Jewish Voice for Peace Archives - Kit O'Connell: Approximately 8,000 Words

Black Lives Matter Coalition Demands US Divestment From Israel

At 2015 May Day celebrations in New York, a banner reads: "Ayotzinapa, Ferguson, Gaza, Baltimore, NYC: It Is Right To Rebel." (Flickr / The All-Nite Images)

August 8, 2016

Kit

Black Lives Matter Coalition Demands US Divestment From Israel

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Controversy is swelling over a policy platform published by a coalition of Black Lives Matter activists that includes calls for the United States to economically divest from Israel.

“The US justifies and advances the global war on terror via its alliance with Israel and is complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people,” The Movement for Black Lives noted in its policy platform. Published last week, the document was co-signed by over 50 black civil rights organizations.

Among other demands, the coalition is calling for the U.S. to redirect investments in policing, prisons, and the military-industrial complex — including the over $3.1 billion offered in foreign aid to Israel annually — into services that benefit black people and other oppressed Americans, such as health care, education, and treatment for mental illness.

Jewish Activists Protest Israeli Rebranding Of Conflict At SXSW

An activist holds a "Stop Israeli Terrorism" sign outside the JW Marriott hotel in Austin, Texas on March 14, 2016. Jewish Voice For Peace organized the protest against the Israeli ambassador's appearance on the SXSW panel, "Building The Perfect Country." (Kit O'Connell)

March 18, 2016

Kit

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Jewish Activists Protest Israeli Rebranding Of Conflict At SXSW

Posted in Journalism, MintPress News, and SXSW

At least two dozen activists drummed, rapped, and danced as SXSW attendees streamed into the JW Marriott in downtown Austin, Texas, on Monday morning for a panel titled “Building The Perfect Country.”

Panelists included Ido Aharoni, the consul general of Israel in New York and one of the key minds behind “Brand Israel,” a campaign aimed at boosting the nation’s image abroad by adopting marketing techniques used by successful companies.

“Our brand was almost universally, is almost universally associated with conflict,” Aharoni said at the panel held during SXSW, the annual nine-day music, film and technology festival held here. He compared Israel to other countries like Turkey, which are perceived more favorably than Israel even though they’re also home to “geopolitical conflict” and human rights abuses.

Organized by the local chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, the protesters outside the panel objected to the idea that a country based on occupation could be anything resembling perfection.

Jewish Voice For Peace Helps New Yorkers Imagine A More Balanced New York Times

The front cover of the parody edition of The New York Times created by Jewish Voice For Peace and Jews Say No! One top headline includes the news that Hillary Clinton is quitting the presidential race to focus on fighting human rights abuses. (JVP / Jews Say No!)

February 5, 2016

Kit

Jewish Voice For Peace Helps New Yorkers Imagine A More Balanced New York Times

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Big Apple commuters may have been a bit bewildered by the headlines in their morning copies of The New York Times on Tuesday.

The New York chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, a progressive Jewish group opposed to Israel’s occupation and oppression of Palestinians, collaborated with local group Jews Say No! to create a parody edition of the Times. They distributed over 10,000 copies of the free “special edition” of the newspaper to New York transit customers on Feb. 2.

The Times has been criticized for its support of Zionism, including overlooking Israel’s war crimes against Palestinians and attacking the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which seeks to put economic pressure on Israel to end its apartheid policies.