Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement

Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement

Veolia is a key target of the call of Palestinian civil society for an international Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions campaign in support of Palestinian rights. French multinational Veolia directly supports and profits from Israel's illegal occupation through (I) its construction and management of the Jerusalem Light Rail project, (ii) the operation of apartheid buses serving illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and (iii) the dumping of waste from Israel and illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land.

As a result of successful and concerted action by human rights campaigners, both in the UK and throughout the world, Veolia lost billions of Pounds worth of business.

OUTSIDE THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

Saturday December 17th was one of the coldest days in London. However, that did not deter seventeen human rights campaigners who turned out to raise awareness of Veolia's activities with visitors to the Natural History Museum's Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition whose corporate sponsor is Veolia. Campaigners used specially designed flyers and postcards summarising Veolia's complicity in supporting Israel's grave breaches of international and humanitarian law, denying justice, equality and freedom to the Palestinian people.

Human rights campaigners have been at the Natural History Museum (NHM) every two weeks since the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition opened in November and have distributed thousands of postcards and flyers about Veolia to the visitors and tourists who throng to this area of London known as 'Museum Row.'

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Read more: BDS Campaign: Christmas Carols At Veolia Protest

Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement

Students at York University have rejected the chance to link their union with Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

A referendum was initiated by politics student Jacob Campbell, who said he wanted to stand up for Israel and curb anti-Israel and antisemitic activity on British campuses.

York University Students' Union members were asked to vote in favour of working to "build links with students at the Hebrew University" and to encourage York University itself to twin with the Israeli institution.
But the referendum was defeated by 891 votes to 144, with 127 abstentions.

Mr Campbell said: "Israel advocacy is always an uphill battle, especially on British campuses. The fact that this motion was defeated demonstrates exactly why it was so necessary."

Source: The JC.com

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Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement

Sources in Israel have expressed deep concern about the possibility of Tunisia adopting what is being called the "Opposition to Zionism and Boycott of Israel" law. According to the Hebrew language media, the political community in Tel Aviv is taking this seriously as the proposed law is being supported by the two largest political parties in the country, Al-Nahda and Democratic Rally.

In one newspaper, a senior Israeli official is quoted saying, "The adoption of a boycott law in a moderate country such as Tunisia, which is not involved in any conflict with Israel, will also hurt the security of Tunisian Jews." The Israeli Foreign Ministry warned of the spread of what it called an "infection of hostility towards Israel" in the Middle East, and said that such a law "would put the stability of the entire region at risk".

The Foreign Ministry spokesperson pointed out that it is about to issue a number of recommendations to put pressure on Tunisia in an attempt to block the proposed boycott law. "If the law is approved, it would have negative implications for Israel's relations with other countries in the Middle East," claims the Ministry.

Such recommendations include asking Western countries to use their influence on Tunisia through the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Organisation of the Mediterranean.

Source: MEMO

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Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement

A collaboration between King's College London (KCL) and an Israeli company located in an illegal West Bank settlement has been condemned by the UK's National Union of Students (NUS), in a significant boost for campaigners.

In a meeting Monday night of the NUS' National Executive Council (NEC), a motion demanding the "immediate end" of KCL's research project with Ahava was passed with no votes against.

The NEC motion, noting the "overwhelming" international position on the illegality of Israeli settlements, states that "by collaborating with Ahava, King's itself has become complicit with violations of international law". As a result, NEC resolved:

• To condemn the collaboration between King's College London and Ahava in the research project, and demand the immediate end of the university's involvement in the project, and the rejection of the financial grant King's has received for its participation.
• To strongly urge King's College London to re-evaluate its commitments to ethical research, and establish a formal ethical research policy, to prevent a similar situation from arising in the future that compromises the university's integrity and respect for international law.
• To support the campaign led by academics and students at King's, in order to achieve the above aims.

KCL Action Palestine Campaign against Ahava has received growing support, including through a petition that now has over 1,000 signatures. Last month, there was also votes of support for the campaign from University of London (ULU) Senate and the KCL Student Union. As well as increasing the pressure on the KCL authorities, this NUS decision will be of particular interest to other student groups working on BDS campaigns on British campuses.

Source: Electronic Intifada

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