2016 began with a bang: French telecommunications giant Orange announced in early January it was dumping its Israel affiliate. Meanwhile, churches, student unions and local activists continued to organize strong boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns that caused panic among Israeli leaders.
What possessed me to travel 6,000 miles from L.A. and my family in order to brave the Mediterranean Sea in what is now beginning to look like the smallest vessel on the docks? Why join another effort to break the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza? I am here for the women-the extraordinary women of Gaza as well as the amazing women I'm proud to call my shipmates. I'm concerned about the war and blockade on the women, as schools, hospitals, and homes have been destroyed
Reader Comments: Lots of good stuff this week. What Does Black Lives Matter Want; Single-Payer Healthcare System Is Inevitable?; BLM and Palestine Solidarity; Oil Industry and Peak Oil; James Brown; Sex Workers?; and much more...
Announcements: Triangle Fire opera; Women 9/11 First Responders Panel Discussion; The Left-Wing of the Possible - How Can the Sanders' Phenomenon Transform American Politics; Protect Pacifica Archives; Labor, Islam, and War...
The defiant display of Palestinian flags in Glasgow last week by Scottish fans of the Celtic soccer team raised over $200,000 in donations online, all marked for two Palestinian charitable groups. Activist fans of Scotland's Celtics soccer team - the working-class, historically progressive community already facing punishment for flying Palestinian flags at a recent game against Israel to protest the Occupation - have launched the fundraiser.
Critics of solidarity between the Movements for Black Lives and the Palestinian struggle miss how concepts like apartheid are not meant to apply only when there is perfect equivalence between two situations. They also apply when the experiences of two oppressed groups share common features.
Solidarity grows.
Orlando Attack on LGBT, Puerto Rican and Latin communities; Thank You Bernie Sanders, Now, What Next?; Ending Mass Incarceration; Eliminating White Supremacy; Black-Palestinian Solidarity; U.S. Genocide Against Native Americans; Medicare for All; Demand Release of Homa Hoodfar; Victor Jara's Murderer to Face Charges; Bill Gates Gets Clucked in Bolivia;
Announcements: Whitney Retrospective of photographer Danny Lyon; Activism in New York - book talk.
This text describes the discourse on the Nakba - mostly the concept but also the historical event - in Israel. When did it appear? When did it decline and was repressed? What caused these changes? The attempt here is to describe historical moments, a periodization, from the founding of the state until today, in order to describe the relation to the term in each period and the changes it went through. Nakba Day - Solidarity actions across Ireland.
BDS news from Brazil and South Africa!
There are concerns that Israel will now exert pressure on other allies, including America, Canada and Britain, to use state machinery and legislation to outlaw the growing BDS movement. It is high time, therefore, to expose the French action for what it is in an effort to deter such moves. 'Libert,, ,galit,, fraternit,' are all well and good; but now we must add "hypocrisie" and France should hang its head in shame.
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