Cactus+

Cactus Book Club: “Boycott, Divest, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights” by Omar Barghouti

Wed 05/07/25
5:30PM
18+
learn
Free

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Join us Wednesday, May 7th for our next Cactus Book Club. This month’s featured organization Water is Life Autonomous Campaign, who will lead the discussion on Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rightsby Omar Barghouti. “Thirty years ago, an international movement utilizing boycott, divestment, and sanction (BDS) tactics rose in solidarity with those suffering under the brutal apartheid regime of South Africa. The historic acts of BDS activists from around the world isolated South Africa as a pariah state and heralded the end of apartheid. Now, as awareness of the apartheid nature of the State of Israel continues to grow, Omar Barghouti, founding member of the Palestinian Civil Society Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel, presents a renewed call to action. Aimed at forcing the State of Israel to uphold international law and universal human rights for the Palestinian people, here is a manifesto for change.”

Recommended bookseller: Lion Tooth 

Water is Life Autonomous Campaign “focuses on pressuring The Water Council to sever ties with Israeli institutions and to stop the commodification of water, which takes a natural resource out of the hands of communities and exploits it for profit. We seek to build community power and institutions that center community health and autonomy, with a goal of taking vital resources out of the hands of corporations.  We host teach-in’s, phone zaps, and letter writing campaigns directed at a local nonprofit organization called The Water Council. This is a company that actively engages with Israeli institutions while turning a blind eye to the Milwaukee lead-in-water crisis. Israel is a water apartheid state that actively diverts water from the Palestinian inhabitants of the land to illegal settlements. The Water Council works directly with the Israeli water company responsible for this water policy.  On the local side, The Water Council, which is a mostly publicly funded entity, regularly refuses to engage with concerned community members about their practices. They have not taken any leadership in the lead-in-water crisis and they continue to prioritize business and investor interest over that of our community.”


ABOUT US: Cactus Book Club (CBC) meets on the first Wednesday of the month from 5:30-7:30 in the venue room at Cactus Club. Each month a different business, community organization, collective, or mutual aid group chooses the book & recommended bookseller then leads the discussion. We read sociopolitical fiction and non-fiction, with a focus on works by women, LGBTQ+, BIPOC, and/or otherwise under-published groups. You don’t have to finish reading the book to attend. All book club meetings are free. No registration required. 18+. CBC is part of our ongoing Cactus+ programming. Contact: kelly@cactusplus.org with questions.

Interested in leading a book club? Apply here