Our organizing is evolving! This month we have a packed newsletter. We begin this newsletter with news of an important development in our campaign: we are forming a coalition under the BACEIA name! Then, this month, we had a successful event with Dalit Baum representing the Israeli coalition behind the whoprofits.org website – a ground breaking source of information for BDS activists. Following the Gaza Freedom March in January to break the siege of Gaza, international delegates wrote and signed the “Cairo Declaration”, now BACEIA has signed on. Read below to find out why. The beginning of March is the internationally coordinated Israeli Apartheid Week… which is also the one year anniversary of the BACEIA campaign! More about this important week of action is below. Finally, bus stop advertisements highlighting BDS & U.S. coroporate involvement in Israeli apartheid were installed around the Bay Area. As a special item, we’ve included some pictures of these works of art to close off this month’s newsletter.

We hope to see you out at events and actions soon!

BACEIA

Read the full February E-Newsletter here >>>

Cal Students for Justice in Palestine: Third Annual (ANTI) ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK
March 1st-8th 2010

Monday, March 1st:
INTRO TO APARTHEID
Speakers: Joanna Manqueros, activist against South African apartheid and Doctor Hatem Bazian, UC Berkeley Middle Eastern Studies Department
Location: Room 105, Boalt Hall School of Law – Bancroft between College & Piedmont
Time: 7 pm

Tuesday, March 2nd:
TO SHOOT AN ELEPHANT – film screening
Location: Room 2060, Valley Life Sciences Building
Time: 7 pm

Wednesday, March 3rd:
DEBATING BOYCOTT DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS
Speakers: Omar Barghouti, Co-founder of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Location: Room 105, Boalt Hall School of Law – Bancroft between College & Piedmont
Time: 6:30 pm

Thursday, March 4th:
STRIKE
Join the massive statewide Strike and Day of Action in Defense of Public Education.
Strike agenda:
7am -12pm: Massive Picket Lines @ North Entrance, Sather Gate, Oxford & Center and California Hall
12pm: Rally @ Bancroft & Telegraph and March to Downtown Oakland for the Rally

Friday, March 5th:
CULTURAL CELEBRATION / FUNDRAISER
Arabic music ensemble directed by Elias Lammam
Poetry by Mahaliyah Ayla O, Dina Omar and Hadeel Ramadan
Middle Eastern food from local restaurants and cafes such as Sunrise Deli and Fertile Grounds
Debke (Traditional Palestinian Dance) by Al-Jathoor
Speaker: Ziad Abbas of Ibda’ Cultural Center and the Middle East Children’s Alliance
Proceeds will go to the Middle East Children’s Alliance “Maia” project for Gaza.
Location: MLK Multi-Cultural Center, Inside the ASUC building
Time: 7 pm

Monday, March 8th:
PALESTINIAN NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE & INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
Speakers: Lubna Masarwa, Alternative Information Center coordinator and Al-Quds University community organizer, Jerusalem
Other speakers: TBA
Location: Room 105, Boalt Hall School f Law – Bancroft between College & Piedmont
Time: 6:30 pm
* co-sponsored by: Law Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace

There will also be DIRECT ACTIONS and DEMONSTRATIONS on Sproul throughout the week between 10 am and 2 pm.

for more information about IAW, please visit apartheidweek. org
for more information about SJP, please visit calsjp.org
Contact SJP at admin@calsjp. org or on our facebook group: Students for Justice in Palestine

See the full post on Indybay >>>

On a normal Thursday evening, a group of protesters transformed San Francisco’s busiest shopping district into a scene which reflected the realities of Palestinian life in Hebron in the West Bank.

shuhada_sf1.jpg

We closed a major street running through the financial heart of our
city, to call attention to Israeli road closures and restrictions of
movement that are imposed every day on Palestinians in Hebron.

The blocking of major thoroughfares in the city culminated in nine
arrests, after protesters holding a banner that read “Israeli
Apartheid closes streets” closed off Powell Street and refused police
orders to disperse, while a crowd of hundreds looked on chanting and
cheering.

The People of Colour Action Theatre group re-enacted apartheid
separation under Israeli occupation, and disrupted business in front
of flagship stores which profit from the Israeli occupation.

Handing out Palestinian and Israeli “identification documents”, actors
playing Israeli soldiers in uniform forced “Palestinians” and
“Israelis” to walk on separate sides of the barrier; often roughing up
and harassing those playing Palestinians.

Unsuspecting passers-by were incorporated into the theatre performance
and forced to walk on one side or the other.

See the full post on Indybay >>>

Meanwhile, in Hebron, Palestinians are protesting Israel’s new “Heritage Plan” where they have laid out a plan to appropriate holy sites in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories as “Israeli Heritage”. Palestinians in Hebron, where sensitive sites have been named for appropriation by Israel, have protests have been on-going for 5 days.

See this news coverage >>>

Hewlett Packard (HP) owns EDS Israel which sells the Basel System to the Israeli government.  The Basel System biometrically controls the movement of Palestinian people at checkpoints in the West Bank and Gaza.  These checkpoints prevent students from getting to school, workers from making a living, and families from meeting and accessing medical care.
Hewlett Packard profits from Israeli Occupation and Apartheid, both of which are illegal under international law.
When you buy a computer or printer, choose a brand that Does Not Buy Into Apartheid and let
HP know you did!  Mark Hurd, CEO:  650.857.1501

Proctor and Gamble

Proctor and Gamble uses materials made in illegal West Bank settlements by Avgol Industries an Israeli company.  And, UNICEF partner with Pampers to fund it’s programs.
Let Proctor & Gamble know you don’t buy into Apartheid and they should not either.
P&G:  http://pg.custhelp.com

7 Eleven

What do Slurpees have to do with war crimes?!

The Alon Group is an Israeli company with a monopoly on the gas supply to Gaza.  They
switch it off at will depriving the population of essential services.  This is collective
punishment.  This is a war crime.  Alon USA owns 170 7 Eleven stores in the U.S..
Let 7 Eleven know you don’t buy into Apartheid and they should not either.
7 Eleven:  800.255.0711

Fueling Israeli Apartheid:
Corporate Profits and Accountability
a conversation with Dalit Baum of WhoProfits.org

Tuesday, February 16 • 7pm
El Centro Del Pueblo Auditorium
474 Valencia at 16th St., San Francisco
Donations requested at the door

Israeli and international corporations are directly involved in apartheid and occupation: in the construction of Israeli colonies and infrastructure in the occupied territories, in the settlements’ economy, in building walls and checkpoints, in the supply of specific equipment used in the control and repression of civilian populations. In 2007, the Coalition of Women for Peace initiated Who Profits from the Occupation, a unique on-line resource with research on hundreds of companies directly involved in the occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, a major component of Israel’s apartheid structure, exposing many of the companies for the first time.

Dalit Baum, PhD, teaches Gender and the Global Economy at the Haifa university and Beit Berl College in Israel.

Organized by BACEIA, a coalition of: Break the Siege, the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network (Bay Area), Global Women’s Strike, and Queers Undermining Israeli Terror.  Co-sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee – Pacific Mountain Region.

Download and print the complete flyer!

Address by COSATU President, Sidumo Dlamini, to the Gaza Report-back Rally in Lenasia
(via MECA)

Here’s an excerpt from an address given by the president of South Africa’s largest trade union federation, COSATU:

COSATU has, on several occasions, been asked by opportunists why is it interested in a matter so far away from our land. The answer is simple, solidarity knows no boundaries or even geography, its about living people and their plight.

Our destiny is tied to theirs, our liberation is tied to theirs, our humanity is tied to theirs. Therefore, no worthy human being would tolerate the suffering and pain of others, wherever they are, worst still, those of us who have fought heroic struggles against apartheid, colonialism and occupation immediately feel it however far. We received solidarity from people we have never seen and were far away from Africa, let alone our country. They heard and responded to our cries. They did not ask how far are we from them. They asked what can we do to assist and they assisted, hence we are free.

And more inspiring words:

We are here to affirm the correctness of our legend, Nelson Mandela’s words, “…our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”. On our part, we do not promise to do everything, but our most humble, yet effective contribution which we have no doubt shall make a decisive difference. Each one of us must do our part and together we shall conquer.

Read the complete address here.

Yesterday we reported that Dankse Bank has decided to exclude Elbit Systems and Africa Israel from its investment portfolio due to the companies’ involvement in the Israeli occupation.

Now there’s more good news–one of the largest Danish pension funds has divested from Elbit as well as two U.S. companies that are involved with Israel’s Apartheid Wall. Note that Elbit also has half of the contract on the Wall being built by the United States government on the Mexico border.

Read the entire press release from Stop The Wall on the US Campaign’s blog!

We hope you all had a restful and enjoyable holiday season and that 2010 is treating you well thus far.

Below are several important events we hope you will attend. The first is a Commemoration of last year’s devastating massacre in Gaza and the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine.  Second, we encourage everyone to attend the Middle East Children’s Alliance event with Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada, author and activist. Abunimah has recently returned from Cairo, where he gathered along with 1,400 other activists for the Gaza Freedom March.

Finally, we have an update on the Palestinian political prisoners mentioned in last month’s newsletter.  Fortunately the two activists from the Stop the Wall Campaign have been released.  However, Bil’in resident and activist, Abdullah Abu Rahmeh remains in detention facing charges, and waves of new arrests in Bil’in and elsewhere have taken place.  Please take action for the release of Abu Rahmeh and the latest victims of Israel’s repressive tactics!

And, don’t forget to take a look at our website — we update our blog regularly with news and analysis related to the BDS movement, as well as local event announcements, and updates from other movements for justice.  Have something you want to share?  Email us at webmaster@baceia.org.

Towards a just and peaceful New Year,

BACEIA

Read the entire newsletter >>

Olmert was mistaken in one respect, for he said Israel would turn into an apartheid state when the Arab population in Greater Israel outnumbers the Jewish population. But the relative size of the populations is not the decisive factor in such a transition. Rather, the turning point comes when a state denies national self-determination to a part of its population–even one that is in the minority–to which it has also denied the rights of citizenship.

When a state’s denial of the individual and national rights of a large part of its population becomes permanent, it ceases to be a democracy. When the reason for that double disenfranchisement is that population’s ethnic and religious identity, the state is practicing a form of apartheid, or racism, not much different from the one that characterized South Africa from 1948 to 1994. The democratic dispensation that Israel provides for its mostly Jewish citizens cannot hide its changed character. By definition, democracy reserved for privileged citizens–while all others are kept behind checkpoints, barbed-wire fences and separation walls commanded by the Israeli army–is not democracy but its opposite.

Read more about their exciting work here!