From Indymedia

Human rights activists from Vermont, New York and Israel interrupted a performance of the Israel Ballet at the Flynn Theater in Burlington, VT calling attention to the dance company’s complicity in Israeli war crimes.

Using two banners that read “No Tutu is Big Enough to Cover Up War Crimes” and “Sponsored by Apartheid Israel”, the activists, who had purchased tickets to the show, positioned themselves in front of the stage during the opening scenes of the performance. Two audience members attempted to pull the banners down but the activists managed to hold onto them for about 30 seconds before being asked to leave by ushers.

Former Israeli soldier and human rights activist Yonatan Shapira, who took part in the … Continue reading

From The Nation

By Naomi Klein

When I heard the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was holding a celebratory “spotlight” on Tel Aviv, I felt ashamed of Toronto, the city where I live. I thought immediately of Mona Al Shawa, a Palestinian women’s rights activist I met on a recent trip to Gaza. “We had more hope during the attacks,” she told me. “At least then we believed things would change.

Al Shawa explained that while Israeli bombs rained down last December and January, Gazans were glued to their TVs. What they saw, in addition to the carnage, was a world rising up in outrage: global protests, as many as 100,000 on the streets of London, a group of Jewish women in … Continue reading

On Haaretz.com

By Anat Matar

Several days ago Dr. Neve Gordon of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev published an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times. In that article he explained why, after years of activity in the peace camp here, he has decided to pin his hopes on applying external pressure on Israel – including sanctions, divestment and an economic, cultural and academic boycott.

He believes, and so do I, that only when the Israeli society’s well-heeled strata pay a real price for the continuous occupation will they finally take genuine steps to put an end to it.

Gordon looks at the Israeli society and sees an apartheid state. While the Palestinians’ living conditions deteriorate, many Israelis are benefiting from the occupation. … Continue reading

Students involved in the occupation of the student center at New York University have an online petition you can sign to support their movement. After 2 days of occupation, with a support demonstration of over 1000 participants, New York Police officers and campus security violently disrupted the sit-in and support demonstrations. Several students have been suspended and are facing expulsion from housing because of their participation. The petition can be sign at:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/4/we-support-the-kimmel-occupation

Additionally, CUPE, a Canadian union that was one of the pioneers of the BDS campaign, is also calling for support on behalf of students at Canadian universities that have been facing repression for their support of Palestinian rights.

Here is the meesage from them:

CUPE … Continue reading

This past week a group of 80 students occupied the student center of New York University with a list of demands all geared towards greater democracy, transparency, and equality on their campus. Among their demands was full disclosure of NYU’s investment portfolio and divestment from companies that profit off of war. There was also a more general call for a statement in solidarity with Palestine. This comes the same month that the first American college, Hampshire College in Massachusetts, agreed to divest from Israel. Hampshire College was also the first school in the United States to divest from South Africa during the Apartheid regime. It is hoped that these actions will spread throughout the United … Continue reading