Category: BDS Hub

Stay connected and informed to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.

Organizations in Canada tell Puma to end complicity in Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights

Check out the newest action in the #BoycottPuma – Give Puma the Boot campaign. Over twenty-five organizations in Canada, including unions, student associations and social justice groups, endorsed our letter to Puma calling on them to end their sponsorship of the Israel Football Association.
(le français suit)

December 9, 2020

Mr. Maguire, Senior VP, Canada
Mr. Philion, CEO, Puma North America

People in Canada have recently come together to send the message that we should all be concerned about Puma’s involvement in violations of international law and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Folks from Vancouver to Calgary to Toronto have gone on social media to express their concerns and to say #BoycottPuma until it stops legitimizing Israeli apartheid.

Why? Because Puma is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes teams in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land. In addition, Puma’s exclusive licensee in Israel is Delta Galil Industries, which has branches in those same illegal Israeli settlements.

We join with other consumers in Canada and around the world in letting you know that we will not purchase Puma products until the company stops these unethical practices, and until the Puma logo is no longer featured on the website for the Israel Football Association. The first sentence in your “Code of Conduct” is “Puma respects human rights”; we call on Puma to live up to that commitment.

Sincerely,
BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish
Canada Palestine Association

Endorsed by:
Canadian Union of Postal Workers CUPW-STTP
Vancouver & District Labour Council
Bayan Canada
BDS Québec
Canada Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights
Canadian BDS Coalition
CanPalNet (Canada-Palestine Support Network)
Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver
IJV Vancouver Youth Bloc
International League of Peoples’ Struggle ILPS Canada/Ligue internationale de lutte des peuples
Just Peace Advocates/Mouvement pour une Paix Juste
MidIslanders for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI)
Oakville Palestinian Rights Association OPRA
PAJU Palestinian and Jewish Unity/Palestiniens et Juifs unis
Palestine House (Palestinian Canadian Community Centre)
Palestine Solidarity Working Group-Sudbury
Palestinian Youth Movement – Toronto
Palestinian Youth Movement – Vancouver
Peace Alliance Winnipeg
Regina Peace Council
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – Queen’s University
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights-SPHR McMaster
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – UBC
Students in Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights McGill
Sulong UBC
University of Toronto Students Against Israeli Apartheid
Young Communist League Vancouver

____________________________________________

Monsieur Maguire, Vice-président senior, Canada
Monsieur Philion, PDG, Amérique du nord

De nombreuses personnes au Canada se sont récemment réunies pour signaler que nous devrions tous nous inquiéter de l’implication de Puma dans des violations du droit international et des droits légitimes du peuple palestinien. Des citoyens de Vancouver à Toronto, en passant par Calgary, ont utilisé les médias sociaux pour exprimer leurs inquiétudes et dire #BoycottPuma jusqu’à tant que l’entreprise cesse de légitimer l’apartheid israélien.

Pourquoi? Parce que Puma est le principal sponsor de l’Association israélienne de football (IFA), laquelle comprend des équipes dans les colonies illégales d’Israël situées sur les terres palestiniennes occupées. En outre, Delta Galil Industries, titulaire exclusif de la licence Puma en Israël, possède des succursales dans ces mêmes colonies israéliennes illégales.

Nous nous joignons à d’autres consommateurs au Canada et dans le monde pour vous informer que nous n’achèterons pas de produits Puma tant que votre entreprise n’aura pas mis fin à ses pratiques contraires à l’éthique, et tant que le logo de Puma restera affiché sur le site Web de l’Association israélienne de football. La première phrase de votre « Code de conduite » est : « Puma respecte les droits de la personne ». 

Nous appelons Puma à se montrer à la hauteur de cet engagement.

Cordialement,

BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish
Canada Palestine Association

Update – Puma responds, and we reply: Still Keeping Puma out of our Shopping Cart!


#BoycottPuma takes off in Canada

On October 27th, Palestinian solidarity groups and their supporters came together to highlight the #BoycottPuma-Give Puma the Boot campaign. Activists from across Canada participated with solidarity photos and in Vancouver, there was a flash picket at the Puma outlet store. The social media response to the campaign was enormous and #BoycottPuma is here to stay in Canada.

Cohosted by: BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish, Canada Palestine Association, Canadian BDS Coalition, Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver, IJV Vancouver Youth Bloc, International League of Peoples’ Struggle ILPS Canada, Just Peace Advocates, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Endorsed by: BAYAN Canada, Canada Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights, Gabriella BC, Migrante BC, Migrante Canada, Sulong UBC

Why Boycott Puma?

Global sportswear manufacturer Puma is involved in violations of international law and human rights. Puma is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes teams in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

In addition, Puma’s exclusive licensee in Israel is Delta Galil Industries, which has branches in illegal Israeli settlements. Delta is listed in the UN database of companies that are complicit in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise. (More background info here.)

Flash Picket outside PUMA outlet near Vancouver.

For more solidarity photos from across Canada, check out CPA Facebook page

Activists in Calgary are giving Puma the Boot!

#BoycottPuma: Give Puma the Boot!

Join us on Oct. 27th to help launch our #BoycottPuma campaign! Take a photo of yourself or with a few friends holding a Boycott Puma sign. If there is a Puma outlet near you, consider doing a small action there and send us your photos and videos. Send your photos to cpavancouver@gmail.com (with the name of your city) by Oct. 25th or post them anytime on the FB event page. Lets give Puma the boot!

Global sportswear manufacturer Puma is involved in violations of international law and human rights. Puma is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes teams in Israel’s illegal settlements on occupied Palestinian land.

In addition, Puma’s exclusive licensee in Israel is Delta Galil Industries, which has branches in illegal Israeli settlements. Delta is listed in the UN database of companies that are complicit in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise. More background info at: https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-puma

Cohosted by: BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish, Canada Palestine Association, Canadian BDS Coalition, Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver, IJV Vancouver Youth Bloc, Just Peace Advocates, Samidoun

Vancouver Actions to support the Palestinian People.

Saturday, Aug 8, 2 pm

Israeli annexation continues to threaten Palestinians in the West Bank, including the most fertile agricultural land of the Jordan Valley, which is still slated for Israel’s latest land grab.

Join us to stand against Israel’s annexation policy, the siege on Gaza, the mass imprisonment of Palestinians, the demolition of homes, the denial of Palestinian refugees’ right to return and further war crimes and crimes against humanity. Confront the continuation of over 72 years of land theft, dispossession, apartheid and genocide!

Join us SATURDAY, AUGUST 8 at 2:00 PM. We will gather at BROADWAY AND CAMBIE for a visibility picket before bringing our message to boycott apartheid to London Drugs and the BC Liquor Stores!

Facebook event page
Endorsed by:
BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories, Canada Palestine Association, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Independent Jewish Voices – UBC, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – UBC
** Note – COVID-19 protections will be followed! Please wear a mask and stay appropriately physically distanced – thanks! **

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Friday, July 31, 8 pm

Outdoor Left Film Night: Resisting Colonialism & Displacement From Secwepemc to Gaza

***Short Film Festival Featuring Empire Files on Palestinian Struggles & Tiny House Warriors Secwepemc TMX Resistance Mini-Doc***

Friday, July 31st 8pm @ Woodland Park (705 Woodland Dr.)
Facebook event page
Join the Young Communist League, Communist Party of Canada, Canada Palestine Association, and BDS Vancouver- Coast Salish Territories for the second outdoor left film night at woodland park. Bring your own folding chairs or blankets. We ask that folks be respectful of social distancing measures.

#NoIHRA: Bill 168 will contribute to anti-Palestinian racism.

Stop Bill 168, Say No to IHRA in Ontario

(Palestinian Canadian Community Centre – Palestine House and Just Peace Advocates have launched an action call to write to all members of the Ontario legislative assembly to let them know the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism is dangerous and that Bill 168 calling for its adoption should not move forward. You can send the form letter supplied or personalize your own. Following is the letter that was sent July 22 by the chairperson of CPA.)

“This bill, if passed, will tell me that I am not allowed to criticize the very ideology, Zionism, that resulted in the dispossession of my family and my nation; that is both unfair and equally racist in itself.”

Dear Member of the Ontario Legislature:

I am writing to you as a Canadian Palestinian and the chairperson of Canada Palestine Association in Vancouver. I have lived much of my adult life in Canada after first immigrating here in 1974 and have both family and friends in Ontario; like the rest of my community, I have struggled to live in dignity and raise a family while navigating and going beyond the difficulties of immigrant life.

As Palestinians, most of us are not here by choice; we have been dispossessed from our ancestral homeland and forced to find refuge wherever we could. We have been cast to the four corners of the world; my own extended family has members in multiple countries. I hold the deed to our family’s property in Bethlehem, my birthplace; but due to Israeli policies that are supported by Canada, in flagrant violation of the UN resolution[i] reaffirmed annually, I am not allowed to live there. Why? Because I am a Palestinian Christian and a 1967 war refugee.

I am asking you to not support Bill 168 in the Ontario legislature.

This bill, if passed, will tell me that I am not allowed to criticize the very ideology, Zionism, that resulted in the dispossession of my family and my nation; that is both unfair and equally racist in itself. You may have been led to believe that adoption of the IHRA definition will aid in the important struggle against anti-Semitism, even though many voices from both within and outside the Jewish community disagree with such an approach. What you may not have heard is that this bill will also end up contributing to another form of racism, anti-Palestinian racism. It is flawed to claim that you are fighting against one form of racism by reinforcing another one; we must unite to fight against all forms of racism.

The Ontario Civil Liberties Association has clearly stated that it “opposes the international campaign to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is targeting all levels of government in Canada, as well as universities, police, and other authorities.”

It also endorsed the BC Civil Liberties Association position, which noted: “We fear that if adopted, the IHRA definition will serve to severely chill political expressions of criticism of Israel as well as support for Palestinian rights.”

Most of our community is already terrorized by anti-immigrant, anti-Palestinian or anti-Muslim rhetoric. Some are even hesitant to admit their heritage to others, afraid that it may hinder their job prospects or relationships. Passing this dangerous and unnecessary bill will only further that alienation.

If Bill 168 is adopted and passed into law in the Ontario legislature, and Palestinians in the future are told to limit or dismiss or deny their lived history, then our worst fears have been realized. Please don’t set a precedent as being the first Canadian province to be officially complicit in eroding free speech, eviscerating the Palestinian people’s narrative and promoting anti-Palestinian racism.

Hanna Kawas, Chair, Canada Palestine Association

[i] https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/74/84