You are hereGoodbye Moto Home
Goodbye Moto Home
Protesters call on Brooklynites to boycott Motorola due to complicity with Israeli apartheid
Media Contact: info@boycottisraelnyc.org
Brooklyn, NY, August 8 – Fifteen New York human rights advocates rallied at Fulton Street Mall in Brooklyn Saturday, singing songs that called on Brooklyn shoppers to boycott communications giant Motorola until it stops providing technology that aids Israel’s army and settlement movement. The protest was held outside a Sprint Store where Boost Mobile, a division of Sprint, sells Motorola phones.
Holding signs and a banner saying, “Boycott Motorola, Free Palestine, Goodbye Motorola, Goodbye Apartheid,” the protesters serenaded passersby with versions of classic songs that were rewritten to focus on boycotting Motorola. They gave away 500 flyers to Fulton Street Mall shoppers. After learning of Motorola’s support for Israeli apartheid, one woman said that she would return her newly purchased Motorola phone. Forty-nine people signed a pledge not to buy Motorola products until Motorola ends its support for Israeli apartheid. Nearly 400 people have signed the pledge after five New York City street actions.
Protesters stroll through Brooklyn’s Prospect Park singing for boycott of Motorola
MEDIA CONTACT: info@boycottisraelnyc.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Brooklyn, NY, July 25 – Fifteen New York human rights advocates strolled through Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Saturday for two and a half hours, singing songs calling on park-goers to boycott communications giant Motorola until it stops providing technology that aids Israel’s army and settlement movement in committing human rights abuses. The protesters carried a 13-foot-wide banner that was seen by thousands of park-goers saying “Boycott Motorola”, “Free Palestine,” “Goodbye Motorola, Goodbye Apartheid.” The protest is part of a growing worldwide movement to boycott Israel that has gained momentum since Israel’s recent attack on Gaza killing 1400 Palestinians.
With Prospect Park crowded on a sunny Saturday afternoon, the group walked through grassy fields packed with thousands of barbequers and frisbee-players. Many park-goers paused to read the banner and signs and listen to the songs. Hundreds took flyers calling for a boycott of Motorola, many asking questions. Some said they knew of the Motorola boycott, while others sang along with the groups’ catchy boycott tunes.
WHY BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, AND SANCTIONS (BDS)
Inspired by the struggle of South Africans against apartheid and the solidarity of the international community in the form of boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaigns, Palestinian civil society organizations have called on the world to say no to Israeli apartheid.
WHY MOTOROLA
Since the founding of Israel in 1948, Motorola has been involved in assisting the state in carrying out its repressive policies towards Palestinians. Motorola established Motorola Israel as its first wholly owned subsidiary outside of the United States in 1964.
Motorola Israel profits handsomely from Israel's militarism and ongoing occupation of Palestinian lands, earning over $1 billion in annual revenues in 2007. As Motorola's chief operating officer Mike Zafirovski put it: “Our investment in Israel is one of the most successful we have made”.
Motorola today enables Israeli apartheid as Motorola South Africa once enabled South African apartheid. Forty percent owned by its American parent, Motorola South Africa supplied mobile radio transmitters to the South African police. These radio transmitters helped police suppress protest against white rule. Motorola’s dealings with the apartheid regime came to an end in 1985, when Motorola sold its South African operations to South African electronic company Allied Technologies Ltd. (Altech) on the condition that the latter cease equipment sales to South African agencies. The agreement was a win for US anti-apartheid activists, who had pressured Motorola to break its ties with the South African regime and had helped to pass municipal laws, in New York and elsewhere that prohibited city governments from doing business with companies supplying equipment used to enforce apartheid in South Africa.
Motorola enables Israel’s apartheid policies and violations of international law through the development and sale of products specifically designed for and used by the Israeli Army to maintain its settlements and perpetrate war crimes in the Palestinian Occupied Territories and elsewhere. There are 3 basic categories of Motorola products that are integral to sustaining the state of Israel’s criminal policies:
- Munitions and components for munitions.?
- Specialized communications equipment and systems
- Specialized ‘surveillance and security’ equipment and systems
