Airbnb rentals in the illegal settlements

Airbnb is coming under criticism for listing vacation rentals in West Bank settlements on their website without identifying their location in the West Bank. 

In a recent report, Human Rights Watch said businesses should stop operating in West Bank settlements because they violate the rights of Palestinian civilians. 

Urge Airbnb to stop listing vacation rentals in West Bank settlements on their website, or identify them as being in the West Bank, by signing our petition at MoveOn:

http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/airbnb-no-vacation-rentals-west-bank-settlements

Thanks for all you do for justice,

Robert Naiman, Avram Reisman, and Sarah Burns
Just Foreign Policy

Defending freedom of speech in NYS

Electronic Intifada:

New York bill would create official blacklist of Israel boycott supporters.

A law being proposed in New York would create an official blacklist of supporters of the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.

Legal experts and activists say the measure is reminiscent of the McCarthy era and could have drastic consequences for individuals, organizations or firms who engage with the campaign to pressure Israel to respect Palestinian rights.

Anti-BDS legislation was also introduced this week in California. Two New York bills — one introduced in the state senate and another in the assembly — would require the state government to “develop, using credible information available to the public, a list of persons it determines boycotts [sic] Israel.”

Individuals or entities included on the state’s blacklist would be barred from partnering with state agencies unless they can demonstrate in a written statement that they are “not engaged in boycotting Israel.” State pension funds would also be prohibited from investing in institutions that have divested from Israel.

Activists with the Palestine Solidarity Collective in New York are collecting signatures for a petition to lawmakers against the bill. Nearly two dozen North America-based activist organizations are opposing the legislation.

The New York bills are “the most egregious, most McCarthyite, most obvious violations of people’s First Amendment rights,” Josh Ruebner, policy director for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, told The Electronic Intifada.

If passed into law, the measure could hit local organizations that provide essential community services. Church groups, for example, that may belong to denominations which have passed boycott or divestment resolutions, often receive state funds to provide social programs such as homeless shelters and soup kitchens. “Does that mean that all these churches will become ineligible to feed the hungry?” Ruebner asked.

A separate resolution pending in New York, HR-567, would condemn the European Union’s decision to accurately label goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.

Visit our website http://www.freedom2boycott.com

Law to make BDS a criminal act in NY

Law to make support of BDS a criminal act in NY

There is a law under consideration in New York State to make support for BDS and, actually, any public dissent against Israel, a crime.  This is ridiculous, but it sets a terrible precedent and everyone should sign the petition against it and forward widely.  There is a link to the actual bills on the website

Say No to Anti BDS Legislation in NY http://palestinesolidaritycollective.net/2015/12/13/anti-bds-legislation-in-new-york/
The legislation would create “A LIST OF PERSONS IT DETERMINES BOYCOTTS ISRAEL,” and defines boycotting Israel  as 

“ENGAGING IN ACTIONS THAT ARE POLITICALLY MOTIVATED AND ARE INTENDED TO  PENALIZE, INFLICT ECONOMIC HARM ON, OR OTHERWISE LIMIT COMMERCIAL   RELATIONS  WITH THE  STATE  OF  ISRAEL  OR   COMPANIES BASED IN THE STATE OF ISRAEL OR IN TERRITORIES CONTROLLED BY THE  STATE OF ISRAEL.”

Who will it affect?

• Individuals or Community groups that support Palestinian human  rights by supporting a boycott of Israel.   
• Contractors and other businesses seeking partnerships with New York  State.  
• Non-profit organizations that receive New York State grants. 

Say No to Anti BDS Legislation in NY
http://palestinesolidaritycollective.net/2015/12/13/anti-bds-legislation-in-new-york/

Protest in front of a closed Leviev diamond store

New York, NY, December 21, 2015 – On Saturday, for the second year running, 50 New York human rights advocates held a celebratory protest in front of a closed Leviev diamond store on Madison Avenue on one of the biggest holiday shopping days. Days before the protest, staff working for Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev had insisted his store would be open, per their publicized business hours. The Leviev store was also mysteriously closed the day of the December 2014 anti-apartheid caroling protest. This is the ninth consecutive year New Yorkers have gathered in front of Leviev’s store singing holiday anti-apartheid carols critical of Leviev’s construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land and human rights abuses in the diamond industry in Angola.

On Saturday, December 19

On Saturday, December 19, from 1:00 to 2:30 pm, Adalah-NY will be holding its 9th Annual Anti-Apartheid Holiday Caroling https://adalahny.org/event/1353/ninth-annual-anti-apartheid-holiday-caroling-leviev protest against Lev Leviev at his jewelry store on Madison Avenue between E 62nd and 63rd Streets. It’s our opportunity to come together during this holiday season to enjoy (parodies of) Christmas carols and Chanukah songs as we rededicate ourselves to the fight for justice and against Lev Leviev’s and Israel’s attacks on the rights of the Palestinian people.

Hope you can join us.

Mindy

Facebook event

United Nations agencies hold contracts worth over $22 million annually with G4S, a British-Danish company that is both the world's largest security firm and its second-biggest private employer.

G4S also equips and maintains Israeli detention centers and jails where Palestinians are held and tortured, as well as training facilities that prepare occupation forces for their attacks on Palestinians.

The Palestinian prisoners' movement recently issued an unprecedented appeal for escalated boycotts of G4S over its participation in Israel's colonial policies off occupation and repression.

As the UN marks its official International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, join us as we answer the prisoners' call by launching a global wave of action demanding the UN end its contracts with G4S.

Organized by:

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Endorsed by:

Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
AMP NJ Center - American Muslims for Palestine NJ Chapter
BMCC Students Without Borders
CCNY Students Without Borders
International Action Center
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Labor for Palestine
Neturei Karta International
NYC Students for Justice in Palestine
NYU Students for Justice in Palestine
Students for Justice in Palestine at Brooklyn College
Students for Justice in Palestine at College of Staten Island
Students for Justice in Palestine at Hunter College
Students for Justice in Palestine at John Jay College
Students for Justice in Palestine at Pace University NYC
Students for Justice in Palestine at St. Joseph's College

Prominent Artists Endorse the Cultural Boycott

Eight leading artists, all with ties to New York, state their support for the cultural boycott of Israel in our new video. The video features actor Kathleen Chalfant; musician Roger Waters, a founding member of Pink Floyd; musicians Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio; musicians Kool A.D. and Tamar-kali; artist and author of Drawing Blood, Molly Crabapple; and visual artist Swoon.

The eight artists recount the hardships that Israel imposes on Palestinian artists, and the history of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. They explain the Palestinian boycott call, and why they endorse a cultural boycott.

The video marks the launch of a New York-based initiative calling for more artists and cultural workers in New York, the US and around the world to pledge to respect and support the Palestinian boycott call. Artists in the video join a growing number of cultural workers who are heeding the boycott call from Palestine to refuse to do business as usual with Israel until it ends its occupation, apartheid and colonization.

Ms. Lauryn Hill, Roger Waters, Elvis Costello, Santana, the late Gil-Scott Heron, Cassandra Wilson, Cat Power, Stevie Wonder, Talib Kweli, Mira Nair, Ken Loach, Alice Walker, Mike Leigh, Arundhati Roy, Jean-Luc Godard and many others have declined to perform or participate in cultural events in Israel or with institutions complicit in Israeli human rights abuses.

Artists & Cultural Workers: Endorse the Palestinian call for the boycott of Israel

http://www.amplifypalestine.org

Music (P) Jabbar

A project of Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel