Vigil for International BDS Day

1st public appearance of the Fano BDS Coalition

In Fano (Marches region, central Italy), a coalition of associations and individuals has been set up to join the international boycott campaign. This campaign asks everyone to stop helping the Israeli war economy by means of a small, but conscious gesture: not buying goods that serve to support the war.

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On the occasion of the International BDS Day, the Fano BDS Coalition is appearing in public for the first time for a vigil on:

Tuesday 30 March 2010
from 5.30pm to 7.30pm
in Piazza XX Settembre, Fano.

International Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions Campaign against Israel

A PEACEFUL GESTURE: DON'T BUY PRODUCTS THAT SUPPORT THE WAR!

For many years now, too many, women and men all over the world have been calling for a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians, a peace that recognizes the Palestinians' right to self-determination.

But the State of Israel continues to take over land for its settlements, denying Palestinians the right to live.

The construction of the Apartheid Wall has effectively broken up the West Bank into fragments, making it next to impossible to carry out a normal life, be it working, studying, obtaining healthcare, or particularly farming. The Palestinian economy is increasingly devastated.

Take the example of Bil'in, a Palestinian village in the West Bank, a village that is trying to exist, and is fighting to save its land, its olive groves, its resources and its freedom. By annexing 60% of Bil'in's land in order to build the separation wall, the State of Israel is destroying this village day by day. Supported by Israeli and international activists, the inhabitants of Bil'in peacefully demonstrate every Friday in front of the "building site of shame". And every Friday the Israeli army responds with physical and mental violence.

On the morning of 15th March 2010, the Israel military authorities declared the villages of Bil'in and Ni'ilin as "closed military zones", every Friday from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, for the next six months.

Take the example of Gaza. After the attack that took place a year ago, with 1,400 dead (most of whom were civilians and a third of whom were children) and thousands of injured, Gaza continues to be an open-air prison, the biggest in the world with 1.5 million inhabitants, who are denied any right - even the right to humanitarian aid.

Take the example of the Israeli government's order, just a few days ago, to build 1,600 new houses in East Gerusalem, the Arab zone.

Given the ineffectiveness of UN Resolutions, which have continually condemned Israel's colonialist, discriminatory policies from 1948 on, and the failure of all attempts by the international community to reestablish justice with peace processes and agreements, Palestinian associations and trade unions have appealed to the international community to begin a widescale campaign of boycotts, disinvestment and sanctions against Israel, following the example of the international boycott that men and women with a conscience the world over carried out against Apartheid in South Africa.

This was the birth of the international Boycott, Disinvestment and Sanctions Campaign (BDS), whose political objectives are to end the occupation of the Palestinian territories, to recognize the full equality of Palestinian citizens of Israel and to protect the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

The Palestinian committee that runs the campaign has explicitly requested support from Israeli citizens who desire a just peace, and they did not have to wait long: the first to join the campaign was the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions and others followed, such as Anarchists Against the Wall, the Israeli branch of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, the Coalition of Women for Peace and in 2009 the Israeli Boycott from Within campaign was born.

In Fano too, a coalition of associations and individuals has been set up to join the international boycott campaign.

This campaign asks everyone to stop helping the Israeli war economy by means of a small, but conscious gesture: not buying goods that serve to support the war.

It is a peaceful gesture that we ask of every man and woman who wants peace.

It is a concrete, non-violent gesture that can touch Israel's economic interests and force them to consider seriously a just peace for Palestine.

WE INVITE YOU NOT TO BUY ISRAELI GOODS PRODUCED IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OR GOODS FROM ISRAELI OR MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES WHO SUPPORT THE APARTHEID AND THE OCCUPATION.

Coordinamento BDS Fano

(Fano Women in Black, MIR - Movimento internazionale della riconciliazione, Alternativa Libertaria, Mondo Solidale-Bottega di Fano, Red Crescent, Palestinian Community of the Province of Pesaro, Gruppo Fuoritempo)

DOWNLOAD THE LIST OF GOODS TO BOYCOTT
http://www.fuoritempo.info/images/stories/iniziative/20...i.pdf