World demands - Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Spring 2012 BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, SANCTIONSpalestine NEWS 23Co-op expands boycottIn a terrific BDS milestone, the Co-opdecided in April to expand its boycott ofgoods produced in Israeli settlements intoa complete boycott of all Israeli companiesthat source any goods in settlements.The Co-op, which is owned by its sixmillion members, is the UK’s fifth biggestfood retailer with 4,800 stores across theUK, more than 106,000 employees andan annual turnover of £13 billion. Thedecision made it the first major Europeansupermarket group to end trade withcompanies that export produce from theillegal settlements.The announcement came just before thecompany’s regional AGMs, many of whichwere due to discuss motions on the issue.Many Co-op members had spent monthsvoicing their concerns about trade withcomplicit companies through co-ordinatedletter-writing and discussions with localoffices.The move will have an immediate impacton four suppliers: Agrexco, Arava ExportGrowers, Adafresh and Mehadrin, Israel’slargest agricultural export company. Aspokesperson from the Palestinian Union ofAgricultural Work Committees said: “Tradewith such companies constitutes a majorform of support for Israel’s apartheid regimeover the Palestinian people, so we warmlywelcome this principled decision by the Co-Operative.”Cultural boycott and protestsThe Irish band Dervish, which performed atthe 2007 Eurovision Song Contest, pulledout of a series of Irish music concerts inIsrael in June, so as not to violate callsfor the cultural boycott. American rockmusician, Cat Power, also cancelled hershow in Tel Aviv.Meanwhile, the Batsheva DanceCompany, identified by the Israeli Ministryof Foreign Affairs as “the best knownglobal ambassador of Israeli culture,” facedprotests throughout its recent US tour.Churches heed the callThe General Conference of the UnitedMethodist Church in the US called for aboycott of all Israeli companies “operatingin the occupied Palestinian territories” –which means the great majority of Israelicorporations.Meeting in Tampa, Florida, theConference also gave overwhelming supportto the “Kairos Palestine” document and itscall “for an end to military occupation andhuman rights violations through nonviolentactions” which include BDS.Also in the US, the PresbyterianChurch’s full General Assembly MissionCouncil voted in February to approvea recommendation from its MissionResponsibility Through Investment (MRTI)committee to divest from its holdings inCaterpillar, Hewlett-Packard and MotorolaSolutions. All three sell equipment,technology and communication systems tothe Israeli military.Israeli soldiers would not let her pass. Winning books in a writingcompetition and having to wait two years to come to Britain toget them because the Israelis didn’t allow them into Gaza. Gazanstudents here in England speaking of the heaven of libraries andbookshops and receiving post through the letterbox - somethingnever experienced before.“Mothers using the same water over and over, to wash childrenand clothes and then finally to flush toilets. Showers timed tothe minute and the contrast with the water-indulgence in illegalsettlement flower beds. Blogging because the internet has noborders, no soldiers, no apartheid wall.”Singing protestProtesters fromCambridge held a“sing-in” outside achurch in March tourge choir membersto pull out of aconcert tour ofIsrael with the IsraelCamerata and theAcademy of EnglishVoices.To the tune of Bach’s “O sacred head now wounded,” the singersperformed the words:“Oh land so pained, insulted, by masters of ZionOh land of fruit, of olives and water now shornOh land of blood and partings, you soon will be restoredFor Palestine’s stolen soil will shed its crown of thorns.”Several branches, including Liverpool, marked PalestinianPrisoners Day by holding protests about the hunger strikers. InGlasgow members marched through the city centre and occupiedthe BBC Scotland Headquarters demanding media coverage of thehunger strike.Actions against council contracts being awarded to Veolia havebeen continuing all over the country, including in Bristol wheremembers dressed up as animals to protest against the company’ssponsorship of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. Otherbranches which keep beavering away include Faversham andWhitstable, Lambeth and Wandsworth, Leeds, West Midlands,Richmond and Kingston, Cambridge, Manchester, Aberystwyth,Brent and Harrow, West London and Merton.