vjp-global

https://jewishvoiceforpeace.org/uaw-bds/ In December 2014, rank-and-file members of Local 2865 of the United Auto Workers (they represent over 14,000 teaching assistants and other workers at the Universities of California) voted to support boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) of Israel. With their vote, they honored the call of Palestinian civil society, and joined millions of people the world over who are taking non-violent action to protest Israel's human rights abuses. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME member

https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/01/19/occupation-inc/how-settlement-businesses-contribute-israels-violations-palestinian Almost immediately after Israel's military occupation of the West Bank in June 1967, the Israeli government began establishing settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. From the outset, private businesses have been involved in Israel's settlement policies, benefiting from and contributing to them. This report details the ways in which Israeli and international businesses have helped to build, finance, service, and market settlement communities. In many cases, businesses are "settlers" themselves, drawn to settlements in part by low rents, favorable tax rates, government subsidies, and access to cheap Palestinian labor. [1] In fact, the physical footprint of Israeli business activity in the West Bank is larger than that of residential settlements... Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/opinion/when-made-in-israel-is-a-human-rights-abuse.html?_r=1 [On a trade bill to recognize settlement-made goods as "Made in Israel"] ...The more the line between Israel and the occupied territories is blurred, the more likely the rest of the world will be to question the legitimacy of not just the settlements but Israel itself. In the long run, this will not prevent Israel from being depicted as a pariah state, but instead will provide powerful ammunition to those who see it as such. Posted  by Judith Ferster, AIME Member

http://news.yahoo.com/uns-ban-swipe-israel-over-stifling-occupation-214742788.html Snippet: United Nations (United States) (AFP) - Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday renewed his criticism of Israel's "stifling" occupation of Palestinian territories, a day after similar hard-hitting remarks by the UN Secretary-General angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Posted by AIME member, Sam Bryan

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.698874 Was there a way to eliminate South Africa's apartheid regime from within, without South Africans investing years in spreading the word internationally? It seems not. Ruling classes tend not to concede their advantages willingly. In Israel, as noted, the ideological goal goes even further, and doesn't end only with the control of people lacking rights. Also see James Wall excellent blog article: http://wallwritings.me/2016/01/26/discerning-signs-of-the-times-in-iowa-and-israel/ Posted by Sam Bryan, AIM member

http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-approves-153-new-settler-homes-west-bank-ngo-2012908020 Israel's defence ministry has approved plans to build 153 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, a spokeswoman for Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said on Monday. Posted by Sam Bryan, AIME Member

1-21-2016 Israel Seizes Palestinian Land — Thumbs Nose at Europe by Destroying Aid Structures – Maayan Lubel Forward http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/331156/israel-seizes-palestinian-land-thumbs-nose-at-europe-by-destroying-aid-stru/#ixzz3xucu4LFp   … The appropriation, covers 380 acres in the Jordan Valley close to Jericho, an area where Israel already has many settlement farms built on land Palestinians seek for a state. It is the largest land seizure since August 2014… Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member