The Canadian BDS Coalition is “comprised of groups in Canada that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel’s system of settler-colonialism, occupation, and apartheid towards the Palestinian people.”
On June 22, 2019 the Canadian BDS Coalition launched an online campaign to pressure the 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors not to visit Israel. The team’s co-owner, Larry Tanenbaum, said he would bring Toronto Raptors to visit Israel if they win the NBA title.
Here are Facebook statements posted by the Canadian BDS Coalition:
June 22, 2019 – TWITTER STORM HAPPENING NOW. @Canadian_BDS Join us #RaptorsDontGo. June 22, 13:00 ET, 20:00 Palestine; 10:00 PT. Follow at @Canadian_BDS & retweet. Lets make #RaptorsDontGo trend! starting at 13:00 ET. To learn more & access tweets check out https://bdscoalition.ca/2019/06/16/https-twitter-com-bds_coalition-status-1140073927735205889/
June 22, 2019 – Thanks to everyone who joined the #RaptorsDontGo twitter storm urging the @raptors not to visit Israel! This is definitely not the end. We will continue to build momentum to ensure they don’t take up a trip to an apartheid state! Peace and solidarity✌️. Missed the storm. No problem. Follow @Canadian_BDS and re-tweet on your own time.
June 21, 2019 – TWITTER STORM TODAY, June 22, 13:00 ET, 20:00 Palestine; 10:00 PT. Follow at @Canadian_BDS & retweet. Click below to learn more & to access tweets. Lets make #RaptorsDontGo trend! starting at 13:00 ET. Over 5.5K have signed petition so far! https://www.change.org/p/toronto-raptors-sayno-raptors-to-tanenbaum-sportwashing-offer-of-israeli-visit
Excerpts from Canadian BDS Coalition’s campaign statement
Join us in #RaptorsDontGo
Thanks to everyone who joined the #RaptorsDontGo twitter storm urging the @raptors not to visit Israel! This is definitely not the end. We will continue to build momentum to ensure they don’t take up a trip to an apartheid state!
Peace and solidarity✌️— Canadian BDS Coalition (@Canadian_BDS) June 22, 2019
BREAKING NEWS
A rain shower before a storm. Initial twitter storm Saturday June 22.
Join an initial twitter storm. The Momentum is building! @Raptors #SkipTheTrip to Israel on Saturday, June 22, Starting at 13:00 ET, 20:00 Palestine, 10:00 PT. Join us for 1-2 hours
WHAT DO I DO?
GET READY IMMEDIATELY:
Follow @Canadian_BDS on twitter
PARTICIPATE on Saturday, June 22 1. Retweet: from @Canadian_BDS
2. Click here for sample tweets & for twitter accounts of Raptor players and others
Other Ways to Engage:
Like & Follow on Facebook @BDSCoalition
Watch for more actions & information…
Join us in #RaptorsDontGo
#SayNO @Raptors to #Tanenbaum offer of a #freetrip to #Zionist #Apartheid #Israeli-state
Take the Pledge: Give PUMA the Boot Until It Ends Support for Illegal Israeli Settlements
Canadian Human Rights Activists Congratulate the Government of South Africa on Downgrading Relations with Israel
Cross-Country Day of Action Naming Canadian Complicity in Supporting Israeli War Crimes and Apartheid.
Excerpts from Canadian BDS Coalition’s petition
#SayNO @Raptors to #Tanenbaum #Sportwashing offer of #Israeli visit
Canadian BDS Coalition started this petition to Toronto Raptors and 17 others
The Canadian BDS Coalition calls on each of the Raptors Players to say NO to this offer by Tanenbaum. Say NO to being used as an ambassador to sports-wash an aggressive ongoing colonization complete with apartheid, genocide and war crimes.
Update:
#RaptorsDontGo
Join in Twitter Storm on Saturday, June 22 at 1 PM ET/8 PM in Palestine.
Join @Canadian_BDS to be ready to tweet.
Our campaign #SayNo #SkipTheTrip is gaining momentum with CodePink & Jewish Voices for Peace on board. And more media covering it, including Quds News Network and the Palestine Chronicle.
Background:
Raptor’s billionaire co-owner, Larry Tanenbaum, said he would bring @Raptors to visit if they win the @NBA title, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Tanebaum a founder of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs is the chairman of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd., which is the parent company of the Raptors as well as the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs, Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts. He also currently serves as the board chairman of the NBA, and as a member of the board of governors of the NHL and Major League Soccer.
Israel’s Sport 5 reported last week that during a low-key visit to Israel in April, Tanenbaum told several people he met that “If we win the NBA championship, I will come with the Toronto Raptors to visit the Holy Land.”…
Check out open letter to Raptors which was sent to the Raptors players, president and coach:
We are writing to you as long-time fans to urge you to uphold Palestinian human rights and not to travel to Israel. Since 2004 Palestinian civil society organizations have called for the academic and cultural boycott of Israel until such a time as Israel recognizes the Right of Return of over 5 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants displaced in the process of Israeli colonization and occupation of Palestine; ends its occupation and colonization of the West Bank and its siege of Gaza; and dismantles the Apartheid system of racial discrimination and segregation for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Around the world poor and oppressed people have embraced basketball as a sport of the people, and basketball players, many of whom come from poor and struggling backgrounds, have an important history of taking progressive positions and giving back to their communities. From Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Russel’s stand with Mohammed Ali against the draft and the Vietnam War to public and collective statements against police brutality against Black people in America, NBA players have stood on the side of social and racial justice.
Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, its settlements and its Apartheid Wall are a war crime. The siege of Gaza, and the death and misery meted out on an effectively jailed civilian population, is a crime against humanity. And its system of racial discrimination and segregation is a form of Apartheid, as articulated by survivors of South African Apartheid including Desmond Tutu and Mandla Mandela (grandson of the great freedom fighter Nelson Mandela).
As NBA Champions, you have the opportunity to use your stature and influence to make the world a better place for the young people all over the world who admire you. Please take this opportunity to stand with Palestinians in their struggle for freedom and liberation, and do not travel to Israel.
Aiyanas Ormond,
Coordinator, BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish Territories…