BDS is Failing: a continuing series (March 2016)

Here’s the latest installment in our monthly round-up of BDS fails.

Here’s the latest installment in our monthly round-up of BDS fails.

Economic BDS Fails

 Forbes has announced its first Under 30 Summit EMEA, (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and has selected Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for the inaugural event.

The Under 30 Summit EMEA is hoping to attract 600 young entrepreneurs and game changers from across the world: 200 from Europe, 200 from the US and 200 from Israel.

“We look forward to bringing our successful Under 30 Summit to the EMEA region, and there is no better place than Start-up Nation, where innovation is at the core of everything that is going on,” said Randall Lane, editor of Forbes magazine.

Dr. Jürgen Eikenbusch, the spokesman for DAB Bank Munich, wrote the [Jerusalem] Post by email on Tuesday: “Because of bank secrecy [financial laws] we cannot provide you with concrete information about the account. We took the information very seriously and are examining the topic and are taking, if necessary. the corresponding measures.”

DAB Munich is the German branch of its French mother company bank, BNP Paribas. French law outlaws BDS activity targeting the Jewish state.

US software giant Oracle Corp. (NYSE: ORCL) has acquired Israeli cloud software company Ravello Systems for $500 million.

Based in Ra’anana, Ravello Systems has raised $54 million to date from venture capital funds. NVP and Sequoia each hold a 25% stake in the company. The company, founded in 2011 by CEO Rami Tamir and chairman and president Benny Schnaider, has 70 employees in Israel and the US. This was the sixth company that Tamir and Schnaider have founded. In September 2008, they sold Qumranet Inc. to Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) for $107 million.

Political BDS Fails

French banking giant BNP Paribas is shutting down a major financing source for the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (“BDS”) campaign in Germany.  This is the latest in an anti-BDS trend in Germany and, potentially, the first step in cutting of BDS funding in Europe.

By a vote of 229 for and 51 against, the Canadian Parliament passed a historic motion this afternoon which formally condemned the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) anti-Israel movement.

The Conservatives (including former Prime Minister Stephen Harper who attended the session to cast his vote against BDS), as well as the Liberals voted for the motion. Tom Muclair, leader of the NDP, opposed it as well as Bloc Québécois and three MPs of the Liberal Party (René Arseneault, Larry Bagnell and Nick Whalen).

The motion, which was brought on November 18 by Conservative MP’s Tony Clement and Michelle Rempel, called on Canada to reject BDS.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday pledged his country’s cooperation with African nations against terrorism as he met Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.

“Israel is willing and prepared to work with African countries in our common battle against militant Islamic terrorism,” Netanyahu said as he went into talks with Kenyatta, whose country has long been a strategic ally of Israel.

“I have to say that more and more African countries recognize what you recognize — that Israel is a unique partner against this extremism”.

King’s College London concluded on Friday that anti-Israel students who turned violent during a protest on campus last month went too far.

The university said in a report that after conducting a “swift and comprehensive investigation into the events which took place,” it has concluded that “a number of individuals intentionally disrupted the rights of others to exercise freedom of speech within the law.”

“Those individuals who chose to behave inappropriately crossed a line and should be held accountable for doing so,” the university said.

Professor Ed Byrne, president and principal of King’s College London, accepted all findings of the investigation and said he invited Ayalon to return to King’s College. The former head of the Shin Bet accepted the invitation.

Byrne said the university has a “duty to uphold freedom of speech within the law and will fight against intolerance wherever it is found.”

New Delhi and Jerusalem set to sign a $3 billion weapons deal in the lead up to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first official visit to Israel.

India is planning to buy 164 laser systems for its air force, specifically for its Sukhoi-30MKI and Jaguar planes, and 250 precision guided bunker busting bombs, according to a report in The Times of India on Tuesday.

India was also one of only five countries to abstain from voting for the adoption of a UN Security Council Resolution on Gaza. It was the first time that India publicly abstained from a UN vote criticizing Israel in an international forum.

PARIS (EJP)—The Council of the City of Paris has voted two resolutions against the anti-Israel Boycott, Sanctions and Divestment (BDS) movement.

In the resolutions, the City Council ‘’firmly opposes all attempts to isolate Israel among the nations” and ‘’condemns efforts, including public demonstrations in Paris, advocating for the boycott of Israel.’’

Councillors also reaffirm the city’s “commitment to the promotion of a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israel conflict.”

One resolution was submitted by the Socialist-led coalition of Mayor Anne Hidalgo and the other by center-right members of the City Council.

The vote reinforces an existing French law that considers boycott of Israel as discriminatory and illegal.

A boycott motion against Israel has failed by a large majority at Warwick University student union.

The motion was defeated when 644 students voted against it. There were 376 votes for a boycott and 249 abstentions. Results of the online vote were published last Friday.

Scientific, Cultural, Technology BDS Fails

A breakthrough cancer study in which patients suffering from a form of leukemia saw their diseases go into remission after they were treated with genetically modified T-cells has deep roots in Israel.

One of the first in the world to work on the innovative adaptive immunotherapy technique to treat cancer, which was hailed Tuesday worldwide as a potentially “extraordinary” development, was Weizmann University Professor Zelig Eshhar. Speaking Wednesday on Israel Radio, Eshhar said he was very heartened to hear about the results of the study at the University of Pennsylvania.

More than 140 Israeli companies will introduce innovative technologies and applications in Israel’s pavilion at the Mobile World Congress 2016. The congress, to be held from February 22-25, is considered the biggest and most important get-together in the mobile industry and is expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors and 2,000 companies ready to unveil the most innovative technologies, products and applications in the field.

Julio Iglesias Concert in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 7, 2016
Enrico Macias in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 17, 2016
Deep Purple in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 22, 2016
The musical, Thriller Live in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 19-24, 2016
Elton John to Perform in Tel Aviv, Israel. May 26, 2016
Brian Wilson in Tel Aviv, Israel. June 8, 2016
Simply Red in Tel Aviv, Israel. June 14, 2016
Foreigner Concerts in Caesarea, Israel. June 14 & 15, 2016
Megadeth in Tel Aviv, Israel. July 2, 2016
Tame Impala in Tel Aviv, Israel. July 11, 2016
Mercury Rev in Tel Aviv, Israel. July 20, 2016
Enrique Iglesias in Tel Aviv, Israel. December 16 & 22, 2015

Bon Jovi.  Jennifer Lopez. Bruce Springsteen.  Beyoncé and Kanye West are also expected in Israel later this year.

The Swedish electronic musician and DJ Avicii will arrive in Israel on July 22 for a concert at Live Park in Rishon LeTziyyon, as part of an international tour to promote his latest album “Stories.”

Sia, the Australian singer-songwriter and one of the most popular artists in the world right now, is coming to perform in Israel this summer. 

“We’re looking very much forward to coming back to Israel this summer,” said the lead singer of the German rock band Scorpions in a video on Monday.

“Make sure you don’t miss it because we rock you like a hurricane!” said a jovial Klaus Meine, quoting the band’s seminal 1984 anthem, “Rock You Like a Hurricane.”

The hard rock band lands in Israel for a show at the Menorah Mivtachim Arena on July 14 as part of its 50th anniversary tour.

TEL AVIV – During a year that saw the expansion of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel, the Academy Awards seems to be taking a stand in solidarity with the Jewish state. 

Nominees of the 2016 Academy Awards will walk away with a record $232,000 worth of gifts, including a ten-day first-class trip to Israel worth $55,000.

It concert will take place on August 11, at Live Park in Rishon LeZion.

An Arabic-language hip-hop film featuring mostly Palestinian actors and directed by an Israeli won a prize as an audience favorite on Saturday at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Director Udi Aloni’s “Junction 48” took the Panorama Audience Award for best fiction film. The film “Who’s Gonna Love Me Now?” by Tomer and Barak Heymann was voted best Panorama documentary.

Thirteen-years-old Mohammed Abu Jazer from Gaza got a new lease on life last month thanks the voluntary work of Israeli-based humanitarian organization Save a Child’s Heart.

Mohammed, one of seven siblings, goes to the 7th grade, but finds it hard to keep pace with his peers due to his health condition. He is a fan of Real Madrid and would have loved to play soccer himself, but he ties easily. Meanwhile he plays computer games and dreams of going to university like his older siblings.

The BDS list is an evolving list of companies and individuals that support Israel in one or more of the following ways:

  1. They are Israeli companies.  They are based in or headquartered in Israel.
  2. They are invested in Israeli companies.  They hold a stake in companies based in or headquartered in Israel, providing capital and/or material support to Israeli companies which helps them grow and succeed.  This helps create jobs and brings in tax revenue to the Israeli government.
  3. They have research centers, manufacturing plants, and/or development centers in Israel.  Companies that establish bases of operation in Israel often, provide thousands of jobs and contribute significantly to Israel’s economy.
  4. They are an artist who ignores the calls to boycott Israel and performs in the Jewish state. Every artist that visits Israel deals a blow to the BDS movement and encourage others.

If you see any mistakes or would like to add to the list, please email to submissions@bdsguide.com

 

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