Published on Portside (https://portside.org/)
18 Highlights of
BDS Impact in 2018
December
3, 2018
Palestinian
BDS National Committee (BNC)
- Airbnb
decided it would no longer profit from most illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land. This followed an
international campaign led by the #StolenHomes coalition of organizations
affiliated with the BDS movement for Palestinian rights and human rights
organizations.
- Ilhan
Omar and Rashida Tlaib made history by becoming the first
sitting U.S. members of Congress to publicly endorse BDS. Tlaib,
the first Palestinian-American woman elected to Congress, has also
expressed support for cutting U.S. military aid to Israel.
- Mobilizations
across the world convinced Argentina’s national football team,
led by Captain Lionel Messi, to cancel its exhibition match with Israel.
- Celebrity
singer Lana Del Rey became one of 19 artists to withdraw
from Israel’s Meteor Festival, after thousands of fans and activists from
around the world urged her to respect the Palestinian picket line. Shakira and Lorde were
among other top artists to cancel their concerts in Israel this year. More
than 100 DJs and electronic music artists joined the cultural boycott of
Israel under #DJsForPalestine.
- Chile's
Congress overwhelmingly
voted to ban products from illegal Israeli settlements built on
stolen Palestinian land.
- Major
organizations from the Indian women’s movement, representing
over 10 million women, endorsed the BDS movement and demanded the release
of all Palestinian child prisoners.
- Amnesty
International called for an arms embargo on Israel. It slammed the United States and the European Union
for their military deals with Israel and held them responsible for
“fueling mass violations" of Palestinian human rights.
- The
UK Labour Party recently voted to freeze
arms sales to Israel. In Ireland, a Minister of State and 50 Irish
lawmakers called for Ireland to stop arming Israel. Earlier,
Dublin became the first European capital to endorse BDS for Palestinian
rights. In Scotland, Falkirk Pension Fund divested from
Bank Hapoalim, becoming the first local authority pension fund in the UK
to divest from a company complicit in Israel's violations of Palestinian
rights.
- Parliamentarians
from Spain and Portugal took
a stand for Palestinian rights and denounced Israel's war crimes and
racist "Jewish Nation-State Law." Several cities in Italy
and the Spanish state called for an arms embargo on Israel.
- The
Movement for Black Lives released
a powerful statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people and called
for the United States to end its $38 billion in annual military aid to
Israel. The city of Northampton and the State of Vermont both
pulled out of a planned training junket for US police to learn from the
Israeli military.
- 40
international Jewish social justice organizations recognized that the BDS movement for Palestinian rights
has a proven commitment to “fighting antisemitism and all forms of racism
and bigotry.” They condemned attempts to stifle criticism of Israel’s
policies.
- A 2018
Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, Professor George P. Smith,
expressed support for the BDS movement and for cutting US military aid to
Israel.
- Adidas
stopped sponsoring the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes teams based in illegal settlements
built on stolen Palestinian land, after appeals from more than 130
Palestinian sports clubs.
- Trade
unionists and human rights activists in Tunisia and across the Arab
world forced Israel's Zim shipping line to suspend its routes to
Tunisia.
- The Canadian
Federation of Students, representing more than 500,000 students, just
voted at their Annual General Meeting to back the BDS movement.
- Leeds
became the first UK university to divest from firms
involved in Israel's arms trade, following a BDS campaign by Palestine
solidarity activists. The university has divested more than $1.2
million in holdings from corporations that trade military
equipment with Israel.
- Quakers
became the first church in the UK to say they "will
not invest in any company profiting from [Israel's military]
occupation." Recently, several US churches have also voted to divest
from Israeli and international companies complicit in Israel's violations
of Palestinian human rights.
- From South
Africa, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, a member of parliament and Nelson
Mandela’s grandson, has affirmed the critical role BDS is playing
to end Israeli apartheid.
Earlier
BDS highlights from 2018 and 2017:
- Top
70 Moments of Solidarity & BDS for Palestine in 2018
- Top
30 BDS Moments of 2017
- BDS
Movement Turns 12, Marks Anniversary With List of 12 Wins in 2017
- Like
our work? Help us do more. Donate.
The Palestinian
BDS National Committee (BNC) is the largest coalition in Palestinian civil
society. It leads and supports the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
movement for Palestinian rights.
Donations can be sent
to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD
21218. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives."
Eugene Victor Debs
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