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112-854: Connecting Kofinou , Cyprus to Hadera , Israel and Korakias , Crete , Greece , the EuroAsia Interconnector is a major Project of Common Interest (PCI) of the European Union and a priority Electricity Highway Interconnector Project as an energy highway bridging Asia and Europe . On 12 May 2017, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met the State Grid Corporation of China Chairman Shu Yinbiao in Beijing, and CEO of EuroAsia Interconnector Nasos Ktorides supported

224-464: A Jewish state in Palestine. Accepting modern-day Jewish-Israelis as equal citizens and full partners in building and developing a new shared society, free from all colonial subjugation and discrimination, as called for in the democratic state model, is the most magnanimous, rational offer any oppressed indigenous population can present to its oppressors. So don't ask for more. Norman Finkelstein ,

336-575: A black minority, but in Israel, a Jewish majority discriminates against a Palestinian minority in Israel and also keeps Palestinians under military occupation. It further contends that South African apartheid depended on black labor while Israeli apartheid is grounded in efforts to expel Palestinians from " Greater Israel ". BDS sees the Israeli legal definition of itself as a " Jewish and democratic state " as contradictory. According to BDS, Israel upholds

448-577: A boycott campaign against the South African retail chain Woolworths in 2014 over its trade relations with Israel. It was the first comprehensive consumer boycott of a South African retailer since 1994. The campaign used the Twitter hashtag #BoycottWoolworths which rapidly became one of the top trending hashtags on South African Twitter. The campaign attracted international media attention and

560-410: A boycott limited to Israeli West Bank settlements to pressure the Israeli government to stop building settlements. Peter Beinart in 2012 proposed a "Zionist BDS" that would advocate divestment from Israeli West Bank settlements but oppose divestment from Israeli companies. This, Beinart argued, would legitimize Israel and delegitimize the occupation, thus challenging both the vision of BDS and that of

672-479: A capacity to transmit 2,000 megawatts of electricity in either direction. The 310-kilometre (190 mi) cable will link Israel with Cyprus . Cyprus will be connected with the Greek island of Crete with 898-kilometre (558 mi) long cable. The laying depth of the cable will be up to 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) under sea level in some areas between Crete and Cyprus. It will be conducted in two stages. In

784-470: A colonial, ethnocentric, apartheid state. Sriram Ananth writes that the BDS Call asks people to uncompromisingly stand against oppression. In his view, liberal Zionists have failed to do so by not endorsing the BDS Call. BDS describes "normalization" as a process by which Palestinians are compelled to stop resisting and to accept their subjugation. BDS analogizes it to a "colonization of the mind", whereby

896-466: A declaration named the BDS Call, are non-negotiable to BDS. Co-founder of the movement Omar Barghouti , citing South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu , has written: "I am not interested in picking up crumbs of compassion thrown from the table of someone who considers himself my master. I want the full menu of rights." Barghouti has also written: Ending the largely discernible aspects of Israeli occupation while maintaining effective control over most of

1008-475: A document that contained many ideas that would later reappear in the 2005 BDS Call; Israel was proclaimed an apartheid state that engaged in human rights violations through the denial of the Palestinian refugees' right of return, the occupation of the Palestinian territories, and discrimination against Arab citizens of Israel. The declaration recommended comprehensive sanctions and embargoes against Israel as

1120-565: A facade of democracy but is not and cannot be a democracy because it is, in Omar Barghouti's words, "a settler-colonial state". Opponents have argued that comparing Israel to South Africa's apartheid regime "demonizes" Israel and is antisemitic. Supporters argue that there is nothing antisemitic in calling Israel an apartheid state. To support that view, they cite prominent anti-apartheid activists such as Desmond Tutu and South African politician Ronnie Kasrils , who both have said that

1232-472: A global social movement that challenges neoliberal Western hegemony and struggles against racism, sexism, poverty and similar causes. Its struggle for Palestinian rights should be seen as a small but critical part of that struggle, BDS argues. BDS believes that Israel is an apartheid state as defined by two international treaties, the 1973 The International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of

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1344-579: A priority Electricity Highway Interconnector. European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) assessed positively the Interconnector project based on cost-benefit analysis methodology. It is therefore included in the ten-year network development plan 2014 (TYNDP) and also TYNDP 2016. According to the cost-benefit analysis of ENTSO-E , the Interconnector will contribute to social and economic welfare between €580m and €1.12 billion in each year. The cost-benefit analysis

1456-497: A rejection of the peace process paradigm of equalizing both sides in favor of seeing the situation as a colonial conflict between a native population and a settler-colonial state supported by Western powers. Others argue that BDS should be understood in terms of its purported roots in the Arab League 's boycott of Zionist goods from Mandatory Palestine . According to the archaeologist and ancient historian Alex Joffe , BDS

1568-595: A report by corporate responsibility watchdog SumOfUs , AXA's involvement in Israel's occupation could expose it to criminal prosecution. Red Card Israel is BDS's campaign to get Israel expelled from FIFA due to alleged violations against Palestinian football and because several Israeli teams from the Israeli-occupied West Bank are allowed to play in its national league, the Israel Football Association . In 2018, it scored

1680-456: A vocal supporter of the two-state solution , has criticized BDS on this issue. Like Foxman, Finkelstein believes that BDS seeks to end Israel through demography, something he believes Israel will never acquiesce to. He therefore considers BDS a "silly, childish, and dishonest cult" because it does not explicitly state that its goal is to end Israel and because, according to him, that goal is unrealistic and broad public support cannot be found for

1792-690: Is Cyprus's offshore gas field at the exploratory drilling block 12 in the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone . It is estimated that block 12 holds 110 to 140 billion cubic metres (3.9 × 10 ^ to 4.9 × 10 ^  cu ft) of natural gas . Exploration is continuing in other blocks in the Cyprus EEZ. The Calypso gas field in block 6 was found in 2018, and it is estimated that it holds 170 to 230 billion cubic metres (6.0 × 10 ^ to 8.1 × 10 ^  cu ft) of gas. The first significant Israeli gas discovery

1904-571: Is a nonviolent Palestinian -led movement promoting boycotts , divestments , and economic sanctions against Israel . Its objective is to pressure Israel to meet what the BDS movement describes as Israel's obligations under international law , defined as withdrawal from the occupied territories , removal of the separation barrier in the West Bank , full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel , and "respecting, protecting, and promoting

2016-592: Is a 2000 MW electricity interconnector between Greek , Cypriot , and Israeli power grids via 1520 km long submarine power cable . EuroAfrica Interconnector is 2000 MW interconnector between Greek , Cypriot , and Egypts power grids via 1710 km long submarine power cable. Converter stations will be near the existing Kofinou 132kV transmission substation of the Electricity Authority of Cyprus . Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions ( BDS )

2128-587: Is a highly energy-dependent country. Renewable energy share has reached 22%. Crete is an energy isolated island and it is the largest isolated power system in Greece. Like all isolated island systems the cost of electricity production is very high due to transportation costs of imported fuel and high operational costs of mainly outdated power generating units. Connected systems can have much lower costs of electricity by using electricity from distant power stations where electricity production costs are much lower. Crete

2240-488: Is accepted as a cluster of three EU Projects of Common Interest, important as a trans-European energy infrastructure project. Main criteria for Projects of Common Interest include market integration, security of energy supply, enhancing competition and reduction of CO 2 . On 18 November 2015 the European Commission adopted a second revised list of 195 EU Projects of Common Interest. The EuroAsia Interconnector

2352-582: Is at best a form of negotiation between a stronger and weaker party. BDS was founded on 9 July 2005, on the first anniversary of the advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in which the West Bank barrier was declared a violation of international law. 171 Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) representing every aspect of Palestinian civil society adopted the BDS Call. The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)

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2464-405: Is done using four different visions. Reduction of CO 2 emission is expected to be between 1.3 million tonnes and 6.8 million tonnes each year. For comparison, Cyprus had CO 2 emissions of 6.16 million tonnes during 2015. Therefore, reduction of CO 2 emissions will be between 21% and 110% of total Cyprus CO 2 emissions. Based on new assessments best estimate of reduction of CO 2 emission

2576-615: Is electrically isolated from mainland Greece and the Hellenic Republic subsidises the difference in the Crete electricity costs of around €300 million per year. The Levantine Sea is bounded by Greece , Turkey , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , and Egypt . Cyprus is the largest island in the Levantine Sea and it is located in the middle of it. Many countries in the region are in disputes with neighbors. The seafloor of

2688-480: Is expected to be 1.16 million tonnes for Stage 1. Development of renewable energy sources on isolated systems like Cyprus and Crete could compromise the islands' electrical systems due to chaotic production fluctuations. Integration of renewable energy sources without interconnection is therefore limited. Electricity interconnection will enable and unlock integration of a high percentage of renewable sources in such isolated systems. The EuroAsia Interconnector project

2800-412: Is in itself anti-Chinese racism." BDS demands that Israel allow the Palestinian refugees displaced in the 1948 war to return to what is now Israel. According to BDS's critics, calling for their right to return is an attempt to destroy Israel. If the refugees returned, Israel would become a Palestinian-majority state and Jewish dominance of Israel would be in jeopardy. They argue that this would undermine

2912-549: Is included also on the revised list. On 23 November 2017, the EuroAsia Interconnecter was included on third final list of EU Projects of Common Interest. The European Commission issued the 4th PCI list on 31 October 2019, and the EuroAsia Interconnector remains as PCI 3.10. On 29 October 2014 the EU announced funding for 3 prestudies of the Interconnector project. These studies secured half their cost (€1,325,000) from

3024-761: Is merely the spearhead of a larger anti-Western juggernaut in which the dialectic between communism and Islam remains unresolved, and has antecedents in the Palestine Solidarity Campaign , the General Union of Palestinian Students and the Muslim Brotherhood . Andrew Pessin and Doron Ben-Atar believe that BDS should be viewed in a historical context of other boycotts of Israel . BDS demands that Israel end its "three forms of injustices that infringe international law and Palestinian rights" by: These demands, enshrined in

3136-501: Is pleasant to be chased by people saying we are not good guys all the time but really it was a business decision." Since 2012, BDS has campaigned against G4S , the world's biggest security company, to get it to divest from Israel. As a result, G4S has been targeted by many BDS supporting groups, including Who Profits? , Addameer , Jews for Justice in Palestine , and Tadamon! . The campaign's first victory came in October 2011, when

3248-506: Is scheduled to start this year and be completed in 2027. Subsea cables for EuroAsia Interconnector will be produced by Nexans , who won a contract worth 1.43 billion euros, signed on 19 July 2023. Kofinou Kofinou ( Greek : Κοφίνου ; Turkish : Köfünye or Geçitkale ) is a village located in the Larnaca District of Cyprus . It is situated where the roads from Nicosia, Larnaca and Limassol trisected, prior to

3360-698: Is that they first commit to BDS's principles. They believe that dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians can convince Jewish Israelis that BDS's demands are just. Barghouti contends that the "peace industry", the many dialogue initiatives launched in the 1990s in the aftermath of the Oslo Accords , has not helped the Palestinians at all because they are based on the idea that the conflict is between two equals, rather than about one group oppressing another. He believes that dialogue needs to be based on freedom, equality, democracy, and ending injustice, or else it

3472-534: The Aphrodite gas field with significant amounts of natural gas resources in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and additional gas prospects are being explored. Due to regional turmoil in the Eastern Mediterranean region and the fact that 1/3 of Cyprus is unlawfully occupied, for energy security it needs a reliable and robust energy infrastructure. The EuroAsia Interconnector will connect Cyprus to

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3584-659: The Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for EuroAsia Interconnector. The inauguration ceremony on the start of the construction works of Interconnector held on October 14, 2022, at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia. Cyprus as an island is totally isolated from EU energy links and electricity networks and remains the most energy dependent country in the European Union . Cyprus is completely isolated from EU energy interconnections. About 95% of

3696-690: The Connecting Europe Facility . On 17 February 2017, European Commission approved €14.5 million as financial support for final detailed studies prior to Project Implementation. The EU covers half the cost of final detailed pre-works studies. The Interconnector was selected for funding as one of seven electricity projects. According to the EU Commission , the project contributes the Energy Union's goals by increasing security of energy supply, connecting European energy networks, and also contributing to integration of renewable energy sources across

3808-576: The European Commission Maroš Šefčovič met with President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades and Minister of Energy Giorgos Lakkotrypis. They discussed huge potential of eastern Mediterranean for energy supply of Europe and pointed out EuroAsia Interconnector as a bridge and highway for energy supply. Three pre-works phase studies were awarded on 18 December 2015 to the Italian companies CESI and G.A.S. S.r.l..The three studies are for

3920-530: The European Commission approved €657 million under the Connecting Europe Facility for EuroAsia Interconnector. The inauguration ceremony on the start of the construction works of Interconnector held on 14 October 2022 at the Presidential Palace in Nicosia. The ceremony was attended by European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson , President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades , Greek Energy Minister Kostas Skrekas , Cypriot Energy Minister Natasa Pilides and CEO of EuroAsia Interconnector Nasos Ktorides . Construction

4032-649: The Israel Electric Corporation . On 23 March 2012, in Nicosia , the Electricity Authority of Cyprus signed a cooperation agreement with the project operator. On 8 August 2013, the ministers of energy of Cyprus, Israel and Greece met in Cyprus. They signed the tripartite energy memorandum and reconfirmed their support for the Interconnector. On 14 October 2013, the Interconnector was accepted as cluster of three EU Projects of Common Interest. Later it

4144-742: The Israel Prison Service . In April 2019, Federatie Nederlandse Vakbeweging , the Netherlands ' largest trade union, dropped HP in its offer to its members. According to a spokesperson for the boycott HP campaign, the union used to offer a 15% discount on HP products and this would no longer be the case. In June 2019, Unite , the UK's second-largest trade union, joined the boycott against HP. In January 2016, French telecom operator Orange dropped its licensing deal with its Israeli mobile operator, Partner Communications . According to BDS,

4256-633: The Jerusalem Light Rail because it runs through the Israeli-occupied parts of East Jerusalem . According to BDS, the boycott had cost Veolia an estimated $ 20 billion as of 2015. In 2015 Veolia sold off its final investment in Israel, a 5% stake in CityPass owned by its subsidiary Transdev . BDS attributed the sell-off to its campaign, but Richard Dujardin, a member of Transdev's executive committee, said: "I will not say that it

4368-537: The Leviathan gas field was discovered off the coast of Israel. This gas field represents a strategic change enabling Israel not only to be energy independent, but also to become an energy exporter, as the amount of gas discovered exceeds Israeli demands for at least 50 years. Unlike oil, gas is more difficult to ship and is not sold on spot markets, being priced uniquely for each deal. One reliable way for Israel to export natural gas could be in form of electricity using

4480-565: The rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties ". The movement is organized and coordinated by the Palestinian BDS National Committee. BDS is modeled after the Anti-Apartheid Movement . BDS supporters see it as a human rights movement , and compare the Palestinians' plight to that of apartheid-era black South Africans . Protests and conferences in support of

4592-418: The BDS's three demands. BDS calls it "co-existence" and argues that it feeds complacency and privileges the oppressor at the expense of the oppressed. Instead, BDS encourages "co-resistance", where "anti-colonial Jewish Israelis" and Palestinians come together to fight against the injustices afflicting the Palestinians. BDS denounces dialogue projects bringing Palestinians and Israelis together without addressing

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4704-457: The BNC, but supporters are free to choose targets that suit them. The BNC encourages supporters to select targets based on their complicity in Israel's human rights violations, potential for cross-movement solidarity, media appeal, and likelihood of success. It also emphasizes the importance of creating campaigns and events that connect with issues of concern in their own communities. In addition to

4816-548: The Crime of Apartheid and the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court . It says that while there are differences between Israel and apartheid-era South Africa, such as Israel's lack of explicit racial segregation laws, the systems are fundamentally similar. One of the main differences between South African and Israeli apartheid, BDS argues, is that in the former a white minority dominated

4928-493: The EU. EuroAsia Interconnector has been labelled as a priority electricity corridor, and as priority Electricity Highway Project. On 23, November 2017, the EuroAsia Interconnector was on the third final list of EU Projects of Common Interest and has been labelled by the ENTSO-E as priority Electricity Highway Interconnector. The EuroAsia Interconnector was also on the fourth final list of EU Projects of Common Interest labelled as

5040-550: The Eastern Mediterranean Basin is dotted with mud volcanoes which spew gas and occasionally oil into the benthic zone . Geologically it consists of sediment columns up to 12 km thick capped by evaporites . These geological and oceanographic facts led to speculation that Levantine sea contains large gas and oil deposits trapped in evaporites. Recently, energy company Eni discovered the Zohr gas field ,

5152-476: The European electricity grid as the last EU member fully isolated from energy interconnections. Israel 's relationship with neighbors links politics and diplomacy with energy supply and security. Until recently domestic Israeli primary energy production was small. The country was dependent on imports of oil and coal , so that in 2012 only 13% of its energy balance was supplied from domestic resources. In 2010,

5264-601: The Greeks left but were replaced by Turkish Cypriots from another village. The village became infamous on 15 November 1967, when some National Guards troops overran the TMT (a Turkish-Cypriot armed group) fighters located at the village, including the neighbouring mixed village of Agios Theodoros . Turkish-Cypriot TMT members stationed at the area were controlling the area and blocking the main road from Nicosia to Limassol, making it impossible for Greek-Cypriots civilians to pass through

5376-540: The Interconnector. The EuroAsia Interconnector is planned to link up with both Israel and its settlements in the West Bank, and has led to Siemens , which has been announced as the preferred bidder for part of the system, becoming a target of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Greece 's location at the crossroads of East and West and geographical connection to rest of Europe enables interconnection and energy flow from Eastern Mediterranean to Europe. Greece

5488-490: The Israel-Palestinian conflict as between colonizer and colonized, between oppressor and oppressed, and rejects the notion that both parties are equally responsible for the conflict. For those reasons, BDS opposes some forms of dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, which it argues are counterproductive. According to BDS, "all forms of international intervention and peace-making until now have failed" and so

5600-700: The Israeli government has spent millions of dollars to promote the view that BDS is antisemitic and have it legally banned in foreign countries. Multiple countries and the majority of U.S. states have passed anti-BDS laws . Many authors trace BDS's origins to the NGO Forum at the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in South Africa (Durban I). At the forum, Palestinian activists met with anti-apartheid veterans who identified parallels between Israel and apartheid South Africa and recommended campaigns like those they had used to defeat apartheid. The forum adopted

5712-445: The Israeli government. BDS supporters contend that liberal Zionists are more concerned with preserving Israel as a "Jewish state" than with human rights. Barghouti states that by denying the Palestinian refugees right of return simply because they are not Jewish, liberal Zionists adhere to the same Zionist racist principles that treat the Palestinians as a "demographic threat" to be dealt with in order to maintain Israel's character as

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5824-633: The Jewish people's right to self-determination and thus calling for it is a form of antisemitism. Former Anti-Defamation League director Abraham Foxman has called it "the destruction of the Jewish state through demography." Nadia Abu el-Haj has written that, indeed, BDS supporters believe that "the Israeli state has no right to continue exist as a racial state that builds the distinction between Jew and non-Jew into its citizenship laws, its legal regimes, its education system, its economy, and its military and policing tactics." BDS supporters further note that

5936-536: The Minister of Energy, signed on behalf of the Cyprus government a 33-year land concession agreement for construction of HVDC converter station . On 3 July 2019, EuroAsia Interconnector Ltd, project promoter, announced the final stage of tenders for construction of the EuroAsia Interconnector. On 11 October 2019 Minister of Environment and Energy Kostis Hatzidakis , on behalf of the Government of Greece and

6048-583: The Open University and the University of Bradford, initiated a call for a moratorium on academic collaboration with Israeli institutions. It quickly racked up over 700 signatories, among them Colin Blakemore and Richard Dawkins , who said they could no longer "in good conscience continue to cooperate with official Israeli institutions, including universities." Similar initiatives followed in

6160-415: The Palestinian liberation movement has always rejected the idea that Israel has a right to exist as a racial state. While BDS deliberately refrains from advocating any particular political outcome, such as a one-state or two-state solution, Barghouti argues that a Jewish state in historical Palestine contravenes the Palestinians' rights: A Jewish state in Palestine in any shape or form cannot but contravene

6272-426: The Palestinian territory occupied in 1967 "in return" for Palestinians' accepting Israel's annexation of the largest colonial blocks ... has become the basic formula for the so-called peaceful settlement endorsed by the world's hegemonic powers and acquiesced to by an unelected, unrepresentative, unprincipled, and visionless Palestinian 'leadership.' The entire spectrum of Zionist parties in Israel and their supporters in

6384-718: The Prime Minister, said that Greece provides strong political support to the work of Cyprus's electrical interconnection with Greece and Israel as PCI projects, in order to lift Cyprus's electrical isolation and link the island to the European Union's electricity grids. The Republic of Cyprus in July 2020 issued its final building permit for the construction of the HVDC converter station in Cyprus. On 8 March 2021 Cyprus, Greece and Israel signed an initial agreement to build

6496-669: The Strategic Council. On 11 September 2018, Dr. Kasoulides received the highest decoration awarded by France – Officer of the Order of the Legion of Honour . In a speech at the public consultation held at the Hilton Cyprus on 2 April 2018, Cyprus Energy Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis described the project as "of particular national geopolitical importance, as it enables Cyprus and Greece to act as bridges of cooperation, linking

6608-721: The U.S. as of 2018. The left-wing activist organization Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) advocates for BDS among American Jewry. In addition to these, political parties, trade unions and other NGOs have endorsed the BDS Call. BDS organizes campaigns for boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Boycotts are facilitated by urging the public to avoid purchasing goods made by Israeli companies, divestment by urging banks, pension funds, international companies, etc. to stop doing business in Israel, and sanctions by pressuring governments to end military trade and free-trade agreements with Israel and to suspend Israel's membership in international forums. Global targets for boycott are selected by

6720-484: The United States have passed anti-BDS legislation in recent years. I plan on asking each of them to enforce these laws against Ben & Jerry's", and called the decision "a shameful capitulation to antisemitism, BDS and everything bad in the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish discourse". Since November 2008, BDS has campaigned against the multinational French conglomerates Veolia and Alstom for their involvement in

6832-584: The West, with few exceptions, ostensibly accept this unjust and illegal formula as the "only offer" on the table for the Palestinians—or else the menacing Israeli bludgeon. BDS sees itself as a movement for all Palestinians, whether they live in the diaspora or in historical Palestine. BDS believes that negotiations with Israel should focus on "how Palestinian rights can be restored" and that they can only take place after Israel has recognized these rights. It frames

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6944-542: The area without UN escort. After repeated warnings through the United Nations on 15 November 1967, General Grivas and his National Guard to Turkish Cypriots to stop fire at civilians they attacked. The fighting escalated and some 24 Turkish Cypriots, including unarmed civilians lost their lives in the overnight events; Turkey's ultimatum the following day resulted in the withdrawal of the National Guard from

7056-409: The basic rights of the indigenous Palestinian population and perpetuate a system of racial discrimination that ought to be opposed categorically. Just as we would oppose a "Muslim state" or a "Christian state" or any kind of exclusionary state, definitely, most definitely, we oppose a Jewish state in any part of Palestine. No Palestinian, rational Palestinian, not a sellout Palestinian, will ever accept

7168-532: The boycott. Boycott from Within often uses creative performances to display its support for the boycott and the research group Who Profits supplies BDS with information about companies complicit in the Israeli occupation. On campuses in the U.S., Canada and New Zealand, the student organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) supports BDS. According to the American coordinating body National Students for Justice in Palestine, it had about 200 chapters in

7280-430: The by-pass built in the 1990s. Cyprus was invaded and conquered by Ottoman Turkey in 1570-1 A.D. At that time a small contingent of Turkish forces was stationed there. Their descendants lived in relative peace with the local Greek and Christian population for many years. In the 1950s during the uprising by Greek Cypriots to overthrow British Empire rule the relationship between the Greek and Turkish population worsened and

7392-465: The campaigns listed in this section, a number of local campaigns have been created by BDS-affiliated groups and endorsed by the movement, including Code Pink 's Stolen Beauty campaign launched in 2009 against Israeli cosmetics manufacturer Ahava , an Australian campaign against Max Brenner , whose parent company, the Strauss Group , sent care packages to Israeli soldiers, and a campaign by

7504-448: The control of the link connecting Attica and Crete. On 12 July 2018, IPTO and the EuroAsia Interconnector consortium failed to come to an agreement. Prior to the dissagrement IPTO insisted on the creation of a special moving vehicle where IPTO would have a majority stake. Following this disagreement IPTO created a subsidiary with name Ariadne Interconnector responsible for the development of the Greek link to Crete. The procurement stage of

7616-424: The country's electricity. In 2010, the Leviathan gas field was discovered off the coast of Israel. It is estimated the field contains around 470 billion cubic metres (17 × 10 ^  cu ft) of natural gas. The EuroAsia Interconnector will link Israel with Cypriot and Greek power grids with high-voltage direct current submarine power cable of length around 1,208-kilometre (751 mi). It will have

7728-555: The deal was the result of its six-year campaign by unions and activists in France, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco. The French multinational insurance agent AXA has since 2016 been the target of a campaign urging it to divest from Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems and five major Israeli banks. AXA has, according to BDS, a responsible investment policy that forbids it from investing in, among other things, manufacturers of cluster bombs, and Elbit Systems makes cluster bombs. According to

7840-443: The design and construction of the EuroAsia Interconnector. A meeting between the European Commission and Cyprus authorities took place on 27 February 2019, in Nicosia . In a joint communique they again expressed full support for the timely implementation of the EuroAsia Interconnector as a Project of Common Interest and they recognised EuroAsia Interconnector as the official project promoter. On 6 June 2019, Giorgos Lakkotropis ,

7952-525: The eastern Mediterranean with the European Union." On 8 May 2018, the fourth Cyprus-Israel-Greece tripartite meeting took place in Nicosia . Prime Ministers of Greece Alexis Tsipras , Israel Benjamin Netanyahu and the President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades reconfirmed their support to the timely implementation of the EuroAsia Interconnector. IPTO and EuroAsia Interconnector had a disagreement on

8064-510: The electricity energy isolation of Cyprus and Crete , interconnecting EU and Israel . The Interconnector's main components are: Pairs of cables will connect all converter stations. A converter station converts direct current (DC) to and from alternating current (AC). It can both send and receive power via the cable and to or from the grid. Converter stations are bipolar and could run bi-directionally enabling import or export of electricity depending on demand. Cables will run along bottom of

8176-589: The end of sales of ice cream in the Israeli settlements in the West Bank: "Although Ben & Jerry's will no longer be sold in the OPT [Occupied Palestinian territories], we will stay in Israel through a different arrangement". Ben & Jerry's Independent Board of Directors complained that the decision had been made by the CEO and Unilever without their approval. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, "Over 30 states in

8288-546: The extruded type. In stage 2 an additional 1000 MW converter station will be built in Crete and Israel and an additional 1000 MW bipole cable on the Israel-Cyprus—Greece route will be brought into service. Stage 2 will increase transfer capacity to 2000 MW. The European Commission adopted on 14 October 2013 under Regulation (EU) No. 1391/2013 first list of key EU Projects of Common Interest. EuroAsia Interconnector

8400-686: The first Cyprus-Israel-Greece tripartite meeting took place in Nicosia. During that meeting, President of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades , Prime Minister of Greece Alexis Tsipras and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed their full support for the EuroAsia Interconnector. When they met again on December 8, 2016, in Jerusalem they reaffirmed their full support for the timely implementation of EuroAsia Interconnector. On 17 February 2017 The European Commission approved €14.5 million as financial support for final detailed studies prior to Project Implementation. On 5 April 2017 INEA signed

8512-539: The first stage it will have 1000 MW capacity. It is expected to cost €2.5 billion in the first stage. Interconnection between Hadera in Israel and Kofinou on Cyprus will be finished in December 2025. The longer interconnection between Kofinou on Cyprus and Korakias on Crete will be delivered in December 2025. The Interconnector will provide an important electricity highway in Southeastern EU and ends

8624-681: The formation of the Palestinian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) in April 2004. Colin Shindler argues that the Oslo peace process 's failure created a political void that allowed what had been a marginal rejectionist attitude to Israel to enter the European far-left mainstream in the form of proposals for a boycott. Rafeef Ziadah also attributes BDS to the peace process's failure. She argues that BDS represents

8736-628: The grant agreement to finalize the Interconnector's design by supporting final detailed pre-works studies. On May 12, 2017, the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met State Grid Corporation of China Chairman Shu Yinbiao in Beijing accompanied by EuroAsia Interconnector CEO Nasos Ktorides and had discussions on jointly promoting of the Belt and Road Initiative and the strengthening of power and energy cooperation. Prime Minister Tsipras expressed his appreciation for

8848-536: The group Vermonters for Justice in Palestine (VTJP, previously known as Vermonters for a Just Peace in Israel/Palestine) against ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry over its sales of ice cream in Israeli settlements. In June 2021, VTJP called on Ben & Jerry's to "end complicity in Israel's occupation and abuses of Palestinian human rights." VTJP describes itself as "a strong supporter of the...[BDS] campaign". On 19 July 2021, Ben & Jerry's CEO announced

8960-477: The international community should impose punitive measures, such as broad boycotts and divestment initiatives, against Israel, like those against South Africa during apartheid . BDS uses the framework of "freedom, justice, and equality", arguing that Palestinians are entitled to those rights like everyone else. It is therefore an antiracist movement and rejects all forms of racism, including antisemitism and Islamophobia. More generally, BDS frames itself as part of

9072-694: The larger BDS movement. The U.S. arm of PACBI, the United States Association for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), was founded in 2009. The global BDS movement is by design highly decentralized and independent. This has allowed thousands of organizations and groups to become part of it, some of which are the BNC's main partners. In Israel, some more established radical groups, such as Women in Black , ICAHD , AIC , and New Profile , initially issued statements supporting

9184-546: The largest known gas field in the Mediterranean. The Zohr gas field holds around 850 billion cubic metres (30 trillion cubic feet) of gas. It is estimated that in the Levant Basin there are around 3.5 trillion cubic metres (120 trillion cubic feet) of undiscovered gas resources. Additionally, they estimated that there could be up to 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil. The Aphrodite gas field

9296-636: The last electrically isolated EU member state. Elia , Belgium's electricity transmission system operator , announced on 12 December 2017 that it had concluded a strategic alliance agreement with EuroAsia Interconnector for the development and implementation of the 2,000 MW subsea electricity interconnector. Former Cyprus Foreign Minister (1997—2003, 2013— March 2018) and head of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Working group, Ioannis Kasoulides , joined EuroAsia Interconnector on 30 March 2018 as Chairman of

9408-512: The leaders pointed out that EuroAsia Interconnector is strategically important for Greece and upgrades Greece's status into a regional electricity and telecom hub. The EuroAsia Interconnector cross-border cost allocation was approved by the Energy Regulatory Authorities of Cyprus and Greece on 10 October 2017 and 21 March 2018. It is a historic decision for Cyprus , which will lead to the end of electricity isolation for

9520-427: The movement have been held in several countries. Its mascot, which features on its logotype, is Handala , a symbol of Palestinian identity and "right of return" . Some critics accuse the BDS movement of antisemitism , a charge the movement denies, calling it an attempt to conflate antisemitism with anti-Zionism . The Israel lobby in the United States has made opposing BDS one of its top priorities. Since 2015,

9632-446: The occupied territories. BDS runs a boycott campaign against the multinational information technology company Hewlett-Packard 's two successors, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise , which it says are complicit in "Israel's occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid regime". According to the campaign, HP supplies Israel with a biometric ID card system used to restrict Palestinians' freedom of movement and provides servers for

9744-404: The oppressed comes to believe that the oppressor's reality is the only reality and that the oppression is a fact of life. BDS opposes normalization as a means to resist oppression. Normalization, BDS says, can arise when Israelis and Palestinians in the occupied territories meet without the Israeli side acknowledging the fundamental injustices Israel inflicts on the Palestinians, corresponding to

9856-423: The primary energy use was imported in 2015. Oil and petroleum products represent around 92% of the gross energy consumption. Cyprus has no oil refineries . As a result of high import cost of petroleum products the price of electricity is one of the highest in the European Union . Renewable energy share has reached 8% and according to national targets should reach 13% by 2020. Recently Cyprus announced discovery of

9968-603: The project started on 13 February 2018 by notice for construction of Stage 1 with an estimated budget of €3.5 billion, published in the Official Journal of the European Union . A call for four tenders with estimated budget €3.27 billion was published on 17 April 2018 in the Official Journal of the European Union . After a series of individual meetings with all successful converter station and cable manufacturers, EuroAsia Interconnector Ltd, as project promoter, issued tender documents for contracts worth €3.5bn for

10080-465: The remedy. In March 2002, while the Israeli army reoccupied all major Palestinian cities and towns and imposed curfews, a group of prominent Palestinian scholars published a letter calling for help from the "global civil society". The letter asked activists to demand that their governments suspend economic relations with Israel in order to stop its campaign of apartheid, occupation, and ethnic cleansing. In April 2002, Steven and Hilary Rose, professors at

10192-450: The return of the refugees. Still, he believes that BDS's tactics, boycotts, divestment, and sanctions, are correct. BDS criticizes liberal Zionists who oppose the occupation but also the right of return for the Palestinian refugees. According to liberal Zionists, both right-wing Zionists and BDS risk "destroying Israel", defined as turning Israel into a Palestinian-majority state, BDS by demanding equal citizenship for Arab-Palestinians and

10304-446: The right of return of the Palestinian refugees, and right-wing Zionists by insisting on building more settlements, eventually making a two-state solution impossible. With the two-state solution off the table, Israel would either have to grant citizenship to the Palestinians living under occupation, thus destroying Israel, or become an apartheid state. Liberal Zionists find apartheid repugnant and oppose apartheid in Israel, so they propose

10416-426: The sea and on land will run underground. Sea electrodes are used in case of cable or converter station faults. Sea electrodes are placed at seabed several kilometers from shore and they are connected to converter stations . Converter stations will be of Voltage Source Converter (VSC) type. Each converter station will be rated to 1000 MW and made of two converter bridges of 500 MW. Submarine power cables will be of

10528-665: The secretariat handles day-to-day decision making. Mahmoud Nawajaa serves as the BNC's General Coordinator and Alys Samson Estapé as the Europe Coordinator. A precursor to BDS is the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), which was founded in April 2004 in Ramallah with Barghouti as a founding committee member. PACBI led the campaign for the academic and cultural boycotts of Israel. It has since been integrated into

10640-821: The situation in Gaza and the West Bank is "worse" than apartheid. Eric Goldstein, acting executive director of the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch , which neither supports nor condemns a boycott, argues that the Biden administration will probably not counter the Trump administration's attempt to label BDS antisemitic. He considers the movement maligned. In his view, "To campaign or boycott solely on behalf of Palestinians under Israeli rule no more constitutes anti-Semitism than doing so on behalf of Tibetans in China

10752-404: The slogan of ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state. Since OneVoice concerns itself with neither Israeli apartheid nor Palestinian refugees' rights, BDS concludes that it serves to normalize oppression and injustice. Critics of "anti-normalization" rhetorically ask how BDS is supposed to win over the hearts and minds of unconvinced Jewish Israelis if a precondition for dialogue

10864-443: The struggle for Palestinian rights. Such projects, it asserts, "serve to privilege oppressive co-existence at the cost of co-resistance" regardless of their intentions. It also denounces projects that portray the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians as symmetrical. One example of a project BDS denounces is OneVoice , a joint Palestinian-Israeli youth-oriented organization that brings Israelis and Palestinians together under

10976-831: The student council of the Edinburgh University Students' Association adopted a motion to ban G4S from campus. In April 2012 the European Parliament declined to renew its contract with G4S, citing G4S's involvement in violations of international law. In 2014 the Gates Foundation sold its $ 170 million stake in G4S, a move BDS activists attributed to their campaign. The same year activists thanked officials in Durham County, North Carolina , for terminating its contract with G4S, though it

11088-408: The summer. In August, Palestinian organizations in the occupied territories issued a call for a comprehensive boycott of Israel. The majority of the statements recalled the declarations made at the NGO Forum the year before. In October 2003, a group of Palestinian intellectuals called for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions. Attempts to coordinate the boycotts in a more structured way led to

11200-411: The support Mr. Shu Yinbiao has given to the development of the Greek grid and the contribution made by State Grid Corporation of China towards the timely implementation of EuroAsia Interconnector. At a trilateral meeting of Prime Ministers of Greece ( Alexis Tsipras ), Israel ( Benjamin Netanyahu ) and the President of Cyprus ( Nicos Anastasiades ) in the Greek city of Thessaloniki on 15 June 2017,

11312-474: The technical design, the reconnaissance study for the optimum route and an environmental impact study. In January 2016, the Italian research ship Odin Finder started a reconnaissance study for the optimum route of the underwater cable. It took about 100 days to complete the survey. All three pre-works studies were finished in 2016 and led to the next phase of the final pre-construction studies. On 28 January 2016

11424-581: The three Mediterranean countries' power grids. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen visited Cyprus on 8 July 2021 and officially presented EU approval for the Cyprus plan to spend €1.2 billion under the EU Recovery and Resilience Plan . EuroAsia Interconnector got €100 million funding from EU Recovery and Resilience Plan . On 26 January 2022, the European Commission approved €657 million under

11536-400: The timely implementation of the EuroAsia Interconnector. On December 12, 2017 transmission system operator Elia announced the conclusion of a strategic alliance agreement for the development and implementation of the 2,000 MW interconnector. On 8 March 2021, Cyprus, Greece and Israel signed an initial agreement to build the world's largest and deepest submarine power cable that will connect

11648-485: The two villages. This event in particular saw the return of Grivas and his battalion back to Greece. In addition, this event also culminated in the removal of all road blocks upon which Turkish Cypriot buses entering Nicosia were being stopped and by which means the passengers were subjected to a body search. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, the original Turkish Cypriot population of Kophinou were allocated

11760-560: The village of Lefkoniko - the new Geçitkale - in the north by the Cypriot Turkish administration, to this day where many of them reside, whereas the original Turkish Cypriot population of Pano Lefkara are now residing in Agios Theodoros in the north of the island. In Kofinou will be place for big HVDC converter stations for 2,000 MW EuroAsia Interconnector and EuroAfrica Interconnector . EuroAsia Interconnector

11872-484: The world's largest and deepest submarine power cable that will connect the three Mediterranean countries' power grids, to be completed by 2024. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen visited Cyprus on 8 July 2021 and officially presented EU approval for Cyprus plan to spend €1.2 billion under the EU Recovery and Resilience Plan . The EuroAsia Interconnector got €100 million funding from EU Recovery and Resilience Plan . On 26 January 2022

11984-483: Was 28 billion cubic metres (990 × 10 ^  cu ft) in the Mari-B field in 2000. The Mari-B field produced gas until 2013, covering 40% of Israeli natural gas demand. Offshore Tamar gas field of 280 billion cubic metres (9.9 × 10 ^  cu ft) was discovered in 2009, with commercial production starting in 2013. It covers nearly all industrial needs and gas from Tamar field generates over half of

12096-653: Was also accepted on the second, third and fourth lists of key EU Projects of Common Interest. In a meeting between the Israeli and Cypriot energy ministers in June 2015, the Israeli minister suggested doubling the planned capacity of the cable. With Israel and Cyprus both having located natural gas deposits within their territories, a higher capacity cable would allow them to construct gas-driven power plants and export significant amounts of electricity to Europe. On 11 January 2016 in Nicosia Vice-President of

12208-491: Was announced by Nasos Ktorides in Nicosia on 23 January 2012, stressing the role of Cyprus as energy bridge between Europe and Asia . A cooperation agreement for conducting the feasibility study was signed in Jerusalem on 4 March 2012 between the project operator EuroAsia Interconnector Ltd.(previously DEI Quantum Energy), and the Israel Electric Corporation in the presence of Israeli minister for Energy and Water Resources Uzi Landau and Yiftah Ron-Tal , Director of

12320-505: Was covered by The New York Times , Rolling Stone , and Al-Jazeera . The activists organized flash mobs, die-ins , and placed "Boycott Israeli Apartheid"-stickers on Woolworths' Israeli merchandise, all of which they published on social media. Consumers were encouraged to write to the company's store managers questioning the stocking of Israeli goods. The campaign ended in mid-2016 when Woolworth informed its annual general meeting that it would no longer purchase Israeli products from

12432-480: Was established at the first Palestinian BDS conference in Ramallah in November 2007 and in 2008 it became BDS's coordinating body. All BNC members are Palestinian organizations. As of 2020, it has 29 members. The BNC includes a general assembly with representatives from every BNC member, and an 11-seat secretariat elected every two years that governs the BNC. The general assembly meets about every third month while

12544-582: Was not clear that BDS's campaign was the cause. In February 2016, the international restaurant chain Crepes & Waffles terminated its security transport contracts with G4S. G4S sold off its Israeli subsidiary G4S Israel in 2016, but BDS continues to campaign against G4S because it maintains a 50% stake in Policity, an Israeli police training center with presence inside Israeli prisons where thousands of Palestinians are detained. BDS South Africa undertook

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