UPDATE: 2ND OCTOBER 2014: THE AUSTRALIAN WALK FOR BDS SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED

• On 2 October 2014 the Australian Walk for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, led by Dr. Marcelo Svirsky, an Israeli political scientist at Wollongong University,  was successfully completed.
• The walk began on 23rd September with Dr. Svirsky and supporters walking from Sydney to Canberra over 10 grueling days.
• At the conclusion of his walk with Dr. Svirsky presented a petition to the Australian House of Representatives calling on Federal Parliament to endorse the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. The petition was signed by over 720 Australians.
• The petition will be discussed in the Australian House of Representatives on October 27th, 10am.

UPDATE: 8TH DECEMBER 2013:  PETITION LAUNCHED BY AUSTRALIANS FOR BDS HAS GARNERED OVER 4000 SIGNATURES.

CAMPAIGN SUCCESSES FROM AUGUST 2012 TO SEPTEMBER 2013: BDS Around Australia over the last year (a short but by no means comprehensive roundup), Australian Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions Campaign for Palestine

LEGAL SUCCESSES FOR BDS IN AUSTRALIA:

• July 2012, Adam Fletcher, The Conversation – Is the Max Brenner protestors’ court victory an Australian legal watershed?
• July 2012, Kim Bullimore, The Electronic Intifada – Victory for Australia’s boycott campaign as charges of blockading chocolate store dropped
• August 2012, Australian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign – Max Brenner BDS Protest at QVB Celebrates Free Speech Win
• April, 2014, Dan Goldberg, Haaretz – Australian court case fires up BDS campaign against Israel
• April 2014, Michael Saf, the Guardian – Israeli boycott case: court strikes out part of racial discrimination lawsuit
• July 2014, Michael Safi and Helen Davidson, the Guardian – Israeli legal centre abandons lawsuit against Sydney academic

UNIONS IN AUSTRALIA SUPPORTING BDS: MOTIONS PASSED IN SUPPORT OF ELEMENTS OF BDS ARE INCLUDED HERE:

• Trade Union Resolutions on Palestine – AUSTRALIA, AUSPalestine Australian Unionists Supporting Palestine
• Union statements-Operation Protective Edge, AUSPalestine Australian Unionists Supporting Palestine

SUCCESSES IN THE AUSTRALIAN MEDIA: IMPROVED, MORE BALANCED COVERAGE OF THE BDS MOVEMENT:

• The Australian newspaper:
  • Past coverage of BDS and associated human rights issues, has been overwhelmingly negative against the movement. See for example these analyses: Establishing the facts about the boycott of Israeli academic institutions by Paul Duffill, and A case study in obsession by Kim Bullimore.
  • In late 2011 editorial staff at the Australian also made the shocking public admission that they only considered BDS sufficiently newsworthy when claims are made that the campaign is anti-Jewish or involves violence (two phenomena which are not part of the BDS campaign call). Thus the basic legal equality, democracy and practical peacebuilding efforts of BDS, as well as the campaign’s successes, fell outside the Australian’s definition of what was “newsworthy”, and therefore went unreported.  An official adjudication from the Australian Press Council also confirmed that the Australian has produced coverage of the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement that is biased against the movement.
  • Compare this past coverage with  a whole series of recent, far more balanced stories published in late 2013 and 2014: December 9th, February 12th, March 26th, April 24th, April 25th, April 26th, May 10th,  May 19th, May 28th, and June 4th and their collaborative documentary piece with the ABC’s Four Corners: Stone Cold Justice
• ABC:
  • Debate on BDS on the 7:30 programme featuring BDS supporter Emeritus Professor Stuart Rees, Chair of the Sydney Peace Foundation: Israeli organisation sues Sydney academic over boycott support
  • Discussion of BDS on the Q&A programme featuring world renowned violinist, violist and BDS supporter Nigel Kennedy: Lobbyists, Lies & Libertarians
• Sydney Morning Herald:
  • Israel fights back as boycott movement gains strength – Ruth Pollard, February, 2014
  • The Israeli-Palestinian conflict: another flashpoint and no peace in sight – Prof. Amin Saikal, July 2014

AUSTRALIAN SUPPORT FOR THE ACADEMIC BOYCOTT INCLUDES:

• September 2014, John Pilger, On Line Opinion – Breaking the last taboo: Gaza and the threat of world war
• July 2014,  National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) Sydney University Branch – NTEU Sydney University statement on Gaza
• July 2014,  Australians for BDS – Defend free speech and human rights and support the BDS
• July 2014, Victorian College of the Arts Student Association – Victorian College of the Arts students vote to boycott Israeli apartheid
• July 2014, Queensland Teachers’ Union State Council makes statement on Gaza – Statement on Gaza (including reaffirmation of support of BDS)
• July 2014,  Michael Safi and Helen Davidson, the Guardian – Israeli legal centre abandons lawsuit against Sydney academic
• May 2014, Ean Higgins, the Australian – Shurat HaDin narrows its target in Jake Lynch standoff
• April 2013, Australian Students for Justice in Palestine, Green Left Weekly – Sydney uni Student Representative Council endorses academic boycott of Israel
• March 2013, Students for Palestine Australia – Australian student union drops SodaStream competition
• September 2010, Victorian Trades Hall Council – Resolution passed 10 September 2010
• November 2010, Queensland Council of Unions (QCU) – Queensland Council of Unions motion shows support for BDS
• July 2010, Queensland Teachers’ Union – Queensland Teachers’ Union support for BDS Call
• June 2010, NSW Teachers Federation – Union meeting report on Gaza blockade and attack on aid Flotilla
• June 2010, Australian Education Union – Union meeting report on Gaza blockade and attack on aid Flotilla
• June 2010, Geelong Trades Hall – Geelong Trades Hall Council (VIC) passes resolution on Gaza
• June 2010, Newcastle Trades Hall Council – Newcastle Trades Hall Council Motion on Gaza Peace Flotilla
• June 2010, South Coast Labour Council – Resolution 2 June 2010 – Adopted Unanimously
• June 2010, UnionsACT – UnionsACT Executive Committee motion to support BDS
• June 2009, CPACS, by Jake Lynch and co-signed by other Sydney University academics and community members – Academic boycott endorsement from University of Sydney staff and other members of civil society
• March 2009, CPACS Council – Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies Council endorses letter to Sydney University calling for academic boycott; see item 3.2(i); CPACS Minutes 26.5.09
• March 2009, Australian academics, the Electronic Intifada – Australian academics call for boycott of Israel
• December 2008, The University of Western Sydney’s Student Association (UWSSA) – Australian university student association to boycott Israeli institutions

Australian academics have also been active in supporting a range of international academic boycott successes