From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Omar Barghouti |Open Democracy | 21 September 2005 Israel’s breaches of human rights and international law give moral force to the argument for an international boycott, says Palestinian writer Omar Barghouti. Linda Grant’s rebuttal of Jacqueline Rose’s courageous support for boycotting Israel reduces boycott to little more than censorship. Shifting the debate from issues of accountability, moral responsibility and legality into clichéd personal stories – in a manner as whitewashing as her Guardian series about life in Israel – Grant avoids the fundamental issue evoked in the most recent calls for boycotting Israel: that Israel’s systematic violation of international law, its denial of Palestinian refugee rights, its continued occupation and colonisation of Palestinian land and its entrenched racist system against its own Palestinian citizens demand an effective response from concerned citizens of the world.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Amiram Barkat | Haaretz | 15 September 2005 Reverend William Somplatsky-Jarman combines a career as a senior clergyman with the management of an investment portfolio that comprises more than $7 billion. The portfolio belongs to the Presbyterian Church, one of the major Protestant churches in the United States, with a membership of 2.5 million Americans. Last August, Somplatsky-Jarman became the adversary of most major Jewish organizations in the U.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Toya Richards Hill | Presbyterian News Service | 5 August 2005 SEATTLE, WA — About 20 members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) came here this week to express support for the General Assembly’s decision to start a process of “phased selective divestment” from multinational corporations whose business practices contribute to violence in Israel and Palestine “I support the actions of the 216th General Assembly,” said Marilyn Gamblin, an elder at Marine View Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, WA.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) European Delegation | Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) | 28 August 2005 JERUSALEM. Between 22 and 28 August, a European Delegation of former ministers from The Netherlands, Ireland and Germany and a high-ranking former ambassador from France paid a fact finding visit to Israel and Palestine (i.e. Occupied Palestinian Territories). The Delegation also consisted of five civil society representatives from Europe. The Delegation was led by Prof.
Wendy Ake, Mohammed Abed | Left Turn (Notes from the Global Intifada) | 16 June 2005 I Introduction: Changing the Actors, Rewriting the Script Divestment and Boycott have recently been embraced by international civil society as a means to achieving a comprehensive and just settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The choice of divestment and boycott as strategies for positive social change has its basis in a number of interrelated considerations. First of all, precedents for successful campaigns exist, the most important being the drive to isolate and exclude apartheid era South Africa from the activities of international civil society.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Rosemary Bechler interviews Jacqueline Rose | Open Democracy | 18 August 2005 In “The Question of Zion”, Jacqueline Rose applies the insights of psychoanalysis to the inner world of Zionist doctrine and attitudes. openDemocracy’s Rosemary Bechler talks to her. Open Democracy: The Question of Zion is dedicated to the memory of Edward Said: its title a tribute to his 1979 work, The Question of Palestine.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Lawrence Davidson | PIWP database | 19 November 2006 This is the text of a talk delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) in Boston on November 19, 2006 Let me begin by stating that any successful academic boycott imposed upon Israeli institutions of higher education will assuredly have an impact on the academic freedom of Israeli scholars and teachers, at least in terms of its expression beyond their national borders.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) January 2007 Introduction The Boycott Israel Association (BIA) is made up of individuals from across Palestinian society and includes university academics, documentary film-makers, medical doctors and political activists from across the political spectrum. The Boycott Israel Association was formed in the Gaza Strip in late 2006 to spearhead activities in the Gaza Strip. It is not directly linked to any political organisation, but is instead, rooted in civil society.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Seth Gittel | The New York Sun | 20 November 2006 BOSTON — Two healthy Christmas trees dominated the lobby of the Copley Marriott Hotel. Snowflakes adorned the glass wall of the revolving door. Eleven oversize dreidels rested atop the doorway apparatus along with a menorah reading "Happy Chanukah." The décor in a major tourist hotel was representative of the now-compulsory and trivial nod to Judaism in America's secular and commercial culture.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Ilan Pappe | Irish Times | 3 October 2006 The idea of an overall academic boycott of Israel is not an attack on individuals and is most certainly justified, writes Ilan Pappe Guy Beiner (Opinion, September 27th) has asked us all to rethink the idea of an academic boycott of Israel. This is always a good idea, and as an Israeli academic who strongly supports the boycott, I find it useful to rethink such a drastic move against my state and my peers in local academia.