Among the speakers at the seminar entitled “Boycott of Israel - how and why?” are the former leader of the Norwegian Peoples Aid, Finn Erik Thoresen, who was also active in the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa, as well as Olav Terje Bergo, who is the editor of Bergensavisen, a local newspaper , that has in the past called for sanctions against Israel.

by Giovanni Legorano 19 September 2008>br />
Global Pensions

Abdullah Omar & TML Staff, The Media Line: [Amman] A hero’s welcome for four Jordanian prisoners released from Israeli custody, where they were serving life sentences for killing Israelis, highlights the wide gap between Jordan and Israel, which signed a peace treaty in 1994.
 

The Canadian Jewish News: The Canada Council of Carpenters last week unanimously endorsed an “historic” resolution that rejected descriptions of Israel as an apartheid state while calling for an end to threats of boycott and divestment.

The union, which represents 60,000 workers nationwide, also explicitly criticized other labour organizations that have attempted “to undermine the legitimacy of Israel’s democracy.”

The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) calls on Telkom South Africa not to enter into a deal with Amdocs Ltd. that would outsource billing functionality to the latter. The deal would create economic support for Israeli apartheid and occupation, endanger the privacy of Telkoms´s clients, possibly pose a risk for national security and is likely to be the outcome of favouritism within Telkom.

While having accepted the invitation to attend the festival, Banks realized that his presence would be an endorsement of Israel's racist policies that he had been an outspoken critic of in the past. An open letter to Banks from the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP) stated: “In March 2002 you were in Gaza City with the International Parliament of Writers, of which you were then president. You are reported to have told the Palestinians, 'You are not alone'.

In an open letter penned by Omar Barghouti and Dr. Haidar Eid, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) strongly criticized South African author Nadine Gordimer for ignoring calls to boycott the Israeli-hosted International Writers' Festival.