BDS Blossoms Across U.S. on Palestinian Land Day!

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BDS Blossoms Across U.S. on Palestinian Land Day!

Dear.......,

Congratulations to us! Last week’s Palestinian Land Day marked the largest global boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) Day of Action to date. According to the fantastic new global BDS movement web site, the United States hosted the most actions of any country in the world. Great job to all those who participated!

Want to be inspired? Here is a tiny taste of the more than 25 fantastic events across the U.S.:

In San Francisco, activists demonstrated and delivered a letter to the IRS to protest the tax-exempt status of the Jewish National Fund, which re-appropriated the land of Palestinian refugees whom Israel exiled in 1948 and which continues to restrict land use for Jewish Israelis only.

There were BDS flash mobs by member groups in Chicago and New York City! The latter was taken down in what appears to be a pattern of YouTube censorship.

The Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign held an advocacy training at the state capitol. More than 110 activists from around the state gathered to urge their legislators to divest state funds from Israeli bonds.

Activists delivered a letter with over 2,500 signatures to the management at 15 Bed, Bath & Beyond stores along the West Coast, asking the retail chain to discontinue sales of Ahava cosmetics and SodaStream home carbonation systems, both manufactured in illegal Israeli settlements.

Students at the University of Arizona constructed a mock Apartheid wall to symbolize the walls in Palestine and on the U.S./Mexico border.

There were dozens more actions from Corvallis, Oregon, to Fort Worth, Texas; from St. Louis, Missouri, to Washington, D.C. You can find report-backs from around the world by clicking here.

As always, please send us your reports of local actions so we can include them in our biweekly newsletter, Occupation End Notes!

With Land Day behind us, there are many more upcoming dates in Palestinian history to remember, including April 9 (Deir Yassin), May 15 (Nakba Day) and July 9 (6th anniversary of the Palestinian call for BDS).

Plus, don’t forget to join us at the “Move Over AIPAC” Conference, May 21-24, in Washington, DC...

...for four days of trainings, workshops, cultural events, and creative protests to challenge the 2011 AIPAC policy conference and U.S. support for Israeli occupation and apartheid, and to promote campaigns of BDS.

The US Campaign is helping to support local activism around the country, including through an upcoming BDS Mentors Bureau and general speakers list.

And, if those flash mobs in New York and Chicago gave you an itch to get your BDS groove on, we hope this BDS Flash Mob How-To Kit can help you plan and execute a flash mob in your community.

Let’s keep the pressure on!

Anna Baltzer
National Organizer