***image1***Dozens of protestors took to the streets of New York yesterday in the second summer action of the New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israelâs (NYCBI) city-wide boycott of Motorola. Activists distributed flyers, waved Palestinian flags and carried signs calling on passers-by not to buy from the firm. They also held a small-scale concert on the pavement with speeches and music.
Organizers stated, âin the wake of Israel’s recent assault on the people of Gaza and the US government’s complicity in the attacks, we as people of conscience in the US must challenge Israeli policies.â
Motorola is heavily implicated in the Israeli war machine. It produces fuses for bombs used by the Israeli army, including âbunker-busterâ and cluster bombs. Occupation forces have routinely used cluster bombs, despite widespread condemnation by a consensus of governments and civil society, and has failed to sign The Convention on Cluster Munitions. The company also manufactures fuses for the MK-80 series of bombs, which were used heavily in the 2006 Lebanon war. It was an MK-84 bomb that killed 28 civilians in the infamous Qana atrocity.
The BNC has sent an open letter to UNICEF, calling on the organzation to end its relationship with Motorola.
The company also has a $100 million contract producing the âMountain Roseâ encryption system, which will allow Occupation commanders to communicate secure from any interception. Other high-tech technology from Motorola, such as the Wide Area Surveillance System (WASS), is used in settlements in the West Bank to keep Palestinians under constant surveillance on their own land.
The NYCBIâs campaign against Motorola has been building for some months, and is part of a nation-wide effort to pressure Motorola to end its investment in the occupation and supplying of the Israeli military.
More information and picture credit here.