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May 28th, 2021 
Awake Goy 
There’s been multiple BDS victories over the past week or so. Let’s round them up.
South Africa
South African dockworkers refused to off-load cargo from an Israeli vessel in the port city of Durban. The workers are members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union and were acting in solidarity with a call from the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions.
“We do not want Israeli ships or goods in South African ports and shops,” a member of the South African BDS Coalition told Middle East Eye. “We salute our dockworkers and will continue to work in struggle with them to ensure that South Africa becomes an ‘apartheid free zone’.”
Georgia
You probably recall the case of Abby Martin. The journalist was scheduled to speak about media literacy at Georgia Southern University in 2020. The school sent her a contract to sign and, because of Georgia’s anti-BDS law, it included a loyalty oath to Israel. Martin refused to sign it. The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund then sued the state on behalf of Martin.
Last week a federal court ruled rejected the state’s attempt to have the case dismissed and asserted that the law was unconstitutional. In his decision District Court Judge Mark Cohen wrote that the law, “prohibits inherently expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment, burdens Martin’s right to free speech, and is not narrowly tailored to further a substantial state interest.”
The law has not been struck down as a result of this decision, but the court will now decide how to remedy the constitutional violation.
“I am thrilled at the judge’s decision finding this law unconstitutional as it so clearly violates the free speech rights of myself and so many others in Georgia,” said Martin in a statement. “My First Amendment rights were restricted on behalf of a foreign government, which flies in the face of the principles of freedom and democracy.”
“The government of Israel has pushed state legislatures to enact these laws only because they know that sympathy and support for the population they brutalize, occupy, ethnically cleanse and subject to apartheid, is finally growing in popular consciousness ––they want to hold back the tide of justice by preemptively restricting the right of American citizens to peacefully take a stand against their crimes,” she continued.
You can watch Martin’s groundbreaking film Gaza Fights for Freedom here.
San Francisco
On May 19 The United Educators of San Francisco has become the first American K-12 public school union to endorse the BDS movement.
“Whereas, as public school educators in the United States of America, we have a
special responsibility to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people because
of the 3.8 billion dollars annually that the US government gives to Israel, thus
directly using our tax dollars to fund apartheid and war crimes,” reads the resolution.
It’s the first time since 2016 that a U.S. union has officially endorsed BDS.
Cambridge, MA
Palestine activists in Cambridge, Massachusetts have been pushing the city to sever its contracts with Hewlett Packard over the company’s connection to Israeli apartheid. This week 169 people gave testimony at a city council meeting in support of such a policy order.
A group of city council members introduced a substitute amendment with much vaguer language that ended up passing, with five councilors in favor, two against, and two voting present. The resolution that passed does not contain strong BDS language or solidarity with Palestine, but it does call for an investigation into city contracts with human rights violators. While it can’t be chalked up as a BDS victory, activists see it as an important opening for future activism.
“This isn’t enough, but this is an important step toward ending Cambridge’s complicity in Israeli apartheid,” said BDS Boston’s Tala Berro in a statement. “Now Cambridge must follow through, by ending city contracts with every company profiting from settler colonialism and violence against Palestinians. We also want to see Boston, Somerville, and municipalities across the state follow in Cambridge’s footsteps and pass human rights screens of their own as soon as possible. Palestinians cannot wait.”
BDS Boston’s William Ruhm told me that he was blown away by how many local residents showed up to support the order, all coming from diverse backgrounds around the area. He said it made him optimistic about the organizing going forward. I asked him if he believed that the recent events in Gaza had inspired such an impressive turnout. He credits the activism that’s done while the media isn’t paying close attention to the region with what happens during historical moments like these.
“We are all creating these little sparks fighting for Palestine,” said Ruhm. “You need those sparks for the kindling to eventually start a fire. So many local groups are doing this work when Palestine is not in the news. They laid the framework for what’s happening now.”
Odds & Ends
🇮🇱 On Face the Nation Bernie Sanders was asked a ridiculous question about whether using the word “apartheid” had increased antisemitism. The Senator said that we should “tone down the rhetoric” on Israel. Why exactly? The last few weeks have once again proven the rhetoric should be turned up. Bernie used to arguably be the best you could do on Palestine as far as Congress went (which still wasn’t very good), but we are seeing the progressive flank of the Democratic Party pass him by in real time.
🇵🇸 Defense for Children International-Palestine published a powerful piece about its Gaza researcher Mohammad Abu Rukbeh documenting child fatalities while parenting his own children. “During this current Israeli aggression against Gaza, because of the intense strikes, the terrifying sound of rockets, and the continuous shaking of our home, I find that presenting the facts in a reassuring manner no longer convinces my children, especially in light of the state of fear and panic that we all suffer from,” Mohammad explains.
🇮🇱 Congressional progressives tried to block the State Department from sending Israel another $735 million in bombs. At Jewish Currents Alex Kane reports that the Biden administration moved forward with the sale anyway: “On May 21st, according to a congressional staffer, the department granted Boeing an export license for the sale of Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Small Diameter Bombs—two kinds of laser-guided munitions that were reportedly used by Israel in the 11-day attack on the Gaza Strip that ended on Friday with a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.”
🇺🇸 Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb is currently in Israel at the invitation of Netanyahu. “I stand in support of Israel and look forward to meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu to continue forging an even stronger Israel-Indiana bond,” he said in a statement. “When I was invited, I did not hesitate to make this trip to meet in Israel during such an hour of need.”
🏀 The NBA says the league is partnering with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) “to condemn antisemitism and hate.” Last year over 150 organizations joined a campaign asking groups to refrain from partnering with the ADL over its consistent opposition to Palestinian rights, among other things. You can read the primer for that campaign here.
📰 Ari Paul has a great piece at FAIR about the Emily Wilder debacle and the myth of objectivity.
🎵 Over 600 musicians have signed a letter demanding self-determination for Palestinians and calling for artists to refuse to perform at Israel’s complicit cultural institutions. Signatories include Black Thought & Questlove of the Roots, Cypress Hill, DJ Snake, Patti Smith, Pharoahe Monch, Rage Against The Machine, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, Royce The 5’9, Serj Tankian of System of a Down, Rage Against The Machine, Run The Jewels, Talib Kweli, tUnE-yArDs, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, and Tim Hecker. You can read the full list here.
🏫 Over 500 members of the CUNY community signed a statement in solidarity with Palestine.
Stay safe out there,
Michael
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