SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
bds movement
MLA Members for Palestine Protest Denial of BDS Vote at National Assembly
"We feel that it is our responsibility as the largest North American organization of scholars of literature and language to protest and stand with our colleagues who are being murdered for their existence," said one organizer.
Jan 12, 2025
"The more they try to silence us, the louder we will be!"
That was the message that protesters at the Modern Language Association Delegate Assembly in New Orleans wanted to send Saturday after the executive council of the MLA—the preeminent U.S. professional group for scholars of language and literature—blocked them from holding a member vote on a resolution endorsing the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights.
Like the resolution recently passed by the American Historical Association, the declaration issued by MLA Members for Justice in Palestine accuses Israel of committing scholasticide in Gaza, where—in addition to killing over 46,000 Palestinians, wounding nearly 110,000 others, and displacing around 2 million more—15 months of relentless Israeli onslaught has obliterated the embattled enclave's education infrastructure.
The MLA resolution—which supports the initial 2005 BDS call issued by Palestinian civil society groups—also acknowledges that international law experts accuse Israel of genocide and that the International Court of Justice, which is weighing a genocide case against Israel, has "determined that Israel is maintaining a system of apartheid."
"The MLA's commitment to 'justice throughout the humanities ecosystem' requires ending institutional complicity with genocide and supporting Palestinian colleagues," the statement asserts. "Therefore, be it resolved that we, the members of the MLA, endorse the 2005 BDS call."
Karim Mattar, an associate professor of English at the University of Colorado, Boulder, took part in Saturday's demonstration, during which supporters of the resolution staged a die-in and walkout, chanted slogans, and held a banner that read, "MLA Is Complicit in Genocide."
"I consider the executive council's decision to be a cowardly one," Mattar told Common Dreams. "The MLA is a humanities advocacy organization, and by repressing a membership vote, a democratic process to deliberate on the necessity of institutional divestment with companies that profit from genocide, it's actively contributing to the problem."
"I think it's a fundamental contradiction in the MLA's values between these stated values and principles of advocacy for the humanities and the blocking of a mechanism by which such advocacy might be facilitated," he added.
Mattar—who is Palestinian American and whose relatives were among the more than 750,000 Arabs who fled or were ethnically cleansed from Palestine during the Nakba, or "catastrophe" during the establishment of the modern state of Israel—said Saturday's protest brought tears to his eyes.
"To see this protest, this movement emerging at the MLA, to see this national and international movement of solidarity with Palestine to emerge in the last year, has been incredibly moving for me," he said.
Protest co-organizer Neelofer Qadir, an assistant professor of English at Georgia State University, told Common Dreams that protesters "really wanted to draw attention to how institutions are being destroyed, like universities, like libraries, like archives, which makes certain that there is a deep commitment to genocide and why scholasticide is part of genocide because the Israeli government intends to destroy all possible evidence of Palestinian life, past, present, and therefore no longer in the future."
"And we feel that it is our responsibility as the largest North American organization of scholars of literature and language to protest and stand with our colleagues who are being murdered for their existence," she added.
Last month, the MLA executive council
explained that while it is "appalled by the continued attack on Gaza," it believed that "supporting a BDS resolution was not a possible way forward for the association to address the crisis" due to "legal and fiduciary reasons."
Qadir dismissed the council's excuse, saying she believes the MLA is "engaged in a formal program of organized abandonment that is part and parcel of fascist and neoliberal governance that's happening in the U.S., Canada, and across the world."
St. John's University associate English professor Raj Chetty, who also organized Saturday's action, told Common Dreams that "whatever the MLA has said about the 'fiduciary concerns' about this, we're like, you're going to find out some other fiduciary concerns as you notice that both intellectual work and membership dues are going to start evaporating."
As part of their effort, MLA Members for Justice in Palestine are urging supporters to not renew their MLA membership "until there's a meaningful substantial change in position," as Chetty put it.
"This [protest] is a real call to humanity, a real call to justice, a real call against complicity, and a real call to support Palestinian life and rail against Israeli actions that are ending Palestinian life in all the ways that Neelofer talked about," he said.
Disclosure note: Olivia Rosane reported from the MLA conference, which she attended as a member, and has signed the pledge not to renew membership.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Investigation Exposes How Etsy Profits From Israeli Apartheid
"Etsy isn't simply turning a blind eye to stores listed on its site operating in illegal Israeli settlements—it is directly profiting from and even in certain cases, promoting them," said one campaigner.
Aug 07, 2024
Etsy, the popular U.S.-based e-commerce website, is profiting from goods made and sold in Israel's illegal settler colonies in the occupied West Bank, a report published Wednesday revealed.
"Under the radar, Etsy—the popular online platform for selling and buying artisanal and vintage items, with a mission to 'keep commerce human'—has been profiting from businesses with shops in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT)," states the briefing, which was published by the Institute for Journalism and Social Change (IJSC), Global Justice Now, and War on Want.
"It's time to bring an end to this shameless corporate profiteering."
"This briefing reveals, for the first time, how Etsy hosts numerous shops that explicitly name as their locations places that are considered illegal Israeli settlements by the [United Nations] and under international law—and as recently confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), in its ruling in July," the publication continues.
The ICJ's nonbinding advisory opinion affirmed that "the policies and practices of Israel in the OPT amount to apartheid."
Report author Claire Provost said that "Western complicity in Israeli war crimes is so pervasive that even Etsy, the popular platform for 'feel-good' shopping, is connected to businesses in the settlements."
"So far these ties have gone under the radar and unchallenged," added Provost, IJSC's co-founder and co-director. "That, at least, ends now."
Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden said that "Etsy isn't simply turning a blind eye to stores listed on its site operating in illegal Israeli settlements—it is directly profiting from and even in certain cases, promoting them."
"Doing so risks complicity in war crimes—and the reality is, they're not the only company profiting from the human misery inflicted on Palestinians day in, day out," he added. "It's time to bring an end to this shameless corporate profiteering."
Etsy charges listing and transaction fees. It also offers seller advertising for an additional fee. "Star sellers" are highlighted to prospective buyers. At least four star sellers—including one that had over 12,000 sales as of late July—specifically list illegal Israeli settlements as their locations.
The report identifies 14 Etsy stores located in the Ariel settlement, nine in Maale Adumim, and four in Tekoa.
"The full amount of money that has gone to businesses in the settlements, and Etsy in the process, is hard to estimate," the report acknowledges. Etsy "also hosts many more shops that only say they are based in 'Israel,' without specifying particular locations, making it hard or impossible for consumers to tell if they are also in such settlements."
"This trade has a significant Irish connection, too—which will alarm many in that country, where there are growing calls to cut ties with settlement businesses," the publication continues. "Etsy's contracts with these shops in settlements appear to be done through the company's Irish subsidiary, Etsy Ireland U.C., which is headquartered in Dublin."
Amid "Israeli efforts to expand their illegal settlements in the West Bank and increasing settler violence against Palestinians," some "consumers of conscience may have bought unknowingly from Etsy shops in these illegal settlements," the report adds. "Etsy may not have been questioned about these business links before."
"These problems, at least, can end now," the paper states. "We now know that Etsy is another company that is profiting from business relationships with the illegal settlements. By facilitating the sale of products from shops located in these settlements, Etsy could be connected to war crimes—and this could, in turn, be making users of the platform around the world, as well as Ireland (as the location of Etsy's subsidiary contracting with settlement shops), unknowingly involved too."
"These business relationships look like a serious problem for Etsy. But Etsy also has an opportunity to respond to these revelations, and concerns about them," the report argues. "It could act on its ability, as written into its policies, to cut its ties with shops in illegal settlements."
"It could also require that all shops disclose their location (city/town and not just country)," the authors added. "In doing
so, it could show real leadership to many already or potentially loyal users: people who want to make 'feel good,' conscious and more ethical purchases online."
In 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that food products made in Israeli settlements must indicate that they originate from a settlement instead of being labeled "Product of Israel."
The following year in the United States, the administration of then-President Donald Trumpordered goods produced in much of the occupied West Bank to be labeled "Made in Israel."
The global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement has notched a string of successes in its campaign to educate and influence consumers to eschew Israeli settlement products.
Responding to a query from Provost, Etsy said that "we have shared this information internally with the appropriate teams for review."
Keep ReadingShow Less
'Protest Works': Trinity College Dublin Agrees to Divest From Israeli Firms
Trinity's incoming student union president stressed that the school "refused to follow the U.S. example of bringing police in and made it clear that it would not pursue anything like that here."
May 09, 2024
Students at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland protesting the school's complicity in Israeli crimes in Palestine began dismantling their encampment Wednesday after administrators agreed to divest from three companies with ties to Israel's illegal settler colonies in the occupied West Bank.
TCD—which earlier this week
decried the "disproportionate response" to some pro-Palestine campus protests abroad—said an agreement between protesters and administrators had been reached on Wednesday afternoon, and that "plans are being put in place to return to normal university business for staff, students, and members of the public."
"We are glad that this agreement has been reached and are committed to further constructive engagement on the issues raised," senior dean Eoin O'Sullivan said. "We thank the students for their engagement."
Outgoing Trinity College Dublin Students' Union (TCDSU) president László Molnárfi called the agreement a "testament to grassroots student-staff power."
Incoming TCDSU president Jenny Maguire contrasted the situation at her school to the violent repression of student-led protests on some U.S. campuses.
"The college was determined that it would be an example going forward," Maguire said, according toThe New York Times. "It refused to follow the U.S. example of bringing police in and made it clear that it would not pursue anything like that here."
TCD's statement affirmed:
We fully understand the driving force behind the encampment on our campus and we are in solidarity with the students in our horror at what is happening in Gaza. We abhor and condemn all violence and war, including the atrocities of October 7th, the taking of hostages, and the continuing ferocious and disproportionate onslaught in Gaza. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the dehumanization of its people are obscene. We support the International Court of Justice's position that "Israel must take all measures within its power to prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide in relation to members of the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip."
"Trinity will endeavor to divest from investments in other Israeli companies," the school added, vowing to establish a task force on the issue.
"A real and lasting solution that respects the human rights of everyone needs to be found," the TCD statement said.
The protest camp—which was spearheaded by TCDSU and the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement—was erected Friday night on Fellow's Square, at the heart of Ireland's oldest university. Students demanded that TCD sell off its investments in three Israeli companies included on a United Nations "blacklist" first published in 2020 for their links to human rights violations committed by Israel in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The TCD protest came amid Israel's 216-day assault on Gaza, which has left at least 124,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing in what the International Court of Justice in January called a "plausibly" genocidal campaign. Support for Palestine runs strong and deep in Ireland, which, like Palestine, was also colonized by the British, and where many people see parallels between their historic repression and Israel's crimes against Palestinians.
TCD's campus—which is located in the center of the Irish capital—had been shut down for five days, a move that affected the school's income as it houses the Book of Kells, an ancient Celtic manuscript visitors pay from €16-€33.50 ($17-$36) to see. According toThe Irish Times, the Book of Kells generates approximately €350,000 ($377,000) in weekly income during the busy summer months.
Last week, the TCD fined TCDSU €214,000 ($231,000) for financial losses stemming from multiple protests held throughout this academic year.
Meanwhile in the United States—where a pair of Republican senators this week introduced legislation to brand students protesting for Palestine as "terrorists" and add them to the no-fly list—campus encampments continued to spread from coast to coast.
On Wednesday, progressive U.S. Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) spoke alongside student protesters from George Washington University outside the U.S. Capitol.
https://t.co/MvLg0MMN90
— Congresswoman Cori Bush (@RepCori) May 8, 2024
"We will not stop in defending these students until [the] end in regards to the genocide... until there is an immediate and permanent cease-fire that includes complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza," said Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress. "We're proud to use our positions in office to bring these voices, so you all don't forget why there are encampments, why there are movements and dissent around this country."
While crackdowns and violence by police and Israel supporters have garnered most of the headlines in the U.S., at least eight schools across the country including California State University, Sacramento; Evergreen State College; University of California, Riverside; Brown University; Rutgers University; State University of New York, Purchase; Northwestern University; and University of Minnesota have agreed to some or all of students' demands.
After a week of demonstrations at a student-led encampment at California State University, Sacramento, administrators said they would revise the school's socially responsible investment policy and refrain from investments linked to Israeli human rights violations in Palestine.
"I think it's so significant what we did here because we're essentially raising the bar for all universities," Sacramento State sophomore Michael Lee-Chang toldThe Intercept. "We've had every single one of our demands met, and that's how it should be. We're here for Palestine, and student power shouldn't be underestimated. I can't state just how excited I am and can't wait to see how our win helps other campuses reach their victories too."
Faculty at U.S. colleges and universities have also been taking a more active role in the protests. Professors and other staff at the New School in New York City set up a solidarity camp on Wednesday, erecting tents with signs including "Faculty Against Genocide" and "Jews for Palestine."
As of Thursday, more than 800 Jewish professors had signed an open letter demanding that lawmakers and U.S. President Joe Biden oppose the so-called Antisemitism Awareness Act, House-approved legislation the educators warn will "amplify the real threats Jewish Americans already face" by "conflating antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israel."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular