MONTH OF PRIDE FOR BDS

June 6, 2018 at 12:38 (Activism, Argentina, Cartoons, DesertPeace Exclusive, International Solidarity, Sports)

First, they were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize …

Now this;

Argentina’s Soccer Association cancels the friendly soccer match between Argentina and “Israel”, planned to be held in occupied Jerusalem soon, in response to BDS 

Image by Carlos Latuff

Argentina cancels football friendly with Israel in Jerusalem

The match was expected to be played at the Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem which was once home to a Palestinian village.

Argentina‘s national football team has cancelled an upcoming friendly match with Israel, Argentine news sources reported.

Argentinian sports website Minutouno reported on Tuesday that Saturday’s game in Jerusalem had been “suspended” amid an “escalation of violence, threats and criticism” directed at captain ‘Leo’ Messi.

Argentina, a major contender to win the World Cupthis summer, has made four previous pre-World Cup visits to Israel since 1986.

The fixture between the two teams was set to be played in Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium on June 9, which is built on land that was once a Palestinian village that was destroyed in 1948.

Israeli media reported that in light of this latest development, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will speak to his Argentinian counterpart Mauricio Macri by telephone.

The ambassador of Palestine in Argentina, Husni Abdel Wahed, had expressed his opposition to the friendly.

“This match would be similar to us celebrating … the occupation of Malvinas,” he told Radio Cooperativa on Tuesday, referring to the Falkland Islands.

Abdel Wahed went on to say that the match was part of the celebrations of Israel’s 70th anniversary since its establishment in 1948, after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their villages and lands by Zionist paramilitaries.

“For us, it is unacceptable to hold this game in Jerusalem because it is occupied territory, and it is painful to see that the team, which has the love and support of so many Palestinians and Arab citizens, support the violation of international law,” he said.

‘Nothing friendly about military occupation ‘

Last month, the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement launched a campaign urging Argentina to pull out of the fixture.

“There is nothing ‘friendly’ about military occupation and apartheid,” the movement said, which calls for an end to the occupation of Palestine, the right of return for Palestinian refugees, and equal rights for Palestinians citizens of Israel.

“Don’t play Israel until Palestinians’ human rights are respected.”

BDS criticised the fixture as “political”, and accused Israeli officials of using it to cover up attacks on Palestinians “on and off the field”.

As part of the campaign, Mohammed Khalil, a Palestinian footballer, directed a message towards Argentina’s beloved forward Lionel Messi.

“I call on the Argentinian team and especially captain Lionel Messi – because he is very popular in Palestine, particularly in the Gaza Strip – to stand in solidarity with Palestinians and to boycott the scheduled game with Israel, which is occupying our land,” Khalil said.

Khalil was shot by Israeli snipers on March 30, during the first Friday protests of Palestinians demonstrating east of Gaza, demanding their right to return.

He was shot in both of his legs, and one of his kneecaps had to be removed, putting an end to his footballing career.

Earlier this week, the head of the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) Jibril Rajoub slammed the friendly as being opposite “a game of peace”.

“The Israeli government is trying to give it political significance by insisting it be held in Jerusalem,” Rajoub said.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA NEWS

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TOON OF THE DAY ~~ NETANYAHU’S IMPENDING ‘WELCOME’ IN ARGENTINA

September 7, 2017 at 14:53 (Argentina, Associate Post, Cartoons, fascism)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to visit three Latin American countries next week, as a part of his ongoing effort to boldly go where none of his predecessors has gone before.

Will the war criminal  be well received by the people of ?

Image by Carlos Latuff

Is the REAL purpose of the visit to learn how to make people disappear?

Here is the latest on that subject …

Latuff holds up sign …

From the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY)

SOLIDARITY DECLARATION FOR THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ARGENTINIAN YOUNG SANTIAGO MALDONADO

Since August 1st the Argentinian young Santiago Maldonado is disappeared. According to witnesses, Santiago was caught by the Argentinian National Gendarmerie while he was taking part in a manifestation in favors of the rights of the Mapuche community in the south of Argentina.

In spite of the media manipulation to reduce the importance of this serious fact, the Argentinian people claim the alive appearance of Santiago from the first moment, bearing the aggressive escalation in mind against the social protests and the freedom of expression that again the Argentinian people suffers.

The World Federation of Democratic Youths condemns Santiago Maldonado`s disappearance. In this way it adds also to the claim for a serious judgment that allows come to the material and intellectual culprits of the disappearance.

We demand the respect of the rights of the young persons and all the people to demonstrating and to express without exposing their physical integrity and their life. 40 years ago, Latin America suffered an imperialistic plan that during decades systematized the death and disappearance of hundreds of thousands of valuable young persons who were fighting to reach a just and inclusive society for the whole of the peoples of America.

It`s because of this recent history that we call the youth of the world to condemn the forced disappearance of young and people and to claim the alive appearance of Santiago Maldonado.

Santiago Maldonado, alive was taken, alive we want him!

On Behalf of WFDY
The HQ of WFDY
Moscow, September 2017

 

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PAPAL PRAYERS FOR PEACE ARE NOT ENOUGH

May 25, 2014 at 09:32 (Argentina, Collective Punishment, Israel, Palestine, Soldier Brutality)

Pope Francis is under the illusion that his prayers will bring Peace to the Holy Land ….

More than prayers are needed.

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Here is a photo of the Pope taken at the Vatican…

article-2635021-1E1068B600000578-777_634x422

Pope Francis kisses a man on a wheelchair as he greets the crowd after his general audience at St Peter’s Square


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And the reality in Palestine …

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Army Kidnaps A Disabled Palestinian, Throw His Wheelchair

 by Saed Bannoura – FOR

Israeli soldiers violently attacked and kidnapped a disabled Palestinian man, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, after forcing him into their jeep, and threw his wheelchair away.

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Illustration Photo
Illustration Photo

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Amjad Najjar, head of the Hebron branch of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), stated undercover soldiers of the Israeli military kidnapped Kamal Khairy ‘Aabdeen, 40 years of age, and took him to an unknown destination.

Najjar added that ‘Aabdeen is paralyzed, cannot move without his wheelchair, and that the soldiers left his wheelchair in the middle of the street in Ras al-Jouza area, in Hebron.

‘Aabdeen was shot in his spine during the Ibhrahimi Mosque massacre in Hebron.

The massacre took place on February 25, 1994, when an American-born fanatic Israeli settler, identified as Baruch Goldstein, stormed Hebron’sIbrahimi Mosque and opened fire, killing 29 worshipers and injuring 125, many of the wounded became disabled.

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Why are these sentiments not being echoed by thousands in Israel/Palestine?

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A MOST UNWELCOME VISIT BY POPE FRANCIS TO THE HOLY LAND

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A MOST UNWELCOME VISIT BY POPE FRANCIS TO THE HOLY LAND

May 23, 2014 at 11:29 (Argentina, Complicity, DesertPeace Editorial, Israel, Palestine)

‘What’s that you said? …. I seem to have a problem seeing or hearing about evil’.

francis

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Traffic and lives will be disrupted in Jerusalem on Sunday and Monday due to the visit of Pope Francis.

How can anyone even think that he will speak out for Palestinian rights when he remained silent and complacent about the rights of his own people in Argentina during the fascist coup? That was not his only silence …

During the coup, over twenty two thousand people were either murdered or ‘simply’ disappeared, including dissident priests allegedly turned over to the authorities by then Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

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Francis (1)

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The marred criminal history of Pope Francis makes him the perfect candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize [sic], NOT POPE!

Shame on the Vatican for putting such a man in charge of the flock.

Best he stay home and pray for forgiveness, surely he won’t find that here.

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Mazin Qumsiyeh PhD adds …

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Pope, Israeli lies

The Pope is coming to Palestine, a country under a regime of apartheid and colonialism. The Zionists are greeting him by insisting that they will continue to occupy the site of the last supper and insisting that he visit “Yad Vashem” (a museum exploiting one tragedy to create more holocausts), and “Mount Herzle” named after the guy who is a key architect of ethnic cleansing and colonialism here that cost hundreds of thousands of Arab lives. Christians here (and all other people) have become more and more active in boycotts, divestment, and sanctions against the Zionist regime. Meanwhile Palestinian leadership in Ramallah still seems mired in its old ways of sanctifying pope Abu Mazen. Text of signs here in Bethlehem initially welcomed the Pope as a guest of Abu Mazen not the guest of Palestine; this text was changed after some uproar though Abu Mazen’s pictures remained.  The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and many others complained about the unilateral moves and decisions by Abu Mazen without consulting the Palestinian people (and not just his key financially connected yes-men from Fatah). PFLP was promptly denied its financial share from the PLO umbrella (small as it maybe since the PLO was subsumed to the Palestinian Authority and its corrupt officials).These issues and problems portray a liberation movement gone awry after Oslo treacherous agreements. Yet, this does not take away from the justice of the Palestinian cause or the fact that it is inevitable that truth and freedom will prevail. Meanwhile we continue here struggling and sacrificing. Below are glimpses of reality and in particular please note the plight of youth assassinated and prisoners in “administrative detention”. Maybe the Pope will say something about this continuing suffering and the lies and mythology that make it all possible. Israeli military commit crimes and are caught lying (again). This is not the first time the Israeli army assassinates Children and lie about it. In this case two young people are shot with live ammunition and Israeli military said they posed direct threats and that they only used rubber bullets.

 

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‘DON’T CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA’ …

March 18, 2014 at 16:48 (Argentina, Boycott Israel, International Solidarity, Israel, Palestine)

… Be proud that BDS has reached your shores

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“Boycott is becoming an increasingly powerful and empowering way for ordinary people to support Palestinians in their struggle to end the occupation and Israel’s apartheid policies and for the right of Palestinian refugees to  return to their homes.” 

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$170m Argentina loss for Israeli water firm Mekorot as BDS spreads southward

 Written by Palestinian BDS National Committe

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In the latest success for the growing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, authorities in Buenos Aires have suspended a proposed $170m water treatment plant deal with Israeli state water firm Mekorot. The decision came after a campaign by local trade unions and human rights groups which connected Mekorot’s role in Israel’s theft of Palestinian water resources with evidence that the project did not meet Argentine standards and necessities.

Campaigners argued that Mekorot was attempting to export the discriminatory water policies it has developed against the Palestinian people to Argentina.

This victory largely contradicts Israeli claims, last expressed during Netanyahu’s speech at the AIPAC, that the global south, eager for Israeli technology, are uncontested growing markets.

Mekorot illegally appropriates Palestinian water, diverting it to illegal Israeli settlements and towns inside Israel, and imposes severe obstacles to Palestinians accessing their own water. Amnesty International has accused Israel of depriving Palestinians of their access to water “as a means of expulsion”. A French parliamentary report accused Israel of imposing a system of “water apartheid” in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The Buenos Aires provincial government approved a drinking water plant project deal with a consortium led by Mekorot following a visit to Israel by state governor Daniel Scioli in 2011, but protests and lobbying have persuaded local authorities to suspend the project.

The large Dutch water utility Vitens suspended a cooperation agreement with Mekorot on the grounds that the relationship violated its “commitment to international law” in a high profile announcement in December.

“After investigating, we concluded that Mekorot came to Argentina with the intention to repeat what they are doing in Palestine. Water is a right for all and no company should be able to provide water in a discriminatory way,” said Adolfo, an engineer and a representative of the CTA/ ATE Hidráulica trade union in Buenos Aires that campaigned against the Mekorot plant.

“We fought in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for justice, liberation and return and we won a battle not only against Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people but as well for the right to water here in Argentina,” said Tilda Rabi, president of the Federation of Palestinian-Argentinian Organisations.

Campaigners understand that the decision was made in December 2013 but were only able to verify the news on March 7.

Friends of the Earth Palestine and a range of BDS partners are calling for a week of action against Mekorot during the last week of March.

Campaigners are viewing the Buenos Aires decision as the latest sign that the international BDS movement is increasingly isolating Israel and having serious economic impacts on its regime of occupation, colonialism and apartheid.

On Thursday, students at the National University of Galway in Ireland voted to endorse BDS in a campus-wide ballot, following on from a similar referendum success for BDS activists at the University of Windsor in Canada. National and local student unions across Europe and North America have now voted to support BDS-related measures.

Israeli media reports attributed the recent withdrawal of two leading European construction firms from the bid to build seaports in Israel to boycott fears, and a third firm only agreed to go ahead with similar plans after being allowed to submit a bid under a different name.

It emerged last month that Luxembourg’s state pension fund has excluded nine Israeli banks and firms over their role in illegal Israeli settlements, following on from similar decisions in recent months by public pension funds in Norway and the Netherlands and Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest bank.

A recent solidarity conference organized by South African members of parliament and civil society groups issued the Cape Town Declaration endorsing BDS and accusing Israel of the crime of apartheid.

The Norwegian branch of the YMCA-YWCA movement recently announced its support for an economic boycott of Israel.

“Israel’s attempts to smear the BDS movement are failing; Israel is increasingly being isolated as people of conscience around the world take action to support Palestinian rights and as investors realize that there are serious economic and reputational risks associated with doing business with Israel,” said Zaid Shuaibi, a spokesperson for the Palestinian BDS National Committee, the largest Palestinian civil society coalition that leads the global BDS movement.

“Boycott is becoming an increasingly powerful and empowering way for ordinary people to support Palestinians in their struggle to end the occupation and Israel’s apartheid policies and for the right of Palestinian refugees to  return to their homes,” he added.

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