Chicago, IL -- Motorola shareholders arriving at their annual
shareholder meeting at the Rosemont Theater in Chicago on Monday, May
4, will be met by community members and human rights activists calling
on Motorola to end its complicity in human rights abuses and violations
of international law, particularly in the occupied Palestinian
territories of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, and East Jerusalem.
This year's shareholder meeting will focus on more than just Motorola's
falling profits. Protestors will hold signs and pass out informational
flyers to passersby from 4-6pm, while inside the meeting itself,
concerned shareholders led by representatives of the Presbyterian and
United Methodist churches will be urging an affirmative vote on
Proposal 9, a shareholder resolution calling for Motorola to explicitly
adhere to principles of international law when doing business in Israel
and around the world.
The protests outside of the meeting are organized in part by member groups of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation as part of their Hang Up On Motorola campaign. Hang Up on Motorola is
a national call to boycott Motorola until the company ends its sales of
communications and surveillance equipment to the Israeli military and
illegal settlements. Motorola's material support perpetuates and
legitimizes Israel's 42-year military occupation and colonizations of
Palestinian land. The campaign against Motorola
isn't just making noise in Chicago, either. Groups around the country
will be passing out information and calling for boycotts at Motorola
retailers and corporate offices. The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel
will be educating shoppers about a citywide boycott at five stores in
New York City. Similar actions are planned in cities across the United
States.
"The
Israeli military has an established pattern of using Motorola products
and services to violate the Geneva Conventions and rulings of the
International Court of Justice," said Katherine Fuchs, National
Organizer for the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.
"Shareholder proposal 9 is an important step in the process of holding
Motorola accountable to standards of international law. We will
continue our boycott until Motorola ends its support for the Israeli
military occupation and illegal Jewish-only settlements."
Boycott organizers have recently been energized by Motorola's decision to sell its Israel-based Government Electronic Division (GED), which produced bomb fuses for the Israeli military. Human Rights Watch researchers found shrapnel with Motorola serial numbers
on it at the site of a bomb blast at a civilian target after "Operation
Cast Lead," Israel's recent assault on the Gaza Strip. The sale of
Motorola's GED is only the most recent victory for Hang Up On Motorola.
In February, Hampshire College divested from Motorola and five other
corporations supporting Israeli military occupation and violations of
international law. In March, Radian Records, a NYC music production
company, joined the Hang Up On Motorola boycott, certifying that they
were no longer using Motorola equipment. This pressure on Motorola is
part of a larger effort to promote accountability for companies
profiting from Israel's military occupation. Activists, civil society
organizations, and churches such as the Presbyterian and United
Methodist, have joined forces to put pressure on these companies using
the tools of boycott and divestment. The US
Campaign and its member organizations plan to continue pressuring
Motorola by organizing boycott and divestment efforts in cities,
campuses, and churches across the country.
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The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is a national coalition
of more than 280 organizations working to change U.S. policy toward
Israel/Palestine to support human rights, international law, and
equality for all Israelis and Palestinians. For more information about
the US Campaign, please click here. |