

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How to go about: Boycotting, Divesting and Sanctioning Israel

Posted by: on: August 4, 2014

How to go about: Boycotting, Divesting and Sanctioning Israel

Naomi Wolf posted on FBL

It is so clear. We have to stop thinking that many events are driven by nation-states and national ideologies. That time is over.

A small group of investors such as Aschcroft’s lobbying group, Cheney’s oil company in the Golan Heights, the Carlyle group, Academi/Xi… the Iron Dome contracts, Delek, American Noble Energy, the latter two wanting the Gaza 7 billion gas reserves) just plain profit from conflict.

They operate above the level of parliaments, congresses and nation-states. They fund violent leadership on both ‘sides’ of a conflict (see AIPAC, see Taliban) so they can have perpetual war thus perpetual profit.

They buy up media outlets so people’s worst fears and hatreds can be stoked and fewer and fewer reporters can check assertions.

Via the governments who are really their functionaries at this point, when they need to they spin or stage news events. There are global scripts now to scare the s– out of populations – as in the US, now Australia, now Israel.

This really has very little to do with “Arabs” or “Jews” or ethnic or religious hatreds — those are just the machinery they use to keep conflict going and keep the profits maximized.

THIS is why there is endless provocation, settlements, Quran-burning….

THIS is why people who want peaceful leadership get “led” by groups funded mysteriously, that always want war and keep the provocation going…this is the new normal.

We won’t understand anything till we understand this.

The way to fight it is for ordinary people to say no to hate and fear…and to verify verify verify for themselves what they are being told.

You want to Boycott Israel and you want to know how to go about it.

Your organization has decided to boycott all products and services from Israel.

Here is a list of activities that you now need to perform in order to comply with this boycott.

Part One – Technology and Food

First, remove all Intel Pentium and Celeron computer processor chips from personal computers (desktops, laptops and notebooks) as these were either developed or manufactured in Israel.

Note that the revolutionary new Ivy Bridge processor will be manufactured in Israel.

Any computers running the Windows XT operating system must be turned off immediately as this was developed in Israel. All current Microsoft operating systems are not to be used as Microsoft is heavily reliant on its Israel R&D centre.

Step 2. Any computers that still work need to have their anti-virus software and personal firewalls removed as this technology originated in Israel. The organisation’s firewall will also need to be switched off. Staff should no longer open external emails as most of these will be infected with viruses. No outgoing emails can be sent. The algorithm (code) that’s used today for sending e-mails, was made by an Israeli who worked at the Ben-Gurion University in Be’er-Sheva in 1980.

Step 3. Discard all mobile phones, as this technology was developed in Israel, where the first mobile phones were manufactured. Mobile chip technology from a single Israeli company has now been installed in over 100 million devices. Only top-level staff may retain mobile phones for emergency situations. However the use of SMS (Texting) is expressly forbidden as this facility was developed in Israel. No 4G devices can be used, as the chipset is Israeli.

Step 4. Turn off your voice-mail service and delete any recorded messages. Israeli companies invented the voice-mail system. If someone you do not know answers your phone-call, then hang up. Israeli call-centres and call-centre technology is in widespread operation in the UK.

Step 5. Before accepting any printed material, check that the supplier has not used the Israeli device that might have saved up to 50% of the ink used.

Step 6. At home, do not use Facebook as many in-built and add-on applications are Israeli-developed.

Do not watch videos on the Internet as the platform used to upload them may be from AOL and hence from an Israeli company. Do not use the Internet to search for answers to your questions as this may involve use of an Israeli-developed search engine. Better to remain unenlightened.

Step 7. On your TV or home entertainment centre, do not use Video On Demand (VOD) to watch movies as you may inadvertently see an advert displayed using Israeli software. Do not purchase any games devices as these are likely to use Israeli technology.

Step 8. Do not read books using an e-book as this may contain Israeli technology. Do not use data storage as it may have been developed at Israel’s storage technology R&D center.

Step 9. Do not buy an electric car as it is likely to be powered with an Israeli battery or use Israeli developed charging mats. Continue to sit in traffic knowing that you are polluting the environment and financing oil-rich despotic regimes.

Turning to food and drink, all food outlets on the organisation’s premises must dispose of cherry tomatoes, which were developed in Israel. Staff must ensure that no cherry tomatoes are included in sandwiches brought into office premises.

The ban also applies to honey and any products derived from honey. Israel has developed solutions to the worldwide problem of bee-colony collapse, so that any products derived from bees might only be available now due to an Israeli invention.

Avoid drinking any of the world-recognised award-winning Israeli wines. Do not consume homemade drinks from Israeli-manufactured household drinks machines.

Avoid any fruit from South Africa or Peru as produce from these countries is being marketed with Israeli brand names.

No agricultural products from the following areas must be consumed as they use water irrigation and agricultural technology provided directly from Israel. This includes most of Africa, China, India, Indonesia (a Muslim country), Nepal and many others.

Much fruit and vegetables (including organic) imported into the UK has been enhanced using Israeli technology. This may save millions of people from starving around the world, but is not a good reason for you to eat it. To be safe, only eat fruit and vegetables that you have grown yourself using seeds that have been in your family for generations.

Part Two – Staff Health.

Destroy all personal medication. Israel’s Teva Pharmaceuticals, the largest generic drugs company in the world, will have manufactured many of your medicines.  Staff with the following illnesses will need to take specific precautions.

Cancer – do not take any form of medication or treatment. Israeli scientists have been working at the forefront of oncology for decades.

AIDS and HIV – beware; researchers at Israel’s Weizmann Institute or Hebrew University developed or improved AZT and Hypericin-based drugs; they have also developed a treatment that destroys HIV-infected cells without damaging healthy ones.

Diabetes – do not measure or inject Insulin using the devices developed by Israeli scientists.

Multiple Sclerosis – stop taking Copaxone, one of the most efficient medicines and the only non-interferon agent, as Teva developed it.  Don’t touch Laquinimodeither.

Parkinson’s – remove the Israel-pioneered brain pacemaker to stop tremors. Discontinue Levodopa, which reduces motor disturbances. Cease sessions that involve magnetic cortex stimulation.

Staff with a family history of heart disease and arteriosclerosis must not use the Israeli device for early detection of these.  Rather, wait until onset of the disease.

Epileptics – stop treatment that may have benefited from the Israeli discovery of the underlying mutant gene; also throw away the bracelet that sends out an alert when a person goes into seizure.

Staff or relatives with Age-related Macular Degeneration – remove Israeli implants that arrest the disease.

Liver disease – abandon Israeli-developed antibody immunotherapy treatments.

Emphysema – steer clear of the Israeli protein replacement therapy.

Myeloma – stop taking the drug Velcade, which was developed over a period of 30 years by scientists at Haifa.

Sleep apnea – no tests using the breakthrough Israeli device for diagnosis.

Dyslexics must not benefit from the Israeli Internet-based reading system.

Skin allergies must be treated with steroid creams only, as the new safer non-steroid alternative is Israeli.

Any incident of stroke or head trauma or onset of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, MS, epilepsy, glaucoma or brain tumor must avoid using any of the Weizmann Institute’s patented methods of treatment.

Before any surgery or medical tests, check that hospital catheters have not been protected from infection using the new plastic from Israel that disables microorganisms. Avoid throat surgery as this may utilize Israeli surgical lasers.

Ensure any colonoscopy or gastro investigation does not use internal Israeli cameras such as the Pillcam.  Never undergo surgery to install an artificial heart, as the first artificial heart transplant took place in Israel.

Kidney transplant patients must wait for donors of the same blood group as only Israel’s revolutionary new methods allow donors from other blood groups.  Staff of Arab origin must not make use of the only database for matching potential Arab donors of bone-marrow – in Israel.

In the event of a spinal injury or disease, do not accept spinal implants – likely to be an Israeli product or development. Heart rhythm problems must not be solved with the Israeli-developed heart pulse generator.

All heart stents are off-limits as most of these originate from Israeli medical companies.

Check all vaccines as many of these have been developed in Israel.  Ensure that all X-rays do carry a radiation risk, as the only radiation-free system is Israeli. Treatments derived from Stem Cell research must be avoided as most of these are Israeli-developed.

If you or your family are struck with a bacterial infection, do not take alternatives to older, ineffective bacteria-resistant antibiotics, as an Israeli discovery will have been responsible for the modern, effective drugs. Check that any pain relief medication is not based on soya as an Israeli doctor discovered the beneficial effect of the soya bean.

Do not use the revolutionary new Israeli bandage that saved the life of Arizona senator Gabriella Giffords after she was shot in the head.  If you break a bone badly, reject any treatment that involves introducing collagen, as this may have been manufactured from Israeli plants.

Do not protect babies and infants from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome with the Babysense system from Israel.

Do not use Epilady (or epilator) – two Israelis invented this hair removal device.

Finally, reject all major dental treatment, as your teeth may need to be scanned with an Israeli-developed dental scanner.

Part Three – Dealing with People.

When interviewing prospective new staff or holding meetings with members of the public or with individuals from other companies, it is vital that you check whether they originate from, or are associated with the following countries and areas.

You must ensure that you do not have any contact with people who have benefited from Israel’s aid to those countries. The organization must avoid any possible acknowledgment of Israel’s contribution to world relief.

In addition, you must obtain a formal statement from the government of these countries that Israeli aid was not responsible for the production or development of any goods and services supplied to the organization.

These locations include:

Japan (As well as rescue teams, Israel supplied Geiger counters and Israeli thermal imaging cameras are monitoring the reactor cores – Mar 2011)

Ghana (has been receiving technological aid from Israel since 2006; Israel is now providing neonatal units to save many of the 4,800 babies that die each year – Mar 2011)

New Zealand (Israel sent several rescue teams, temporary shelters and water purification systems following the Christchurch earthquake in Feb 2011)

Chile, whose rescued miners were treated to a tour of Israel as part of their “Pilgrimage of Thanks” (Feb 2011)

Vietnam, whose milk industry is being totally transformed using high-yield Israeli cows (Feb 2011)

Uganda (Israeli solar-powered refrigerators were provided to store v1accines used to eliminate an outbreak of Polio from the country in Jan 2011)

Kenya (Israel’s Agency for International Development built a state-of-the-art Emergency Room in a hospital serving 6 million Kenyans in Jan 2011)

The Maldives (although non-Islamic worship is banned here, Israeli eye-doctors performed free operations for citizens in Dec 2010)

Philippines (signed major trade agreement with Israel in Nov 2010)

Romania (Israeli doctors treated babies following fire at a neonatal unit – Sep 2010)

Cameroon (Ophthalmologists from Haifa restored vision to patients and trained local medical teams in these procedures – Aug 2010)

The Congo (Israel were the first burn specialists on the scene following the oil tanker fire disaster in July 2010)

Angola (mines cleared by Israeli technology – July 2010)

Mississippi (bio-remediation technique used to clean up after oil spills was developed in Israel)

China (a major purchaser of Israeli technology, and recipient of medical aid andtraining)

South Africa (Israelis trained their doctors to perform circumcisions to prevent the spread of AIDS – July 2010)

Haiti (Israel set-up the largest field hospital to treat victims of the 2010 earthquake, the hurricane and the cholera outbreaks and provided vital assistance for over a year)

Sri Lanka (Israel conducted a massive airlift with food, 50 medical staff and rescue teams only 48 hours after the Tsunami in Dec 2004)

India (Israel sent an fully-equipped field hospital following Gujarat earthquake in Feb 2001)

El Salvador (Israel relief aid following earthquake in 2001)

Georgia (Israel contributed food and seeds for farmers following severe drought in 2001)

Turkey (Israel relief aid following earthquake in 2000)

Mozambique ((Israel  relief aid following floods in 2000)

Colombia (Israel sent medical aid and food following earthquake in 1999)

Venezuela (President Chavez has forgotten Israel’s aid following floods of 1999)

Central America (Israel sent emergency medical aid teams and equipment to help victims of Hurricane Mitch in 1998)

Pakistan (2005) and Peru (2007) both accepted aid from Israeli NGOs following earthquake disasters.

Peru’s hydro-electric power plants are also being built and run by an Israeli company.

Rawanda, Mexico, Chad, Sudan (Darfur) and Malawi all have received humanitarian aid from Israel, including medical assistance from Israel’s NGOIsraAID.

Always remember that the boycott extends to any individuals from the above regions that have been exposed to Israeli assistance during the 63 years existence of the current Jewish State.

Part Four – Other Impacts.

-Reject all products from the USA. Analysis conducted in a typical US state shows that Israeli innovations were responsible for $2.4 billion in direct revenue to that state’s economy in 2009 and generated nearly 6,000 jobs.

-Do not tutor your children in advanced Mathematics techniques, which may have originated in Israel. Also, if these techniques are used in your children’s schools, withdraw your children immediately.

-Keen ornithologists should consider giving up their hobby as many rare speciesstop off or reside in Israel during their twice-yearly migration.
-Do not watch the new series of NCIS as one of the actresses is Israeli.

-Avoid going to any football matches featuring teams with Israeli players.

-Destroy all your recordings of Madonna, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Deep Purple, Bon Jovie, Justin Bieber, George Benson, Moby and many, many more artists who have ridiculed the illogical boycott and have proudly performed (or will shortly perform) concerts in Israel.

-Destroy any recordings of U2, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, Beck, Rihanna Coldplay and any artist whose music has been recorded using the sound technology of the Grammy Award winning Israeli company Wave Audio.

You also must get rid of any personal copies of Shrek, American Beauty and Star Wars. Do not trust anything recorded by Sony, JVC, Toshiba or Dell.

-Don’t go to see The Black Swan with Natalie Portman, or watch any old films withElizabeth Taylor – both lovers of the Jewish State.

-Do not stay in hotels or visit shopping centers owned by Israeli companies (sorry, you will need to check which ones yourself).

-Do not have anything to do with the banks who are using Israeli software to prevent fraud.

-Do not use any credit or debit card as the Security monitoring system used by the credit card companies is likely to be Israeli.

-Do not buy an engagement ring containing a diamond as it is possible that this may have been cut in Israel.

-Do not travel by air, as your plane might get towed by the Israeli-built “Taxibot.”

-Do not use public transport inside Amsterdam, Moscow or Northern China in case you benefit from Israeli transportation devices.

-If you suffer a power or network failure, be grateful that at least you haven’t installed the Israeli system that prevents power outages.

-Finally, you need to leave all your taps running when you leave home and must never flush your toilet, because Israel provides water-saving technology to overhalf of the planet. It also is providing sewage treatment technology across the world, including to the UK.

It should be obvious by now that all the measures specified in Parts 1 – 4 of this series of blogs will inevitably mean that your organization and your staff will be completely unable to function.  Let’s therefore hope that the decision by your organization to boycott Israeli products is flushed down the toilet of history.

Thanks to Michael Ordman

source: communismkills

Note: I am not sure if this article is meant as a smart advertisement to Israel technologies and how we are dependent on Israel know-how?

Fact is the western countries have tight collaboration with Israel scientific communities and tech industries.

The best sanction is for universities to cease any collaborations with Israeli universities and to provide Israel with latest war technologies.

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Avoid red bar-codes: Boycott Israel and companies collaborating with Apartheid

Posted by: on: July 31, 2014

Avoid red bar-codes: Boycott Israel and companies collaborating with Apartheid 

Joanna Choukeir Hojeily posted on FB this July 26, 2014

All the companies with red barcodes should be avoided of you’re boycotting Israel. Some are staple for me but I will find more ethical alternatives.

Download the BuyCott app to scan barcodes and know the story of what you’re buying and encouraging.

Joanna Choukeir Hojeily's photo.
Joanna Choukeir Hojeily's photo.
Joanna Choukeir Hojeily's photo.
Joanna Choukeir Hojeily's photo.
Joanna Choukeir Hojeily's photo.
 e

Maya Hallab posted an alphabetical list of companies to boycott
Maya Hallab's photo.
Israel has changed bar code to avoid boycott! Please share
Many people had stopped buying ANYTHING with a barcode starting 729, so…
shaunynews.com
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Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters: An open letter to Scarlett Johanson. What Equal Rights have the Palestinian workers?

Posted by: on: February 11, 2014

Existence is Resistance

“THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH AN UNFREE WORLD IS TO BECOME SO ABSOLUTELY FREE THAT YOUR VERY EXISTENCE IS AN ACT OF REBELLION.” – ALBERT CAMUS

If you need an introduction to the flap between Scarlett Johanson and Oxfam https://adonis49.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/internal-revolt-scarlett-johansson-oxfam-sodastream-boycott-israel–west-bank-settlements/

Roger Waters of Pink Floyd writes letter to Scarlett Johanson about her support of Israeli Apartheid

In the past days I have written privately to Neil Young (once) and to Scarlett Johanson (a couple of times). Those letters will remain private.

Sadly, I have received no reply from either.

And so I write this note on my Facebook page somewhat in bewilderment.

Roger Waters

Neil? I shall ponder all of this long and hard. We don’t really know each other, but, you were always one of my heroes, I am confused.

Scarlett? Ah, Scarlett. I met Scarlett a year or so ago, I think it was at a Cream reunion concert at MSG.

Scarlet was, as I recall, fiercely anti Neocon, passionately disgusted by Blackwater (Dick Cheney’s private army in Iraq), you could have been forgiven for thinking that here was a young woman of strength and integrity who believed in truth, human rights, and the law and love. I confess I was somewhat smitten. There’s no fool like an old fool.

A few years down the line, Scarlett’s choice of Soda Stream over Oxfam is such an act of intellectual, political, and civil about face, that we, all those of us who care about the downtrodden, the oppressed, the occupied, the second class, will find it hard to rationalize.

I would like to ask that younger Scarlett a question or two:

1. Scarlett, just for one example, are you aware that the Israeli government has razed to the ground a Bedouin village in the Negev desert in Southern Israel 63 times, the last time being on the 26th of December 2013. This village is the home to Bedouin. The Bedouin are, of course, Israeli citizens with full rights of citizenship. Well, not quite full rights, because in “Democratic” Israel there are 50 laws that discriminate against non Jewish citizens.

I am not going to attempt to list, either those laws (they are on the statute book in the Knesset for all to research) or all the other grave human rights abuses of Israeli domestic and foreign policy. I would run out of space. But, to return to my friend Scarlett Johanson.

2. Scarlett, I have read your reposts and excuses, in them you claim that the Palestinian workers in the factory have equal pay, benefits and “Equal rights”. Really? Equal Rights? Do they?

1. Do they have the right to vote?

2. Do they have access to the roads?

3. Can they travel to their work place without waiting for hours to pass through the occupying forces control barriers?

4. Do they have clean drinking water?

5. Do they have sanitation?

6. Do they have citizenship?

7. Do they have the right not to have the standard issue kicking in their door in the middle of the night and taking their children away?

8. Do they have the right to appeal against arbitrary and indefinite imprisonment?

9. Do they have the right to re-occupy the property and homes they owned before 1948?

10. Do they have the right to an ordinary, decent human family life?

11. Do they have the right to self determination?

12. Do they have the right to continue to develop a cultural life that is ancient and profound?

If these questions put you in a quandary I can answer them for you. The answer is, NO, they do not.

The workers in The Soda Stream Factory do not have any of these rights.

So, what are the “equal rights” of which you speak?

Scarlett, you are undeniably cute, but if you think Soda Stream is building bridges towards peace you are also undeniably not paying attention.

Love. R.

Taken From Roger Waters Facebook Page

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“Internal revolt”? Scarlett Johansson, Oxfam, SodaStream, Boycott Israel West Bank settlements…

Posted by: on: January 31, 2014

“Internal revolt”?  Scarlett Johansson, Oxfam, SodaStream, Israel West Bank settlements…

The Israeli Daniel (Dony) Birnbaum is CEO of the SodaStream bottling plant company located in the occupied West Bank. He claims that the plant employs about 1,600 and 500 are Palestinians enjoying equal pay as Israelis.

The neighboring Palestinian communities lack running potable water and electricity. A Palestinian said: “If we need to go to the hospital we need a permit. we need permits to go pray at the mosques, to visit relatives…”

Mind you that the water the company is using belong to the Palestinians, but Israel is abusing the Palestinian rights to their resources and denying them the proper ratio quantity and ruining their agriculture.

Actress Scarlett Johansson, having the ambassador role with Oxfam for the last 8 years, has been promoting SodaStream ads.

Although Oxfam, an international charity organization, has not endorsed boycott, divestment and sanctions,  it opposes trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

There is an “internal revolt” within Oxfam for refusing to cut ties with Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson, an Oxfam insider has told The Electronic Intifada.

The dispute within the global charity is largely along transatlantic lines, with Oxfam America stamping on anything seen to be critical of Israel.

Johansson is one of Oxfam’s “Global Ambassadors” but recently signed a deal with SodaStream, an Israeli firm with a factory in an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Ali Abunimah posted on Electronic Intifada this Jan. 27, 2014

“Internal revolt” at Oxfam over Scarlett Johansson affair, insider says

Scarlett Johansson in a screenshot from an Oxfam fundraising video.

The insider, who is familiar with the organization’s internal deliberations, asked not to be named because they are not authorized to speak to media.

The insider decided to speak out from a belief that Oxfam was suffering serious damage to its credibility by standing with Johansson.

“We do a lot of good work, but it is being overshadowed by all the negative publicity,” the insider said.

“Thorniest issue”

The Johansson affair “has really brought out one of the thorniest issues within Oxfam,” the insider said.

Although Oxfam has done a lot of lobbying both publicly and privately on the issue of Israeli settlements, it has faced intense resistance from Oxfam America.

Oxfam operates as an international federation with national affiliates including Oxfam America, Oxfam GB, Oxfam Belgium and, in The Netherlands, Oxfam Novib.

Fundraising fears

Unlike other national affiliates, “Oxfam America doesn’t invest one cent in the Palestinian territories, or even Israel. They don’t have any programs in the West Bank or Gaza,” the insider explained.

“Yet they [Oxfam America] always claim that anything Oxfam says on Palestine or Israel affects their fundraising. They almost have veto power on what Oxfam does on Palestine,” the insider added.

While these tensions have been present for some time, the Johansson episode has brought the “anger” to the surface within the organization, the insider said.

The insider noted that the situation became much worse after Matt Herrick, spokesperson for Oxfam America, told The New York Times’ blog The Lede last week that Oxfam had not even asked Johansson to end her deal with SodaStream.

“There are a lot of good people at Oxfam who are really pissed off at what Johansson did and even more pissed off at Matt Herrick’s comment,” the insider said.

One unmistakable sign of the disarray at Oxfam came this morning when Oxfam GB tweeted, and then a short time later deleted, a statement on the controversy.

Hurting Palestinian partners

Now the insider fears that Oxfam’s position could harm its programs in the West Bank and Gaza Strip which provide vital support to Palestinian communities.

“Oxfam has a lot of Palestinian partners and is one of the more respected international organizations working in Palestine,” the insider said.

These fears could be right.

It was revealed today that the Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) has written to Oxfam calling on it to sever its ties to Johansson. PNGO includes virtually all of Oxfam’s Palestinian partners.

Palestine’s Boycott National Committee issued a public statement making the same demand today.

It remains to be seen whether the internal struggle will be resolved in favor of a principled stance and solidarity with Palestinians under occupation, or whether those more concerned with protecting Israel and Oxfam America’s bottom line will ultimately prevail.

Note 1: AP released this statement:

A statement released by Johansson’s spokesman Wednesday said the 29-year-old actress has “a fundamental difference of opinion” with Oxfam International because the humanitarian group opposes all trade from Israeli settlements, saying they are illegal and deny Palestinian rights.

“Scarlett Johansson has respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after 8 years.  She and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion in regards to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. She is very proud of her accomplishments and fundraising efforts during her tenure with Oxfam.”

Note 2: Suppose SodaStream negotiate that:

1. Two third of the employees be Palestinians

2. The neighboring Palestinian communities receive running potable water as much as the company is using.

3. The neighboring Palestinian communities get connected to the public utility as the company is and paying as the company is paying

4. The company makes the additional effort to coax the Israeli government to prevent Israeli settlers from cutting down the olive trees and ruining the Palestinian fields…

Why Daniel Birnbaum refuses to join the campaign against settlers cutting down olive trees and protecting the Palestinian agriculture from the onslaught of the Israeli ruffians?

Would you think that the case of boycotting  SodaStream will be harder to defend?

Note 3: If you try to get information on SodaStream, you’ll be hard-pressed to discover that it is located in the West Bank.  This company knows that it is antagonizing the world community.

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