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About BDS Italia
BDS Italia is a movement supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel's occupation and system of apartheid until Israel respects international law and human rights, comprised of associations and groups throughout Italy that endorse the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society. The BDS movement supports equal rights for all and is therefore opposed to all forms of racism, fascism, sexism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, ethnic and religious discrimination.
Although most of the content of our web site is in Italian, this section contains articles, press releases and action items in English.
Contact information
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UPDATE: MEP Martusciello, organizer of the meeting, comunicated this morning to BDS Italy that the meeting has been canceled!
Dear Fulvio Martusciello, MEP
Dear Members of the Delegations for relations with Israel and with the Palestinian Legislative Council,
We are deeply troubled to learn of the meeting with Israeli Major General Yoav Mordechai organized by the Delegation for relations with Israel for the European Union. We are writing to you as chair of the delegation to urge you to consider the incongruity of this initiative with European Parliament positions with respect to Israel violations against the Palestinian population.
Mordechai, among other positions held in the past, was commander of the Thirteenth Battalion of the Golani Brigade, an elite unit of the Israeli army, during the offensive against the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009, better known as 'Operation Cast Lead', which cost the lives of over 1,400 Palestinians, 83% of whom were civilians. On 15 January 2009, Mordechai was in command of one of the battalions involved in the attack on the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, one of the most brutal assaults of the entire offensive, in which white phosphorus was also used.
Since January 2014, Mordechai is head of COGAT, the office of the Ministry of Defense responsible for coordinating the activities of the Israeli government in the occupied Palestinian territories. COGAT also deals with the safeguarding and upkeep of illegal Israeli settlements. The European Parliament has expressed in no uncertain terms its position on the illegality of these settlements, most recently in the December 17, 2014 resolution recognizing, in principle, the state of Palestine, as has the United Nations Security Council in a number of resolutions. In addition, the transfer of the occupying power's population to settlements in occupied territory is a war crime, as established by Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Therefore, by virtue of his official position as head of COGAT, General Mordechai must be regarded as taking part in war crimes.
Leggi: MEP Martusciello: European Parliament No Place for Israeli War Criminals
February 19-20, the Enrico Rava New Quartet plans to play at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel. The festival is sponsored by the Israeli Ministries of Culture and Tourism and is part of Israel campaign to use art for propaganda and political gain.
BDS Italy sent the following letter to Enrico Rava and a copy was hand delivered during a concert. We are still waiting for a response.
Send your own copy of the letter to Enrico Rava, Francesco Diodati, Gabriele Evangelista and Enrico Morello, urging them to respect the Palestinian call for boycotts and cancel their participation at the Red Sea Jazz Festival.
January 19, 2015
Dear Enrico Rava, Francesco Diodati, Gabriele Evangelista and Enrico Morello,
We recently learned that, as the Enrico Rava New Quartet, you plan to play at the Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel on February 19-20. We are writing to ask you to cancel your participation. Below we explain why.
Inspired by the campaigns that contributed to ending the Apartheid regime in South Africa, Palestinian civil society called for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it respects human rights and international law.
Leggi: Enrico Rava: Jazz was born of the oppressed. Don’t allow it to be used by the oppressors.
Attention: FIFA Executive Committee Members
cc: Mr. Michel Platini, President of UEFA
Re: Give credibility to FIFA’s antiracism stance
Dear FIFA Executive Committee Members,
It is with trust in the consistency of the highest institution of world football that we write this letter.
We join FIFA President Sepp Blatter (1) and Asian Football Conference (AFC) President Salman Bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in condemning the latest in a series of Israeli aggressions against Palestinian football. On Monday, November 24, the Israeli army raided and searched the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) headquarters.
We stress, together with the AFC President, that this aggression is "a dangerous precedent that requires the international sporting family to stand together and support the PFA in standing up to the systematic violations of the Israeli authorities." (2)
This latest episode comes just one month after the grave and racist decision by the Youth League of the Israel Football Association (IFA) to separate 12 teams of Jewish children from 13 teams of Palestinian children in the Shomoron area following pressure from Jewish families and clubs. An act that further reinforces the prejudices Palestinian citizens of Israel are forced to endure. (3)
On November 18, the Political Science Department of the University of Perugia hosted a debate on the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel. Scheduled to speak were Stephanie Westbrook (BDS Italy), in favor, and Giorgio Gomel (JCall Italy), opposed.
During the introduction, Prof. Federico Zanettin, organizer of the debate (at the request of Political Science students of the association Un ponte per...), announced that Giorgio Gomel, just days prior, had declined to participate due to concerns that the event might appear as a unilateral initiative of the BDS movement. Despite the absence of Gomel, the event took place, with broad and active participation.
An overview of the BDS campaign, both internationally and in Italy, was presented, emphasizing the broad consensus it has gained within large mainstream organizations such as trade unions and churches, and, following the recent attacks on Gaza, support of the President of Bolivia Evo Morales and Hollywood stars such as Danny Glover. The work on college campuses in the United States, where resolutions for divestment from Israel have been multiplying, was also highlighted.
Leggi: Debate on BDS at the University of Perugia: BDS Italia responds to JCall's criticism
BDS Italy expresses its unequivocal and absolute condemnation of the shameful posters plastered around the city of Rome by the neo-fascist group Militia, as well as the general cooptation of the Palestinian cause by the extreme right to spread anti-Semitism. BDS Italy denounces anti-Semitism as racist and reactionary ideology and condemns the use of Palestinian suffering as a pretext and tool for spreading this vile ideology. In particular, we condemn the fascist call to boycott Jewish-owned businesses, a call which includes an appalling "blacklist".
BDS Italy notes that the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel [1] is a strategy of nonviolent struggle, formulated by Palestinian civil society drawing inspiration from the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, to put pressure on a State responsible for violations of international law and human rights humans. It has nothing to do with the odious and despicable maneuvers of fascists new and old.
BDS Italy also stresses that the global movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions refuses all forms of racism, including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
While the posters are the work of a small group of Nazi-Fascists, the BDS movement is supported by solidarity groups, including Jewish groups, NGOs, trade unions, churches, artists and intellectuals throughout the world, including in Israel. [2]
Leggi: BDS Italy condemns fascist exploitation of Palestinian victims
On August 5, a group of anti-fascist activists in solidarity with Palestine paid a visit to HP headquarters in Rome to denounce the computer company’s complicity with the occupation and apartheid policies that the State of Israel has been imposing on the Palestinian people for 66 years. HP’s complicity includes providing identification systems for Israeli checkpoints, computer hardware and software for the Israeli army and navy and manufacturing biometric ID cards used in profiling Palestinian residents of Israel.
The date also marked one month since the beginning of Israel’s bombing campaign on the population of Gaza, a month in which people all over the world have been demonstrating in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance, including direct actions and boycotts. In Birmingham this morning activists occupied a factory of the Israeli weapons manufacturer Elbit and in Italy a campaign was launched to boycott HP products, including computers, printers and scanners, until the multinational company interrupts all ties with those who oppress, kill and imprison the Palestinian people.
Saturday, June 28 in Rome, Italy, activists for the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel corrected misleading advertising at 10 metro stations, earning the approval of passengers.
The advertising by Eden Travel Agency, which included the logo of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, invited vacationers to go to Israel where everything is "under Controller". Among the images featured on the ads was also one of East Jerusalem in the occupied Palestinian territories. The slogans were corrected to highlight instead that Palestine is "under occupation", and calls for a boycott of Israel were added.
The Israeli Ministry of Tourism promotes tourism in settlements built illegally on Palestinian lands and official ministry maps show no trace of the occupied Palestinian territories. [1]
The action took place as Israel carries out an act of collective punishment in all of Palestine, under the pretense of a manhunt for three missing settlers, which now counts 9 dead and 120 injured, over 500 arrests, thousands of raids in homes, schools, hospitals and offices of organizations and the media and the bombing of Gaza.
On Friday, the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry issued guidance on the legal and economic risks associated with activity in or benefiting Israeli settlements. The guidance specifies that it applies, among other activities, to tourist services. [2]
{rsmediagallery tags="metro turismo"}
[1] http://www.goisrael.gov.il/tourism_heb2/Tourist%20Information/Cities/Pages/Hebron.aspx http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist%20Information/Planning%20your%20trip/Online%20tools/Pages/Maps%20of%20Israel.aspx
http://beta.govmap.gov.il/
[2] http://www.esteri.it/MAE/EN/Sala_Stampa/ArchivioNotizie/Approfondimenti/2014/06/20140627_insediamenticittadiniimpreseUe.htm?LANG=EN
BDS Italy press release
False attribution of Jerusalem as Israeli capital scrubbed from World Expo 2015 web site
Following the press release by BDS Italy, the designation of Jerusalem as Israel's capital has been removed from the website for the World Expo 2015 that will take place in Milan next year. (See below before and after images)
Last week, with the publication of country profile pages for Expo participants, BDS Italy condemned this fraudulent attribution, pointing out that Israel is the only country in the world that recognizes Jerusalem as its capital.
According to UN Resolution 181 of 1947, Jerusalem was established as a corpus separatum governed by a special international regime. In 1967, in blatant violation of international law, Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem following the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Consequently, embassies in Israel, including those of Italy and the European Union, are located in the Tel Aviv area.
Expo 2015, which in "granting" Jerusalem with the status of capital of Israel underwrote Israel's illegal acquisition of territory by force, has now chosen to remove the field "capital" from all country profiles for world fair participants in an attempt to obfuscate the illegal context in which Israel operates. In addition, Expo 2015's institutional partners, the Italian Ministry of the Economy, the Lombardy Region and the City and Province of Milan, have a legal obligation not to recognize and to take measures to put an end to Israeli violations of international law, which go well beyond the occupation of East Jerusalem.
Leggi: False attribution of Jerusalem as Israeli capital scrubbed from World Expo 2015 web site
On Thursday, May 29, with 25 meters of signatures, the resounding NO to Italian cooperation with Israeli water company Mekorot was taken to Rome City Hall. The 7114 signatures on the petition against the agreement signed between Rome’s water utility ACEA and Mekorot snaked their way through the public square where a delegation of the Committee Against ACEA-Mekorot Cooperation and the Rome Coordination for Public Water delivered a copy to the office of mayor Ignazio Marino. The petition calls on the city of Rome, the majority shareholder in ACEA, thus far silent on the issue, to take the necessary steps to block the agreement signed by the two companies.
Mekorot, Israel's national water company, is responsible for serious violations of international law. The company extracts water illegally from Palestinian water sources, in turn providing the stolen water to Israeli settlements built illegally in the occupied Palestinian territory, which could not exist without Mekorot. An artificial water shortage that concerns only the Palestinian people has been created by Israeli policies, implemented by Mekorot, while abundant water supplies flow to the swimming pools, lawns and intensive agriculture of the Israeli settlements. The Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq refers to this as "water apartheid," and organizations such as Amnesty International have stated that the purpose of these policies is to expel the Palestinians from their land.
On the Campidoglio Square in front of City Hall, where the movement for the right to housing was also protesting, activists noted that while the ACEA denies the fundamental right to water with cutoffs for those unable to pay their water bill, the company is now looking to go into business with those stealing water in Palestine in order to turn a profit on a common good.
Beyond Rome and Italy, the signatures on the petition also came from more than 60 countries around the world, including Israel. Just days prior, on May 25 a letter from Israeli citizens was sent to the City of Rome and ACEA demanding that all cooperation with Mekorot cease immediately.
Protests will continue on June 5 at 10:00 am during the ACEA annual shareholders meeting, where activists working to defend the fundamental right to water, from Rome to Palestine, will reaffirm, in addition to the calls for an end to the agreement with Mekorot, that there is no room for profits and private speculation on water and its management must be public.
Committee Against ACEA-Mekorot Cooperation
Rome Coordination for Public Water
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Photos by Matteo Nardone. More photos on Facebook.
Letter from BDS Italy to the Ambassador of Palestine to Italy
Dear Ambassador,
We are writing to you as BDS Italia to express our shock and profound concern over the arrest of four of our fellow BDS activists, Zaid Shuaibi, Fajer Harb, Fadi Quran and Abed al-Fatah Hamayel, by Palestinian Authority security officials in Ramallah on April 12.
On that occasion, the four Palestinian BDS activists did nothing more than what we ourselves have done many times, peacefully protesting an event that failed to respect Palestinian civil society’s call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. The activists, who agreed to leave the event after exercising their right to freedom of expression, were then assaulted by Palestinian police and detained overnight with no access to an attorney.
Rather than investigate the assault on the activists, which was corroborated by a number of eyewitnesses, we have learned that charges of “disturbing the peace” and “provoking a riot” have been brought against the activists, with the first hearing on the case set for May 28.