The Palestine thread

[glens abu]

Is there anywhere I can find a list of Israeli consumer companies trading in ireland? With a view to boycotting them?? The only Israeli products I ever see are an occasional packet of basil or coriander

Download app BUYCOTT to your phone and it will scan every product and tell you if they are Israeli friendly or not.

[bcarrier]

@Independent: This is what happens when a Palestinian guest appears on Fox News

http://i100.independent.co.uk/article/this-is-what-happens-when-a-palestinian-guest-appears-on-fox-news--lkXS-ltkze

[give her dixie]

Lidl and tesco always have the country of origin on their fruit and veg. I've been using that information to boycott Israeli goods for years.  I also boycott Caterpillar as they supply heavy moving equipment to the IDF

Good stuff. A few of us protested at Caterpillar's factory in West Belfast on Wednesday and also at Invest NI who recently gave them a £1 million grant to go towards more war crimes in Palestine. 

All parties to the Northern Ireland Executive also backed this grant and awarded a further £250,000 to them.

2 of the parties who backed these grants have adopted the call for BDS from Palestinian society, and top of the list for boycotting is Caterpillar. Hypocrisy of the highest order.

Plus, no media outlet will cover this angle as I have been personally told by the Irish News that there is no way they are going to run a story that highlights not only the hypocrisy by both parties, but Caterpillars involvement in war crimes in Palestine.

Right now, fleets of Caterpillar D9 Bulldozers are razing building to the ground in Gaza, and those at the front lines supporting Palestine have not only supported them, but continue to turn a blind eye to this activity.

This is a short video of our protest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TioG-clibck

[Carmen Stateside]

whats Labour and the Lib Dm thoughts on the massacre in Gaza?

[Itchy]

Ive said it before. Boycot of caterpillar is plain stupid. They make earth moving machines and can hardly be help responsible for how they are used. What next, boycot Toyota because israel uses landcruisers? Stupid far fetched protests like that only alienate you from the rest of the population, the sane people you need to influence.

[AZOffaly]

Ive said it before. Boycot of caterpillar is plain stupid. They make earth moving machines and can hardly be help responsible for how they are used. What next, boycot Toyota because israel uses landcruisers? Stupid far fetched protests like that only alienate you from the rest of the population, the sane people you need to influence.

I thought the same thing. Unless Caterpillar are producing stuff specifically for the IDF, then it'd be like boycotting Microsoft or Dell because they use Computers and Software to co-ordinate the air strikes.

I'm not going buying anything made in Israel, and I have no problem boycotting anything that is specifically designed to help the Israeli war effort, but I'm not going boycotting items that Israelis might use in some way.

[seafoid]

whats Labour and the Lib Dm thoughts on the massacre in Gaza?

lib dem leadership are toeing the line but some mps are more vocal.
Israel lost the plot this week.

[seafoid]

There is a 12 hour humanitarian ceasefire. Rescue workers have already pulled 60 bodies from rubble that was not previously accessible. Israel should hit the 1000 killed very soon.

Total PR disaster. It's like a child abuse ring.

[AZOffaly]

There is a 12 hour humanitarian ceasefire. Rescue workers have already pulled 60 bodies from rubble that was not previously accessible. Israel should hit the 1000 killed very soon.

Total PR disaster. It's like a child abuse ring.

Except everyone condemns child abuse. I can't believe some of the comments I read about this attack. It's like people are so emotionally invested in protecting Israel that they've decided to defend them to the nth degree, regardless.

My take on this is very similar to Muppet's, and even Mike Sheehy's. Israel is committing war crimes and should be held to account for it. But the long term solution, if there is to be one, will require a two state solution, with some external force policing and ensuring order.

[give her dixie]

Ive said it before. Boycot of caterpillar is plain stupid. They make earth moving machines and can hardly be help responsible for how they are used. What next, boycot Toyota because israel uses landcruisers? Stupid far fetched protests like that only alienate you from the rest of the population, the sane people you need to influence.

Caterpillar are complicit in war crimes. That's not my opinion, but also the opinion of the UN expert Professor Richard Falk. He has led the calls for a boycott of Caterpillar among others.

Caterpillar supply the D9 Dozers to the IDF, and they are also heavily fortified.

The IDF call them a "Strategic weapon"

Every month, there is news of another group of investors pulling their money out of them because of their involvement in war crimes in Palestine. $200 million has been withdrawn in nearly 2 years. The most recent was the Presbyterian church who took out $21 million from Caterpillar, Motorolla, and Hewlett Packard.

Take your pick of any of the links below in order to more of what I am talking about.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/21/us/presbyterian-church-palestinians/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/27/caterpillar-socially-responsible-indexes_n_1629992.html

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43376#.U9N8uEBQz6M

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/07/uk-israel-palestinians-demolitions-idUKBREA160NB20140207

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Puin9z4IzU

http://rachelcorriefoundation.org/peaceworks/call-cat-out-on-its-faulty-actions-explanations

http://www.bdsmovement.net/2013/hyundai-ends-relationship-with-home-demolition-equipment-firm-10469

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TctY_Yfod4

[give her dixie]

Motion 106  Passed

This Ard Fheis extends our continuing solidarity with the people of Palestine and urges full support for the boycott and divestment (BDS) campaign of Israeli goods and services, including Caterpillar, particularly those involved in settlement activity. This Ard Fheis particularly views with concern the activities of Cement Roadstone, an Irish company, and calls for an investigation into their activities and the activities of all such companies in collaborating in human rights violations.

This Ard Fheis also calls for an end to all trade with Israeli agricultural companies complicit with Israel's system of occupation, colonisation and apartheid. This Ard Fheis calls on the incoming Ard Chomhairle to ask all comhairli ceantair and cumainn to join with others supporting broad-based campaigns working towards ending agricultural trade with Israel that finances and rewards the destruction of Palestinian farming.

Pól Kinsella Cumann, Derry

http://www.sinnfein.ie/ard-fheis-2013-motions

[Itchy]

Sorry Dixie. An earth mover, whether fortified or with bells on it is not a weapon. Its an earth mover. I could go out and rent a Hitachi machine and wreck half a town if I want, doesn't make Hitachi complicit in what I do. Caterpillar are just an easy target as they sell into lots of markets. Its the people who make the weapons, tanks, guns and the components in them that you should target and I bet there are plenty of them around.

[give her dixie]

85 bodies, including children and women, were pulled out from under the rubble so far since the truce began

[Mike Sheehy]

There is a 12 hour humanitarian ceasefire. Rescue workers have already pulled 60 bodies from rubble that was not previously accessible. Israel should hit the 1000 killed very soon.

Total PR disaster. It's like a child abuse ring.

Except everyone condemns child abuse. I can't believe some of the comments I read about this attack. It's like people are so emotionally invested in protecting Israel that they've decided to defend them to the nth degree, regardless.

My take on this is very similar to Muppet's, and even Mike Sheehy's. Israel is committing war crimes and should be held to account for it. But the long term solution, if there is to be one, will require a two state solution, with some external force policing and ensuring order.

I think you are wasting your time AZ. Most of the social media warriors are not interested in real solutions that mean making hard choices.If people genuinely wanted to stop the slaughter they should be offering solutions as to how to prevent it from happening. That involves going back to first principles and stating clearly what you believe in. The problem is that people on here won't even declare whether they support the two state solution or not because they know that if you do that then you must address the security question. If you refuse to address that question this will keep happening and these escalations will keep getting more and more brutal.

[Mike Sheehy]

Sorry Dixie. An earth mover, whether fortified or with bells on it is not a weapon. Its an earth mover. I could go out and rent a Hitachi machine and wreck half a town if I want, doesn't make Hitachi complicit in what I do. Caterpillar are just an easy target as they sell into lots of markets. Its the people who make the weapons, tanks, guns and the components in them that you should target and I bet there are plenty of them around.

Actually, why stop at caterpillar, shouldn't we be going after anybody that works for Israeli companies or companies that do business in Israel.

That seems like a reasonable place to start.