Why boycott? Boycotts are a time-honored non-violent strategy used throughout the world to protest injustice and oppression. Perhaps one of its most effective uses was during the struggle against South African apartheid, when artists and sports figures refused to perform or participate in sports events in South Africa. In fact, the current international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign is modeled on that earlier South African campaign. In the US, the most well-known boycotts in recent history include the Montgomery bus boycott and the grape boycott; and other less known campaigns mobilized people during the Vietnam War to target Dow Chemical, the manufacturer of napalm, which also produced consumer products. Unlike divestment campaigns which target institutional investors, boycott campaigns enable individual citizens to act directly on their conscience and participate in actions against the instruments of injustice, be they oppressive governments or corporations. The reason these tools – boycott, sanctions and divestment – ultimately proved effective was because they had a critical mass of support, both inside and outside the country. — Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu Why Target HP? HP is among the top military providers in the world, specializing in technologies to control and monitor large populations, selling them to prison authorities, immigration police and military regimes. These products are designed to limit human rights and civil rights, and they are a threat to all of us. • HPs Basel system installed at Israeli military checkpoints in the occupied West Bank facilitates the restriction of movement and control of the occupied population, a violation of international law. • HP’s new biometric identification system developed for the Israeli government differentiates among the citizens of Israel, taking technology to a new level in the stratification of citizenship rights • HP supplies the Israeli military with its computer systems and provided the technology infrastructure for the Israeli navy, which was responsible for the 2010 raid on the freedom flotilla that resulted in the death of nine activists. • HP provides services to several Israeli West Bank settlements, all of which are illegal under international law. • HP works with the California Department of Corrections on data systems used to monitor and control prisoners and with ICE to speed up deportation processing. • HP sells surveillance equipment to governments who use it to monitor their populations. [For details on HPs activities in Palestine and the US, please click on HP in Palestine or HP in the USA in the menu above.] Social justice groups around the world have been trying for years to discuss these issues with HP, but have failed to get their attention. Two decades ago, the international boycott of firms that supported the apartheid South African regime played an important role in overturning that racist regime. Its time to do it again.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Oct 2014 16:25:47 +0000