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Posts from the ‘Politics’ Category

Jul 21

Demonstration in solidarity with Gaza Sat 19th July

A few pictures from the demonstration in London on Saturday. It was great to see such a large turnout, and helped restore a little bit of my faith in humanity. Thousands of people showed up as we marched 3 miles from Whitehall, outside 10 Downing Street, to the Israeli embassy. I was also pleased to see that the heat combined with the fact that many of the Muslims in this demonstration were fasting was not enough to hold back the outrage that led us to this demonstration.

This is not the first attack by Israel, nor will it be the last. It is important to continue boycotting goods that profit Israel, it is important not to forget the Palestinians once this stops trending on social media. Free Palestine!

Jan 13

Dutch pension giant PGGM divests from 5 Israeli banks

Dutch pension fund asset manager PGGM has stopped investing in five Israeli banks that are financing construction of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. These settlements are deemed illegal under international law. As always, it’s good to see more organisations taking steps to put pressure on Israel through BDS.

Read their announcement below:

PGGM – Statement regarding exclusion of Israeli banks
PGGM recently decided to no longer invest in five Israeli banks, namely Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, First International Bank of Israel, Israel Discount Bank and Mizrahi Tefahot Bank. For several years PGGM has been in dialogue with these banks. The reason for this engagement was their involvement in financing Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. This was a concern, as the settlements in the Palestinian territories are considered illegal under international humanitarian law. Moreover, international observers have indicated that the settlements constitute an important obstacle to a peaceful (two-state) solution of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

In 2004 the International Court of Justice concluded in an Advisory Opinion that the settlements in the Palestinian territories are in breach of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Population in Time of War. This article prohibits an occupying power to transfer its own citizens to occupied territory. International bodies, including the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council have adopted various broadly supported resolutions, which state that the settlements are considered illegal. Israel disputes this interpretation of the applicability of international law.

In line with the Responsible Investment policy a dialogue has taken place with the before mentioned banks. Engagement is an important tool to allow PGGM to act as a responsible owner on behalf of its clients. The dialogue showed however that, given the day-to-day reality and domestic legal framework they operate in, the banks have limited to no possibilities to end their involvement in the financing of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Therefore, it was concluded that engagement as a tool to bring about change will not be effective in this case. As concerns remain and changes are not expected in the foreseeable future, PGGM no longer invests in the companies concerned as of January 1st 2014.

PGGM continues its dialogue with a small number of other companies on the same issue and will report on progress through its regular reporting.

Source: https://www.pggm.nl/english/who-we-are/press/Pages/Statement-regarding-exclusion-of-Israeli-banks.aspx

PDF File of statement: Statement PGGM exclusion Israeli banks

 

Jun 18

Breaking the Silence

The Independent published an article by Gil Hilel, an IDF soldier who served in a Sahlav unit at Hebron in 2001-2003, who has decided to speak out about her experiences as an IDF soldier.

It led me to discover a very interesting organisation, Breaking the Silence. They are an organisation composed of veteran IDF soldiers who collect testimonies from soldiers about their past service in the occupied Palestinian territories. There are some shocking stories on here, and some stories which confirm information which most of us who choose not to get blinded by corporate controlled media are already aware of. I strongly recommend browsing through it.

Here is a video of Gil Hilel speaking for Breaking the Silence.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyfkz8TcRCs

You can read the full article after the jump, or by visiting the article on The Independent linked above.

Read more

Aug 9

1 Comment

Gaza Blackouts

There are reports, coming in both on Twitter and via Maan, a Palestinian news outlet, that all communications have been cut in Gaza.

Initial reports suggest that Israeli bulldozers had caused the communications network to go down at the Gaza Strip after cutting the line connecting area of Nahal Oz. International and local telecommunications, internet and mobile telecommunications are reported to be down, as a result cutting off all communication into Gaza.

This is confirmed by reports on twitter #GazaBlackout.

It is yet unknown whether this is intentional or accidental, however it is important ensure media attention is received as all eyes are on the UK riots and last thing we want is the people of Gaza who are under their 1518th day of siege to go unnoticed.

EDIT:

UPDATE: Maan English Report

UPDATE: Further reports on twitter #GazaBlackout suggesting that calls to landlines within Gaza are working, just nothing international.

Jul 24

Ramadan 2011 – Boycott Israeli Dates

Ramadan is just around the corner and dates from illegally occupied lands will hit our supermarkets and independent retailers once again. It is up to us to boycott these dates and ensure that Supermarkets and retailers realise that there is no profit in these dates.

Ramadhan is a time of year when we remember those who are less fortunate than ourselves. When we break our fasts with dates, it would be an affront to us all if the dates were the produce of illegal Israeli settlements built on land stolen from Palestinians.

Israeli produced Medjoul dates are grown in the Jordan Valley within illegal Israeli settlements. They form a large part of the agricultural produce from these settlements which are then exported all over the world. Buying these dates means that you are actually helping Israeli settlers steal Palestinian land.
Israelis claim Palestinians are given jobs working on the land of these settlers and a boycott will harm them. In actual fact, these Palestinians are employed for paltry wages, to do the back-breaking work that the Israeli settlers will not do themselves.

Settlers exploit Palestinian children, who are forced to miss out on their education and work long hours under the hot baking sun for small sums of money. The price of settlement produced dates are cheaper compared to those produced by Palestinian farmers as a result.

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