The National Campus and Community Radio Association (NCRA), an organization representing 82 radio stations from every corner of Canada, adopted a motion at its annual general meeting on June 10, 2011, in the city of Halifax to endorse the call for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (or BDS) against Israeli apartheid. In doing so, the NCRA is proudly the first national media organization in Canada to join the global movement for BDS.

The BDS resolution passed by the general membership of the NCRA comes on the heels of the BDS resolution unanimously adopted at AMARC10, the global conference of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters that gathered more than 500 broadcasters from 87 countries in La Plata, Argentina, this past November. With this resolution (full text linked below), the NCRA pledged to refuse to cooperate with Israeli media institutions, which are heavily controlled by the Israeli apartheid regime, as well as to support the development of community radio stations in Israel/Palestine. Importantly, the NCRA is also the most recent of a growing list of Canadian civil-society organizations who have supported the global BDS campaign, including labour unions, feminist, and student
groups.

Throughout its twenty-five year history, the NCRA has acted in support of local and global social justice struggles, including adopting resolutions in support of indigenous struggles in North and South America and advocating for the release of imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu Jamal.  Community radio in Canada has a long history of airing the voices of the voiceless from the struggles against Apartheid in South Africa to streets of occupied Palestine. With this BDS endorsement, the NCRA has proudly taken its place amongst its brothers and sisters in this worldwide movement bringing voices of justice to the airwaves.

–>To download or listen to an interview with Sylvia Richardson (CJSF-AMARC) talking about the BDS resolution, visit: http://www.mediacoop.ca/audio/voices-women-radio-conference-part-4-4/7481

–>To read the more about AMARC10, in addition to accessing the full text of the AMARC10 resolution, visit: http://wiki.amarc.org/?action=shownews&id=1172&lang=EN

–>To read the text of the NCRA BDS resolution, passed at the National Campus and Community Radio Conference, June 10 2011, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, visit: http://ncra.ca/news/ncrc-resolutions-from-the-membership