On the occasion of the eighth international Israeli Apartheid Week, the Global Justice Working Group is proud to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civil society, which has called upon “people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.”

These nonviolent punitive measures of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) are to be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by ending its occupation and dismantling the Wall; recognizing the fundamental rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and respecting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

As the Palestinian BDS National Committee recently wrote in its statement of solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, “Our aspirations overlap; our struggles converge.” The Global Justice Working Group joins with activists across the world committed to raising awareness of Israel’s violations of human rights and to linking our various struggles for justice. Toward that end, we offer this list of resources to learn both about Israel’s apartheid policies and practices and the growing global BDS movement that aims to hold Israel accountable.

PAST ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK-NYC PANELS (VIDEOS)

• IAW 2007: Saree Makdisi on “Israel and the Apartheid Analogy”(additional panelists include Bashir Abu-Manneh, Robert Robideau, and Yifat Susskind, with Sherene Seikaly moderating)
• IAW 2009: “The Art of Resistance: Culture and the Boycott of Israel”; panel with Ahdaf Soueif, Omar Barghouti, and Remi Kenazi, with Moustafa Bayoumi moderating
• IAW 2011: “How Now BDS: Media, Politics, and Queer Activism”; panel with Judith Butler and John Greyson, with Jasbir Puar moderating

RECOMMENDED READING

Articles and factsheets:

• Naomi Klein, “Israel: Boycott, Divest, Sanction,” 8 January 2009
• Omar Barghouti, “Our South Africa Moment Has Arrived,” 18 March 2009
• Palestinian BDS National Committee, “Occupy Wall Street, Not Palestine!” 14 October 2011
• Ali Abunimah, “Point Counterpoint: Aim to Promote Human Rights of the Palestinians,” 29 January 2012
• Israel and Apartheid FAQs, Institute for Middle East Understanding
• “Why Apartheid Applies to Israeli Policies” by the US Campaign to End the Occupation
• Factsheet on Discrimination against Palestinian Citizens of Israel, Institute for Middle East Understanding, 28 September 2011
• Factsheet on BDS, Institute for Middle East Understanding

Books:

BDS: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights by Omar Barghouti

Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner’s Guide by Ben White

TAKE ACTION: BDS CAMPAIGNS

BDS Movement (Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement)

http://www.bdsmovement.net/

This is the web site of the Palestinian Boycott National Committee. It serves as a central hub for the global Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement in support of Palestinian rights.

Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel

http://adalahny.org/

Adalah-NY is an all-volunteer, NYC-based group that supports the Palestinian call for BDS through targeted campaigns and education about the the growing boycott movement and Israel’s repression of Palestinian activists. In addition to cultural boycott initiatives, it runs campaigns against Israeli settlement builder Lev Leviev and U.S. pension giant TIAA-CREF (see below).

PACBI (Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel)

http://www.pacbi.org/

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel was launched in Ramallah in April 2004 by a group of Palestinian academics and intellectuals to join the growing international boycott movement.

Park Slope Food Coop Members for the Boycott of Israel

http://psfcbds.wordpress.com/

Members of Park Slope Food Coop (PSFC) who are working to pressure the Food Coop to join the BDS Movement and to deshelve Israeli goods.

Stolen Beauty Ahava Boycott Campaign

http://www.stolenbeauty.org/

This is an international boycott campaign against Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, an Israeli cosmetics company with its factory, visitors’ center and research center based in an illegal settlement in the Occupied West Bank.

USACBI (U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel)

http://www.usacbi.org/

Responding to the call of Palestinian civil society to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement against Israel, we are a U.S. campaign focused specifically on a boycott of Israeli academic and cultural institutions

U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation

http://www.endtheoccupation.org/

A national coalition of more than 380 groups, the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation works to end U.S. support for Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. The coalition supports the BDS Movement and a U.S. policy that upholds freedom, justice and equality.

We Divest (TIAA-CREF Campaign)

http://wedivest.org/ (national campaign web site)

http://adalahny.org/category/our-work/tiaa-cref (NYC)

TIAA-CREF is one of the largest financial services in the United States, considered to be one of the largest retirement systems in the world. This campaign aims to pressure TIAA-CREF to stop investing in companies that profit from the Israeli occupation and violations of Palestinian rights.