From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) James Haywood | justanotheractivist.wordpress.com Why has the BBC aired every DEC charity appeal except one – the Palestinian one (in 2009)? Why did the BBC recently beep the word ‘Palestine’ out of an MC’s song on the radio show 1Extra, as if it were a swear word? The week just gone has been an excellent one for student activism for Palestine in the UK. The NUS executive council finally adopted a policy that clearly defended Palestinian human rights, and pledged to send NUS officers on future flotillas sailing to Gaza.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Media Monitors Network | 17 March 2009 Ronnie Kasrils fought for decades against apartheid in his South African homeland, and with victory served in the governments of Nelson Mandela, and later Thabo Mbeki. He is featured on Media Monitors Network (MMN) with the courtesy of the Media Review Network (MRN), which is an advocacy group based in Pretoria, South Africa. At the onset of international “Israel Apartheid Week” in solidarity with the embattled Palestinian people, I want to start by quoting a South African who emphatically stated as far back as 1963 that “Israel is an apartheid state.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Josh Reubner | IMEU | 8 Jan 2008 Today, two movements for the promotion of human rights in Sudan and Palestine seek to emulate the successful role played by boycotts, divestment, and sanctions in achieving democracy and equality in South Africa. The two movements, however, have received radically different receptions on Capitol Hill. This double standard testifies to official Washington's selectivity when it comes to promoting human rights around the globe and its tendency to overlook the faults of its allies while using human rights as a pretext to punish its adversaries.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Sharif Elmusa | Al-Ahram Weekly | 27 September 2007 The Israeli lobby has enlisted US university presidents to its cause with no debate on US university campuses, writes Sharif Elmusa* The Israeli emperor now wears only the clothes of apartheid. Many people are noticing and are speaking up. Some have taken steps to boycott this, perhaps the last, apartheid state. The wave includes a wide range of participants, from academic and labour unions to writers, artists, church and student groups and others.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Emma Clancy |International News, Green Left Weekly issue #719 | 27 July 2007 The campaign to isolate Israel through boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) has taken meaningful steps forward in the past few months, with major trade unions in Britain, Ireland, South Africa and Canada declaring their support for an international boycott. The BDS campaign has been gathering momentum since the 2004 "
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) George Bisharat | San Francisco Chronicle | 15 August 2007 That question is raised by an expanding academic, cultural and economic boycott of Israel. The movement joins churches, unions, professional societies and other groups based in the United States, Canada, Europe and South Africa. It has elicited dramatic reactions from Israel's supporters. U.S. labor leaders have condemned British unions, representing millions of workers, for supporting the Israel boycott.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Margaret Aziza Pappano | Electronic Intifada | 25 July 2007 In the last few weeks, university presidents across the US and Canada have rushed to issue statements about the proposed boycott of Israeli academic institutions by the British University and College Union. They view this boycott as a serious violation of academic freedom. Yet, given the general failure of these leaders to comment on any number of infringements of academic freedom that have occurred in recent years, including those close to home in the form of the politically-motivated denial of tenure to Norman Finkelstein and the colleague, Mehrene Larudee, who very publicly supported him, the harassment of Columbia University professors Joseph Massad and Rashid Khalidi, and the intimidation of faculty by Campuswatch, one might be excused for concluding that university presidents prefer to remain above the political fray and reserve their office for grave and important but non-controversial pronouncements on tsunamis.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Colin Green | The Guardian | 11 June 2007 Just as I campaigned for boycotts against apartheid in South Africa many years ago, now I shall do so against Israeli apartheid, says Colin Green The strong and hostile response from pro-Israeli groups, as well as the UK government fearful of offending Israel, to a recent motion carried by a two thirds majority at the University and College Union (UCU) congress is in marked contrast to the joyful response of Palestinians, which has been almost totally supportive.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Melanie Newman and Nathan Jeffay | Times Higher Education Supplement | 8 June 2007 The UCU vote for a possible boycott of Israel divides academe. Melanie Newman and Nathan Jeffay report. Concerns are growing at home and abroad that supporters of a boycott have let the genie out of the bottle. It is feared that their actions may inflict lasting damage on the UK's reputation for academic freedom and fair play while failing to achieve the primary objective, namely securing a boycott against Israeli academe.
From the www.monabaker.com archive (legacy material) Schmuel Rosner | Haaretz | 8 June 2007 The British boycott exposed yet again the extent to which Israel depends on the help of the American Jewish community. But if American Jews react, what will the Brits say? How to react to the so-called British boycott against Israel? This is a question asked by many players in the Jewish world after the University and College Union, Britain's largest teachers union, voted to consider an academic boycott of Israeli universities.