THE BATTLE AGAINST EBOLA
GENDER BASED VIOLENCE IN INDIA
THE LEGANDARY FELA KUTI
We look at Ireland’s longstanding relationship with Liberia as the battle rages against Ebola.
The 2012 Delhi rape gang case brought India’s track record on gender to global headlines.
Fi nd i ng Fela is a recent documentary looking at how music can be turned into a weapon for social change.
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ACTION FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE. November 2014 | Published By Comhlámh | ISSUE 95
www.comhlamh.org
Irish Activists carried out BDS actions in shops like Marks and Spencers in Dublin in July | Photo Credits: Ronan Burthenshaw
JAMES REDMOND Comhlámh Staff
Solidarity At The Shops.
Why It’s Time To Build The Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Movement. SHANE O’CONNOR Development Educationalist
W
hile the socalled ‘Operation Protective Edge’ was Israel’s 3rd deadly offensive on Gaza since 2008, on this occasion, the deliberate targeting of civilians, and particularly children, all brought to the world’s attention through the immediacy of social media, prompted an unprecedented level of revulsion and outrage amongst citizen populations. In the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu; ‘this was arguably the largest active outcry by citizens around a single cause ever in the history of the world.” The ongoing Occupation of Palestine involves the construction of extensive settlements colonies on Palestinian land, travel
restrictions, arrests, strangulation of the Palestinian economy and regular military attacks on the civilian population. All of these acts combine to render the creation of an independent Palestinian state practically impossible, are carried out by Israel without any consequence from the international community despite their illegality. More significantly, they are effectively endorsed by the United States as its enormous financial contribution to the state of Israel makes all of this possible. Since 2005, Palestinian civil society has called for an international campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law. The BDS movement has grown from strength to strength in recent years.
hundreds of thousands of people In Ireland, over 215 artists in the EU and across the world including Sinéad Cusack, Christy to choose not to buy Moore, Damien Dempsey, these products Liam Ó Maonlaí, and to boycott Sharon Shannon “ e effective Israel as part of and Robert economic power of their everyday Ballagh have BDS lies in its ability consumer pledged to to activate hundreds habits. a campaign of thousands of Tragically, of BDS. people in the EU and too often it Internationally, across the world to takes a massacre Danske Bank, choose not to buy like the recent Dutch pensions these products” one in Gaza rather giant PGGM and than the day-to-day the state pension funds of reality of the Occupation to bolster Luxembourg and Norway have all the uptake and impact of BDS. In made significant divestments from South Africa, global BDS was a key Israeli companies. factor in bringing about an end to In shops and supermarkets, apartheid. Israeli fruit and vegetables, It will play a similar role in pharmaceutical products, ending the illegal Occupation of cosmetics, plastic products, Palestine and in so doing help jewellery, etc are readily available bring an end to one of the most through the EU. brutal and persistent political The effective economic power injustices of our time. of BDS lies in its ability to activate
Negotiations on TTIP have provoked strong opposition across Europe, the US and Canada. Campaigners fear these treaties will give unbridled power to multinational corporations, risking privatisation of public services and a watering down of environmental standards and workers’ rights. To express this opposition campaigners applied for a European Citizens’ Initiative to force a re-think on the deals but it was rejected by the European Commission back in September. The European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) was set up to give European citizens formal petitioning rights over an often unaccountable decisionmaking process. Citizens who manage to collect one million signatures from 7 or more EU states can force the Commission to hold a public hearing in the European parliament. “The rejection of the ECI only confirms the Commission’s strategy to exclude citizens and parliaments from the TTIP and CETA negotiations. Instead of paying attention to citizens, it is just lobbyists that are being listened to.” “Now the battle really begins,” said Michael Efler, contact person of the European Citizen Iniative, which currently represents almost 230 organizations from 21 EU countries.
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