The Canadian BDS Coalition expresses our strongest solidarity with Olivia Zémor, the president of CAPJPO-EuroPalestine in France. Olivia is being sued by TEVA Pharmaceuticals — the largest Israeli corporation by market value, a producer of generic pharmaceuticals — for publishing the call to #BoycottTEVA on the EuroPalestine website due to the company’s complicity in Israeli apartheid, colonization and occupation.
The trial of Olivia Zémor reflects the alliance of Israeli capitalism and the French state in seeking to suppress and silence advocacy for Palestinian rights and liberation.
On Tuesday, 16 March, supporters of justice will gather outside the court in Lyon, France, for a solidarity demonstration at 1:00 pm to stand together with Olivia Zémor against this unjust prosecution.
Action
We urge supporters of Palestine around the world to share this video and your own solidarity messages online – and deliver a letter of protest to a French embassy or consulate near you.
Send us a link or your photo at samidoun@samidoun.net!
Visit your French consulate or embassy and make it clear: The boycott of Israel is not only a right, it is a duty. Solidarity with Olivia Zémor — and solidarity with Palestine!
French embassy in Ottawa, and consulates in Halifax, Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver. See details: https://ca.ambafrance.org/
Solidarity from the Canadian BDS Coalition to Olivia Zémor
Despite a resounding judgment by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which last June confirmed the legitimacy of a popular boycott of a state for political reasons, and mandated the French state to compensate human rights activists unfairly prosecuted for their organizing for the BDS campaign, the government refuses to stop.
Olivia Zémor has thus been summoned before the court of Lyon on Tuesday, 16 March. And that, for having relayed in 2016, on the europalestine.com site, of which she is the publication director, a call from the Collectif Palestine 69 to boycott the Israeli pharmaceutical firm Teva.
The undersigned organizations reaffirm their full solidarity with the activists facing the repression of a government complicit with the apartheid regime.
From this point of view, they are particularly outraged by the recent circular from the Minister of Justice Eric Dupond-Moretti on the subject. Pretending to ignore the scope of the judgment of the ECHR, Mr. Dupond-Moretti indeed allows himself to enjoin all the prosecutors of France, to maintain the prosecutions against the BDS campaign, and to try to obtain, at the contempt for the law, convictions in these cases.
The Collectif Palestine 69, which brings together in Lyon the entire arc of support for Palestine, is responsible for managing communication locally, and calling for a rally in front of the court, at 1 p.m., just before the trial. Its president will, moreover, testify at the hearing itself.
This is why we are calling for demonstrations to be held everywhere in France, and in particular in Paris…
Solidarity with Olivia Zémor and all the activists of the BDS campaign!
No to the false claims of anti-Semitism against activists!
Down with the complicity of the French government with the Israeli apartheid regime!
Boycott Israel, the racist state!
READ the full list of those who have signed in France & internationally HERE (on the Euro Palestine site).
In Canada, the Canadian BDS Coalition and several of its member groups have signed
Samidoun
Just Peace Advocates
Palestiniens et Juifs unis (PAJU)
Justice for Palestinians (Calgary)
Canadian BDS Coalition
Oakville Palestinian Rights Association, Canada
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine-Israel (NMJPI),
Canada Solidarity with Palestine-St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
The Canadian BDS Coalition joins in the BDS Vancouver campaign Boycott TEVA-Apartheid is Bad Medicine.
LIKE the FACEBOOK PAGE to follow the campaign.
Boycott TEVA, the Israeli pharmaceutical company that is one of the largest generic drug manufacturers in the world.
The Canadian BDS Coalition has joined with member group the BDS Vancouver campaign to boycott Teva
Order a strip of our “No TEVA” stickers for free by clicking on the Send Message button at the top right of this page and letting us know where to send your Boycott TEVA kit. Or just tell your regular pharmacy to put a permanent “No TEVA” note on your file!
Read more about the Canadian BDS Coalition’s campaign to #BoycottTeva
Please note: Because TEVA is a generic manufacturer, there is almost always another option at the pharmacy. Ask your pharmacist for a generic made by another manufacturer to help spread the word, build solidarity and boycott TEVA!
Resources for Action
The text of the video is below:
On Tuesday, 16 March, Olivia Zémor, the present of CAPJPO-EuroPalestine in France, has been summoned to court in Lyon. What is she accused of? Supporting and promoting actions calling for the boycott of Teva, the Israeli pharmaceutical company.
As the Zionist state continues to intensify its brutal policies of racism, colonization, apartheid, mass imprisonment, land confiscation, and siege, we must take action. Developing campaigns to boycott Israel is an important popular response to oppose these crimes.
Supporting Olivia Zémor is supporting the legitimate right to boycott Israel and to fight back against the criminalization and repression of the Palestine solidarity movement in Europe and around the world.
Teva is the largest commercial entity on the Israeli market by operating income and market value. Its profits are built on the colonization of occupied Palestine and funds and sustains the Israeli economy of exploitation.
We stand with Olivia Zémor. We stand with the Palestinian people and their right to resist until return and liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
Read full statement from member of the Canadian BDS Coalition, Samidoun:
https://samidoun.net/2021/03/boycott-teva-solidarity-with-olivia-zemor-defend-the-right-to-boycott/
French BDS activist on trial
Solidarity Statement
Solidary statement by the Palestiniens et Juifs unis (PAJU), a member group of the Coalition
Voici l’exemple de la portée de l’influence du lobby israélien en France, au point que l’espace juridique devient hautement politisée. Olivia Zémora déjà passé en cour pour avoir été aspergée avec un irritant par des militants de la Ligue de défense juive française. Ce n’est pas sans rappeler le cas de Hassan Diab devant la cour française truquée.. Partagez sur vos réseaux et contactez l’ambassade de France (Ottawa) ou le consulat de France de la ville dans laquelle vous vivez afin d’exprimer votre mécontentement face à cette parodie de justice d’inspiration israélienne!
Here is an example of the reach of the Israel Lobby in France, to the degree that the judiciary in France is highly politicized in favour of attacking pro-Palestnian activists. Olivia Zemor has already been in court against the Ligue de défense juive France, having been sprayed in the face with an irritant by members of the JDL. This scandal on the part of the French government is similar to that same goverment’s illicit actions againt Hassan Diab. Please share on your networks and contact the French Embassy (Ottawa) or the French Consulate in the city in which you live in order to express your displeasure with their Israel-inspired tarvesty of justice!