IMEU Institute for Middle East Understanding
A leader of the international boycott movement against Israel on Tuesday accused Israeli authorities of imposing a travel ban on him as retribution for his political activities. The travel restrictions come weeks after Israel's interior minister, who oversees immigration policy, was quoted as saying that he would consider revoking residency rights of Omar Barghouti.
on May 10, 2016
As an American of Palestinian Christian origin, I urge the United Methodist Church to heed the Palestinian Christian Kairos call for divestment from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. The Kairos call is certainly one of defiance, but it is also, in its own words, truly a message of “faith, hope, and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering.” It is based on a simple premise: Righteous people ought not to profit from unjust practices inflicted upon their fellow human beings.
on May 9, 2016
Graduate students at New York University have overwhelmingly voted to boycott Israel in protest of its violation of Palestinian human rights. Exactly two-thirds of voting members of the graduate student union the Graduate Student Organizing Committee, or GSOC-UAW 2110, supported a referendum on Friday that calls for New York University and United Auto Workers International to withdraw their investments...
on April 22, 2016
The Israel-Palestine conflict, never absent from most U.S. college campuses, is fueling especially passionate debate in central Ohio this spring. Much of the argument centers on the nationwide “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” movement, which aims to punish Israel economically as a way to pressure it to change its treatment of Palestinians. In recent years, the movement has attracted powerful pushback from pro-Israel organizations.
on March 29, 2016
The UN Human Rights Council has voted to establish a database that will name companies doing business in Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in a symbolic victory for the Palestinians and a blow to the Israeli government and its allies. The measure passed on Thursday as one of four on the Palestinian territories approved by the Geneva-based human rights body, despite efforts by Israel, the US and the UK to have the database provision excised.
on March 24, 2016
Q&As
The IMEU offers the following Q&A with co-founder of the Palestinian civil society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Omar Barghouti, on recent developments involving BDS and the BDS National Committee's goals for the future.
on March 21, 2016
G4S, the world’s largest security firm, is selling its entire business in Israel in a move that it said on Thursday was for “commercial reasons.” The global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign has claimed that it was responsible for the decision because of pressure it applied on the British firm.
on March 10, 2016
The Freedom2Boycott in Virginia Coalition welcomes Monday’s unanimous decision of the Senate General Laws and Technology Committee to delay consideration of HB1282 until the 2017 legislative session, if at all. The bill would have wasted taxpayers money by requiring the Secretary of Commerce and Trade to spend valuable time and resources...
on March 1, 2016
With limited public attention, Florida lawmakers are restricting the First Amendment rights of Floridians to measures such as boycotts and divestment campaigns to address human-rights abuses. Two bills are making their way through the Legislature to suppress boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns for Palestinian rights.
on February 20, 2016