Last month, forty Palestinian filmmakers and cultural workers signed a letter addressed to Ms. Catherine Colomb-Nancy at the Europeaid Office in Brussels regarding their concerns about the Euromed Audiovisual II Project and suggested a meeting in which they could exchange views about the proposal. The letter was sent via fax, email and a hard copy via regular mail. Alarmingly, no one from Euromed responded to the letter, let alone even acknowledged it. The major concerns outlined in the letter were twofold:
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The Palestinian Call for Academic Boycott Revised: Adjusting the Parameters of the Debate
The PACBI Call, which was the basis for the academic boycott briefly adopted by the British Association of University Teachers (AUT) in April 2005, urged academics, intellectuals and artists around the world to “comprehensively and consistently boycott all Israeli academic and cultural institutions as a contribution to the struggle to end Israel’s occupation, colonization and system of apartheid.” PACBI proposed a number of measures to realize this Call, including the rejection of all forms of cooperation with Israeli institutions; suspension of funding and subsidies to these institutions;
Catherine COLOMB-NANCY Europeaid Office de Cooopération A Rue de la Loi, 200 B-1049 Bruxelles Belgique [email]catherine.colomb-nancy@cec.eu.int[/email] Dear Ms. Catherine Colomb-Nancy,
The Palestinian medical and health service providers who signed the Open Letter did not call for an outright ban on Palestinian-sraeli cooperation in the health sector, but rather deplored the fact that some international donors have increasingly made Palestinian-Israeli cooperation projects a condition for the provision of support to the Palestinian health sector.
Palestinian Civil Society Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights
BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, AND SANCTIONS (BDS) FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Palestinian Civil Society Calls for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel Until it Complies with International Law and Universal Principles of Human Rights 9 July 2005
Un an après que l'avis consultatif historique de la Cour Internationale de Justice (CIJ) qui a jugé illégal le mur qu'Israel construit sur le territoire palestinien occupé, Israel continue sa construction du mur colonial au mépris total de la décision de la Cour. Après trente huit ans d'occupation par Israel de la Cisjordanie palestinienne (y compris Jérusalem-Est), de la Bande de Gaza et des Hauteurs du Golan syriens, Israel continue à accroître les colonies juives.
We strongly urge you to extrapolate your Call to reach the logical next step: Calling upon Israeli academics to conscientiously object to service in the occupation army. As you know, most Israeli academics do serve in the reserve forces, thereby witnessing in silence or directly participating in Israel's crimes against the civilian Palestinian population. The collusion of Israel's academic institutions in the violation of international law and basic human rights
Durante años, académicos israelíes han servido en el ejército de ocupación, participando o al menos siendo testigo de los cotidianos crímenes cometidos sobre la población civil palestina. Apenas han denunciado públicamente la ocupación de Israel, ni su sistema de discriminación contra sus propios ciudadanos palestinos, ni su imperturbable rechazo al derecho internacionalmente reconocido de los palestinos para volver a sus hogares y propiedades. Todo esto constituye un hecho de complicidad.
Boycotting Israeli institutions due to their complicity in Israel’s racist and colonial policies against the Palestinians remains formidably on the agenda. We may not get tangible results this year, but the prospects for success next year or the following one are much greater now. Many more years separated the ANC’s call for boycott of apartheid -- issued in 1956 -- and the actual implementation of meaningful sanctions. What matters most is that the taboo has indeed been shattered.