All Asean boycott and BDS campaign launched against Israel

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Islamic Organizations (MAPIM) is calling for an All Asean boycott of all Israeli related products and services . The campaign is linked to the Boycott ,Divestment and Sanctions ( BDS ) which is an international campaign .

In the light of the current atrocious aggression by the Israel military, killing hundreds of civilians and injuring thousands in Gaza , this campaign is timely, critical and urgently needed  to put pressure on Israel and the US, the two terrorist nations of the world.

We belief that the BDS campaign will create opportunities for a wider participation through non-violent means of resistance against the Israeli war crimes. As one activist stated, "Just a very small percentage of the population will be willing to be suicide bombers or martyrs. Just slightly more will be willing to use guns. Then maybe stones will bring slightly more. But with non-violent resistance...every person in the society can participate."

We are aiming for direct action on Israel and the US through community organizations and  media reporting to enable a wide range of people , irrespective of religion and creed , to be involved in the resistance to occupation by Israel on Palestine .

On a regional level we are collaborating with NGOs and human rights organizations in Asean. While globally, we promote the direct participation by international activists and the creation of worldwide support networks and solidarity groups.

Our goal is to inflict "punitive measures" against Israel until it "complies with the precepts of international law"

The BDS campaign against Israel is targeted to:

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Palestinian lands and dismantling the separation Wall;

2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and

3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194."

The Campaign will apply a three pronged approach:

1. Boycott: "targets products and companies (Israeli and international) that profit from the violation of Palestinian rights, as well as Israeli sporting, cultural and academic institutions [which] directly contribute to maintaining, defending or whitewashing the oppression of Palestinians as Israel deliberately tries to boost its image internationally through academic and cultural collaborations".

2. Divestment "means targeting corporations complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights and ensuring that the likes of the university investment portfolios and pension funds are not used to finance such companies".

3. Sanctions are described as "an essential part of demonstrating disapproval for a country's actions. Israel's membership of various diplomatic and economic forums provides both an unmerited veneer of respectability and material support for its crimes."

As well as promoting boycott, divestment and sanctions, the campaign seeks to establish a critical image of Israel in contrast to the one it presents to the world.

The BDS campaign is important in contesting "the hegemonic framing of Israel as a victim state in the face of Palestinian ‘terrorism.’'

The BDS movement has been framed to expose and challenge a series of corresponding repressive policies. These include:

- the denial of the right of return of Palestinian refugees,

- militarised violence directed against Palestinian men, women and children,

- the confiscation of land from Palestinians,

- the demolition of Palestinian homes and

- the daily racism invoked by a series of policies directed at Palestinians which encumber their freedom of mobility, access to education and ability to earn a living.

We are confident through continuous effort of gradual education and awareness building of the public , with the consistent mobilization of civil societies , the Asean community can inflict enough pressure against Israel .

We are motivated by the various boycott initiatives launched by many associations throughout the world as recorded below:

1. Academic boycott

In April 2013, the Association for Asian American Studies (AAAS) voted to boycott Israeli universities and academic institutions. It was joined in December by the American Studies Association (ASA). In a vote in which 1,252 of its 5,000 members participated, 66% voted in favour of a boycott. The reasons given were "Israel's violation of international law and UN resolutions; the documented impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinian scholars and students; [and] the extent to which Israeli institutions of higher education are a party to state policies that violate human rights."

2. Student's action

A list of 2012 academic and cultural boycott successes has been compiled by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. In 2013, the Palestinian BDS National Committee published an interactive timeline listing some of the movement's key achievements.

In March 2009, large scale student demonstrations were held at several UK Universities to protest Israel's actions in Gaza. At Cardiff University the protests led to the University divesting all investments in BAE Systems, an arms manufacturer that co-operates with Israel.

3. Boycott in advertisement

In May 2009, advertisements for tourism in Israel were removed from the London underground network in response to pressure from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign. In July 2009, Dexia, a Belgian-French financial group, stopped all financial services to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

BDS has received support from various internationally renowned figures such as Richard A. Falk, Stephen Hawkings, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Alice Walker.

Richard Falk specifically named the United States' Caterpillar Inc., Hewlett Packard and Motorola; Israel's Ahava, Elbit Systems and Mehadrin; Sweden's Volvo Group and Assa Abloy ; France's Veolia Environment; United Kingdom's G4S, Belgium's Dexia Group, Netherlands' Riwal Holding Group and Mexico's Cemex.

We note also the BDS campaign has gathered momentum based on the initiatives from many countries both government and the public. The following are just some of them:

Australia

In 2011, a series of protests were staged at Max Brenner outlets, a franchise of the Israeli Strauss Group which supplies the Israeli Defence Forces.

Canada

The United Church of Canada voted to boycott products from Israeli settlements. In March 2014, the University of Windsor Student Alliance considered plans to implement the results of a referendum vote in which the majority of voters called for the University to boycott companies with ties to Israel.

Denmark

In January 2014, Danske Bank, which is the largest bank in Denmark, blacklisted Israel's largest bank, Bank Hapoalim, for "acting against the rules of international humanitarian law" due to its funding of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

 Ireland

Since 2010, over 250 Irish artists have pledged to boycott Israel along with over 140 Irish academics.

In March 2014, members of NUI Galway Students' Union voted to join the BDS campaign in a 64% victory, making it the first Irish students' union to endorse a boycott of Israel. The vote is non-binding on the university

Luxembourg

Luxembourg's state pension fund has blacklisted eight Israeli firms along with US firm Motorola Solutions for assisting in human rights violations and illegal settlements in the State of Palestine.

The Netherlands

In 2013, Dutch water company Vitens severed ties with Israel pointing to alleged violations of international law while engineering company Royal Haskoning DHV cancelled work on a project in East Jerusalem stating that "involvement in the project could be in violation of international law."

 New Zealand

In December 2012 the New Zealand Superannuation Fund excluded three Israeli companies from its portfolio because of their involvement in the construction of Israeli settlements and the Israeli West Bank barrier.

Norway

In January 2014, the government of Norway announced that its pension fund will no longer invest in two Israeli companies (Africa Israel Investments and Danya Cebus) "due to [their] contribution to serious violations of individual rights in war or conflict through the construction of settlements in East Jerusalem."Norway's YMCA-YWCA joined the boycott in 2014, announcing that it will support "[a] broad economic boycott of goods and services from Israel and Israeli settlements.”.

Romania

Claiming "respect for international law, the positions of the EU and the protection of Romanian citizens", Romania announced in 2012 that it will not allow Romanian labourers to be sent to Israel unless guarantees are provided that they will not be employed in construction projects in the West Bank.

South Africa

In 2011 the University of Johannesburg decided to suspend ties with Israeli Ben-Gurion University, while still allowing "individual faculty" to continue cooperating with the Israeli University on a water purification project, citing the University's support for the Israeli military.

On 31 August 2012 the Wits University Students' Representative Council (Wits SRC) adopted a declaration of academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

In March 2013, eleven student BDS supporters at the Wits University were arrested after they forced the cancellation of a concert by Israeli pianist Yossi Reshef.

United Kingdom

Academic boycotts of Israel

On 22 April 2005, the Association of University Teachers (AUT) Council voted to boycott two Israeli universities: University of Haifa and Bar-Ilan University.

At the 2009 University and College Union (UCU) annual congress, the union passed a resolution to boycott Israeli academics and academic institutions by a large majority. Delegates stated that Israeli academics were complicit in their government's acts against Palestinians.

United States

In December 2013, the American Studies Association (ASA) decided to join the boycott of all Israeli academic institutions. The New York Timesreported that ASA's president Curtis Marez argued that America has "a particular responsibility to answer the call for boycott because it is the largest supplier of military aid to the state of Israel."

With these records we are convinced that directing the BDS campaign towards Israel will eventually give the impact that we hope for in the struggle to protect and resume the rights of the Palestinians and to stop all the atrocities perpetuated by Zionist Israel .

We are calling all Asean consumers to use their right to choose and the right to boycott products and services and to pressure their respective government to break away trade and diplomatic relationships, social and cultural cooperation, academic and financial linkages, military and technological collaborations.

We urge all the civil society, politicians and private entrepreneurs in Malaysia to cut all engagement with Israel related dealings .

The campaign will be a long and continuous effort to impact on the racist Israeli regime. We are establishing an All Asean BDS Campaign Against Israel Secretariat ( ABC-Israel ) to coordinate and network with as many civil groups , eminent Asean public figures , influential scholars and grass roots activists.

We are targeting the participation of 5,000 civil and people's organizations, 1000 Parliamentarians in all Asean countries to effectively execute the campaign within the next three months.

We will develop a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the campaign meets its targeted impact. The secretariat will be recruiting volunteers from each Asean country to launch the BDS movement and sustain the campaign activities.

We will maximize the participation and support from the public for this campaign.- ES