Fighting Back: BDS Activists to Launch ‘Biggest-Ever Campaign’

BDS activists are fighting back by launching their largest boycott campaign since 2005. (Photo: BDSmovement.net, file)

In a press release issued today by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, organizers said that this week “99 actions will take place across the world to highlight HP companies’ complicity in Israel’s violations of international law and human rights abuses.”

Here is the text of the press release produced in full,

Human rights activists supporting the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against the state of Israel have launched their biggest-ever campaign since the 2005 call was made by Palestinian civil society.

Targeting Hewlett Packard (HP) companies, who campaigners say are “deeply complicit in Israel’s occupation and oppression of Palestinians”, an international week of action has been launched, with 99 actions across at least 18 countries spanning 6 continents.

In the UK, where the BDS movement has faced various attempts this year by the British Government to suppress their campaigns, more than 30 protests and actions are planned, most of them on Saturday 26th November.

This reflects a groundswell of support for such action among the British public. Divestment campaigns are also an effective tool used by a number of different ethical activist groups, including green and fossil fuel campaigners, as well as human rights activists.

Tuesday 29th November, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, coincides with a trade fair held by HP Enterprise, a newly-created HP company. BDS activists will be outside highlighting that the company profits “from systematic human rights violations”.

The director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Ben Jamal said:

“Just as major corporations Veolia and G4S have divested from Israel, or announced they would, HP companies too are being sent a strong message that complicity in egregious human rights violations is not just unethical: it’s bad for business”.

“HP companies are deeply complicit in Israel’s occupation and oppression of Palestinians, by providing technology to Israeli naval forces, who use it to enforce the criminal blockade of Gaza; as well as imaging technology for Israel’s military checkpoints, which deny Palestinians’ freedom of movement.”

“While HP split into at least two companies recently, HP Inc. and HP Enterprise, all HP companies rely on the same brand and share certain supply chains, governance and infrastructure. As long as HP spin-offs continue to profit from systematic human rights violations, we’ll continue to target the HP brand.”

– For contacts and more information visit https://bdsmovement.net.

(The Palestine Chronicle is a registered 501(c)3 organization, thus, all donations are tax deductible.)
Our Vision For Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders & Intellectuals Speak Out