BDS Movement | SabrangIndia News Related to Human Rights Sat, 13 May 2017 05:30:53 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.2.2 https://sabrangindia.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Favicon_0.png BDS Movement | SabrangIndia 32 32 BDS movement calls for solidarity actions as Palestinian prisoners enter fourth week of hunger strike https://sabrangindia.in/bds-movement-calls-solidarity-actions-palestinian-prisoners-enter-fourth-week-hunger-strike/ Sat, 13 May 2017 05:30:53 +0000 http://localhost/sabrangv4/2017/05/13/bds-movement-calls-solidarity-actions-palestinian-prisoners-enter-fourth-week-hunger-strike/  BDS activists at the University of Manchester in the UK are planning a hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. (Photo: thetab.com)  Today, the mass hunger strike by Palestinians in Israeli prisons is in its critical fourth week, at which point the hundreds of hunger strikers may find standing up difficult or impossible.  Heeding the call […]

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BDS activists at the University of Manchester in the UK are planning a hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. (Photo: thetab.com) 

Today, the mass hunger strike by Palestinians in Israeli prisons is in its critical fourth week, at which point the hundreds of hunger strikers may find standing up difficult or impossible.  Heeding the call to action issued on May 6 by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement  leading this strike to end Israeli violations of Palestinian rights and to ensure dignity and humane conditions for political prisoners,  the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) calls:

  • For the Palestinian Authority to immediately end its so-called “security coordination” with the Israeli occupation forces. This collaboration is against the Palestinian consensus and in violation of a March 2015 decision by the PLO, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
  • For legal action against Israeli officials, including Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan and officials in the Israeli prison administration and intelligence agencies for their respective roles in the serious crimes committed against Palestinian prisoners, including torture. Since Israeli courts are failing to hold them accountable, foreign courts must uphold universal jurisdiction and ensure that gross human rights violators are not granted impunity.
  • For physicians worldwide to reject force-feeding as a form of torture and reject the credentials of any doctor who agrees to participate in this crime. There are reports that Israel plans to import foreign doctors to force-feed Palestinian prisoners, and these plans must be condemned and opposed.
  • For intensifying BDS campaigns to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people, including its cruel and inhumane treatment of Palestinian political prisoners. Hewlett-Packard (HP) and G4S in particular are companies that should face escalating boycotts for their complicity in Israel’s brutal system of incarceration and abuse of Palestinian political prisoners.

Support for the demands of the Palestinian prisoners’ mass hunger strike has spread through several Arab countries, especially Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Morocco, with a growing number of celebrities joining the #SaltWaterChallenge. Palestinian trade unions have also expressed their support, as have human rights defenders around the world.

The BNC is confident that this hunger strike demanding dignity and freedom will further nourish nonviolent popular resistance to Israeli injustice and advance the BDS movement’s aspirations for freedom, justice and equality.
 

This article was first published on mondoweiss.net.

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]]> 354 pro-Palestine human rights and church groups, trade union and political parties mount pressure on EU https://sabrangindia.in/354-pro-palestine-human-rights-and-church-groups-trade-union-and-political-parties-mount/ Fri, 20 May 2016 07:43:23 +0000 http://localhost/sabrangv4/2016/05/20/354-pro-palestine-human-rights-and-church-groups-trade-union-and-political-parties-mount/ European Parliament The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCPalestine) have issued a Press Release yesterday: More than 300 human rights and aid organisations, church groups, trade unions and political parties from across Europe have called on the EU to uphold its legal responsibilities and hold Israel accountable for its violations of international […]

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European Parliament

The European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCPalestine) have issued a Press Release yesterday:

More than 300 human rights and aid organisations, church groups, trade unions and political parties from across Europe have called on the EU to uphold its legal responsibilities and hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law and to defend the right of individuals and institutions to take part in the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for justice and equality.

Signatories to the letter called on the EU commission to “introduce the human rights guidelines guaranteeing freedom of speech and right to boycott and to use all other means you have in your disposal to support European citizens in their struggle to uphold basic human rights.”

Having failed to stop the growth of the BDS movement, Israel has launched an unprecedented attack against the BDS movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality.

The 354 strong list of signatories includes: Transform! Europe – a European network of 28 European organisations from 19 countries, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, The Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions, Parti de Gauche in France, Podemos in Spain, Norwegian Church Aid, the Flemish branch of Oxfam in Belgium, major Belgian NGO coalition CNCD 11.11.11, Defence for Children in Belgium, Greenpeace in Germany, the international catholic peace movement Pax Christi International in Belgium and major French Catholic NGO Terre Solidaire. See here for letter and full list of signatories.

At Israel’s request, European governments including the UK and France are introducing anti-democratic legislation and taking other repressive measures to undermine the BDS movement. In France, one activist was arrested simply for wearing a BDS t-shirt.

The EU envoy to Israel was criticised recently for participating in an anti-BDS conference in Jerusalem at which Israeli government ministers threatened BDS activists.

Israel has also imposed an effective travel ban on BDS movement co-founder Omar Barghouti, following thinly-veiled threats of physical violence against him by Israeli government ministers that prompted Amnesty International to express concern “for the safety and liberty of Palestinian human rights defender Omar Barghouti”.

Israeli state repression against human rights defenders and the BDS movement is designed to shield it from being held accountable for its violations of international law. Israel has openly boasted that it is spying on international BDS activists.

Riya Hassan, Europe Campaigns Officer for the Palestinian BDS National Committee, the broadest coalition of Palestinian organisations that leads and supports the BDS movement, said:

“Rather than helping Israel to repress the BDS movement, it is time for the EU to meet its obligations under international law and hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. The EU must uphold the right of European, Palestinian and Israeli citizens to uphold human rights and take part in the nonviolent BDS movement.”

Aneta Jerska, the coordinator of the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP), one of the organisations that has signed the statement, said:

“It is empowering to see so many European civil society organisations and representative bodies publicly declaring their support for the right to participate in the BDS movement that aims to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law and human rights.

“This is a powerful sign that European public opinion is increasingly viewing BDS as an act of free speech. We will continue to fight to bring an end to Israel’s unjust system of oppression over the Palestinian people.”
 

Republished with permission from Mondoweiss.

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