[Bnc-announce-ar] Report on Fourth National BDS Conference in Bethlehem

Tue Jun 18 07:27:16 EDT 2013

*Report on The Fourth National BDS Conference, 8 June 2013, Bethlehem*

http://www.bdsmovement.net/2013/report-fourth-national-bds-conference-11080<http://www.bdsmovement.net/2013/report-fourth-national-bds-conference-11080#sthash.m8BFe1pD.dpuf>

Ramallah – 18 June 2013 – On 8 June 2013 the Palestinian BDS National
Committee (BNC)[1] organized its “Fourth National BDS Conference” at
Bethlehem University, under the slogan: “Boycotting Israel and opposing
normalization contribute to Liberation, Return of Refugees, and
Self-Determination.” With 700 participants, mostly representatives of the
national committee member entities, including political parties, trade
unions, women’s organizations, professional syndicates, youth and student
groups, and other civil society organizations, the conference was hailed by
several commentators as a “turning point” for the BDS movement’s local
work. A substantial part of the credit goes to the selfless efforts of tens
of — mainly youth — volunteers who worked for long weeks on organizing all
aspects of the conference with dedication and aptitude.

Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the PLO Executive
Committee also took part in the conference, underlining official
recognition of the BDS Movement’s increasing clout and impact.

This national BDS conference provided a distinguished platform for
exchanging ideas among Palestinian youth and student activists, trade
unionists, women activists, decision makers, intellectuals, academics,
representatives of the private sector, and leading NGO networks.

The conference aimed to promote and enable Palestinian society’s effective
development of sector-based BDS campaigns with clear strategies and
leadership teams. Recognizing how Israel is increasingly seeking
Palestinian and other Arab “fig-leaves” to cover up its intensifying
occupation, colonization and apartheid, one of the main themes addressed
was the economic, academic, cultural, youth and IT sector normalization
with Israel and ways of confronting it.

Following the National Anthem, Ms. *Haitham Arar*, Representative of the
General Union of Palestinian Women to the BNC, introduced the guest
speakers of the Opening Session, titled *“Boycotting Israel: Rooted,
Contemporary, Universal Resistance.”* *Brother* *Peter Bray*, President of
Bethlehem University, opened with a welcoming speech highlighting the
importance of the BDS movement as an effective framework for nonviolent
education and action that raises public awareness and empowers various
sector of society to participate in the struggle for freedom and human
rights. Mrs. *Fadwa Barghouthi* read a message of support from *Marwan
Barghouthi*, a key Fatah leader and member of the Palestinian Legislative
Council who is illegally incarcerated by Israel. Mrs. *Abla Saadat* then
delivered a support message from *Ahmad Saadat*, the imprisoned Secretary
General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The two
messages confirmed the firm endorsement of BDS — as a main strategy of
resistance and global solidarity with Palestinian rights — by leaders of
the Palestinian national struggle.

Dr. *Mustafa Barghouthi*, Secretary General of the Palestinian National
Initiative, delivered a speech on behalf of the National and Islamic Forces
in Palestine, a main pillar of the BNC, in which he reiterated the firm
conviction of Palestinian political parties of the futility of negotiations
under the current imbalance of power and U.S. hegemony. Dr. Barghouthi
emphasized that national unity, growing popular resistance, and effective
international solidarity, particularly in the form of BDS, are the
necessary components of a Palestinian strategy to end Israel’s occupation
and apartheid, and to achieve self determination, the return of refugees
and the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with
Jerusalem as its capital. He warmly saluted the BNC and the BDS movement,
locally and internationally, for its recent spectacular successes and
called for escalating the comprehensive boycott of Israel to isolate it as
apartheid South Africa was.

[image: BNC-conference-Ahmad-Shehade3]
Photo: Ahmad Shehade

South African Archbishop *Desmond Tutu*, one of the highest-profile
supporters of BDS against Israel, addressed the conference via a recorded
video message, saying he was “certain” that the Palestinian people will
achieve their freedom one day, when they will walk tall with dignity in a
free Palestine, drawing thunderous applause. This was followed by another
recorded solidarity message from *Roger Waters*, a world celebrity and
founder of Pink Floyd, in which he saluted the conference and reaffirmed
his firm support for BDS until the Palestinians enjoy freedom, justice and
equal rights.

The Opening Session was concluded by the main BNC speech, presented via
videoconference by Dr. *Haidar Eid*, associate professor at Al-Aqsa
University in the besieged Gaza Strip and Steering Committee member of the
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
(PACBI). Dr. Eid explained the BDS philosophy, strategies, South African
inspiration, and some of its main successes. He also gave an overview of
the multiple challenges, internal and external, facing the movement,
highlighting some of the most important evidence of the movement’s impact
on Israel’s system of occupation, colonization and apartheid.

[image: BNC-conference-Ahmad-Shehade2]
Photo: Ahmad Shehade

Under the title *“BDS Initiatives: Local, Arab and International,”* the
First Session started, chaired by Ms. *Rif’a Abu-Reesh*, representative of
the Global Palestinian Right to Return Coalition, the largest alliance of
Palestinian groups, inside and outside Palestine, advocating for the right
of return for Palestinian refugees. It included a number of reports of
actual boycott experiences and important lessons learned. *Archbishop
Attallah Hanna* spoke about the experience of the “Kairos Palestine” group
and its role in spreading BDS among churches worldwide. Dr. *Samah Idriss*,
a well-known Lebanese publisher and author, spoke via videoconference from
Beirut about the pioneering Lebanese experience in boycotting corporations
that are complicit in Israel’s occupation and violations of international
law. Dr. *Tayseer Maray* introduced the special forms of boycott adopted in
the occupied Syrian Golan Heights in spite of the siege and isolation
imposed by Israel. Dr. *Mohsen Abu Ramadan*, representative of the
Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) to the BNC, spoke from Gaza about the
boycott experiences there and its main successes.

Activist *Yafa Jarrar*, who lives in Toronto, Canada, presented a report on
“Israeli Apartheid Week” the leading annual campus-based BDS activity.
Activist and lawyer *Nisreen Al-Haj Ahmad* presented the main elements of
the Arab BDS campaign against G4S and its strategy. Dr. *Samia Botmeh*,
director of the Birzeit University Center for Development Studies and PACBI
Steering Committee member, highlighted some of the main success stories in
the academic and cultural boycott of Israel. *Imad Temiza*, the young and
determined head of the Palestinian Postal Services Workers’ Union,
presented his union’s strategy in promoting a boycott of Israel’s postal
services. Activist *Mazen Al-Azzeh*, a Bethlehem leader of the Palestinian
National Initiative, spoke about the most important features and successes
of the local “Bader” Campaign for boycotting Israeli products. A youth
leader from Salfit, *Diaa’ Shtayyah*, presented a campaign to declare
Salfit free of Israeli goods. *Amjad al-Kassis*, an international law
expert from the Badil Center in Bethlehem, tackled Israel’s systematic
ethnic cleansing of Palestinian communities and the importance of sanctions
in confronting it. Finally, *Raja Zaatry*, the head of the Haifa branch of
the Israeli Communist Party, represented the newly-formed group, BDS48,
explaining the main prospects and challenges facing the group in spreading
BDS among Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The Second Session, titled *“Forms of Normalization and combating it,”* was
headed by Mr. *Rasem Obeidat* from the Civic and National Commission in
Occupied Jerusalem. Dr. *Islah Jad*, director of the Center for Women’s
Studies at Birzeit University and Steering Committee member of PACBI,
presented the principles and guidelines of the Normalization Definition
document, which was adopted by representatives of the absolute majority of
civil society at the First National BDS Conference in 2007. Then Mrs. *Rania
Elias*, director of Yabous Cultural Center in Jerusalem and PACBI Steering
Committee member, gave an overview of cultural normalization projects and
some success stories of BDS activists thwarting such projects, especially
in Jerusalem. Dr. *Yousef Abd Al-Haq*, a leading economist, tackled the
issue of economic normalization which he argued was the most dangerous
form. Dr. *Abdul-Rahim Al-Shaikh* presented a compelling argument against
academic normalization, giving examples of how it undermines the struggle
for self determination. The last paper in this session was presented by the
youth activist *Zaid Shuaibi*, Networking and Outreach Officer at the BNC,
on youth and student normalization and its role in occupying the minds and
hindering the struggle for Palestinian rights.

At the end of the session a display screen was revealed, surprising the
audience with a picture of the renowned Lebanese singer *Marcel Khalifeh*,
who addressed the conference from Beirut, stressing the importance of
“saying NO” and standing up to tyranny. He saluted the boycott movement,
focusing on the role of cultural boycott in the Palestinian and Arab
struggle for freedom and emancipation. Sustained, loud applause was the
audience’s response.

Under the title, *“Facing the Public: Palestinian Officials and Civil
Society Representatives Answer Questions About Boycotting Israel and
Countering Normalization,”* the Third Session of the conference, and by far
its stormiest, was headed by *Nasfat Khuffash*, representative of the
National Institute of NGOs to the BNC Secretariat. He introduced the panel
speakers: Dr. *Taisir Khaled*, member of PLO Executive Committee, Dr. *Jawad
Naji*, Palestinian Minister of the National Economy, and *Omar Barghouti*,
representing the BNC. This session provided a rare forum for democratic
accountability and questioning of officials. A large number of critical
questions and interventions were raised, some of which were hard-hitting,
even angry, reflecting the Palestinian public’s general discontent with the
PA’s and PLO’s performance as far as resisting the occupation and
struggling for Palestinian rights go.

In spite of a verbal altercation between the PA minister and a member of
the audience that created temporary chaos in the large hall and eventually
resulted in the minister’s departure from the conference, this experience
in popular democracy in itself underscored the importance of freedom of
expression, respect for difference of opinion, and holding officials to
account in everything related to citizens concerns, especially those
pertaining to national rights and ways to defend them.

Following the third session, *Alaa Muhanna*, a young Druze Palestinian
writer and conscientious objector from the Galilee shared his experience in
refusing the compulsory military service in the occupation army, analyzing
the growing trend of Druze Palestinian rejection of military service as a
form of boycott and an expression of the unity of the Palestinian people
everywhere.

At the end of the conference the hundreds of participants split into
concurrent sector-based workshops that culminated many preparatory
workshops held in few months leading to the Fourth National BDS Conference.
Effective sector-based, one-year BDS action plans were drawn and follow-up
teams were formed in the 9 parallel workshops. It is worth mentioning that
the General Union of the Palestinian Women was *the* most active member of
the BNC in organizing preparatory workshops prior to the conference — it
held 7 such workshops in the different governorates in the occupied West
Bank and Gaza.

The Fourth National BDS Conference was by far the most successful BDS event
to be held in Palestine. While there remains much to do, the BNC is hopeful
that the conference will significantly contribute to enhancing grassroots
BDS activism among Palestinians everywhere and setting the stage for the
long-awaited take-off of BDS campaigning in the Arab world.
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[1] The BNC is the largest Palestinian coalition, including representatives
of major political parties, refugee networks, mass organizations (women,
students, farmers, teachers, writers, etc.), trade unions, NGO networks,
and professional associations. It is the Palestinian reference for the
global BDS movement.
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