Meer dan 150 Israëlische wetenschappers boycotten universiteit in nederzetting Ariel

JERUZALEM - Meer dan 150 Israëlische wetenschappers hebben een petitie ondertekend waarin wordt opgeroepen tot een boycot van de universiteit in de nederzetting Ariel op de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever. Dat heeft Ron Naaman van het Weizmann Instituut voor de Wetenschap zondag voor de Israëlische publieke radio gezegd.

Ariel is een van de grootste Israëlische nederzettingen op de Westelijke Jordaanoever. Er wonen ongeveer 18.000 kolonisten. De universiteit heeft ongeveer 8500 studenten. „Wij weigeren mee te doen aan een academische activiteit in Ariel, een illegale nederzetting die bedoeld is om te voorkomen dat de Palestijnen hun onafhankelijke staat stichten”, zei Naaman. Hij meent dat de activiteiten van de kolonisten Israël schaden.

De Israëlische minister van Onderwijs, Gideon Saar, heeft de oproep veroordeeld. (Telegraaf)

"As a demonstratively Zionist institution, the University Center has two key requirements: every student must study one course per semester on some aspect of Judaism, Jewish heritage or Land of Israel studies, and the Israeli flag must be displayed in every classroom, laboratory and auditorium on campus." (ariel.ac.il)

Adidas reconsiders sponsorship of Jerusalem marathon

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat decides to hold the first Jerusalem International Marathon in March 2011. He gets Adidas to sponsor the event. An Israeli runner registers and then discovers that the route runs through some of the most egregious examples of discrimination and dispossession in East Jerusalem: Sheikh Jarrah, Issawiya, the Shufat Refugee Camp, Jabel Mukaber and Sur Baher.

He approaches the Meretz representatives on the Jerusalem city council and they, with international human rights organizations, approach Adidas. Adidas smells a possible consumer boycott and gets cold feet. The company demands “clarifications” from the Jerusalem municipality. What does that mean? Time (and persistence) will tell. (lees verder op Coteret)

Breaking the Israel-Palestine Deadlock

Truthout | by Noam Chomsky | 3 January 2011

While intensively engaged in illegal settlement expansion, the government of Israel is also seeking to deal with two problems: a global campaign of what it perceives as “delegitimation” – that is, objections to its crimes and withdrawal of participation in them – and a parallel campaign of legitimation of Palestine.

The “delegitimation,” which is progressing rapidly, was carried forward in December by a Human Rights Watch call on the U.S. “to suspend financing to Israel in an amount equivalent to the costs of Israel’s spending in support of settlements,” and to monitor contributions to Israel from tax-exempt U.S. organizations that violate international law, “including prohibitions against discrimination” – which would cast a wide net. Amnesty International had already called for an arms embargo on Israel. The legitimation process also took a long step forward in December, when Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil recognized the State of Palestine (Gaza and the West Bank), bringing the number of supporting nations to more than 100.

International lawyer John Whitbeck estimates that 80-90 percent of the world’s population live in states that recognize Palestine, while 10-20 percent recognize the Republic of Kosovo. The U.S. recognizes Kosovo but not Palestine. Accordingly, as Whitbeck writes in Counterpunch, media “act as though Kosovo’s independence were an accomplished fact while Palestine’s independence is only an aspiration which can never be realized without Israeli-American consent,” reflecting the normal workings of power in the international arena.

Given the scale of Israeli settlement of the West Bank, it has been argued for more a decade that the international consensus on a two-state settlement is dead, or mistaken (though evidently most of the world does not agree). Therefore those concerned with Palestinian rights should call for Israeli takeover of the entire West Bank, followed by an anti-apartheid struggle of the South African variety that would lead to full citizenship for the Arab population there.

The argument assumes that Israel would agree to the takeover. It is far more likely that Israel will instead continue the programs leading to annexation of the parts of the West Bank that it is developing, roughly half the area, and take no responsibility for the rest, thus defending itself from the “demographic problem” – too many non-Jews in a Jewish state – and meanwhile severing besieged Gaza from the rest of Palestine.

One analogy between Israel and South Africa merits attention. Once apartheid was implemented, South African nationalists recognized they were becoming international pariahs because of it. In 1958, however, the foreign minister informed the U.S. ambassador that U.N. condemnations and other protests were of little concern as long as South Africa was supported by the global hegemon – the United States. By the 1970s, the U.N. declared an arms embargo, soon followed by boycott campaigns and divestment. South Africa reacted in ways calculated to enrage international opinion. In a gesture of contempt for the U.N. and President Jimmy Carter – who failed to react so as not to disrupt worthless negotiations – South Africa launched a murderous raid on the Cassinga refugee camp in Angola just as the Carter-led “contact group” was to present a settlement for Namibia. The similarity to Israel’s behavior today is striking – for example, the attack on Gaza in January 2009 and on the Gaza freedom flotilla in May 2010.

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When President Reagan took office in 1981, he lent full support to South Africa’s domestic crimes and its murderous depredations in neighboring countries. The policies were justified in the framework of the war on terror that Reagan had declared on coming into office. In 1988, Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress was designated one of the world’s “more notorious terrorist groups” (Mandela himself was only removed from Washington’s “terrorist list” in 2008). South Africa was defiant, and even triumphant, with its internal enemies crushed, and enjoying solid support from the one state that mattered in the global system.

Shortly after, U.S. policy shifted. U.S. and South African business interests very likely realized they would be better off by ending the apartheid burden. And apartheid soon collapsed. South Africa is not the only recent case where ending U.S. support for crimes has led to significant progress. Can such a transformative shift happen in Israel’s case, clearing the way to a diplomatic settlement? Among the barriers firmly in place are the very close military and intelligence ties between the U.S. and Israel.

The most outspoken support for Israeli crimes comes from the business world. U.S. high-tech industry is closely integrated with its Israeli counterpart. To cite just one example, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, Intel, is establishing its most advanced production unit in Israel.

A U.S. cable released by WikiLeaks reveals that Rafael military industries in Haifa is one of the sites considered vital to U.S. interests due to its production of cluster bombs; Rafael had already moved some operations to the U.S. to gain better access to U.S. aid and markets. There is also a powerful Israel lobby, though of course dwarfed by the business and military lobbies.

Critical cultural facts apply, too. Christian Zionism long precedes Jewish Zionism, and is not restricted to the one-third of the U.S. population that believes in the literal truth of the Bible. When British Gen. Edmund Allenby conquered Jerusalem in 1917, the national press declared him to be Richard the Lionhearted, finally rescuing the Holy Land from the infidels.

Next, Jews must return to the homeland promised to them by the Lord. Articulating a common elite view, Harold Ickes, Franklin Roosevelt’s secretary of the interior, described Jewish colonization of Palestine as an achievement “without comparison in the history of the human race.”

There is also an instinctive sympathy for a settler-colonial society that is seen to be retracing the history of the U.S. itself, bringing civilization to the lands that the undeserving natives had misused – doctrines deeply rooted in centuries of imperialism.

To break the logjam it will be necessary to dismantle the reigning illusion that the U.S. is an “honest broker” desperately seeking to reconcile recalcitrant adversaries, and to recognize that serious negotiations would be between the U^.S.-Israel and the rest of the world.

If U.S. power centers can be compelled by popular opinion to abandon decades-old rejectionism, many prospects that seem remote might become suddenly possible.

(Noam Chomsky’s most recent book, with co-author Ilan Pappe, is "Gaza in Crisis." Chomsky is emeritus professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.)

© 2011 Noam Chomsky

Corporations found guilty at Russell Tribunal second session

The Electronic Intifada | Adri Nieuwhof | 1 December 2010

On 22 November a jury of international experts announced their verdict that compelling evidence shows corporate complicity in Israeli violations of international law. The verdict followed two full days of presentations in London at the second international session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine from 20 to 21 November.

The session examined the role of corporations in Israel's violations of international law. It called experts and witnesses to present cases to the international panel of jurors. Although companies were invited to defend their actions, only Veolia Environnement, PFZW pension fund and security company G4S responded to the tribunal in writing.

Jurors at the London session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. (Kristian Buus)

The jurors included former French ambassador Stephane Hessel; Irish Nobel Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire; South African professor John Dugard; South African politician Ronald Kasrils; English lawyer Michael Mansfield; Spanish emeritus judge Jose Antonio Martin Pallin; former US congresswoman Cynthia McKinney; and UK barrister Lord Anthony Gifford.

According to the jurors, the corporations' violations related to their supply of weapons and the construction and maintenance of illegal Israeli settlements and the Israel's wall in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The jury called for the mobilization of civil society to end the involvement of companies in Israeli human rights violations (Public Statement of the Russell Tribunal [PDF]).

Seven corporations were named by the jury for being complicit in Israeli violations. They include:

• The British-Danish firm G4S, which supplies equipment used at Israeli checkpoints in the occupied West Bank and Israeli prisons.
• Elbit Systems, a leading Israeli company which collaborates closely with the Israeli military.
• US-based Caterpillar, which supplies the Israeli military with modified D9 bulldozers used to demolish Palestinian homes.
• Cement Roadstone Holdings, an Irish multinational corporation, which purchased 25 percent of the Israeli Mashav Initiative and Development Ltd. Israeli Mashav Initiative and Development Ltd., owns Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises Ltd., which is Israel's sole cement producer, supplying 75-90 percent of all the cement in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
• Dexia, a Franco-Belgian corporation that finances Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank via its subsidiary Dexia Israel Public Finance Ltd.
• Veolia Transport, a French corporation is involved in the construction of the Jerusalem light rail which connects Israel's illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank with annexed East Jerusalem. Veolia is due to operate the light rail and also operates bus services to illegal Israeli settlements.
• Carmel Agrexco, an Israeli corporation that exports agricultural produce including oranges, olives, and avocados from the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

During the Tribunal, Dutch divestment activist Saskia Muller presented the case of the Dutch pension fund Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW). The fund holds investments in more than ten international companies involved in Israel's violations of international law, and one Israeli supermarket chain which provides services to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank. In its six-page letter to the Russell Tribunal dated 12 November, the PFZW board wrote that it is "deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, and the consequential long time occupation of the Palestinian territories by Israel. It is further concerned about ongoing violations of international law in this context, and about possible complicity in such violations by companies that are active in Israel and the occupied territories."

Representatives of the US peace group Codepink presented the case against Ahava cosmetics to the Russell Tribunal jury. And while the jury was presenting its conclusions on 22 November, the entrance to the Ahava store in London was blocked by activists who chained themselves to a concrete-filled oil barrel. This was the fifth protest by activists against Ahava, which manufactures Dead Sea products in the illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem.

At the press conference, juror John Dugard, who recently served as the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, stressed that when the anti-apartheid movement pressured corporations to disinvest from apartheid South Africa, it was still debated whether apartheid constituted a crime against humanity. Corporations therefore argued that doing business with South Africa was not illegal.

Dugard added that the situation is very different with respect to Israel: "We are dealing with a criminal enterprise on the part of Israel. Under criminal and international law and in many cases under national legal systems, there is an obligation on the part of states to redress such illegality, but if states do not take action, there is also responsibility on the part of corporations and civil society to redress these wrongs."

Ronald Kasrils, former South African minister, highlighted how mobilization of popular support by the anti-apartheid movement helped to isolate South Africa and overthrow the apartheid regime. At that time, the western countries were the pillars of support for apartheid South Africa, as is the case with Israel today. Kasrils said that the mobilization was not "anti-people, it was anti-system."

Kasrils added that in South Africa the "particular groundswell internationally would even get through to the minority white people in South Africa. As we see now this [boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS)] call getting through to public opinion in Israel, among Jews in Israel and around the world." Kasrils emphasized that the importance of BDS can not be "underestimated" and underlined the important role of civil society in pressuring governments to end Israeli impunity and criminal activity.

Juror Michael Mansfield, President of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, stated that "the jury was horrified to note that the Israeli government is currently considering making protest and objection along these lines a criminal offense." In its final statement, the jury called "on states to protect the rights of all those who initiate or take such lawful BDS actions."

Meanwhile, the Palestinian BDS National committee (BNC) endorsed the outcome of the Russell Tribunal in London. In a statement the BNC commented that "the tribunal spoke with a strong, clear and moral voice" ("BNC endorses findings of London session of Russell Tribunal on Palestine ...," 30 November 2010).

The tribunal has provided not only important knowledge, but also authoritative encouragement to solidarity groups, social movements, trade unions, political parties and concerned citizens to utilize BDS to hold Israel and its supporters to account. The next Russell Tribunal on Palestine will be held in South Africa, and will consider the applicability of the crime of apartheid in Israel.

Adri Nieuwhof is a consultant and human rights advocate based in Switzerland. Nieuwhof gave a presentation at the Russell Tribunal as the lead expert on public contracts regulations and the French multinational, Veolia, and its business practices in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Related Links
Russell Tribunal on Palestine

Volvo enables torture of Palestinians

David Cronin | November 26, 2010

Volvo prides itself on being a byword for sturdiness, safety and reliability. After a careful examination of the vehicle-maker's investment in Israel, perhaps it should also become synonymous with enabling torture.

The Swedish company has a direct shareholding of 26.5 percent in the Israeli company Merkavim, manufacturer of the Mars Prisoner Bus. This bus has been specifically designed for use by the Israeli Prison Authority to transport Palestinians apprehended in the occupied West Bank and Gaza to facilities within Israel's internationally-recognized borders. The remainder of Merkavim is owned by Mayer's Cars and Trucks, which doubles up as the exclusive representative of Volvo in Israel.

Evidence amassed by human rights monitors indicates that torture is widespread within Israeli detention centers. Although the country's high court ruled in 1999 that some interrogation methods should be outlawed, Israel continues to approve torture in cases where it is deemed "necessary," Amnesty International has found. An important loophole in the court's ruling indicated that torture is permissible in cases where Israeli security forces face an imminent threat. Israel's attorney general has been all-too-willing to invoke that loophole in order to approve the use of torture, despite how Israel has ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture.

Each year Israel locks up an average of 700 Palestinian children, often for offenses no more serious than throwing stones. The organization Defence for Children International-Palestine Section (DCI-PS) says that ill-treatment is common while detainees are being transported to prison. "All are subjected to verbal threats and insults," Rifat Kassis, director of DCI-PS's office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said. "Some are beaten up, kicked, made to sit in an uncomfortable way. We have children who are handcuffed and blindfolded as well. All of these are methods of restraining children in a painful way."

During September, three children were reportedly given electric shocks by Israeli interrogators in the Jewish-only settlement of Ariel in the West Bank. One of the children was only 14 years of age. A recent investigation by DCI-PS and other anti-torture groups found that out of a sample of 100 children arrested by Israeli forces last year, 69 percent were beaten and kicked and 12 percent threatened with rape or another form of sexual assault.

Kassis also said that by bringing detainees from the occupied West Bank into Israel, the Merkavim buses are facilitating violations of international humanitarian law. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, persons convicted for offenses in an occupied territory may only be jailed within that territory.

A representative of Merkavim told me that the company does "not wish to speak to journalists." According to its website, the Mars Prisoner Bus is "the perfect solution for conveying prisoners under guard." Containing six separate compartments, the bus allows for "full surveillance during the sensitive, high-risk drive from one secured facility to another." Among its features are wide windows "fitted with armored glass to prevent breakouts" and "an advanced intercom system and closed-circuit TV."

Per-Martin Johansson, a spokesman for Volvo Buses, said that the Swedish corporation "can't control" what affiliated companies do. "Vehicles to transport prisoners can be found in every country all over the world," he added. "These buses are not special for Israel. They need them in every country to make sure prisoners are not escaping."

Johansson's statement contrasts with the high ethical standards to which Volvo is nominally committed. In 2003 Volvo's board of directors rubber-stamped a "code of conduct" for the company. It says that the company supports "internationally proclaimed human rights and ensures that it is not complicit in human rights abuses."

Despite that code, Volvo has faced numerous accusations that its products are being used as tools of Israeli oppression. In April this year Israeli forces were photographed operating Volvo bulldozers in the Palestinian village of al-Walaja. The forces were carrying out work related to the massive wall that Israel has continued to build on occupied land in the West Bank, despite a 2004 opinion issued by the International Court of Justice declaring the project illegal. The use of Volvo bulldozers in the destruction of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem and in the wider West Bank has similarly been documented, with the work of Adri Nieuwhof, a contributor to The Electronic Intifada, proving valuable in highlighting how Volvo profits from the occupation.

Along with its prisoner bus, Merkavim also produces the Mars Defender Bus. The Israeli public transport company Egged runs a fleet of the latter vehicles in the services it provides to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Like the prisoner bus, the Mars Defender contains a Volvo-made chassis.

Mauricio Lazala, a researcher with the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre in London, said that major companies like Volvo should study the impact of their corporate activities. "This is especially important in conflict areas," he added. "In conflict areas, abuses can have very ugly manifestations. Therefore, companies should be doubly careful."

At a session held in London this month, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine -- an investigative body inspired by the late British intellectual and anti-war campaigner Bertrand Russell -- concluded that a number of private corporations "play a very decisive role" in enabling Israel to commit crimes against humanity.

Although Volvo was not one of the companies identified by the tribunal, it is facilitating some of the offenses deemed "reprehensible" by this body. These included the provision of services to Israeli settlements and assistance to the construction of the "apartheid wall" in the West Bank. A statement issued by the tribunal noted that corporations complicit in Israeli violations of human rights have placed themselves "on the wrong side of international opinion, morality and law." As a result, they are "undermining the very integrity and credibility of international law and the institutions that underpin it," added the statement, which was endorsed by former South African government minister Ronnie Kasrils, veteran French diplomat Stephane Hassel, Irish Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Corrigan Maguire and ex-US Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

Frank Barat, the tribunal's coordinator, said that while it can be legally difficult to prosecute such companies, public campaigns can pressure them into changing their behavior. "What people can do is push their governments to divest from those companies," he said. "If a company is helping to build the wall [in the West Bank] it is helping an illegal act, so it should be sanctioned."

Volvo's attempts to justify its investments in Israel are disingenuous. The corporation cannot claim that the activities of a subsidiary have nothing to do with its headquarters in Gothenburg or that Merkavim's buses are no different from other prison buses found around the world. It is abundantly clear that these vehicles are tailored especially to meet the sadistic "needs" of the Israeli occupation; indeed, that is their selling point.

Supplying Israel’s prison services is not analogous to aiding the prison services of any other country. Israel deliberately uses mass imprisonment and torture to deny Palestinians the right to resist their occupation. Addameer, a prisoner’s support group, has documented how 650,000 Palestinians – one-fifth of the population living in the occupied territories – have been incarcerated since 1967.

Whatever Volvo may say, the truth is that it has become a subcontractor for the Israeli occupation. Drivers in Europe and America might feel secure as they slide into the well-upholstered seat of a car made by Volvo. In Palestine, the same company is facilitating the torture of children.

Jewish settlements targeted in divestment campaign

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — There is a budding movement by foreign investors and activists to join a Palestinian campaign against companies doing business in the West Bank — aimed at hitting them in their pockets.

Pension funds in Norway and Sweden have divested themselves of holdings in some firms involved in building in settlements or helping to erect Israel's contentious West Bank separation barrier.

European activists are cranking up pressure on companies by exposing the West Bank ties and picketing stores that sell settlement goods. And some major U.S. churches are questioning companies as a precursor to possible divestment.

The economic impact is still negligible. Jewish groups are pushing back and key institutions, including U.S. universities, have rejected calls to divest. But in business, where image is all-important, it's tough to shrug off potentially negative publicity.

Israel accuses boycott advocates of trying to delegitimize the Jewish state. It also argues that plenty of companies with ties to states with horrendous human rights records are not similarly targeted.

The focus on corporate involvement comes against the backdrop of a wider Palestinian movement of divestment and boycott, inspired by the economic assault on apartheid-era South Africa.

The Palestinians hope such pressure will achieve what years of negotiations have not — end Israel's occupation of the West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands they want for a state. Israel withdrew all forces and settlers from the Gaza Strip, the other territory claimed by the Palestinians, in 2005.

While the Palestinians seek a blanket boycott of Israel, many foreign supporters do not.

"This is not divestment from Israel. It's divestment from companies supporting the occupation," said William Aldrich, head of the divestment task force at the New England Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Divestment is meant to make a moral statement, said Aldrich, whose group recommends that Methodists sell stock in 29 foreign and Israeli companies, though that call has not been adopted by his church at the national level.

"The big success is that is has become an issue," added Merav Amir of the Tel Aviv-based Coalition of Women for Peace, whose database of companies has become a resource for investors and activists.

Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister who supports a West Bank pullout, said Israel should be concerned.

"There is a trend of ideological consumerism in some of the world's countries, in addition to a delegitimization campaign against the state of Israel," she told a business conference Wednesday. "I believe we have to light a few warning lights."

Foreign and Israeli companies operating in the West Bank have benefited over the years from cheap land, tax incentives and low-cost Palestinian labor. A growing settler population — 500,000 in the West Bank and east Jerusalem — has made it increasingly worthwhile for Israeli banks, supermarket chains and others to set up branches on war-won land.

With scrutiny intensifying, foreign companies and investments could be more vulnerable to pressure.

Results are still modest.

Norway's $500 billion oil fund, Europe's largest institutional investor, and Swedish pension funds managing more than $100 billion in assets have dropped the Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems Ltd., which provides surveillance equipment for the separation barrier.

The funds say Elbit violated ethical norms because of its involvement in the barrier, ruled illegal in a nonbinding decision by the International Court of Justice. Israel says it built the barrier to keep out Palestinian militants, but it swerves through the West Bank to incorporate Jewish settlements on the "Israeli" side.

Norway's investment in Elbit was $6 million, negligible for a company valued at $2 billion. Elbit won't discuss the divestments. The Norwegian fund also sold its $1.2 million in shares in Africa Israel Investments, which has a real estate holding that builds in settlements.

The Brussels-based bank Dexia, targeted by Belgian activists for lending to settlements, said its Israeli subsidiary is phasing out the settlement business. Assa Abloy, a Swedish lock maker, said it would move its Israeli factory from a settlement industrial park to Israel proper within a year.

SodaStream, a maker of home carbonating systems, said some of the $109 million raised in a public offering in November is to be used to build a new factory outside the West Bank, though it won't say whether it would eventually close an existing settlement facility.

Some major Christian denominations also are wrestling with the divestment issue.

The World Council of Churches, which represents 560 million Christians, has called for responsible investment and a boycott of settlement products.

The Presbyterians are trying to persuade several multinationals to cut West Bank ties and leave open the possibility of future divestment. The United Methodists, who have called on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian-claimed territories, failed to pass a divestment bill at a 2008 convention, though activists said such efforts would continue.

For now, boycott and divestment don't affect the Israeli economy or the businesses, said Israela Many, chief economist at the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce. "The problem is, it creates a negative image," she said.

Mark Regev, an Israeli government spokesman, alleged that "boycotters show very selective indignation" and ignore egregious human rights abuses elsewhere, including in Libya, Syria and Iran.

The Scandinavian pension funds deny singling out Israel.

"There is no country perspective on this," said Annika Anderson of the Ethical Council that advises four Swedish pension funds. She noted that the funds have dropped nine other companies from around the world since 2007.

The Norwegian fund, which invests in more than 8,000 firms, has dropped 49 companies worldwide, including those making cluster bombs and cigarettes. The list includes Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Wal-Mart.

The fund's decisions are closely watched by other investors in Scandinavia.

Being excluded by the oil fund can cause "massive damage to a company's reputation" in those countries, said Caroline Liinanki, editor of the Nordic Region Pensions and Investment News at the Financial Times. "You don't want to end up on the black list."

(AP)

BDS update: Anti-apartheid Hagues

Despite the stranglehold Israel lobbies have on Euro-parliaments and politicians, there have been some surprisingly plucky official moves to protest illegal Israeli settlements recently, notes Eric Walberg

Israeli mayoral visits to Spain and the Netherlands were nixed in September because the delegation included leaders of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The visit of thirty Israeli mayors to the Netherlands was organised by the Israeli branch of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) after the Spanish municipal organisation cancelled a proposed visit in light of the Israeli attack on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla.

The Dutch conference was to be hosted by the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG), located in The Hague. The aim of the trip was purportedly to learn more about the Dutch system of local, regional and national authorities, though such official visits are really an Israeli ploy to provide de facto recognition of illegal settlements.

The JDC and the Union of Local Authorities in Israel tried to arrange the tour through the embassy of the Netherlands in Tel Aviv, including mayors of West Bank settlements Beit Aryeh, Har Adar, Kiryat Arba, Oranit, Beit El, Efrat and Elkana, but when informed, VNG refused to host the delegation as long as the occupation mayors were part of it. "When they asked for the list we realised we had run aground," said head of the Council of Efrat Oded Revivi, though the JDC has facilitated similar trips to Denmark, France and China.

The Palestinian Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee emphasised that there are more than 150 settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, housing 475,000 settlers on more than forty per cent of the West Bank. After VNG’s decision to call off the visit, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen came under fire from Dutch right-wing parliamentarians. Geert Wilders, leader of Party for Freedom, demanded that Verhagen force VNG to proceed with the planned visit. Pro-Israeli Verhagen surprised parliament by supporting VNG, admitting that Israeli settlements are in violation of international law.

VNG did the same in the 1990s, urging Dutch cities to support the South African anti-apartheid movement when the national government was reluctant to. Amsterdam declared itself an "anti-apartheid city", boycotting South Africa and hosting the ANC representative for the Netherlands. The VNG’s principled position today is once again paving the way for otherwise timid politicians like Verhagen to stand up to Israeli apartheid.

***

Israel’s accession to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in May was a coup for the country, in face of its 2008 invasion of Gaza and continued settlement activity. This entry in the European Union via the backdoor was quickly used by Israel to try to try to secure de facto recognition of Jerusalem its new capital by hosting an OECD tourism conference in West Jerusalem in October.

However, this backfired as 11 countries boycotted the High Level Roundtable rather than provide the long-sought recognition, including Norway, Canada, Ireland, the UK, Sweden, Iceland, Turkey and South Africa. Other countries sent only low-level delegations: Greece a Tel-Aviv staffer from the Greek information office and Denmark a statistician. The Czech Republic was the only EU country to send a political representation. The Swedish delegation to the OECD indicated that their boycott of the conference was in conformity to EU policy on the status of Jerusalem.

The tipping point was when Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov boasted to the press that the meeting -- the first OECD meeting hosted by Israel since it became a member -- was proof that OECD members recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital. In a strongly worded letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, OECD General Secretary Angel Gurria called the comments "factually incorrect and quite unacceptable".

Even the drivers at the ill-fated Roundtable, hired to shepherd delegates around the Holy Sites, raised a furor, as they turned out to be from the extremist Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, which has built and has jurisdiction over 42 West Bank settlements.

Critics of Israeli membership in the OECD assert that Israel does not meet the required economic and human rights standards for membership, and that OECD members who allowed Israel to join did so in violation of their own commitments to the Geneva Conventions. Israeli economic data submitted to the OECD brazenly includes information relating to illegal Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territory, amounting to an implicit OECD endorsement of the Israeli occupation.

The BDS National Committee described the Roundtable boycott as "clear condemnation of Israel’s continued ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem". BDS coordinator Hind Awwad said, "That countries like Canada and the UK, which are traditionally staunch defenders of Israeli apartheid, colonialism and occupation, have refused to attend the conference is a significant development."

The scandal confirms that it is impossible to deal with Israel without abetting its occupation of Palestinian territories and its daily violations of human rights and international law, forcing even the most pro-Israel countries in the West to join the BDS campaign, despite their official condemnation of it.

***

It is not just the Israeli government that is guilty, but all Israeli organisations, especially universities, which collaborate with the occupation through research. This prompted 200 academics from 14 South African universities last month to support University of Johannesburg’s decision to end collaboration with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. "As academics we acknowledge that all of our scholarly work takes place within larger social contexts -- particularly in institutions committed to social transformation. South African institutions are under an obligation to revisit relationships forged during the apartheid era with other institutions that turned a blind eye to racial oppression in the name of 'purely scholarly’ or 'scientific’ work."

South Africa’s Human Sciences Research Council, in a response to an investigation commissioned by the South African government in 2009, issued a report confirming that the everyday structural racism and oppression imposed by Israel constitutes a regime of apartheid and settler colonialism similar to the one that shaped lives in South Africa.

***

Despite the strong Friends of Israel lobby in all three British political parties and the fragile UK coalition government, on 3 November, another Hague caught Europe off-guard, this time British Foreign William Hague, who defied official Israel and met with Palestinian and Israeli anti-Wall activists in Bitunia south of Ramallah, overlooking Ofer prison, where many activists are in jail.

"When negotiations seem like an eternally unfulfilled promise due to Israel’s unwillingness to reach a fair solution, popular resistance to the Occupation is the sole remaining possible alternative for the Palestinians to achieve their rights and avoid armed struggle," Hague encouraged the activists, promising them the support of the British government in their struggle.

***

Eric Walberg writes for Al-Ahram Weekly http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/ You can reach him at http://ericwalberg.com/

)bron: Uruknet)

"Dexia medeplichtig aan mensenrechtenschendingen"

Het Russell Tribunal on Palestine in Londen oordeelde dit weekend dat Dexia samen met tal van andere grote bedrijven medeplichtig is aan de schendingen van het internationaal recht die Israël begaat door de bezetting van de Westelijke Jordaanoever.

Van 20 tot 23 november vond in Londen de tweede editie van het Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) plaats. Het Tribunaal wou nagaan in hoeverre bedrijven medeplichtig zijn aan mensenrechtenschendingen van Israël, oorlogsmisdaden en schendingen van het humanitair recht.

Eén van de bedrijven die onder de loep werd genomen, was Dexia. Dexia financiert illegale Israëlische kolonies op de Westelijke Jordaanoever, Palestijns grondgebied. De bank beschikt over drie vierde van de aandelen van Dexia Israël. Deze dochteronderneming financiert lokale structuren met inbegrip van de nederzettingen. De voorbije tien jaar heeft Dexia niets ondernomen tegen de investeringen van hun dochterbedrijf. Zevenenvijftig kolonies ontvangen hulp van de Dexia Groep.



Tijdens het Tribunaal kwam duidelijk naar voren dat Dexia medeplichtig is aan schendingen van het internationaal recht door Israël. “Wat meteen opviel met betrekking tot Dexia was dat de juryleden het bedrijf een ernstige vorm van medeplichtigheid toeschreven. Financiering is immers een rechtstreeks instrument om de kolonistatie in stand te houden. Het is een vorm van medeplichtigheid die niet-toelaatbaar is,” zegt Eva Brems, federaal volksvertegenwoordiger van Groen! die in Londen deelnam aan het Tribunaal.

De jury van het Tribunaal heeft actiegroepen opgeroepen om naast boycots ook het recht als actiemiddel te gebruiken. Als een rechtbank mensenrechtenschendingen vaststelt, kunnen internationale bedrijven gedagvaard worden. Het is wel beter andere middelen uit te putten alvorens naar de rechtbank te stappen.

Brems legt een grote verantwoordelijkheid bij de regering. “De overheden in ons land zijn immers aandeelhouder van Dexia. Eigenlijk heb je via het parlement en de gemeenteraden de mogelijkheid om bedrijven op andere gedachten te brengen. Zeker in het geval van Dexia is de verantwoordelijkheid van de overheid groot.”
Overheden zijn dus aansprakelijk, ook al is Dexia een private onderneming. Mario Franssen, medewerker van de ngo Intal, stelt dat de Belgische en Franse overheidsapparaten goed zijn voor 49,5% van de aandelen van de Dexia Groep.

Dehaene versus Van Agt

Oud-premier Jean-Luc Dehaene is de voorzitter van Dexia. Dehaene kwam daardoor op het Tribunaal lijnrecht te staan tegenover zijn Nederlandse christendemocratische tegenhanger Dries van Agt. Die was tussen 1977 en 1982 premier van Nederland, maar ontpopte zich later tot een hevig voorvechter van de rechten van de Palestijnen. Hij verleende ook zijn steun aan het Tribunaal.
Tijdens het Tribunaal kregen ook andere multinationals een veeg uit de pan. Zo bevoorraadt de bewakingsfirma G4S – in ons land marktleider – de Israëlische checkpoints op de Westelijke Jordaanoever.

Het Tribunaal is ook een laboratorium voor nieuwe acties tegen de bezetting van Palestina. Er werden contacten gelegd en nieuwe campagnes voorbereid. “Het was een echte broedvijver van ideeën”, zegt Brems.

Jurylid van het tribunaal, Michael Mansfield die op maandag 22 november de pers te woord stond, roept de civiele maatschappij op tot sensibilisering en mobilisering. Op die manier kan men bewustwording creëren bij het brede publiek.
Ronnie Kasrils, een veteraan van de strijd tegen de Zuid-Afrikaanse apartheid, wees op het belang van een boycotcampagne.

Het tribunaal ontleent zijn naam aan Bertrand Russell, initiatiefnemer van het 'International War Crimes Tribunal' dat opgezet werd in 1966 om de schendingen van het internationaal recht te onderzoeken tijdens de Vietnamoorlog. Het Russell Tribunal on Palestine (RToP) zoekt een oplossing voor het conflict tussen Israël en Palestina.

De jury van het Tribunaal bestaat uit mensenrechtenactivisten en oud-politici. Naast Dries van Agt steunen ook onder meer de voormalige secretaris-generaal van de VN Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Noam Chomsky en de filmmakers Mike Leigh en Ken Loach het Tribunaal.

» Slotverklaring van het Tribunaal

(DeWereldMorgen.be)

Young, Jewish and Proud

In Our Own Words:

• Rae Abileah: Jewish Values vs. Israeli Policies: Why five young Jews disrupted PM Netanyahu in New Orleans
• Matthew Taylor: Why I disrupted Bibi’s speech
• Matthew Taylor: Young Jews Tell Bibi: Israel is Delegitimizing Itself
• Rachel Roberts: Challenging the Jewish General Assembly
• Emily Ratner: We would not have had to interrupt Netanyahu if the world listened to Palestinian voices

Through Others’ Eyes:

• The Forward: Jewish Voice for Peace Activists Interrupt Bibi at GA
• The Forward: Federations Find Youth Outreach Tricky Terrain at Yearly Meeting
• Jewish Telegraphic Agency: Monday morning tussles at the GA
• Ha’aretz: Hecklers disrupt Netanyahu’s speech at U.S. Jewish conference
• Haaretz: A Birthright trip for Palestinians, too? Maybe not
• Ha’aretz: Five years on, New Orleans Jewish community rises from the ruins
• Jerusalem Post: Peace protesters disrupt Netanyahu’s GA speech
• Jerusalem Post: As GA ends, heckling of Netanyahu leaves a bitter taste
• Ynet: Israeli who disrupted PM’s speech: We were raised on human rights
• Ynet: Protestors disrupt Netanyahu’s GA speech in New Orleans
• The Associated Press: Protesters interrupt Netanyahu New Orleans speech
• Ma’an News Agency: Israeli, US Jews disrupt Netanyahu speech
• Al-Ahram: Netanyahu, champion of settlers
• New Voices: JVP Protests Netanyahu’s GA Speech
• Jewish Journal: Bibi’s G.A. Hecklers: Young Jews
• Mondoweiss (with video): Five young Jews disrupt Netanyahu speech with call for new Jewish identity
• Isabel Kershner, The New York Times, As Netanyahu speaks in U.S., Israel publishes plans for new settlement housing
• Dana Milbank, Washington Post: Netanyahu’s Noisy Tour of New Orleans.
• Tikkun: Young Jewish Activists Attract Positive Press for Anti-Occupation Message
• The Third Way, Mitchell Plitnick: Am Yisrael Chai?
• Jewschool: Bibi’s Hecklers
• Jewschool: The Mishpocha
• Shereen Naser: A perspective on the Jewish Federation General Assembly from its only Palestinian attendee
• Ha’aretz: Bibi, Tom Friedman, and U.S. Jews divesting from Israel

www.youngjewishproud.org

Israël koloniseert - Dexia financiert

Klanten sluiten Dexia-rekening uit protest tegen financiering Israëlische kolonies

Een vijftiental klanten van bank-verzekeraar Dexia heeft vandaag bij een protestactie aan het kantoor aan het Brusselse Rogierplein hun rekening opgezegd uit protest tegen de financiering van de bouw van nederzettingen op Palestijns gebied door Dexia Israël.

Volgens Mario Franssen van het platform 'Israël koloniseert - Dexia financiert' ondernemen momenteel zo'n 60 mensen de nodige stappen om hun rekening stop te zetten. Het platform, dat opgezet werd in 2008 en 78 verenigingen groepeert, beschuldigt Dexia ervan de kolonisering van Palestijns gebied te steunen via Dexia Israël.
 
De voorbije twee jaar stuurde de vereniging al zo'n 10.000 protestkaarten naar Dexia. Volgens Franssen hebben verschillende gemeenten reeds een motie gestemd waarbij ze de actie steunen.
 
In een reactie wijst Dexia erop dat de Israëlische dochter zonder onderscheid alle gemeenten financiert, inclusief de Arabische, die goed zijn voor ongeveer 10 procent van de uitstaande kredieten. "Tegelijkertijd bouwde Dexia sinds 2001 de financiering van Israëlische nederzettingen sterk af." Bovendien kende Dexia sinds juni 2008 geen enkel nieuw krediet toe aan de nederzettingen, luidt het.
 
Dexia verwierf in 2001 Otszar Hashilton Hamekomi. Die financiële instelling gespecialiseerd in de financiering van lokale besturen, werd omgedoopt in Dexia Israël Bank. (belga/adv)

Dexia verklaarde in mei dit jaar sinds juni 2008 geen enkele nieuwe hypotheek te hebben verstrekt aan de nederzettingen.

Achtergrondinformatie:
» DEXIA EN DE ISRAËLISCHE KOLONIES - Hoe en waarom investeert Dexia in de Israëlische kolonies?
» CHRONOLOGIE VAN DE CAMPAGNE 'ISRAËL KOLONISEERT - DEXIA FINANCIERT
» Doe mee met de actie 'Ik sluit mijn rekening bij Dexia!'

Israel shedding allies as government goes ‘from bad to worse’

Dit jaar is Israël toegelaten (waarom?) tot de Organisatie voor Economische Samenwerking en Ontwikkeling (OESO, in het Engels OECD). Deze week is er een bijeenkomst over toerisme in Jeruzalem. Nadat o.a. Turkije, Spanje en Groot-Brittannië hebben afgezegd roept de Arabische Liga op tot een boycot van de bijeenkomst. Minder dan de helft van de 33 leden komen opdagen. In de Nederlandse pers wordt de bijeenkomst doodgezwegen.

Eerder deze week moest de Israëlische minister van Toerisme Stas Misezhnikov (lid van Lieberman's ultrarechtse Yisrael Beitenu partij) onder druk van de OESO zijn opmerkingen inslikken over dat de bijeenkomst in wezen een bewijs was van de erkenning van Jeruzalem als "ondeelbare hoofdstad" van Israël.

Israel shedding allies as government goes ‘from bad to worse’

The Globe and Mail | By Patrick Martin | Oct. 18, 2010

The list of Israel’s friends is quickly becoming a lot shorter than that of its former friends. To the second category can be added a number of OECD member countries and officials, a leading British film director and the King of Morocco –who have all in the past few days cited increasing unease with Israel’s policies toward Palestinians.

Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has always been, like his father King Hassan XII, a quiet friend of Israel and the Jewish people. Just last month he reportedly donated millions of dollars to refurbish Jewish cemeteries in Morocco.

The King and his father felt a particular kinship with Israeli President Shimon Peres. So as Morocco prepared to host next week a session of the World Economic Forum, at which Mr. Peres was to be a participant, it was natural to invite the Israeli to the palace for a visit.

That, according to members of Mr. Peres’s staff, was the way things stood until the government of Benjamin Netanyahu ended the freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank at the end of last month. Then last week, the government announced tenders for more than 200 housing units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

On Saturday night, Mr. Peres received the word: He was not welcome at the Moroccan palace at this time.

“It is reasonable to think that the President is furious, and rightly so,” wrote Shalom Yerushalmi in Monday’s Maariv newspaper. “Last Monday, Peres criticized Netanyahu, saying ‘Now is the time for leadership that will take historic decisions,’” Mr. Yershalmi recalled, adding that, “until a short while ago, Peres believed in Netanyahu – not any more.”

From L-R, Estonia's Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, Chile's Finance Minister Felipe Larrain, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Slovenia's Prime Minister Borut Pahor and Secretary General of Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Angel Gurria join hands during the OECD Forum and Ministerial Council to Focus on Innovation, Growth in Paris May 27, 2010.

Word of that international setback had barely emerged Monday when news came that celebrated British director Mike Leigh had cancelled plans for his week-long visit to Israel next month owing to Israeli government policies. The director of Secrets and Lies and Vera Drake had agreed to deliver a master workshop to Israeli film students and to meet with film people in several centres.

In a letter to his Israeli host, Renen Schorr, director of the Sam Spiegel Film and TV School, Mr. Leigh wrote that he had almost cancelled his plans after the flotilla incident in May, when Israeli commandos boarded a ship bound for Gaza and several people were killed.

“Since then, your government has gone from bad to worse,” he told Mr. Schorr. He cited “the resumption of the illegal building on the West Bank,” and the matter of an oath of loyalty to the “Jewish state” the government proposes to administer to all non-Jews who seek to become Israeli citizens (primarily directed at people who marry Arab Israelis).

“This is the last straw,” Mr. Schorr said.

Meanwhile, OECD officials are arriving in Jerusalem for a conference on tourism that almost was cancelled as well.

Less than half of the OECD’s 33 member countries are sending delegates, and some of those missing are believed to have been uncomfortable with staging a conference here at this politically charged time.

They and several OECD officials became particularly alarmed when Israel’s Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, a member of Avigdor Lieberman’s right-wing Yisrael Beitenu party, announced that holding the conference in Jerusalem was “a seal of approval on the fact that we have a state whose recognized capital is Jerusalem.”

The declaration was said to have upset OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, who only a few months ago had presided over the acceptance of Israel’s membership in the club of developed nations. None of those states has accepted Israel’s claim to all of Jerusalem, much of which was occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War.

“By hosting the OECD conference in Jerusalem, Israel seeks de facto recognition of its illegal annexation of East Jerusalem,” said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in peace talks with Israel. He added Monday that it “creates the perception that the OECD is complicit with Israel’s provocative and unlawful actions in this occupied city.”

It is reported that in exchange for allowing the conference to go ahead in Jerusalem, the Israeli government pledged it would maintain a low political profile at all events related to the OECD meeting. Planned excursions for delegates to sites such as the Dome of the Rock and Western Wall were cancelled, since they are located in the occupied sector of the city.

Regisseur Mike Leigh protesteert tegen Israël

(Novum) - Regisseur Mike Leigh heeft zijn geplande reis naar Israël voor een filmfestival afgeblazen uit solidariteit met de Arabische inwoners van dat land. Leigh, zelf van Joodse afkomst, is het fundamenteel oneens met een nieuwe Israëlische wet.

In de wet staat dat elke niet-Joodse immigrant een eed van trouw moet afleggen aan de 'Joodse en democratische staat'. Dit wordt door velen als discriminatie gezien tegen de Arabische inwoners. In een brief aan de school die het filmfestival organiseert schrijft Leigh dat hij het al heel lang oneens is met de manier waarop Israël het beleid van de Gazastrook voert, maar dat deze wet 'de druppel was die de emmer deed overlopen'.

Het schoolhoofd zegt dat Israëlische kunstenaars steeds meer in een isolement terechtkomen vanwege de huidige Israëlische politiek. De 67-jarige Leigh, vooral bekend van zijn films Naked (1993) en Secrets & Lies (1996), zou naar Israël reizen om deel te nemen aan een filmfestival dat daar volgende maand plaatsvindt. (Nieuws.nl)

Towards accountability: John Dugard interviewed

The Electronic Intifada | Adri Nieuwhof
5 October 2010

Last month, Professor John Dugard, former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, chaired a meeting on universal Jurisdiction in the Hague. The Electronic Intifada contributor Adri Nieuwhof interviewed Dugard about means of bringing Israel to account for its human rights violations, particularly the legal mechanism of universal jurisdiction.

Former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories John Dugard in 2007. (UN Photo)

Adri Nieuwhof: Can you explain the principle of universal jurisdiction?

John Dugard: Essentially, universal jurisdiction means that a state has the power to exercise jurisdiction over serious crimes under international law that were committed outside the boundaries of the state by non-nationals. Normally states have only jurisdiction over crimes in their territory by their nationals.

AN: Do states have responsibility towards exercising universal jurisdiction?

JD: Yes, if states are serious about suppressing international crime and preventing impunity, then there is an obligation to exercise universal jurisdiction. It is important to realize that the International Criminal Court in The Hague has limited universal jurisdiction. If impunity is to be avoided, states will have the obligation to prosecute international crimes themselves.

AN: Can you specify what this obligation of states implies?

JD: They have to institute criminal procedures against persons suspected of international crimes, to investigate and to bring the suspects before their court.

AN: You spoke at the meeting about selectivity in implementing universal jurisdiction. Can you clarify this?

JD: Universal jurisdiction is not very effective at present. There are practical difficulties involved, in particular, the collection of evidence. For example, if the Netherlands prosecuted serious crimes committed in Rwanda, it will have to collect evidence in Rwanda. There is no political will on the part of states to exercise universal jurisdiction, particularly where it concerns Israeli officials. When attempts are made to exercise universal jurisdiction over Israeli officials obstacles are raised by governments or courts find some technical reasons for not exercising universal jurisdiction.

AN: Is there a reason behind this selectivity in universal jurisdiction?

JD: European and American states are reluctant to undermine their relations with Israel.

AN: What needs to be done to reverse this selectivity? Is there a role for civil society?

JD: Civil society can always bring pressure on governments to exercise criminal jurisdiction. It has a role to play in changing public opinion. It will mean that courts will start to exercise universal jurisdiction.

AN: Israel increasingly oppresses human rights defenders and activists campaigning for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). Can you comment on this development?

JD: It is unfortunate. Israel has been relatively tolerant of dissent in its society. It indicates a new repressive tendency of Israeli society. The effect will be stifled dissent in Israeli society.

AN: Can you comment on the imprisonment of civil society leader and Palestinian citizen of Israel Ameer Makhoul and the reports that he was tortured during the interrogations?

JD: My difficulty is that I have not been in Israel since 2007. I cannot comment on Israel. In the past there were frequent allegations of torture by Israeli human rights activists. That is serious. I am out of touch with recent developments.

AN: Israeli accuses the BDS movement of delegitimizing Israel. What is your reaction to this accusation?

JD: The BDS actions are delegitimizing Israel. There is no question about that. Obviously Israel is unwilling to accept that, similar to apartheid South Africa, which did want to suppress international sanctions. BDS was at that time effective, largely as a result of international advocacy for [boycott, divestment and] sanctions. It delegitimized the state and ultimately led to change in South Africa.

The comparison between Israel and South Africa is important. The situation is very similar at present. The international community is increasingly critical of Israel, advocating for international [boycott, divestment and] sanctions. It is not surprising that Israel is taking steps to prevent them in the same way the South African government did.

Adri Nieuwhof is a consultant and human rights advocate based in Switzerland.

South Africa's Israel boycott

The Guardian | By Ronnie Kasrils | 29 Sept 2010

When Chief Albert Luthuli made a call for the international community to support a boycott of apartheid South Africa in 1958, the response was a widespread and dedicated movement that played a significant role in ending apartheid. Amid the sporting boycotts, the pledges of playwrights and artists, the actions by workers to stop South African goods from entering local markets and the constant pressure on states to withdraw their support for the apartheid regime, the role of academics also came to the fore.

One significant move was the resolution taken by 150 Irish academics not to accept academic posts or appointments in apartheid South Africa. In 1971, the council of Trinity College Dublin took a decision not to own shares in any company that traded or had a subsidiary that traded in the Republic. The council later resolved that the university would not retain any formal or institutional links with any academic or state institution in South Africa.

Almost four decades later, the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions is gaining ground again in South Africa, this time against Israeli apartheid.

Prominent South Africans including Desmond Tutu have endorsed recent moves to boycott Israeli institutions. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian

Earlier this month, more than 100 academics across South Africa, from over 13 universities, pledged their support to a University of Johannesburg initiative for ending collaboration with the Israeli occupation. The campaign has since grown to include up to 200 supporters. The nationwide academic petition calling for the termination of an agreement between the University of Johannesburg and the Israeli Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has attracted widespread attention. With the recent endorsement of some of the leading voices in South Africa, such as Kader Asmal, Breyten Breytenbach, John Dugard, Antjie Krog, Mahmood Mamdani, Barney Pityana and Desmond Tutu, the statement confirms the strength of the boycott call in South Africa:

"As academics we acknowledge that all of our scholarly work takes place within larger social contexts – particularly in institutions committed to social transformation. South African institutions are under an obligation to revisit relationships forged during the apartheid era with other institutions that turned a blind eye to racial oppression in the name of 'purely scholarly' or 'scientific work'."

Israeli universities are not being targeted for boycott because of their ethnic or religious identity, but because of their complicity in the Israeli system of apartheid. As the academics who have supported the call clearly articulate in their statement, Ben-Gurion University maintains material links to the military occupation. Israel's attacks on Gaza in 2009, which saw the killing of more than 400 children, drew immediate and widespread international condemnation. Israel's violation of international law was further confirmed by South Africa's Justice Richard Goldstone in his report to the United Nations. Ben-Gurion University directly and indirectly supported these attacks, through the offering of scholarships and extra tuition to students who served in active combat units and by providing special grants to students who went on reserve duty for each day of service.

The principled position of academics in South Africa to distance themselves from institutions that support the occupation is a reflection of the advances already made in exposing that the Israeli regime is guilty of an illegal and immoral colonial project. South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council, in a response to an investigation commissioned by the South African government in 2009, issued a report confirming that the everyday structural racism and oppression imposed by Israel constitutes a regime of apartheid and settler colonialism similar to the one that shaped our lives in South Africa.

More recently, the international response to the shameful attack on the flotilla carrying medical supplies and other basic goods to the ghettoised population of Gaza was a sign of the erosion of Israel's legitimacy in the eyes of the international community. In South Africa, the recall of our ambassador to Israel and the issuing of one of the strongest forms of diplomatic condemnation, the démarche, to Israel's ambassador in Pretoria was a strong statement of recognition by the South African government that Israel's actions deserve our utmost contempt.

The campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel has now launched in South Africa. Trade unions in South Africa have publicly committed their support; most notably with the action by South African Transport and Allied Workers Union dockworkers early last year to refuse offloading Israeli goods at Durban harbour – a commitment that was renewed in July this year.

The consumer boycott has also been gaining ground, including the launch of the recent public campaign by leading South African activists to boycott Ahava Dead Sea Cosmetics and to join the international movement to boycott Israeli products.

The boycott and sanctions campaign ultimately helped liberate both black and white South Africans. Palestinians and Israelis will similarly benefit from this international non-violent campaign – a campaign that all South Africans can take forward.

The petition to terminate the relationship between University of Johannesburg and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev can be accessed at www.ujpetition.com.

Uitspraak Reclame Code Commissie: GoIsrael misleidt toeristen

Persbericht 29-09-2010

Twee activisten hebben een aanklacht ingediend bij de Reclame Code Commissie tegen het Israëlisch Nationaal Bureau voor Toerisme GoIsrael wegens misleidende reclame. De Commissie heeft hen in het gelijk gesteld. GoIsrael’s reclame is “misleidend en daardoor oneerlijk”. Merkwaardigerwijs beschouwde de Commissie de reclame-uitingen niet als kwetsend voor in Nederland wonende Palestijnen en Syriers of in strijd met de waarheid. Door de uitspraak van de Commissie mag GoIsrael nu geen reizen meer naar bezet Palestijns gebied promoten alsof het reizen naar Israël zouden zijn.

GoIsrael maakt intensief reclame met kaarten waarop in 1967 bezet Palestijns en Syrisch gebied wordt afgebeeld als deel van Israël. De tekst ondersteunt dat beeld waarin (toeristische bezienswaardigheden in) onder andere Oost-Jeruzalem en Bethlehem deel uitmaken van Israël. Dit is in ernstige mate onjuist, want het gaat hier om gebieden die Israel in 1967 heeft veroverd. Deze gebieden hebben internationaal de status van bezet Palestijns c.q. Syrisch gebied. Het Internationaal Gerechtshof te Den Haag maakte dit in zijn uitspraak over ‘de Muur’ op 9 juli 2004 nog eens extra duidelijk. Als het Israëlisch Verkeersbureau GoIsrael deze gebieden presenteert als deel van Israel misleidt het daarmee potentiële toeristen
De nederzettingenbouw in de Palestijnse bezette gebieden wordt internationaal veroordeeld. Het is een groot obstakel geworden in de vredesonderhandelingen.

Voorbeelden van gesignaleerde misleiding zijn de Syrische Banyas watervallen, en Palestijnse plaatsen als Beit Sahur, Bethlehem, Jericho en Nablus. In sommige folders worden historische Palestijnse plaatsen en regio’s met Bijbelse namen aangeduid, zoals Shechem in plaats van Nablus. Hierdoor wordt de Palestijnse identiteit van deze plaatsen nog verder verdoezeld. Ook wordt er geen onderscheid gemaakt tussen West en Oost Jeruzalem, en wordt een plek als de Tempelberg vanzelfsprekend als Israëlisch aangeduid, terwijl het volkenrechtelijk bij de Palestijnse Bezette gebieden behoort. De folder “Bijbelse plaatsen voor Christelijke bezoekers” vermeldt dat “In 1967 Jeruzalem werd herenigd en zijn plaats hervond als eeuwige hoofdstad van het Joodse volk, met vrijheid voor alle godsdiensten”.

Links de officiële landkaart van Israël, rechts de versie van het Bureau voor Toerisme

Advocaat van den Biesen: “En zo presenteert verweerder (GoIsrael) zich als een gastheer die zijn gasten in het huis van zijn buren op visite nodigt en het daarbij doet voorkomen alsof het huis van zijn buren van hem is en verzwijgt dat de buurman het met deze gang van zaken in het geheel niet eens is en daarmee rechtens ook volledig in zijn gelijk staat en dat zijn buurman bovendien zeer aanzienlijke schade en hinder van deze illegale situatie ondervindt”.

Er is Israel veel aan gelegen om toeristen te trekken. Israel reserveert $2,4 miljoen voor toerisme in de bezette gebieden. Daags na de opheffing van de bouwstop van illegale nederzettingen plaatste GoIsrael paginagrote vakantieadvertenties in o.a. de Metro. In oktober wordt de jaarlijkse OESO Toerisme-conferentie in Jeruzalem georganiseerd. Met de aanklacht tegen GoIsrael hopen de activisten in de toekomst misleidende Israëlreclame te kunnen tegengaan.

Uitspraak Reclame Code Commissie (pdf)

150 Amerikaanse acteurs steunen boycot Israëlische acteurs

De weigering van Israëlische acteurs om op te treden in de joodse nederzetting Ariel, werd zowaar verslagen door Trouw, de Volkskrant en de NOS, maar dat 150 Amerikaanse acteurs daarvoor hun steun uitspraken was blijkbaar teveel van het goede. Alleen Trouw wijdt er een 5 regels aan. Dat Ariel tevens een geliefde vakantiebestemming is van Joël Voordewind en zijn collega's van de Christenunie, lezen we natuurlijk helemaal niet in onze zogenoemde "kwaliteitskranten".

Making history: support for Israeli artists who say NO to normalizing settlements

When some 60 leading Israeli actors and playwrights signed a letter stating they would refuse to play in the new theatre in Ariel, one of Israel's largest settlements, the attacks from Prime Minister Netanyahu, Israel's Minister of Culture and Sport and many others were swift and intense. Over 150 leading Israeli academics and writers-including Amos Oz and David Grossman- came to their defense. It was the first time such mainstream figures had drawn a line around normalizing settlements which are illegal according to international law, and which constitute one of the main impediments to a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

Inspired by their courage, and responding to a call for international support, Jewish Voice for Peace has developed a statement that has been signed by over 150 theater and film professionals representing some of the most respected and renowned artists in theater, film and television – including Four Pulitzer Prize winners, several recipients of Guggenheim Fellowships, a MacArthur Fellowship, a National Medal of Honor,and scores of recipients of the highest U.S. acting honors, including Tony Awards, Emmy Awards, Grammy Awards, Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, and the Oscar.

Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace: "The response of American and UK artists to the courageous actions of their Israeli counterparts is just phenomenal. It is especially notable that so many of the signatories are Jewish with long-standing connections to Israel. We hope that the strong show of solidarity by Americans and UK actors in response to these brave Israelis will help spark a new conversation in both countries, one that acknowledges that the Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are illegal by every measure of international law, contribute to the daily violation of human rights of Palestinians, and are a major obstacle to a just peace in the region."

To sign the petition, click here.

For further background and frequently asked questions, click here.

Coverage of original Israeli artists protest:

Ynet: Artists to refuse to perform in Ariel culture hall

New York Times: Boycott of Theater in Israeli Settlement Grows

UK Guardian: Actors boycott West Bank Theater

Gideon Levy, Ha'aretz : Puppet Theater
Ha'aretz Editorial: Stalin's Commissar in the PMO

Coverage of our support campaign:


MJ Rosenberg on Huffington Post: Hollywood joins Israeli artists in boycotting West Bank
JTA: US television, film artists join West Bank boycott
Jewish Chronicle: Hollywood joins West Bank protest
Forward: Cynthia Nixon, Mandy Patinkin Among Artists Backing Boycott of West Bank Theater
AP: US artists support Israelis' settlement protest.
Ha'aretz article with quotes from Wallace Shawn: US actors back boycott of Ariel theater
Ynet: Artists' boycott of Ariel goes international
Ma'an News: US actors back boycott of West Bank theater
Arutz Sheva: US actors support Israeli Ariel protest
Mondoweiss: Groundbreaking Letter
Tikkun Olam: Hollywood, Broadway stars support Israeli cutlural boycott


Text of the statement:

On August 27^th, dozens of Israeli actors, directors, and playwrights made the brave decision not to perform in Ariel, one of the largest of the West Bank settlements, which by all standards of international law are clearly illegal.  As American actors, directors, critics and playwrights, we salute our Israeli counterparts for their courageous decision.

Most of us are involved in daily compromises with wrongful acts. When a group of people suddenly have the clarity of mind to see that the next compromise looming up before them is an unbearable one -- and when they somehow find the strength to refuse to cross that line -- we can't help but be overjoyed and inspired and grateful.

It's thrilling to think that these Israeli theatre artists have refused to allow their work to be used to normalize a cruel occupation which they know to be wrong, which violates international law and which is impeding the hope for a just and lasting peace for Israelis an Palestinians alike.  They've made a wonderful decision, and they deserve the respect of people everywhere who dream of justice. We stand with them.

*Statement organizers and signatories represent a wide range of political opinions and perspectives, but have come together for the sole purpose of making a joint statement on this one critical issue.

**All identifications and affiliations are for identification purposes only and do not imply endorsements by any institutions

Ed Asner
Actor
8 time Emmy award Winner (more than any other male actor); Former president Screen Actors Guild, lead voice in Pixar's Up, Mary Tyler Moore

Theodore Bikel
Actor, Folk Singer, Musician
Co-founder of the Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv; president of the Associated Actors and Artistes of America; Academy Award nominee; Tony Award nominee; actor in film, TV and theater; vocalist

Eve Ensler
Playwright, preformer
The Vagina Monologues; Obie Award winner; Guggenheim Fellowship

Tony Kushner
Playwright; Screenwriter;
Pulitzer Prize winner for Angels in America; Tony Award winner; Emmy Award winner; Drama Desk Award winner; Was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award; Co-author of Munich

Miriam Margolyes
Actor
Portrayed Professor Sprout in Harry Potter; BAFTA Winner

Julianne Moore
Actor
Boogie Nights, Magnolia, The Big Lebowski, The Hours, The Kids Are All Right

Cynthia Nixon
Actress
Portrayed Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City; Emmy, Tony and Grammy Award-winning actress

Mandy Patinkin
Actor, Vocalist
Actor in Yentl, the Princess Bride (portrayed Inigo Montoya), Sunday in the Park with George; Vocalist, (Mamaloshen), Tony Award winner

Harold Prince
Director, Producer,
21 Tony Awards winner (Pajama Game, Cabaret, West Side Story, Sweeney Todd, Evita, Phantom of the Opera), National Medal of the Arts Recipient

Vanessa Redgrave
actress
The only British actress to ever have won the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Canes, Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild awards; Mission: Impossible, Mary Queen of Scots, Atonement.

James Schamus
Producer, Screenwriter, Film Historian
BAFTA Award Winner; producer of Brokeback Mountain, co-writer and producer of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm, Eat Drink Man Woman, Academy Award nominee, CEO Focus Features

Wallace Shawn
Actor, Playwright, Translator
Actor in Princess Bride (portrayed Vizzini) My Dinner With Andre, Vanya on 42nd St; playwright of The Fever, The Designated Mourner; translator of Three Penny Opera by  Bertoldt Brecht

Jennifer Tilly
Actress
Portrayed Olive Neal in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway, Fabulous Baker Boys, Liar Liar, Bound; Academy Award Nominee

David Adjmi
Playwright
Steinberg Playwright Award, the Bush Artists Fellowship, and the Kesselring Fellowship for Drama, named in the New Yorker as up and coming playwright

Bruce Allardice
Managing Director
Ping Chong & Co.

Philip Arnoult
Director, Center for International Theatre Development (CITD)

Anthony Arnove
Author and Editor
Co-Directed (with Howard Zinn and Chris Moore) and Executive Produced "The People Speak (film)

Caron Atlas
Cultural Organizer and Consultant

Project Director, Arts and Democracy Project

Arthur Aviles
Artistic Director
Artistic Director, The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre

David Barlow
Actor, Writer, Performance Artist

Laura Barnett
Theater Educator, Performance Artist, Director

George Bartenieff
Actor
Obie Award Winner

Mark Barton
Lighting Designer

John Bell
Director
Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry, Puppeteer, Scholar, Great Small Works.

Melia Bensussen
Director
Obie Award Winning Director; Chair of Emerson College Department of Performing Arts

Eric Bentley
Theatre scholar, critic, author, playwright, editor and translator

Theodore S. Berger
Executive Director of the New York Foundation for the Arts for thirty years

Susan Bernfield
Artistic Director, New Georges

Philip Bither
Senior curator, Walker Arts Center

James Bundy
Dean, Yale School of Drama;  Artistic Director, Yale Repertory Theatre

Kathleen Chalfant
Actor
Obie Award Winner, Drama Desk Winner, Tony Award Nominee

Linda Chapman
Associate Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop

Rachel Chavkin
Director; Founder and Artistic director of the TEAM (the Theater of the Emerging American Moment)

Trudi Cohen
Puppeteer, Theater Artist
Great Small Works

Kia Corthron
Playwright

Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas
Playwright

Clare Coss
Playwright

Alex Courtney
Stage, Film and Television Actor

Tim Cusack
Artistic Director, Theatre Askew

Savitri D.
Director
The Church of Life After Shopping

Matthew Dellapina
Actor

Ivor Dembina
Comedian 

David J. Diamond
Theatre consultant, Producer 

Elin Diamond
Critic, Scholar

Liz Diamond
Director
Chair, Directing Dept., Yale School of Drama

Sally Eberhardt
Theatres Against War (THAW)

Edward Einhorn
Director, Playwright, Novelist, Executive Director of the Association of Jewish Theatre

Deborah Eisenberg
Playwright, Author, Actor, MacArthur Fellow

John Clinton Eisner
Artistic Director, Lark Play Development Center

Oskar Eustis
Artistic Director, The Public Theater

Bertie Ferdman, Ph.D.
Artistic Director, ExPgirl; Theatre Artist, Curator, Producer, Educator

Corey Fischer
Actor, Playwright
Playwright of See Under: Love; co-founder of the Traveling Jewish Theater,(now the Jewish Theater San Francisco)

Elinor Fuchs
Critic; Scholar, Yale School of Drama

Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros
Playwright
2004 finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Adam Greenfield
Director of New Play Development, Playwright Horizons

David Greenspan
Actor, Award-Winning Playwright

Andre Gregory
Actor, Director
My Dinner With Andre

Kathryn Grody
Actor; Writer
Obie Award Winner

Jason Grote
Playwright, Screenwriter

Del Hamilton
co-Founder and Artistic Director, 7 Stages

Sheldon Harnick
Lyricist
Pulitzer Prize Winner, Fiddler on the Roof, Tony Award Winner

Karen Hartman
Playwright

David Herskovits
Founder and Artistic Director, Target Margin Theater

Joan Holden
Award-Winning Playwright

Jeffrey Horowitz
Founder and Artistic Director, Theater for a New Audience
Advisory Board of The Shakespeare Society and Artistic Directorate of London’s Globe Theatre, Artistic Advisor to the Shakespeare Globe Centre (USA).

Holly Hughes
Performance Artist, Guggenheim Fellow
One of the "NEA 4", whose funding was vetoed for gay content

Birgit Huppuch
Actor

Bill Irwin
Actor, Mime, Choreographer
Winner two Tony Awards ;Winner of the National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer's Fellowship; Guggenheim, Fulbright and MacArthur Fellowships

Julia Jarcho
Playwright, Director, Performer

Morgan Jenness
Dramaturg

John Jesurun
Writer, Director, Multi-Media Artist

Jeffrey M. Jones
Playwright, Curator -
Little Theatre @ Dixon Place, Pataphysics @ The Flea

Melanie Joseph
Artistic Producer
The Foundry Theatre

Chris Kam
Independent Producer

Stephen Kaplin
Puppeteer, Theater Designer/Performer
Great Small Works and Chinese Theatre Works

Melissa Kievman
Director

Josh Kornbluth
Monologist

Aaron Landsman
Independent Artist

Paul Lazar
Co-Artistic Director Big Dance Theater

Herbert Leibowitz
Writer and Editor

Maxinne Rhea Leighton
Author

Robert H. Leonard
Director, Professor, Department of Theatre Arts, Virginia Tech

Gideon Lester
Dramaturg and Curator
Former associate artistic director, American Repertory Theatre; former Acting Artistic Director, American Repertory Theatre

Roberta Levitow
Co-Founder, Theatre Without Borders

Irene Lewis
Artistic Director
Center Stage, Baltimore, Maryland

Ethan Lipton
Playwright

Casey Llewellyn
Theater Artist

Quincy Long
Playwright

John Carroll Lynch
Actor

Kirk Lynn
Co-Producing Artistic Director
Rude Mechs, Austin, TX

Matthew Maguire
Co-Artistic Director, Creation Production Company

Matthew Maher
Actor

Judith Malina
Actor Director
Founder and Artistic Director, The Living Theatre

Karen Malpede
Playwright, Theater Three Collaborative

Nina Mankin
Dramaturg, Writer

Emily Mann
Artistic Director/Playwright
McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton, NJ

Deborah Margolin
Playwright, Actor, Scholar

Vijay Mathew
Co-Director, American Voices New Play Institute

Marin Mazzie
Actress, Singer

Ellen McLaughlin
Playwright; Actor

Erin Mee
Director, Scholar
Swarthmore theater arts professor

Greg Mehrten
Actor, Director, Writer

David Michalek
Artist, Photographer
Visiting Faculty Member - Yale Divinity School

Tyler Micoleau
Lighting Designer

Tim Miller
Performance Artist
One of the "NEA 4", whose funding was vetoed for gay content

Jennifer Miller
Performance Artist, director
Founder and Artistic Director of Circus Amok

Steve Moore
Artistic Director
Physical Plant Theater

Susan Mosakowski
Playwright
Co-Artistic Director Creation Production Company

David Moscow
Actor

Erika Munk
Critic, Professor
Formerly at Yale School of Drama

Tom Nelis
Actor

Jim Nicola
Artistic Director
New York Theatre Workshop

Lynn Nottage
Playwright
Winner of 2009 Pulitzer Prize; winner of 2007 MacArthur Genius Award

Annie-B Parson
Director
Co-Founder, Artistic director Big Dance Theater, NYFA and Guggenheim Fellow

Sally Ann Parsons
Costumer, Craftsman, Designer

Shailja Patel
Sundance Theatre Fellow 2010

Katie Pearl
Director

Sybille Pearson
Playwright
Rockefeller Playwrights Fellowship; founding member of The Playwrights Circle at The New York Theatre Workshop; an Artistic Resident at the Vineyard Theater

Ralph Pena
Artistic Director, Ma Yi Theater

Carla Peterson
Director
Artistic Director, Dance Theater Workshop

Brian Pickett
Theater Artist and Educator
Member Steering Committee - Theaters Against War (THAW)

Catherine Porter
Director
Co-Artistic Director Peculiar Works Project, Obie Award Winner

Ruth Reichl
writer; PBS Television host
former restaurant critic, NYTimes, former editor in chief, Gourmet magazine, PBS television series host, memoirist

Reno
Comedian

Gordon Rogoff
Theater Critic; Director; Professor of Theater
Yale School of Drama; Obie Award Winner

Jenny Romaine
Puppeteer, Theater Artist
Great Small Works

Avital Ronell
Writer, Academic, Literary Critic

Najla Said
Actor, Playwright
Daughter of Edward Said; “Palestine,” Her one-woman Off Broadway play is a coming-of-age story about Ms. Said’s journey to become an Arab-American on her own terms.

Sarah Schulman
Novelist; Playwright

Ken Rus Schmoll
Director

Brian H. Scott
Theatrical Designer

Regine Anna Seckinger, Ph.D.
Advisory Board Member, Rude Mechanicals, Austin, TX

Jamil Shamasdin
Actor

Peggy Shaw
Performance Artist, Actor, Playwright

Christopher Shinn
Playwright,
Obie Award Winner, Guggenheim Fellow

Jeanmarie Simpson
Theatre/Film Artist

Michael Singer
Television News Producer
Former producer, CBS News

Alisa Solomon
Theater Critic and Dramaturg
Director of Arts Concentration, School of Journalism, Columbia

Bonnie Stein
Performing Arts Administrator, Manager, Project Producer and Coordinator, Executive Director
GOH Productions

Kris Stone
Stage Designer

Mark Sussman
Scholar, Puppeteer Director.
Great Small Works; Concordia University

Caridad Svich
Playwright, Songwriter, Translator, Editor

Bill Talen
Director
The Church of Life After Shopping

Kathleen Tolan
Playwright, Actor

Basil Twist
Puppeteer
Obie Award Winner

Charlie Varon
Playwright, Performer

Paula Vogel
Playwright, Scholar
Pulitzer Prize Winner, Eugene O'Neill Chair, Playwriting Department -Yale School of Drama

Naomi Wallace
Playwright, Screenwriter

Anne Washburn
Playwright
Guggenheim Fellow

Donya K. Washington
Director

Stephen Webber
Actor

Brenda Wehle
Actor

Mac Wellman
Playwright, Author, Poet, Scholar
Donald I. Fine Professor of Play writing at Brooklyn College

Anabelle Winograd
Writer, Critic, Educator

Eunice Wong
Actor

Kristina Wong
Award-Wnning Solo Performer and Writer

Susan Yankowitz
Award-Winning Playwright and Librettist

David Zellnik
Playwright, Screenwriter, Lyricist