From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) New England Conference of the United Methodist Church | June 11, 2005 Resolution 204 passed on Saturday morning of Annual Conference, following brief but signifcant debate. The resolution calls for a comittee to be created to take action within six months to determine which investments support Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Investment managers are to consider divesting the funds in those companies. The conference also calls on the U.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki | Al-Ahram Weekly | 16-22 June, Issue 747 The boycott of Israeli universities remains a moral imperative, write Omar Barghouti and Lisa Taraki* The Association of University Teachers (AUT) in Britain has reversed its 22 April decision to boycott Israeli universities. If misinformation, intimidation and bullying were among the tactics used by boycott opponents to achieve this result the tool they most persistently used was the claim that the academic boycott infringes academic freedom.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Greg Dropkin | LabourNet UK | 13 June 2005 Susie Jacobs has written a detailed paper “Israel = Apartheid?: a Comparison and Critique” (see e.g. www.ucimc.org/newswire/display/35618/index.php) comparing and contrasting Israeli society with apartheid South Africa, acknowledging a number of common features but cautioning against any over-simplified identification of the two cases when arguing for sanctions. She is not alone. Last year, Noam Chomsky concluded that the comparison had some validity but that sanctions were inappropriate (www.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Mursi Saad El-Din | Al-Ahram Weekly | 9-15 June 2005, Issue No. 746 Two weeks ago I wrote about the decision of the British Association of University Teachers (AUT) to boycott two Israeli universities, calling upon the Palestinians and the Arabs to react to that supportive decision. Whatever reaction there, however, was came from Israel and its supporters in Britain instead. Although the issue was addressed by the British press, no significant mention was made in the Arab media save for a trickle of isolated coverages, including my own.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Yehudith Harel | Chronicle of Higher Education | 17 June 2005 Many Israeli academics and their supporters welcomed the reversal of the AUT boycott. However, we are Israeli human-rights activists who want to express our disappointment and to reaffirm our support for a comprehensive boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions. We do so because, in Israel, "academic freedom," the main argument raised against the boycott, is being used to legitimize racism of the worst kind.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Electronic Intifada | June 13, 2005 NEW YORK - In recent weeks the Israeli government has announced plans to demolish 88 more Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem using Caterpillar bulldozers, as Israel continues to bulldoze Palestinian homes throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Simultaneously, Caterpillar executives will lead a June 14 workshop on Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility at a conference for international business leaders at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Health Sector Signatories, Occupied Palestine | Palestinian Committee for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel | May 2005 We, the undersigned, medical and health service providers and members of professional unions and research and training institutions working in the health sector in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, would like to register our protest and deep concern over the increasing pressure exerted upon us to enter into Palestinian-Israeli cooperation schemes in the sphere of health.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Gabi Baramki | Al-Ahram Weekly | 8 June 2005 On April 22, an important psychological barrier was shattered when the British Association of University Teachers (AUT) decided to boycott Haifa and Bar Ilan Universities because of their "complicity in the racist and colonial" policies of Israel. At its annual meeting, the AUT also voted to circulate the Call for Boycott issued by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) among all its branches.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Green-Rainbow Party of MA | 5 June 2005 Summary: In a historic event the Green-Rainbow party of MA, a party of 10,000 members with probably several hundred in Somerville, passed a comprehensive statement in support of Palestinian Human Rights. The resolution specifically calls for: a) Right of Return of Palestinians b) democratic government in all of historic Palestine with equal rights for all c) Declaration of Israel as an Apartheid State d) Full Sanctions on Israel (end of military and economic aid as well as divestments and boycotts) e) supporting the internationally recognized right to resist for Palestinians, and the rights of Palestinians to self-defense.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Malcolm Povey | Socialist Worker Online | 4 June 2005 Everyone, including the movers of the motions, was taken aback by the vote at April’s conference of the AUT lecturers’ union to boycott certain Israeli universities. The decision dramatically highlighted Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. That remains a gain, despite the boycott decision being overturned at a recalled conference last week. Although media coverage in Europe and the US was hostile to the boycott, the presumption behind the original vote, that Israel oppresses the Palestinians, went more or less unchallenged.