After serving more than 18 months in Ofer prison, Adeeb Abu Rahmah, a champion of nonviolent resistance, is a free man. Jerusalem-based activist Joseph Dana reports:

Before he had even reached the gate of Ofer military compound, Adeeb Abu Rahmah had his hands in the air in celebration. Abu Rahmah crossed the iron gate of the compound and walked into freedom after eighteen months in military prison. Despite the frigid mountain air, the warmth of Adeeb’s presence could be felt strongly by all present. He embraced his daughters immediately with tears in his eyes. With barely a moment to catch his breath, Adeeb kissed and hugged everyone that was present, occasionally throwing his hand high in the air with a peace sign and yelling out one of the many chants that are common on demonstration days in Bil’in.

As Adeeb Abu Rahmah greeted his loved ones on a windy night in the Ramallah hills, he led chants calling for national unity and for the release of his cousin, Abdallah Abu Rahmah.

Abdallah Abu Rahmah was taken from his home in the middle of the night on December 10, 2009 and has remained in prison since his arrest.  The initial charges against Abu Rahmah—stone throwing and arms possession—were dropped and he was later convicted of incitement and organizing demonstrations. Abu Rahmah’s conviction drew criticism from Amnesty International, B’tselem, Human Rights Watch, Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, the Spanish Parliament, and the European Union.

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As we approach the season in which shoppers will sort through the mass of electronic products available, the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee picked up the call to “Hang Up on Motorola.” The more than 40 activists who brought song and dance to a Best Buy and AT&T store were inspired by the recent Philly BDS flash dance which targeted stores carrying Sabra and Tribe hummus.

The St. Louis activists aimed their demonstration at Motorola, a company that has close ties with the Israeli military. Motorola Israel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Motorola, has a number of exclusive contracts with the Israeli military and has designed products specifically for the Israeli military, including bomb fuses, an communications system, electronic components for drones, and electronic surveillance used along the separation barrier.

The success of these recent flash dances and the increasing visibility of the BDS movement can be attributed in large part to the limitless dissemination of videos through social media and independent media channels. The boycott, divestment, and sanction movement is slowly but surely gaining traction.  Appropriating Lady Gaga tunes with creative lyrics and inspired dance is just the latest way of challenging Israeli apartheid.

The St. Louis activists offered a pretty good rallying call for the campaign against Motorola, singing:

Goodbye Motorola, you know we have choices.
And with this boycott we will exercise our voices.
We won’t pay for human right violations.
Come on let’s stand up to illegal occupations.

An organized flash dance in Philadelphia seems to have sparked a serious movement against Sabra Dipping, hummus manufacturers co-owned by the Israeli food and beverage company Strauss Group.

The company has close ties to the Israeli military through its support of the brutal and repressive Golani Brigade, which has gained a reputation as an aggressive combat unit that routinely violates human rights and international law standards. Golani soldiers have been convicted of beating Palestinian detainees and forcing them to sing humiliating songs while blindfolded. The Israeli daily newsaper Haaretz reports that the Golani Brigade, “struggles with no small number of disciplinary problems and scandals, caused by bad behavior ranging from revolts against commanders to abuse of Palestinians.”

Before the Philly BDS flash dance video [above] circulated around the internet, the Strauss Group’s English-language website stated that its “connection with soldiers goes as far back as the country, and even further. We see a mission and need to continue to provide our soldiers with support, to enhance their quality of life and service conditions, and sweeten their special moments. We have adopted the Golani reconnaissance platoon for over 30 years and provide them with an ongoing variety of food products for their training or missions, and provide personal care packages for each soldier that completes the path.”

Soon thereafter, Strauss Group removed the reference to the Israeli military and the Golani Brigade from its English-language “Community Involvement” page.  The Hebrew-language version of the site retains the word-for-word reference to the Golani Brigade.

The campaign against Sabra hummus, the largest producer of hummus in the world, has quickly spread to numerous US universities. DePaul’s Students for Justice in Palestine was prompted to ask for Sabra to be removed from the campus when they learned that Chartwells, a large dining services company, had introduced the hummus to various campus locations.  One week after writing a letter to university administrators, the organizers were informed that the product would be removed from the shelves for the remainder of the quarter and likely for the foreseeable future.

The campaign to de-shelve Sabra has also spread to Georgetown and Princeton, where the latter’s Committee on Palestine has sponsored a referendum asking dining services to remove Sabra hummus. Unfortunately, the Daily Princeton editorial board has written against the hummus referendum, citing what they see as a weak connection between Sabra hummus and human rights abuses.

But I’ve heard first hand the apprehension and fears of Palestinians who experienced aggressive and brutal treatment at the hands of Golani soldiers. Back in November 2009, when I was with a Christian Peacemaker Team in the West Bank, the Golani brigade was stationed in Hebron. Throughout their stay I witnessed and documented the extreme and unwarranted use of violence on Palestinian residents as Golani soldiers inflicted head wounds, broke civilians’ hands, and sexually harassed women at checkpoints. The Israeli military’s occupation of Hebron is consistently inhumane, but the maltreatment of Palestinian residents by the Golani Brigade is unparalleled.

The connection between Sabra hummus and human rights abuses is not weak; it is as plain as day. Support the boycott of Sabra hummus and sign the petition letter to Strauss Group, asking them to drop their connection to Israeli army units.

Adeeb Abu Rahmah, the moral giant in the above video, has now been in prison for 500 days. Abu Rahmah was arrested on 10 July 2009 during a nonviolent demonstration in the West Bank village of Bil’in. An Israeli military court later charged Abu Rahmah with incitement, defined as “the attempt, verbally or otherwise, to influence public opinion in the Area in a way that may disturb the public peace or public order.”

Incitement is a vague and politically-motivated charge that has been used in this case — and also the case of Adeeb’s cousin, Abdullah Abu Rahmah — because the Israeli military court had nothing legitimate with which to charge Adeeb Abu Rahmah. Even more important is the understanding that the Israeli military prosecution manufactured a charge because popular nonviolent resistance, of which Abu Rahmah and Bil’in are a prominent part, is a threat to the viability of Israel’s theft and occupation of Palestinian land.

On 30 June 2010, after nearly a year of languishing in prison while a sham trial proceeded, an Israeli military court sentenced Adeeb Abu Rahmah to one year in prison. Having already served the year to which he was sentenced, Abu Rahmah should have been immediately released, but was instead ordered to be held because the military prosecution had filed an appeal. Months later on 21 October 2010, the military prosecution’s appeal, which asked for a harsher sentence, was accepted by Judge Lieutenant Colonel Benisho of the Military Court of Appeals. The lengthened sentence totaled 18 months and included a 5,000 NIS (New Israeli Shekel) fine. Adeeb Abu Rahmah is due to be released in December 2010.

Amnesty International, among other human rights organizations, has called for Abu Rahmah’s release and has called into question the charges handed down by the Israeli Military court, saying “the broad scope of Israeli military orders mean that Adeeb Abu Rahma could be imprisoned solely for legitimately exercising his right to freedom of expression in opposing Israeli policies in the West Bank.”

Indeed, Abu Rahma remains in prison because of his moral courage and his determined and persistent nonviolent resistance to the takeover of his land resulting from Israeli policies. Israel considers Abu Rahma a dangerous man because he stood face-to-face with occupying soldiers and demanded that they use their brains, pick up books instead of guns, and provide a justification for their actions. Abu Rahmah is considered a dangerous man because he refuses to give an inch of his land, nor an inch of his moral conviction.