Dear BDS supporters,
We did it! We scored a huge victory when, together with the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, we successfully appealed to Stevie Wonder to cancel his performance at the Friends of the IDF fundraiser in Los Angeles on December 6th. Our campaign has contributed to the global mainstreaming of cultural boycott, when the United Nations implicitly endorsed such a boycott, as it suggested that it would be inappropriate for Stevie Wonder to go ahead with this performance “in light of his role as UN messenger of peace.”
And our efforts over the past few years have also contributed to the mainstreaming of academic boycott, as the incoming chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley was asked about his views on boycott even before he was asked to address diversity, or fundraising. More recently, USACBI members and our allies have also initiated an academic boycott campaign in the American Studies Association in November 2012, and have begun mobilizing support for a resolution which, if passed, would be the first statement on academic boycott of any professional, academic organization in the US. And, as this message reaches you, USACBI members are packing their suitcases to return home from Porto Alegre, Brazil, where they represented academic and cultural boycott at the World Social Forum-Free Palestine.
Yes, 2012 has been a great year for BDS, punctuated by a long list of successes. Of course, we could not have done it without you, without your active participation as you endorsed our call for boycott, signed our petitions, joined the loud chorus of voices appealing to the artists scheduled to entertain apartheid, telling them you appreciate moral integrity alongside artistic talent. The momentum is building. And we can do more, we must do more, as we pressure Israel to comply with the precepts of international law.
But we need your help. Please consider contributing to USACBI. https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=W7V75BX55S34Y
Our Organizing Collective is all volunteer-run. We have no paid staff. Every dollar you give will go towards printing educational materials, organizing events with speakers from Palestine, and allowing us to participate in conferences where we would further promote academic and cultural boycott, an integral part of the Palestinian call for BDS. If you believe in our work, please help us carry on the struggle. Together, we shall overcome.
Thank you for your support,
The USACBI Organizing Committee
