Individual and group actions, both local and global,
help to organize in your area, and courageous
examples from Israel and Palestine
is a threat
to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Action Alerts
Help Shut Down AIPAC Trips to Israel
This summer, we asked you to "name and shame" the 81 Representatives who are on AIPAC junkets to Israel during this August Congressional recess -- instead of staying home to address the economic concerns of their constituents.
Your response has been extraordinary! Your phone calls, letters-to-the-editor, and appearances at town hall meetings, have forced these Representatives onto the defensive, so much that even the New York Times noted the criticism of these trips.
Let's keep the pressure up! See details of ways to support this effort:
TAKE ACTION: Four Ways to Express Your Outrage - click here
The fastest, easiest way?
Take one of the two actions below....
SUPPORT THE COMPLAINT WITH THE OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL ETHICS
We're exposing potential ethics violations in the funding of these junkets. The US Campaign's National Advocacy Director, Josh Ruebner, in a widely cited article published in Foreign Policy in Focus, reveals what appears to be a clear violation of guidelines prohibiting lobbying organizations from paying for these trips. Read the article and then spread the word via social media.
CODEPINK used the information Josh uncovered to file a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics.
By taking action today, you can help challenge AIPAC's Congressional junkets, which play such an important role in ensuring U.S. military aid to Israel and U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid.
Call the Office of Congressional Ethics at 202-225-9739 and tell them that you support the complaint filed against the AIPAC trips, and that you want an investigation to be carried out. You can also email the office by clicking here>>
Your voice matters and your actions are successfully challenging U.S policy toward Palestine/Israel.
Learn more at: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=3080
TIAA-CREF: Divest from the Occupation
Ask one of the largest financial services in the United States to divest from the Israeli occupation.
Join over 15,000 people of conscience who have already signed the petition to ask TIAA-CREF to stop investing in companies that pro?t from the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Jewish Voice for Peace had a spectacular success at the TIAA-CREF shareholders meeting, and will be meeting again with their administrators.
Then, imagine what we can do when we multiply the number of signatures!
SIGN THE PETITION and contact others to do the same.
READ the news and watch the video from Jewish Voice for Peace after the recent TIAA-CREF shareholders meeting, July 2010
BACKGROUND
TIAA-CREF invests its money in these kinds of companies - these five are examples of the list of companies to be divested from - click on each to download a fact sheet about them:
Caterpillar Elbit Motorola Veolia Northrop Grummann
What do we want?
TIAA-CREF is one of the largest financial services in the United States, considered to be one of the largest retirement systems in the world. We want TIAA-CREF to stop investing in companies that profit from the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. We’ve opened a petition to TIAA-CREF and we want you to join us.
Who can endorse the petition to TIAA-CREF?
You can. The petition is open to all people -- Jews, Christians, Muslims, all people of conscience -- whether they have money invested with TIAA-CREF or not. We are asking people who have investments with TIAA-CREF to make sure to let us know. The company will be especially interested in knowing how many of their clients oppose the Israeli occupation.
How can I endorse the petition to TIAA-CREF?
You can endorse the petition online by clicking here
Why focus on TIAA-CREF?
1. TIAA-CREF is big, the biggest fund of its kind in the world. If we help them change their policies, this will be a substantial blow to the Occupation and a model for other socially responsible financial managers to emulate.
2. TIAA-CREF is near you. With 60 offices in the US and 15,000 client institutions in the academic, research, medical, cultural and nonprofit fields, chances are that wherever you may be in the country, you will find a network of TIAA-CREF participants close to you.
3. TIAA-CREF cares about socially responsible investment. In 2009, TIAA-CREF divested from four petrochemical companies that were pro?ting from Sudan’s oppression of the people and exploitation of the natural resources of Darfur. However, the company continues to invest in companies that reap profits from the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestinian land and violations of Palestinian rights. Until it divests, TIAA-CREF violates its own ethical principles and is complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law and violations of human rights.
What is this petition NOT about?
It is NOT about divestment from TIAA-CREF. We are asking TIAA-CREF itself to divest from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation.
It is NOT about divesting from companies that do business in Israel or with the Israeli government.
It is NOT about divesting from Israeli companies.
It is NOT about academic or cultural boycotts of Israel.
What are some of those companies?
Our petition highlights five companies as examples. TIAA-CREF is invested in other companies that pro?t from the occupation. Here are the five we included in our petition:
CATERPILLAR profits from the destruction of Palestinian homes and the uprooting of Palestinian orchards by supplying the armor-plated and weaponized bulldozers that are used for such demolition work.
VEOLIA pro?ts from the construction and expansion of illegal Jewish-only settlements by operating a landfill in the West Bank, exploiting Palestinian natural resources to serve the settlements, and by contracting for the future operation of an illegal light rail system connecting these settlements with Jerusalem.
NORTHROP GRUMMAN profits from the production of parts for the Apache helicopters and F-16 aircrafts used by Israel against civilians in Gaza during Israel’s 2008-09 assault.
ELBIT profits from the confiscation of Palestinian land by providing surveillance equipment that is mounted on the Separation Wall, which was declared unlawful by the International Court of Justice.
MOTOROLA pro?ts from Israel’s control of the Palestinian population by providing surveillance systems around Israeli settlements, checkpoints, and military camps in the West Bank, as well as communication systems to the Israeli army and West Bank settlers.
Didn’t TIAA-CREF already divest from companies that profit from the
Israeli occupation?
In September 2009 Adalah-NY and over 100 TIAA-CREF participants signed a letter requesting that the company not invest in the funding of Jewish-only settlements. That petition focused on Africa-Israel, a company involved in the building of settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. TIAA-CREF later claimed that it had already sold its shares of Africa-Israel, as early as June 30, 2009.
Although the September petition appears to have been a misreading of TIAA-CREF’s June financial statement, we are gratified that TIAA-CREF is no longer invested in Africa-Israel. The pension fund invests in other companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. We follow in the footsteps of Adalah-NY in asking that TIAA-CREF live up to its motto of providing "Financial Services for the Greater Good" by divesting from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation.
“Boycott is not a dogma; it is a tactic. The reason the BDS strategy should be tried against Israel is practical: in a country so small and trade-dependent, it could actually work.”
-- Naomi Klein
Take action now in this important campaign with Jewish Voice for Peace:
http://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/campaigns/tiaa-cref-divest-occupation
Take Action: Stop Settlement Profiteers!
Stolen BeautySource: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2492
Israeli cosmetics company Ahava promises "beauty secrets from the Dead Sea," but its biggest secret is that it operates in two of Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. That is why US Campaign member group CODEPINK started the Stolen Beauty boycott campaign against Ahava. At our National Organizers' Conference last September, our member groups voted to endorse Stolen Beauty, and now we're pleased to launch our Ahava action kit!
The Stolen Beauty campaign has already achieved some impressive victories, such as getting Oxfam to end its relationship with former Ahava spokeswoman Kristin Davis and securing a promise from national discount chain Costco that it will no longer restock Ahava products.
Why Ahava?
Ahava's manufacturing facility and visitors' center are both located in the illegal Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Shalem. The Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into occupied territory. Ahava should not be sanctioning these settlements by building factories in them!
The mud and minerals that Ahava claims are its "beauty secrets from the Dead Sea" are actually excavated from the shores of the Dead Sea at the illegal Israeli settlement of Kalya. The Fourth Geneva Convention forbids an occupying power from exploiting resources from occupied territory. Ahava needs to stop stealing Palestinian resources!
Additionally, 44% of Ahava's stock is collectively owned by the settlements of Mitzpe Shalem and Kalya. Because of this, Ahava sales mean a direct financial benefit for illegal Israeli settlements. Ahava cannot allow its profits to support illegal settlements!
Help stop Israel's illegal settlements! Sign up to be a Stolen Beauty organizer in your community and get our Ahava action kit by clicking here or just check out our new resources by clicking here.
Take Action NOW!
Pledge to boycott Ahava
Boycott Stolen Beauty - Don't Buy Ahava!Israeli cosmetics maker Ahava's slogan "this leaf has nothing to hide" isn't exactly true. The company is trying to hide its connections to Israel's illegal settlements.
Ahava's operations are located in two of Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Additionally, the Jewish-only settlements of Kalia, where Ahava excavates resources, and Mitzpe Shalem, where Ahava manufactures and packages its products, both directly profit from Ahava sales. The settlement Mitzpe Shalem owns 37% of Ahava's stock, and the settlement Kalia is a 7% shareholder. The Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly prohibits an occupying power -- Israel -- from transferring its civilians to occupied territory -- the Palestinian West Bank -- and from exploiting resources from occupied land.
Sign the petition to let Ahava know that it can't put a pretty face on occupation!
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/641/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=1978
The undersigned agree to boycott Ahava products until the company meets the following demands:1. Ahava must shut down its factory in the occupied territory of the Palestinian West Bank.
2. Ahava must stop exploiting the natural resources of the occupied West Bank for profit.
3. Ahava must stop funneling its profits to illegal Israeli settlements.
Order a campaign kit
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/form.php?modin=182
Check out the Stolen Beauty campaign resources
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?list=type&type=321
Click on the link above to find the following resources and information.Get involved in the Stolen Beauty campaign in whatever capacity you can:
Pledge to Boycott Stolen Beauty
Sign our pledge to boycott Ahava until it meets our demands to end its support for Israel's illegal settlements.
Spread the Word
Inform your friends and family about Ahava's dirty secrets in Palestine/Israel. Simply use our form to send them information about the Stolen Beauty campaign.
Why Ahava
Get the dirt on Ahava's operations in Palestine/Israel.
Sign Up as a Local Organizer
Use this form to sign up as a local Stolen Beauty organizer and we'll send you all of the resources you need to bring the boycott to your community.
Stolen Beauty Resources
Use these resources to educate yourself and activate your community.
Video
View videos of creative protest actions that our supporters have taken as part of the Stolen Beauty boycott.
Support the Campaign to stop Stolen Beauty
Ensure that the US Campaign can continue to provide quality campaign resources like these by making a tax-deductible donation!
Ongoing action alert from Christian Peacemaker Teams: Support Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions;
Let Others Know Why You Do
In 2010, Christians Peacemakers Teams-Palestine endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement (see here), because sixty years of negotiations and diplomacy have only enabled Israel to solidify its military occupation of Palestine.
The international community has long called for Palestinian society to resist the violence of the Occupation nonviolently, so we, as members of an international peace organization, believe that when Palestinians mount nonviolent campaigns against the Occupation, we are morally obligated to support them.
Our endorsement followed the KAIROS Palestine document, a statement from Palestinian Christians, who wrote:
"These advocacy campaigns must be carried out with courage, openly and sincerely proclaiming that their object is not revenge but rather to put an end to the existing evil, liberating both the perpetrators and the victims of injustice.
The aim is to free both peoples from extremist positions of the different Israeli governments, bringing both to justice and reconciliation.
In this spirit and with this dedication we will eventually reach the longed-for resolution to our problems, as indeed happened in South Africa and with many other liberation movements in the world."
On the fifth anniversary of the call to BDS and the sixth anniversary of the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion on the illegality of the Wall, the Palestinian Civil Society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC) calls on supporters of BDS "to celebrate our well-deserved achievements, to critically and rationally appraise our present challenges, and to further strengthen our collective resolve to end Israel's ... system of oppression against the Palestinian people by making it pay the price for it through our civil BDS campaigns in all fields."
CPT-Palestine invites you to join us, Palestinians, and people from all over the world in boycotting
Israeli goods and cultural events, divesting from all companies that profit from the occupation of Palestine, and pushing for international sanctions on Israel.
PARTICIPATE in the BDS movement by building the numbers:
• In the US Campaign to End the Occupation's 'Hang Up on Motorola' campaign found at
http://www.endtheoccupation.org/section.php?id=209
• In this UK campaign found at http://www.inminds.co.uk/boycott-motorola.php
or
http://www.palestinecampaign.org/Index5b.asp?m_id=1&l1_id=3&l2_id=107
• In these Canadian campaign suggestions found at
http://www.boycottisraeliapartheid.org/files/consumerboycott.pdf
SHARE how and why you're participating in the BDS movement.
Send email to: whyiboycott@gmail.com and answer these questions:
- Who are you?
- Where are you from?
- How do you participate in BDS?
- Why are you participating?
Responses will be posted on www.whyiboycottisrael.wordpress.com
CPTers have started making videos answering "Why do we boycott Israel?"
Watch some of the videos CPTers have created and share them with your friends: http://www.youtube.com/user/whyiboycott
Submit a video to our collection. Create your own video by answering the questions above. Videos can be short and simple.
If your computer has a webcam, YouTube can help you access the camera and make a video.
Just follow these directions:
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=57931
More general information on making a video is available here: http://www.youtube.com/t/howto_makevideo and here:
http://www.youtube.com/video_toolbox
Post your video as a "video response" to our Youtube Channel "whyiboycott." Here's how: http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.pyhl=en&answer=57931
If you don't have the time or ability to make a video, leave a comment on our YouTube Channel answering the same questions or find your own creative way to share your participation.
REMEMBER the most important way you can participate in the BDS movement is to participate in BDS campaigns and to let other people know why you are doing so.
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3946
End the siege of Gaza
Tell Obama to hold Israel accountable.
Regret is not enough.
In the dark of night on May 31, 2010, Israel sent armed commandos onto a civilian ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gazans. The attack, which took place in international waters, was a brazenly illegal act meant to enforce Israel's nearly 3-year illegal siege of Gaza - a siege that has left 1.5 million men, women and children living like prisoners on substandard diets; deprived of the simplest things like potato chips, musical instruments, and toys; and completely cut off from the rest of the world.
That night, nine volunteers were killed, many more injured. Because Israel confiscated the recording equipment of the human rights activists, we're only getting small bits of information here and there.
The flotilla wasn't just about this one delivery of aid. It was about the right of Palestinians to have sea, land and air routes to the rest of the world and for the need to end the blockade. The blockade is illegal. It is a particularly brutal form of collective punishment which has caused untold suffering and achieved none of Israel's stated objectives. It is a moral, political and tactical failure.
The response of the U.S. government thus far has been wholly inadequate, with a mild statement "regretting the loss of life," and acceptance of Israel's farcical plan to investigate itself.
Please join Jewish Voice for Peace in telling President Obama and Congress enough is enough US taxpayer dollars fund Israel's occupation, and together with wall to wall uncritical diplomatic support have sent the message that any Israeli action, no matter how foolhardy, will be backed by the full might of the United States. It's time for that to stop.
Doing so will protect Israelis and Palestinians, American citizens, and internationals alike.
Demand that President Obama and Congress call for an immediate lifting of the siege of Gaza, an international and impartial investigation into the tragic killing of civilians in a humanitarian mission, and the suspension of military aid to Israel until he can assure the American public that our aid is not used to commit similar abuses.
Click here to take action online:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/301/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=3946
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