Israel’s bad behaviour

Here is a selection of recent independent statements which show how objectionable Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians is:

  • August 2022: An unsatisfactory response by the UK Government to a petition for them to condemn Israel for recent attacks on Gaza.
  • May 2022: A tweet by Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner condemning Israel’s murder of Shireen Abu Akley and the attack on her funeral procession.
  • May 2022: A report on Al Jazeera of the unacceptable behaviour of Israeli police at the funeral of the murdered journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
  • March 2022: An Irish MP eloquently comparing Israel’s misdeeds with those of Putin in Ukraine and asking for similar sanctions to be imposed.
  • February 2022: A report by Amnesty International condemning Israel’s apartheid and treatment of Palestinians.
  • January 2022: A report in Haaretz on the mass execution of Palestinian villagers in 1948, as reported by still living Israeli soldiers who committed it.
  • December 2021: A report in Haaretz that hitherto secret cabinet papers from 1948 admit that the government were aware of multiple Israeli massacres of Palestinians.
  • October 2021: A letter in The Guardian from hundreds of employees of Amazon and Google objecting to their firms’ involvement in Israel’s Project Nimbus for watching Palestinians; and an internet petition calling for a more general blockade of “Tech for Apartheid”.
  • October 2021: A BBC report on the Irish author Sally Rooney who has refused to allow an Israeli publisher to publish a translation of her latest book because of Israel’s apartheid state.
  • September 2021: News from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign that the Labour Party conference had overwhelmingly backed a motion condemning Israel as an apartheid state.
  • July 2021: An article in Mondoweiss about the increasing international recognition of apartheid in Israel.
  • July 2021: A report by Al Jazeera on the boycott of Israeli settlements by Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream, and Israel’s reaction.
  • June 2021: A debate in Westminster on two motions criticising Israel.
  • June 2021: A pathetic reply from the British Government to a petition asking for a debate in parliament about imposing sanctions on Israel.
  • May 2021: A BBC report on increasing support in the USA for Palestine.
  • May 2021: A campaign by Avaaz to promote a commercial boycott of Israel.
  • May 2021: A balanced history of the conflict by Robin Lustig.
  • May 2021: A balanced history of the conflict on the BBC website.
  • April 2021: A letter from my MP, Catherine West, about the eviction of Palestinian families.
  • January 2021: AlJazeera reports that, according to an Israeli human-rights group, Israeli forces killed 27 Palestinians (including seven children) and destroyed 729 Palestinian buildings in 2020.
  • November 2020: An Early Day Motion in the UK Parliament condemns Israel for destroying the homes of 800 Palestinians (including children) during 2020; signed by 47 MPs, but no Conservatives – shame on them!
  • October 2020: Haaretz reports how the humiliating delays in opening the gates in the separation wall drive Palestinians to abandon their land.
  • June 2020: Haaretz reports that Jews and Palestinians must use separate buses when travelling to and from the West Bank.
  • April 2020: The Guardian reports that nearly 130 UK MPs have asked the UK government to impose sanctions against Israel if Israel annexes part of the West Bank.
  • April 2020: The Palestine Solidarity Campaign reports a victory in the UK Supreme Court, which has ruled that boycotting Israel is legal.
  • February 2020: A letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson criticising Trump’s support for Israel’s annexation of Palestinian territories; the letter is signed by about 120 UK parliamentarians including my MP, Catherine West.
  • December 2019: A Haaretz opinion piece on Israel’s unjust treatment of the Palestinians.
  • July 2019: A Haaretz report of Israel’s destruction of 70 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, and condemnation of it by the UN and France.
  • May 2019: A BBC report on the boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest, with a balanced and brief review of the history.
  • May 2019: A four-part video documentary by Al Jazeera about the Israel lobby and its attempts to counter BDS.
  • May 2019: An eloquent and well argued blog by Jonathan Cook about how to talk about Israel and Jews.
  • May 2019: A film (Israel’s Colonization of the American Mind) about Israel’s propaganda in the USA, with two shortened versions as alternatives, and with comment from distinguished American academics.
  • March 2019: A very critical report by the UN High Commission for Refugees concludes that Israeli snipers deliberately targeted and killed children and disabled people during the Gaza protests in 2018.
  • February 2019: CBN News website reports the increasing success of the BDS movement.
  • January 2019: A talk to the Oxford Union by Husan Zumlot, Ambassador of Palestin.
  • December 2018: A report in The Guardian about a USA professor whose contract with CNN has been terminated because he supported BDS in a speech.
  • November 2018: A commentary in Middle East Eye on Israel’s efforts to silence its critics.
  • October 2018: Prime Minister Theresa May condemns Israel for demolishing the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar.
  • September 2018: A report from Ha’aretz on how Israeli settlers in the West Bank harrass local Palestinian children on the way to school.
  • September 2018: A commentary by Robin Lustig on the 25th anniversary of the Oslo peace accord, blaming both Israel and Palestine.
  • August 2018: A letter to the Guardian protesting against a scientific conference to be held in the Occupied Territories.
  • July 2018: A report in the British Medical Journal tells how many Gaza Palestinians (and how few Israelis) have been killed or injured since the protests started in April: not just 153 dead, but nearly 10,000 injuries needing hospital treatment.
  • July 2018: A statement by Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine arguing that some of the IHRA examples are racist. 
  • July 2018: A debate in The Guardian  about the IHRA definition of anti-semitism, arguing that its examples limit free speech and criticism of Israel.
  • July 2018: A statement by Jewish Voice for Peace in support of the boycott movement.
  • July 2018: A report in Ha’aretz on a complaint by the EU rejecting Israel’s allegations of support for terrorism and confusion of terrorism with boycott.
  • June 2018: A letter to The Lancet by Mustafa Barghouti deplores the killing of Razan al-Najjar.
  • June 2018: Jeremy Corbyn issues a statement about Israel’s brutality in Gaza.
  • June 2018: A French Jewish group reports that an Avaaz poll found a majority in favour of sanctions on Israel because of Gaza.
  • May 2018: Labour MP Catherine West (my MP) suspends her membership of Labour Friends of Israel over the Gaza shootings.
  • May 2018: Avaaz calls for a campaign against Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians.
  • May 2018: An editorial in The Guardian condemns Israel and the USA for the shooting of unarmed protesters in Gaza.
  • May 2018: Middle East Eye shows the names, ages and faces of 59 people in Gaza killed by Israeli snipers while protesting on May 14th.
  • May 2018: A report in Ha’aretz about an American winner of a prestigious Israeli academic prize who is donating her prize money to Israeli charities supporting Palestinians.
  • April 2018: Amnesty International calls for an arms embargo on Israel in response to its attacks on unarmed protesters in Gaza.
  • April 2018: An article in Ha’aretz by Israeli professor and Holocaust researcher Daniel Blatman comparing the government of Israel with the Nazis.
  • April 2018: Ha’aretz reports that UCL’s Professor Catherine Hall has rejected the Israeli Dan David prize because of concerns over Palestine.
  • April 2018: The Irish Students’ Union and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation both vote in favour of the boycott.
  • April 2018: Article in Jewish Voice for Labur about the accusations that the left-wing of the Labour party are anti-semitic.
  • March 2018: Notice of a webinar about the demolition by Israel of the Palestinian Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran.
  • March 2018: Obituary of Stephen Hawking on Aljazeera celebrating his personal boycott of Israel.
  • February 2018: Report by Azvsas that the severely wounded 16-year old cousin of the Palestinian child discussed below had been arrested and frightened into signing a false statement.
  • January 2018: Criticism by a British Government Minister of Israel’s arrest of a Palestinian child.
  • December 2017: A report on Al Jazeera on Israel’s harsh treatment of a Palestinian family, including their children.
  • November 2017: An exchange in the House of Commons about Israel’s policy of keeping Palestinian children in prison.
  • October 2017: A statement by Noam Chomsky clarifying his position on the cultural boycott of Israel.
  • July 2017: A statement by Glenn Bowman, Professor of Socio-Historical Anthropology at the University of Kent
  • February 2017: Articles in  The Guardian and The Huffington Post) about the UK government’s classification of support for Palestine as ‘extremist’, and a letter to the Guardian (reported in The Independent) by 250 academics (including me).
  • January 2017: A proposal by graduate students to the Modern Language Association in support of BDS.
  • December 2016: 200 European legal scholars issue a statement supporting BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions in support of Palestine)
  • June 2016: Pullitzer-prize winner Viet Thanh Nguyen endorses the boycott of Israel.
  • June 2016: Haaretz criticises Israel’s policy of compelling cultural organisations to perform in the illegally occupied territories.
  • April 2016: Amnesty International criticizes Israel’s intimidation of human-rights defenders.
  • March 2016: Ma’an News reports four Palestine-backed resolutions passed by the UN.
  • March 2016: Hansard reports a question from Catherine West, MP, about Israel’s destruction of the village of Umm el-Hiran, and the Minister’s reply.
  • March 2016: In Haaretz, Gideon Levy criticises propaganda that supports Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians as Orwelllian lies.
  • January 2016: End the Occupation reports major divestments from Israeli banks by US churches.
  • January 2016: Medical Aid for Palestine reports the destruction, without warning, of five bedouin homes and their contents in the West Bank.
  • December 2015: The Jerusalem Post reports that the Israeli High Court decided there was no case against rabbis who wrote a book arguing that it was legal to kill non-Jews, including children.
  • November 2015: Haaretz article argues that the boycott shows the need for policy changes.
  • November 2015: The American Anthropological Association votes to boycott Israel.
  • October 2015: an article in the Guardian about an advertisement in the same issue declaring 343 UK academics’ support for the boycott. As usual, the Guardian clearly opposes the boycott.
  • October 2015: an open letter from the Jerusalemite Women’s Coalition calling for international protection.
  • October 2015: a US Congressional briefing reports on a Palestinian village whose inhabitants are still not allowed to live there.
  • August 2015: Mondoweiss reports that, as a result of international BDS pressure, Veolia has sold all its stakes in Israel.
  • August 2015: Avaaz pushes multinationals to stop supporting Israel in the Occupied Territories, with considerable success.
  • July 2015: The Guardian reports on the growing effect of the international boycott.
  • July 2015: A delegation of European academics reports on a visit to the universities of the West Bank.
  • June 2015: The Jewish Chronicle reports that the Executive Committee of the UK National Union of Students agreed to support the boycott of Israel.
  • May 2015: A website called Breaking the Silence where Israeli veterans describe their experiences as soldiers in the occupied territories.
  • April 2015: A report by Defence for Children International Palestine on how children were affected when Israel attacked Gaza in 2014.
  • March 2015: A report on the dreadful situation in Gaza by the Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK; the report was launched at a meeting in the House of Commons chaired by David Ward, MP.
  • November 2014: A report in a local Israel/Palestine Arabic-language website of violent threats by Jewish Israelis against Arabs.
  • November 2014: A Guardian article about a bill passed by Israel’s cabinet to base full citizenship on race.
  • November 2014: An article in The Australian by Bob Carr, former foreign secretary, explaining why he now supports the Palestinians rather than the Israeli government.
  • September 2014: The anti-boycott Israel-Academia-Monitor.com describes the growing boycott as a ‘security threat to Israel’.
  • August 2014: An opinion piece in Haaretz by Archbishop Desmond Tutu urging Israelis to ‘liberate themselves by liberating Palestine’.
  • August 2014: A letter to The Guardian by Holocaust survivors and their descendants condemning Israel’s policy towards Palestinians.
  • August 2014: A song by Leon Rosselson about Gaza and the Holocaust.
  • August 2014: A letter to The Lancet about the Israeli attack on Gaza.
  • August 2014: A speech by Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert after returning from two weeks in Gaza.
  • July 2014: The World Council of Churches calls for Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian lands and the blockade of Gaza.
  • July 2014: A letter to The Guardian from Nobel Laureates and others argues for a military embargo of Israel.
  • July 2014: Naomi Klein in The Guardian argues for the boycott of Israel.
  • July 2014: Avaaz launches a petition against Israel’s “dispossession of the Palestinian people” aimed at big companies that enable it.
  • July 2014: A four-part report by Israel Academia Monitor shows how seriously Israeli universities take the boycott movemet.
  • July 2014: An article by Noam Chomsky in The Nation accepting the goals of the BDS movement but with reservations (which in turn are answered by Tom Suarez in Mondoweiss).
  • July 2014: The Middle East Monitor reports that the UK’s largest trade union, Unite, votes to support the BDS campaign.
  • June 2014: The New York Times reports a decision by the Presbyterian Church in USA to divest from three companies that support illegal Israeli settlements (but not to support BDS).
  • June 2014: The Financial Times reports that G4S is pulling out of all its operations in Israel because of ethical objections, and Bloomberg News reports that the Gates Foundation has sold all its investments in G4S.
  • February 2014: A film on Australian TV about Israeli torture of Palestinian children.
  • January 2014: A report on a 16-minute news item about the boycott on Israel TV and a front-page article in the Israeli paper Yedioth, both arguing that the boycott wiill make Israel to change direction.
  • December 2013: A press release by the American Studies Association about the bullying and intimidation being received by its members.
  • December 2013: The American Studies Association‘s 5,000 members vote to support the academic boycott of Israel.
  • December 2013: An article in The Times reports Israel’s efforts to counter the academic boycott.
  • August 2013: A campaign by Avaaz to highlight the shocking treatment by Israel of Palestinians on the West Bank.
  • July 2013: A Haaretz editorial about the possibility of a total economic boycott by the EU.
  • May 2013: The Boston Globe praises Stephen Hawking for his peaceful boycott to the violence typical of the Middle East.
  • May 2013: A Guardian article reveals that Stephen Hawking was persuaded to join the boycott by 20 other academics including Noam Chomsky.
  • April 2013: A Guardian article by Iain Banks about why he supports a cultural boycott of Israel.
  • April 2013: The Teachers Union of Ireland calls for Academic Boycott of Israel.
  • March 2013: A TES report on the judgement by an employment tribunal on a complaint about the UK’s university teachers’ union (UCU) ‘ anti-semitic’ treatment of complaints against the academic boycott of Israel.
  • March 2013: A report in Haaretz about growing support in Californian universities for divestment from companies that profit from Israel.
  • February 2013: A report on the Electronic Intifada of discrimination against non-Jewish Israeli citizens, especially in universities.
  • January 2013: A review by the Electronic Intifada of worldwide support in 2012 for boycotting Israel.
  • October 2012: Article in The Harvard Crimson about how Palestinians in Gaza succeed in education in the face of restrictions imposed by Israel.
  • October 2012: Speech by David Cameron promising unconditional support for Israel and government opposition to boycotts against Israel.
  • September 2012: An article in The Guardian by Ben White about why the academic boycott is justified.
  • June 2012: Another article in The Independent about a report, supported by the Foreign Office, on how Palestinian children are ill-treated in Israeli jails.
  • March 2012: An article in The Independent about reports by the UN and other bodies which criticise Israel for racist policies amounting to apartheid.
  • January 2012: A video account of how the Arabs were expelled in 1948 by an Israeli who took part in the expulsion, and now regrets it.
  • December 2011: An interview in Middle East Monitor with Alice Walker: “Going through Israeli checkpoints is like going back in time to American Civil Rights struggle”
  • November 2011: An article in The Australian about the appalling treatment Israel gives to Palestinian children as young as 12 who are arrested, often arbitrarily, for throwing stones.
  • August 2011: A campaign by Avaaz to support the UN proposal to recognise independent Palestine.
  • July 2011: An article by Rachel Giora about the impending Israeli law to ban support of the boycott.
  • June 2011: The Economist on how the current non-violent Palestinian protests undercut one of Israel’s arguments.
  • May 2011: The University of London Students’ Union votes to join the boycott.
  • April 2011: Amnesty International rejects the “Israeli campaign to avoid accountability for Gaza war crimes”
  • April 2011: The Knessset passes a law against boycotts of Israel.
  • April 2011: The University of Johannesburg decides to break all ties with Ben Gurion University, Israel.
  • April 2011: The UN reports that the number of Palestinian buildings demolished so far has doubled in 2011 compared with 2010.
  • March 2011: A Haaretz article about a proposal to punish those who support boycotts of Israel.
  • March 2011: A Guardian article about a tiny Arab village in the Negev that Israel has destroyed 18 times in seven months. (According to another report, Israel plans to sue the residents for the costs of demolition!!)
  • February 2011: An article in Amnesty Magazine about the discrimination in Israel against Palestinians, both inside Israel and in the occupied territories.
  • January 2011: A letter from Boycott!, a group of Israeli academics, giving well-documented evidence that the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement is having an effect inside Israel.
  • January 2011: A report on an Israeli ‘family’ magazine (supported by Israeli banks) calling for the extermination of Palestinian Arabs.
  • January 2011: A report in the Jerusalem Post reporting EU objections to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.
  • January 2011: A report in Haaretz of a call by leading Israeli academics for boycott of a college set up by Israel in the occupied territories.
  • November 2010: A report in the (USA) Chronicle of Higher Education on academic life in the West Bank.
  • November 2010: A declaration by the newly founded EPABI – the European Platform for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.
  • October 2010: An article from Mondoweiss reporting that Israel’s supporters are planning to raise $6 million to counter the international boycott and divestement campaign.
  • September 2010: An article from the Mail and Guardian about the growing support within South Africa for an academic boycott.
  • September 2010: An article in Haaretz by Nehemia Shtrasler about the growing impact of academic and economic boycotts.
  • August 2010: New documents are released in Washington by the Institute for Research: Middle East Policy showing how the Israel lobby has influenced US government and media, often illegally.
  • August 2010: Harvard sells all its investments in Israeli companies.
  • August 2010: An article by Chris Patten critizing Israel’s treatment of Gaza.
  • July 2010: A remarkably honest assessment of USA support for Israel, and its costs for the USA, by Chas Freeman, former USA ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
  • June 2010: A long report, recommending a partial boycott of Israel, to the Methodist Conference of the UK.
  • June 2010: Support in the USA Huffington Post for the boycott by Stéphane Hessel, a holocaust survivor and drafter of the Declaration of Human Rights.
  • June 2010: Report of the UCU resolution to boycott Israel.
  • May 2010: Statement in Nature by Steven Rose in support of the academic boycott, and his reply to two critical replies: 1, 2
  • April 2010: Unpublished article by Jonathan Cook ‘Why There Are No ‘Israelis’ in the Jewish State’ abut the legal status of non-Jewish Israelis.
  • February 2010: A statement by American Jews rejecting their ‘right to return’ as unfair to the dispossessed Palestinians.
  • January 2010: A Bricup newsletter giving details of successes in the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
  • December 2009: Christian Palestinian leaders protest against the Israeli occupation.
  • December 2009: A delegation of MEPs is refused access to Gaza hours after the EU criticises Israel.
  • December 2009: The Palestine General Federation of Trades Unions officially endorses the call for international boycott, divestment and sanctions.
  • November 2009: Articles by two pro-Israel commentators, Yoel Marcus and Sever Plocker , both warning Israel that its behaviour has increased opposition in Europe and America.
  • October 2009: Article in Google News about an Israeli history textbook which has been recalled because it presents the Palestinian perspective on the 1948 war.
  • September 2009: Article on the Antiwar website by Neve Gordon about non-violent civil disobedience by Palestinians.
  • August 2009: Article in the New York Times about weekly peaceful demonstrations by West Bank villagers which have recently been joined by a group of international elder statesmen.
  • August 2009: Article in Haaretz by Anat Matar, an Israeli academic, arguing that academic boycotts are both needed and justified.
  • August 2009: Article in the Los Angeles Times by Neve Gordon, a distinguished Israeli academic, supporting the boycott of Israel.
  • April 2009: The Scottish TUC votes to divest from Israel.
  • Feb 2009: Two Jewish Americans accuse Israel of a Holocaust against Palestinians in Counterpunch.
  • Jan 2009: Al Quds University in Jerusalem announces that it will cease all cooperation with Israeli academic solutions.
  • Jan 2009: A letter signed by 400 UK academics and writers calling for sanctions against Israel.
  • Jan 2009: An analysis of the effects of the Gaza attack in Electronic Intifada.
  • Jan 2009: Article in The Guardian by Avi Shlaim on why Israel is a rogue state.
  • January 2009: Article in Haaretz by Gideon Levy, ‘The IAF, bullies of the clear blue skies’
  • Dec 2008: Article in the London Review of Books about Israel’s policy towards Gaza, by Sara Roy
  • Nov 2008: The President of the UN General Assembly accuses Israel of apartheid and calls for “boycott, divestment and sanctions”.
  • Nov 2008: A UN report criticises Israel’s ‘enormous web of unlawful practices’
  • October 2008: A global BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement is launched in Bilbao
  • July 2008: An article in Haaretz about a visit to the occupied territories by 21 human-rights activists from South Africa, who found the Israeli occupation ‘worse than apartheid’.
  • June 2008: A strong resolution passed by the UK’s biggest union, Unison, calling for the union to campaign in various ways against Israel.
  • May 2008: An advert in the Times protesting against Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and signed by 115 prominent UK figures.
  • May 2008: A Times article about the history of Israel and the Nakba.
  • May 2008: An Independent article by Johann Hari about the smearing of Israel’s critics.
  • May 2008: A Guardian article by Seumas Milne about Palestinian rights.
  • May 2008: A BBC report on the Palestinian reaction to the 60th anniversary of their disaster when Israel was founded.
  • May 2008: An article by Jonathan Power in the Jordan Times about the effect of demographics on the future of Israel.
  • April 2008: A letter to the Guardian from 107 British Jews explaining why they do not plan to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary.
  • January 2008: An article in the Financial Times arguing for far more concessions by Israel, including the end of the blockade of Gaza.
  • A well documented and argued report (submitted to the British Medical Journal) by a British doctor who visited the West Bank and Israel in August 2007, supported by a blog.
  • Israeli textbook for Arab primary schools admits that Arabs were forced out in 1948 (Scotsman 23 July 2007)
  • June 2007: Clare Short in the House of Commons (1.30 pm 26 June 2007)
  • July 2006: the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem (25 July, 2006)
  • July 2006: An article in The Black Commentator (for African Americans) on the strict apartheid in Israel (20 July, 2006).
  • 2004: An article in Counterpunch about the methods used in 1948 to drive the Arabs out (2004)

 

 

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