Omar Barghouti on BDS - Toronto

"As part of a North America book tour, Omar Barghouti spoke in Toronto about his newly released "BDS: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions... The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights" published by Haymarket Books."

Barghouti BDS book launch, 1:8‬‏:

"rabbletv on Jul 6, 2011

As part of a North America book tour, Omar Barghouti spoke in Toronto about his newly released 'BDS: Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions... The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights' published by Haymarket Books.

In Part 1 of 8, Issam Algamani introduces Omar Bharghouti, a founding member of PACBI - the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel http://www.pacbi.org/ and the Palestinian civil society's BDS campaign.

Barghouti argues that the power of BDS was reflected in the various dockworkers unions around the world (South African, Swedish, Indian, Turkish, and American) which refused to unload Isreali goods after the Freedom Flotilla atrocity.

The forum was organized by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) http://www.caiaweb.org/ ; OPIRG (U of T); Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) (Toronto); Faculty4Palestine; Palestine House Educational and Cultural Centre; and the Canadian Arab Federation The event was moderated by Kat Lapointe.

Video production: Anita Krajnc for www.rabble.ca



Barghouti on Arab Spring, 2:8

In Part 2, Barghouti shows how the BDS campaign and other Palestinian peaceful forms of resistance are gaining strength as a result of the Arab Democratic Spring. The Arab uprising has re-inspired Palestinians to take massive, nonviolent direct action, most notably this past May 15 on Nakba Day when thousands of Palestinian refugees joined at ceasefire lines in the Occupied Territories, including the Golan Heights and border along Lebanon "trying to exercise their inalienable right to return home peacefully and they were met by a very violent and deadly reaction" by the Israeli army.

Since the Oslo Accords in 1993, Barghouti says that a whole class of Palestinian politicians and intellectuals were co-opted by the corrupt influence of Western governments and Israel, which effectively undermined the Palestinian culture of resistance and struggle, especially among its refugee youth in the camps of Lebanon, Sryia and - to an extent - Jordan. "The Arab Spring came as a rude awakening, shattering this sense of hopelessness and powerlessness.... May 15 looked more like a 'refugee Intifada'..."

Significantly, Barghouti argues, "The main lesson learned from the Arab peoples' revolutions so far is that when a critical mass of the oppressed transcend their long entrenched fear and decide to fight for their rights - for justice, for dignity - nothing can stop them."



Barghouti on Israeli Apartheid, 3:8



Barghouti on deligitmization claim, 4:8



Barghouti on BDS anti Semitism charge, 5:8



Barghouti on BDS successes 6:8



Barghouti on cultural boycott & condiitions in Gaza, Q&A, 7:8



Barghouti & Art Young: Canadian Boat to Gaza 8:8



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