Updates from the palestinian BDS (United States)

In the News

Editor’s note: Here is a copy of the recently released report by the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) Committee. It summarizes a recent meeting between Caterpillar and representatives of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Methodist Church. Both churches are considering whether to divest from Caterpillar. This report documents Caterpillar’s intransigence and unwillingness to compromise. Corporate engagement has not worked.

April 25, 2012
Analysis

As two US churches consider resolutions, we examine the BDS movement and ask if it helps or hinders peace efforts.

April 25, 2012
In the News

Olympia, WA - April 23, 2012 - At the 2012 Pacific Northwest Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán (MEChA) Regional Conference, chapter leaders voted to endorse the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions aimed at forcing Israel to meet its obligations under international law.  The Pacific Northwest MEChA Conference’s endorsement follows an endorsement made at the 2012 National MEChA Conference held in Phoenix, Arizona.

In the News

The Jewish Agency, a quasi-official arm of the Israel government that encourages settlement in Palestine, and the Israeli government itself, are taking advantage of US and UK charity laws to raise tax-exempt donations specifically to place settlers in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights, all in violation of international law.

This is being done in the open – on the website of Nefesh b’Nefesh an Israeli-government supported program to encourage Jews from North America and the UK to settle in Palestine.

In the News
University of Massachusetts Boston, MA, April 18th, 2012 - The UMass Boston Undergraduate Student Government unanimously passed a bill demanding that the UMass Foundation, the university’s investment fund, divest from Boeing and other companies profiting from war crimes and/or human rights violations.  This motion is a resounding victory for student activists nationwide and contributes to broader international solidarity movements, including the movement for Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions of Israel (BDS) as called for by Palestinian civil society in 2005.

In the News

In this week’s BDS roundup from the Electronic Intifada, LA activists demand the city “Dump Veolia”; an international campaign urges product designer Yves Béhar not to collaborate with Sodastream; university students in Pennsylvania protest the Jewish National Fund’s award gala; boycott activists tell the Red Hot Chili Peppers why they should cancel their upcoming Tel Aviv gig; and more.

Read the full roundup at: http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora/bds-roundup-

In the News

Latin@ Groups Across US Take Historic Stand at 19th Annual Conference; Decision Announced on National César Chávez Day

March 30, 2012 -- At the 19th annual national conference of M.E.Ch.A. (Movímíento Estudíantíl Chícan@ de Aztlán), the largest association of Latin@ youth in the US, chapter leaders voted by a landslide decision to endorse the global call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) on Israel, due to its military occupation and settlement of Palestine.

The announcement that M.E.Ch.A.

March 30, 2012