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March 2, 2010 - No. 45 March 1-14 Building International Solidarity During
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• Building
International Solidarity During Israeli Apartheid Week - Ilaria
Giglioli, Electronic Intifada
• Canadian Government Condemned for
Defunding Pro-Palestinian Organizations - CAIA
• Carleton Students Discover University's Links
to Military Occupation and Launch Divestment Campaign -
SAIA-Carleton
• Montreal: 500 Artists Against Israeli
Apartheid
• Humanitarian Aid to Subvert Palestinian
Refugee Rights -- Not on Our Watch! - Statement of the
Palestinian National
Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba
• Israel Claims Palestinian Holy Sites
- MIFTAH
SUPPLEMENT
• Israel Works to Change International Law
- Jeff Halper, Palestine Telegraph
Building International Solidarity During
Israeli Apartheid Week
In March 2005, a group of activists from the
Arab
Student Collective at the University of Toronto launched the first
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). The aim of the week was two-fold. On one
hand, it sought to break the wall of silence and misrepresentation
around what was happening in the occupied West Bank
and Gaza Strip at the time of the second Palestinian intifada. On the
other hand, it aimed to situate direct military violence against
Palestinians within the broader context of Israel's apartheid policies.
Focusing on the broader system of Israeli apartheid allowed activists
to link the construction of the Apartheid Wall
in the occupied West Bank, settler violence and home demolitions to a
broader system which systematically discriminated against the civil and
political rights of Palestinian citizens in Israel, or 1948
Palestinians, and denied the right of return of Palestinian refugees to
their homeland.
 Johannesburg, South Africa, January 2, 2009 |
Six years later, IAW is taking place in more than 40 cities in five continents, and is a key event in the yearly calendar of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, launched by more than 170 Palestinian civil society organizations on 9 July 2005. Outside its North American and European centers, IAW is also taking place in South Africa, Palestine, Lebanon and Australia. South African anti-apartheid activists have played a key role in the promotion of IAW, including former African National Congress member Ronnie Kasrils who opened IAW in London, New York and Toronto in 2009.
Situating the Palestinian struggle in the context of anti-racist and anti-colonialist movements has also allowed strong alliances to be forged at the local level. In Canada, for instance, IAW has worked to build solidarity with First Nations communities, and is endorsed by a broad base of progressive organizations. This focus is also reflected in the themes tackled during the week itself. In Toronto, for example, the 2010 IAW program includes a night focusing on the environmental costs of apartheid, another on queer solidarity activism in the anti-apartheid movement and one on "Fighting Racism, Fighting Apartheid." Overall, IAW has become an arena to promote a broad anti-colonial and anti-racist vision and to build solidarity between movements working towards this vision and resisting settler colonialism throughout the world.
Forming these types of alliances has been
important to
resist attempts to shut down IAW. These are not limited to harassment
and verbal abuse by Zionist groups on campuses; over the years,
organizers have faced ongoing institutional harassment, including
last-minute cancellation of room bookings
and the banning 
of Apartheid Week materials. In fall 2008, for
instance, room bookings for an IAW organizing conference in Toronto
were cancelled on short notice by the university under pressure of
local Zionist groups. Similarly, in March 2009, the University of Pisa,
Italy, denied university venues to IAW organizers.
In the same year, the poster for the 5th International Israeli
Apartheid Week was banned at Carleton University in Ottawa and Trent
University in Peterborough.
IAW has also been the object of investigation by the Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (CPCCA), a highly contentious initiative that has been defined by the Canadian Independent Jewish Voices as an "attempt to attack free speech and silence criticism of the Israeli government's oppressive and illegal policies" and "to label criticism of Israel and its behavior, as well as organized efforts to change them, as anti-Semitic and to criminalize both."
Attempts at shutting down IAW on campuses are in line with growing efforts of the Israeli government to crush the BDS movement. To the present time, this crackdown has primarily targeted Palestinian grassroots activists within the occupied West Bank, including Mohammad Othman Jamal Juma' from the Stop the Wall Campaign, recently released from prison.
However, a recent report published
by the Reut
Institute, an Israeli think tank, and presented at the 10th Herzliya
Conference in February 2010 identifies a global campaign of
"delegitimization" of Israel -- which includes the BDS movement and IAW
-- as one that "is effective, possesses strategic significance,
and may develop into a comprehensive existential threat within a few
years." As such, it also underlines the need for Israel to engage in a
substantial diplomatic counter-effort to sabotage the movement.
While this means that organizers will face increasing obstacles in the coming years, it also testifies to the growing strength of the BDS movement, which has reached fundamental targets in the last year, including the divestment of the Norwegian state pension fund from Israeli military contractor Elbit Systems in September 2009. On university campuses, the year 2009 marked the first campus-based divestment, as on 7 February the Board of Trustees at Hampshire College in the United States divested from six Israeli companies directly involved in human rights violations against Palestinians. Similar divestment campaigns have been launched on various university campuses, including Carleton University in Ottawa. Last year also saw the Canadian Union of Public Employees pass a motion in support of the boycott at its provincial meeting in Windsor.
It is in this context that the 6th International Israeli Apartheid Week is centered around "Solidarity in Action: Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions," celebrating the achievements of the past five years and preparing the next ones. A diverse program of events -- lectures, demonstrations, film screenings and other cultural activities -- will take place throughout the world between 1-14 March 2010.
* Ilaria Giglioli is an IAW organizer at the University of Toronto.
Canadian Government Condemned for Defunding Pro-Palestinian Organizations
The Coalition Against Israeli
Apartheid (CAIA) condemns
in the strongest terms the recent actions of the Canadian government to
defund and slander various pro-Palestinian organizations. In what looks
like a full-fledged war that the Harper Government has declared on
everything and everyone related to Palestine,
the Harper Government continues to cut funding and restrict the limits
of legitimate speech about human rights especially when it comes to
Palestinian human rights. This government campaign began in March 2009
when the government cut funding to the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF)
explicitly because of CAF
members' support for Palestinian human rights. This case, which is
being pursued by CAF in the courts, was only the first of many such
attacks on pro-Palestinian groups.
In December 2009, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) denied funding to KAIROS, a major faith-based human rights organization which has received funding from CIDA for the past 35 years. Bev Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, stated that CIDA turned down KAIROS' funding proposal because it did not fit with the priorities of CIDA. However, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney, at the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem explained: "We [the Canadian government] have articulated and implemented a zero tolerance approach to anti-Semitism. What does this mean? It means that we eliminated the government funding relationship with organizations ... who promote hatred, in particular anti-Semitism. We have defunded organizations, most recently like KAIROS." This slanderous allegation of anti-Semitism within KAIROS, is based on Kenney's cynical definition of criticism of Israel as anti-Semitism. He has made it clear -- in both his statements and actions -- that the Canadian government will not tolerate criticism of Israel.
Following the defunding of KAIROS, it was revealed that Rights and Democracy -- a supposedly at arms-length government agency -- was cutting its funding to two Palestinian human rights organizations -- Al Haq and Al Mezan, and an Israeli NGO that monitors the human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, B'Tselem. This defunding came after the Conservative government orchestrated a coup in the organization by stacking the board with right-wing, pro-Israel members. Aurel Braun, the Conservative appointed Chair of the Board of Directors criticized both Al Haq and Al Mezan for being two "of the most vitriolic anti-Israeli organizations." He criticized them for being "active in the lawfare movement, which is a strategy of abusing law to achieve military objectives -- in this case, to punish Israel for anti-terror operations." It is clear that the defunding of Al Haq and Al Mezan is part of Canadian's zero-tolerance policy for criticism of Israel.
The cuts to pro-Palestinian organizations continued into the New Year. In January 2010, the government cut Canadian funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Money previously given to the UN agency responsible for providing assistance to the nearly 5 million Palestinian refugees scattered across the Middle East has now been shifted to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to be used for law enforcement. PA police, working on behalf of the Israeli government, have committed human rights abuses that are well documented by Al Haq and Al Mezan. It is no coincidence that just as Canada shifts more funding to the PA for law enforcement the government cuts funding to groups that would monitor the human rights violations of the Canadian-funded, PA police. The implications of this withdrawal of funds go beyond the immediate effect on the refugees that UNRWA supports. The Canadian Government seems to have blindly adopted the position put forward by Israel and other pro-Israel neo-liberal think-tanks suggesting that the elimination of UNRWA will resolve the Palestinian refugee problem in way which is favorable to Israel (although in breach of international law). This position is of course unfounded and will only result in creating more suffering for the refugees. The refugee problem was created as a result of the displacement by Israel, and allowing the refugees to return to their homeland, as prescribed by resolution 194 of the General Assembly in 1948, is the key to resolve the refugee problem.
CAIA is not surprised by the recent actions of the federal government. The Conservative government has certainly demonstrated its support for Israel in more brazen ways than previous governments, but we cannot view these actions as a change in policy. Canada's support for Israeli Apartheid cuts across all party lines and it existed long before Harper, Kenney and Oda. We are heartened by the growing outcry against the cuts to CAF, KAIROS, Al Haq, Al Mezan and UNRWA. These cuts have been a wake-up call to many in Canada who understand that penalizing criticism of Israel is only the first step in broader plans to punish dissent in this country. We call on all people of conscience to stand up to government repression by joining us in the fight against Israeli Apartheid. This fight must begin here in Canada where many have taken up the 2005 Palestinian call for Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli Apartheid. In Canada, people can support BDS by endorsing and attending events like Israeli Apartheid Week (March 1-14, 2010, www.apartheidweek.org) and by staying informed about upcoming actions by visiting our website www.caiaweb.org or by emailing endapartheid@riseup.net to join our listserv.
Carleton Students Discover University's Links to Military Occupation and Launch Divestment Campaign
Carleton students have released a report detailing how the Carleton University Pension Fund invests in companies involved in violations of human rights and of international law.
The report was created by Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA-Carleton), who are launching a campaign to end Carleton's unethical investments and to adopt a socially responsible investment policy.
BAE Systems, L-3 Communications, Motorola, Northrop Grumman and Tesco Supermarkets are the five companies profiled in the report. The report documents how these companies support the illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, perpetuate Israel's illegal siege of the Gaza strip, and manufacture weapons and weapons components that are used to kill and maim Palestinian civilians.
"Students are appalled to learn that Carleton is affiliated with companies providing support for illegal military occupation" says SAIA-Carleton member Yafa Jarrar. "We thought our University was guided by more than just the balance sheet."
Carleton faculty who have heard about the campaign have been shocked to learn that their pension fund is tied into such unethical investments.
"I do not want my pension fund profiting from the sale of Hellfire missiles and Apache Helicopters," say Trevor Purvis, who teaches Law at Carleton. "By investing in these firms, not only does Carleton violate its own ethical principles, but it essentially becomes complicit in breaches of international law and human rights violations."
The divestment campaign [was] be launched [January 28] with an informational discussion featuring members of SAIA-Carleton, Faculty for Palestine, and the Carleton South African Anti-Apartheid Action Group. [...]
SAIA-Carleton's Divestment Report (1) and Campaign Video (2) can be viewed here:
(1) Divestment
Report (PDF)
(2) Campaign
Video
Montreal
500 Artists Against Israeli Apartheid
A call from Montreal
artists to support the
international campaign for
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against
Israeli apartheid
Today, a broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Last winter, the Israeli state launched a violent military assault on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, leaving over 1400 Palestinians dead, including over 300 children. Despite the official end of military operations, the blockade continues to this day, with devastating consequences for Gaza's residents.
Over 60 years from the beginning of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from historic Palestine through Israel's creation, Montreal artists are united in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.
Montreal artists are now joining this international campaign to concretely protest the Israeli state's ongoing denial of the inalienable rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties, as stipulated in and protected by international law, as well as Israel's ongoing occupation and colonization of the West Bank (including Jerusalem) and Gaza, which also constitutes a violation of international law and multiple United Nations resolutions.
Palestinian citizens face an entrenched system of racial discrimination and segregation, resembling the defeated apartheid system in South Africa. A matrix of Israeli-only roads, electrified fences, and over 500 military checkpoints and roadblocks erase freedom of movement for Palestinians. Israel's apartheid wall, which was condemned by the International Court of Justice in 2004, cuts through Palestinian lands, further annexing Palestinian territory and surrounding Palestinian communities with electrified barbed wire fences and a concrete barrier soaring eight meters high.
 Ottawa, January 10, 2009 |
Gaza remains under siege. Israel continues to impose collective punishment on the 1.5 million Palestinians of Gaza, who still face chronic shortages of electricity, fuel, food and basic necessities as the campaign of military violence executed by the apartheid state of Israel endures. UN officials recently observed that the "situation has deteriorated into a full-fledged emergency because of the cut-off of vital supplies for Palestinians." As a result of Israeli actions, Gaza has become a giant prison.
The global movement against Israeli apartheid, supported by a large majority of Palestinian civil society, is not targeted at individual Israelis but at Israeli institutions that are complicit in maintaining the multi-tiered Israeli system of oppression against the Palestinian people.
In fact, the Palestinian civil society BDS call, launched by over 170 Palestinian organisations in 2005, explicitly appeals to conscientious Israelis, urging them to support international efforts to bring about Israel's compliance with international law and fundamental human rights, essential elements for a justice-based peace in the region. The present appeal is also rooted in an active engagement with many progressive Israeli artists and activists who are working on a daily basis for peace and justice while supporting the growing global movement in opposition to Israeli apartheid.
During the first and second intifadas, Israel invaded,
ransacked, and even closed down cinemas, theatres and cultural centers
in the occupied territories. These deliberate attempts to stifle the
Palestinian cultural voice have failed and will continue to fail.
Around the world, the call for BDS is growing and is strongly rooted in the historic international solidarity movement against apartheid in South Africa. In keeping with Nelson Mandela's declaration that "our freedom [in South Africa] is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians," we believe that international solidarity is critical to liberating Palestinians from Israeli colonialism and apartheid. This struggle will continue until all Palestinians are granted their basic human rights, including the right of return for all Palestinian refugees living in the Diaspora.
Today, a diverse array of artists in Montreal, from filmmakers, musicians and dancers to poets, authors and painters, are joining the international movement against Israeli apartheid. On the streets, in concert halls, in words and in song, we commit to fighting against apartheid and call upon all artists and cultural producers across the country and around the world to adopt a similar position in this global struggle.
To add your support to this letter or to present questions or suggestions please write to info(at)tadamon.ca
For the full list of signatories see: http://www.tadamon.ca/post/5824.
Humanitarian Aid to Subvert Palestinian Refugee Rights -- Not on Our Watch!
Recent years have witnessed increased attempts to use
the aid donated by the international community to the Palestinian
people as a means to subvert Palestinian rights, foremost amongst them
their right to self-determination and for Palestinian refugees to
return, restitution and compensation.
Donor aid has become a political tool for advancing two clear discernable goals:
First, advancing the political interests of donor states and agencies at the expense of supporting political solutions based upon principles of international law, including the provisions and best practice which protect and uphold refugee rights. Second, to intensify efforts to do away with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). UNRWA's existence acts as an ever-present reminder of the continued existence of the unresolved question of Palestinian refugees and the ethnic cleansing practiced against Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba.
The post-September 11, 2001 world provided new winds to these interests. Beneath the excuse of "stopping aid to terrorism," a pattern of policies have taken form enacted by Western state sponsors of Israel, that attempt to exploit the 9/11 tragedies for weakening the potential for Palestinians to achieve their rights. They include:
Stopping Aid to UNRWA
UNRWA is perpetually in a state of under-funding and deficit. Budgetary considerations have already resulted in the Agency lowering its service provision to Palestinian refugees to levels that prevent the preservation of their most basic human rights. Various refugee sectors (Gaza, Lebanon) have already warned of a potential humanitarian catastrophe, but these warnings continue to fall on deaf ears. At precisely such a time, the Canadian government has announced that it will end support to UNRWA and redirect its funds to other entities. Victor Toews, then President of the Canadian Treasury Board announced at the beginning of January that Canada, which has traditionally supported 11% of UNRWA's budget, has decided to reallocate its funds to specific projects administered by the Palestinian Authority. This will in turn allow Canada to oversee the allocation of these donations and ensure that they are spent upon specific projects in "alignment with Canadian values regarding democracy, equality and safeguarding Israel's security."
Efforts to weaken UNRWA by withholding or bypassing funding to it have been attempted in the past, notably by the U.S. government during the mid-1990s. At the time the U.S. tried to make its funding conditional upon the political demand that it be spent on projects that promote "peace building" -- a euphemistic way to say that its funds should be spent on the U.S. sponsored Palestinian/Arab --Israeli negotiations, which subsequently collapsed with the outbreak of the second Intifada. Preliminary legislation was prepared to incorporate such provisions into U.S. law and foreign policy at the end of 2005, though these legal amendments continue to await legislative ratification.
The decision to transfer aid given to UNRWA's fund to specific projects administered by the Palestinian Authority is an attempt to bypass international responsibility towards Palestinian refugees and harbors grave strategic dangers for Palestinian rights, particularly the right of return.
Stopping European Union (EU) Funding of the Gaza
Strip's
Electricity Generator
The EU has announced that it will desist from paying the Gaza Strip's electricity generator bill by mid-November 2010, whose value is estimated at 8 to 9 million euros monthly. This decision comes at a time when our people in the Gaza Strip -- two thirds of whom are refugees -- have been suffering from an Israeli and international siege for more than three years. It also comes at a time when voices can increasingly be heard calling for ending the siege, which is correctly identified as a war crime. The EU's move is cynically excused with the need to redirect funds "to different sectors such as paying PA employee salaries and covering the special needs of poor families."
UN Acceptance of Partial Israeli Compensation
The inability of various bodies of the United Nations to take practical steps on behalf of UNRWA to ensure coverage of its budget, is amongst the most noticeable evidence of the international community's failure to address the Palestinian cause and to uphold its own standards. At the same time however, the UN has struck a deal with the Israeli government to accept U.S.$10.5 million in Israeli compensation payments for the buildings it destroyed during last year's war on Gaza. This is a dangerous indication of the international community's tolerance of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and against humanity in general. Moreover the UN's acceptance of compensation for damages sustained by UNRWA buildings ignores the compensation claims and rights of Palestinians who unquestionably were the main target and victims of Israel's assault. The UN's decisions to accept compensation essentially excludes tens of thousands of victims be they those who were killed and injured or those whose workplaces and houses were destroyed and whose inhabitants were displaced. In short, it is a form of conspiring with the perpetrators of these crimes.
Reducing UNRWA Service Provision
The politics of reducing services to Palestinian refugees in the five areas of UNRWA's operations, and UNRWA's own modification of its service provision according to the size of its available budget, is a pressing issue that cannot be resolved through emergency appeals. Since the outbreak of the second Intifada, UNRWA has issued emergency appeals on a seasonal basis, however nothing has changed on the ground. On the contrary, gaps have increased between the services that Palestinian refugees are entitled to receiving as a function of international assistance standards, and which UNRWA is obliged to provide, and the actual services that the Agency does provide. UNRWA attributes this decline to decreases in international donor provisions to its General Fund, the failure of countries to follow up on their pledges, and to the cost of emergency situations. Whatever the causes however, it is not acceptable to remain silent regarding this erosion of these rights. The politics of reducing services requires a comprehensive international and Palestinian plan that works to improve UNRWA's role, and to guarantee that it secures the required budget based upon actual needs, taking into consideration increases in the number of refugees and displaced persons, and increases in the cost of the needs of a dignified living.
In this regard, the National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba affirms the following:
1. International aid, be it that which is offered by UNRWA, the Palestinian Authority or other Palestinian bodies, is not a gift, but a duty that derives from the particular responsibility of the United Nations towards the Palestinian people, and which played a role in its ongoing crisis and Nakba;
2. Offering international aid, be it to the PA or to UNRWA or to other agencies or bodies, even if in the form of voluntary grants, should not be conditional in any shape or form;
3. Replacing UNRWA with the Palestinian Authority as a recipient body for aid adversely affects the most basic rights of Palestinian refugees, and can only be perceived as a means to impose unfair political compromises on the Palestinian people;
4. The Palestinian people, particularly refugees and other displaced persons, despite their criticisms of UNRWA practices, sees the Agency as an active international body that can be reformed, and whose role can be improved upon until a comprehensive, just resolution of the Palestinian refugee issue is achieved based upon UNGA Resolution 194 of 1948 and UNSC Resolution 237 of 1967.
Based on this, the National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba recommends the organizing of local and international campaigns to apply pressure upon decision makers to ensure:
1. Holding the PA and PLO accountable for stepping up to these emergent challenges, and to undertake the necessary and clear procedures needed to reject them, while making sure to hold the international community to its obligations towards our people and refugees;
2. Having the PLO officially and declaratively address the European Union and demand that it rescind its decision to stop covering the cost of the electricity generator in Gaza;
3. Having the PLO present these matters to international agencies and various fora so that an international resolution can be passed that improves the role of UNRWA and ensures that the provision of services is congruent with the increased needs of refugees, including their increasing numbers, increases in displaced persons, and emergency cases;
4. Urging UNRWA to reject the Israeli compensation offered for its destroyed buildings as long as it is not linked to an equivalent compensation and accountability mechanism that addresses the rights of the Palestinian victims of this assault. In this regard, the High Commissioner must urge that this matter be raised at the International Court of Justice, with UNRWA having the right to take Israel to court, and to demand that it compensate all Palestinian victims whose rights were violated as a result of the Israeli attacks;
5. Urging UNRWA to cooperate with Palestinian civil society organizations, particularly those active in refugee affairs, to put in place a plan of action that aims towards improving its role, and ends the policy of service reduction;
* The National Committee for the Commemoration of the Nakba is composed of: National and Islamic Forces in Palestine, High National Committee for the Defense of the Right of Return, PLO Department of Refugee Affairs, Global Palestine Right-of-Return Coalition, Consortium of Residents of Displaced Palestinian Villages and Towns, Executive Bureau for Refugees, Union of Youth Activity Centers-Palestine Refugee Camps, Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, Union of Women's Activity Centers-West Bank Refugee Camps, Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), National Committee for Political Awareness and Guidance, Right of Return Committees-West Bank, ITTIJAH-Association of Arab Community Organizations, Popular Coalition for the Defense of Jerusalem, Arab Human Rights Association, Palestinian Lawyers' Union, Society for the Defense of the Internally Displaced (ADRID), Palestinian Vision-Jerusalem, Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights.
Israel Claims Palestinian Holy Sites
On February 26, the United Nations General Assembly passed a new resolution calling on the Palestinians and Israel to further investigate Israel's Cast Lead invasion of the Gaza Strip. The resolution gave the two sides an additional five months to produce independent investigations in response to charges made in the Goldstone Report which mostly blamed Israel for war crimes and possible crimes against humanity against the Palestinians. The vote was passed 98-7 with 31 abstentions. The resolution also said that, should the parties fail to produce credible investigations at the end of the five month period, "further action could be taken."
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stirred up the pot yet again when he declared two West Bank holy spots as new sites on Israel's heritage list on February 21. The Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, which is already a major point of contention between Palestinians and Israelis, along with Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, which Muslims refer to as the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque, were named by Netanyahu as one o the 150 other Israeli heritage sites, which the government will pour money into for renovation. Jerusalem's Old City walls were also included on the list.
The Palestinians were up in arms at the decision, taking to the streets in various West Bank cities. On February 26, in an act of solidarity with the sites, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad performed Friday prayers at the Ibrahimi Mosque and said the Palestinians would not react violently to Israel's clear provocation.
"We will not be dragged into violence by the terrorism of the settlers, and the terrorism of the settlement project," Fayyad said.
On February 22, Dr Hamdan Taha, director of the PA Tourism Ministry's antiquities department said during a telephone interview that the decision was "an act of aggression against the cultural and religious rights of the Palestinian people."
"Instead of making use of heritage to promote peace, it is being used as a means to promote war," Taha said. "This is clearly intended to obstruct the peace process."
Even the United States has voiced its concern over Israel's decision. In a statement on February 25, a U.S. State Department spokesperson called on both sides to "refrain from provocations" saying the decision was not helpful.
UNESCO, the United Nation's culture and education authority, put a word in as well on February 26, saying it was concerned about the Israeli plan to include the two sites on Israel's heritage list and "the resulting escalation of tension in the area."
Robert Serry, the UN's special coordinator for the Middle East was also uncomfortable with Israel's move. "I'm concerned over the proclamation made over the sites in Bethlehem and Hebron," he said, adding that, "Those sites are in Palestinian territory and bear an importance not only in Judaism but in Islam as well."
The Netanyahu government is meanwhile digging its claws into more and more Palestinian territory this week, namely in Jerusalem. On February 26, Israel's district planning commission approved the construction of 600 new housing units near the Pisgat Ze'ev settlement in east Jerusalem. On February 21, Israeli authorities in the Jerusalem municipality announced their approval for a new settlement plan to build 549 housing units in the Bet Safafa Quarter south of Jerusalem.
On February 24, Israeli police and border guards along with municipality personnel raided several quarters in Silwan and handed 12 families demolition orders under the claim that their homes did not meet construction regulations and did not have the proper licensing. Two other families were handed demolition orders in Beit Hanina under the same pretext. On the same day, several residents of Sheikh Jarrah clashed with Israeli police and troops when they were protesting the takeover of the Ghawi home by Jewish settlers a few months ago.
In the West Bank, settlers from the Yitzhar settlement near Nablus cut down 40 olive trees on February 23, which belong to the villagers of Bourin. According to the villagers, the settlers took advantage of an army-imposed curfew on the village to enter and cut down the trees.
On February 21, 80 right-wing Jews raided Jericho and made their way to two ancient synagogues in what right wing activist Itimar Ben Gvir said was the first step in an Israeli campaign to reclaim Jewish sites in the West Bank. Gvir said there were eight locations that Jews "planned to enter" but did not give details of what or where the sites were located. After entering Jericho by force, the Israeli army entered and forcefully evacuated the group, arresting 35 of them. A day later, 34 of them were released.
On February 22, Palestinians responded to an article jointly penned by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos that ran in Le Monde a day before. The two leaders proposed that a Palestinian state be declared even before the issue of borders is resolved given the failure of the political process. The article, entitled, "When will the Palestinian state exist?" called for more European involvement to solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying the EU could recognize a Palestinian state within 18 months.
The Palestinian leadership, while appreciating the European effort, rejected the offer because of the lack of designated borders. On February 22, President Abbas was quoted as saying that negotiations would have to be concluded before a state could be recognized. "Negotiations first, proclamation of a state later," he said, adding that the idea of resorting to the UN Security Council was still an option for the Palestinians should peace talks continue to stall. Abbas, along with the rest of the Palestinian leadership have maintained their line that any future Palestinian state should be along the 1967 borders with east Jerusalem as its capital.
Finally, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has imposed a complete closure on the West Bank from February 25 to March 1 on the occasion of the Jewish holiday Purim. During this time, Palestinians with permits into Israel will not be allowed entry.
Calendar of Events
Israeli Apartheid Week, March 1-14
Montreal
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions: Celebrating the Successes and Overcoming the Challenges of the Bds Movement Against Israeli Apartheid
Thursday, March 4 -- 6:30 pm
McGill University, 3480 University Street McConnel Engineering Rm 204
Exposing Israeli Apartheid:
Lessons From South Africa to Palestine
Friday, March 5 -- 6:30 pm
McGill University, McConnell engineering building, 3480 University Street, room 204
Resisting Apartheid from Turtle Island to Palestine:
Indigenous Youth Speak Out!
Sunday, March 7 -- 3:00 pm
UQAM, 400 Ste-Catherine east, AM-050
International Women's Day March -- Palestine Solidarity Contingent
Monday, March 8 -- 5:30 pm
Cabot Square (corner of Atwater and Ste-Catherine)
Film Screening: "Checkpoint Rock: Songs from Palestine"
and "Up Front: Three Palestinian Women"
Monday, March 8 -- 7:30 pm
Concordia, 1455 de Maisonneuve west, H110
Co-presented with Cinema Politica and Tadamon
For information: www.cinemapolitica.org/concordia
in Perpetuating Israeli Apartheid
Tuesday, March 9 -- 6:00 pm
UQAM, 320 Ste-Catherine east, DS M280
Featured Speakers: Vincent Romani (Professor of political science, UQAM), Lorraine Guay (Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine). Professor Romani will compare Apartheid South Africa to Palestine for purposes of providing a historical perspective and elaborating on this comparison. Professor Guay will discuss Canada's complicity in Israeli apartheid.
Palestinian Citzens of Israel under Apartheid
Wednesday, March 10 -- 7:00 pm
Concordia, D.B. Clarke Theatre, 1455 de Maisonneuve Ouest (basement)
Featured speakers: Jamal Zahalka (Palestinian-Israeli member of the Knesset), introduced by Kawtare Bihya (CJP-UQAM) and Jihad El-Salah (SPHR-Concordia). Dr. Zahalka's lecture will explore how apartheid operates within the state of Israel through the systemic racism and exclusion of its indigenous Palestinian citizens which is built into the very fabric of so-called Israeli democracy.
Thursday, March 11 -- 8:00 pm
Club Lambi, 4465 St-Laurent Blvd.
$10-15 (Venue not wheelchair accessible)
If you would like to VOLUNTEER with IAW, make a DONATION, or ENDORSE IAW, please get in touch with us at iaw-mtl@riseup.net / 514-848-7583.
ONTARIO
Student-to-Student Solidarity in the Fight Against Apartheid
Monday, March 1 -- 7:00 pm
Azrieli Theatre 301, Carleton University
Featuring: Nada Elia, Haya Zaidan, Andrew Stachiw, Yafa Jarrar
Queer-Friendly, Multicultural, Green: Debunking Israel's Myths
Tuesday, March 2 -- 7:00 pm
Featuring: Natalie Kouri-Towe, Saron Ghebressellassie and Ilaria Giglioli
Mackenzie Engineering Building 3235, University of Ottawa
La lutte pour l'autodetermination en Palestine
Wednesday, March 3 -- 7:30 pm
Pavillon Colonel By B012, University of Ottawa
With Sabrien Amrov and Denis Lemelin
Have You Heard From Johannesburg? Apartheid and the Club of the West
Wednesday, March 3 -- 7:00 pm
Tory Building 360, Carleton University
Presented by: Cinema Politica (Carleton)
Fighting Racism, Fighting Apartheid
Thursday, March 4 -- 7:30 pm
Fauteux Hall 147, University of Ottawa
Featuring Naeem Jeenah, Gabriel Ash, and Nahla Abdo
Indigenous Sovereignty from Turtle Island to Palestine
Friday, March 5 -- 7:00 pm
Fenn Lounge, Residence Commons Building, Carleton University
Featuring: Dr. Jamal Zahalka, and Dr. Paula Sherman
Kingston
Transnational Popular Resistance for Palestine
Monday, March 1 -- 7:00 pm
Dunning Hall room 12, Queen's University
Presented by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights
Featured Speaker Adam Shapiro is a documentary filmmaker, Palestinian and human rights activist.
Photo Exhibition: The Children of Palestine
Monday, March 1 to Friday, March 5 -- 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Featuring the work of Jon Elmer
JDUC room 142 "Polson Room" (main floor of JDUC, in the front foyer)
Israeli Apartheid -- What's in a Name?;
The Politics of Divestment -- Darfur vs. Israel
Tuesday, March 2 -- 7:00 pm
Dunning Hall room 27, Queen's University
Presented by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and Alternative Jewish Voices
Featured speakers: Abigail Bakan and Margaret PappanoAbigail Bakan is Professor of Political Studies at Queen's and is also active in Not In Our Name: Jewish Voice Opposing Zionism.Margaret Pappano is an Associate Professor of English at Queen's University and is also a founding member of Faculty 4 Palestine.
The Politics of Local and International Solidarity in Palestine
Wednesday, March 3 -- 7:00 pm
Kingston Hall room 201, Queen's University
Presented by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and Alternative Jewish Voices
Speakers: Gabriel Ash, Dorit Naaman and Dana Olwan
Dorit Naaman is a professor in the Film Studies department at Queen's. One of her main areas of research is Middle Eastern cinemas, and she examines it mostly from post-colonial and feminist perspectives.
Dana Olwan is Assistant Professor in Gender Studies and Arab Language whose dissertation examined the publication, reception, and marketing of Arab American women's literature post 9/11. Her academic work is also influenced by her extensive activism and involvement with solidarity movements for Palestine.
Future of the Israel/Palestine Conflict
Thursday, March 4 -- 7:00 pm
Mackintosh-Corry Hall room B201, Queen's University
Presented by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights
Friday, March 5 -- 8:00 pm
The Artel (205 Sydenham St.)
Presented by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights
(Saturday events forthcoming).
Why Is There No Peace in Palestine:
Considering Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Monday, March 1 -- Time TBA
LEC Pit common room (Lady Eaton College), Trent University
Speakers: Professor Paul Kellogg, Professor Feyzi Baban, Suha Jarrar
Film Screening: The Iron Wall
Tuesday, March 2 -- 7:00-8:00 pm
GCS 103 (Gzowski College), Trent University
Book Launch: "Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid" by Yves Engler
Wednesday, March 3 -- 7:00-9:00 pm
CCN M2 (Champlain College), Trent University
Defining Apartheid in South Africa and Palestine
Thursday, March 4 -- 2:00-4:00 pm
LEC Pit common room (Lady Eaton College)
Speakers: Professor Marion Boulby, Professor Tim Stapleton
Followed by:
Film Screening: the Easiest Targets -- Israel's Policy of
Strip Searching Women and Children
Hosted by Peterborough Coalition for Palestinian Solidarity: http://peterboroughcps.blogspot.com
To endorse the week or get involved with organizing contact peterboroughcps@gmail.com.
Five Years Since the BDS Call -- Celebrating Our Success
Monday, March 1, 7:00 pm
Ryerson University, Ted Rogers School of Management, TRS 1607, 55 Dundas St. West
Speakers: Jon Elmer, Na'eem Jeena and Yves Engler (ASL Interpretation will be provided)
Na'eem Jeena: is an academic, author, journalist, community leader and post-graduate student. He is currently the Director of the Afro-Middle East Centre, a research institute dealing with the Middle East, and a PhD candidate in Political Studies. Na'eem has a history of activism in the anti-apartheid struggle, and is a well-known activist in South Africa. He has been a leading figure in the Palestine solidarity and anti-war movements in South Africa.
Yves Engler is a former Vice President of the Concordia Student Union and has published four books: Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid, The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy (Shortlisted for the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction in the Quebec Writers' Federation Literary Awards); Playing Left Wing: From Rink Rat to Student Radical; and (with Anthony Fenton) Canada in Haiti: Waging War on The Poor Majority.
Tuesday, March 2 -- 7:00 pm
OISE Auditorium, 252 Bloor St. West
Hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid — a working group of OPIRG-Toronto
Speakers: Nadia Elia, Gabriel Ash, 7th Generation Indigenous Visionaries
Gabriel Ash is an activist and writer. Since 2000, Gabriel has been engaged in work in support of Palestinian liberation, including with Stop U.S. Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now!, Palestine Activist Forum New York, and the International Solidarity Movement.
7th Generation Indigenous Visionaries (7thGIV) founding members met while attending Haskell Indian Nations University. Their purpose is to build solidarity and bridge the gaps with tribes/nations in the U.S. and other Indigenous people around the world. Members of 7thGIV took part in a delegation to Palestine this past summer.
Wednesday, March 3 -- 7:00 pm
Medical Sciences Building, Auditorium, 1 King's College Circle, University of Toronto
Hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid — a working group of OPIRG-Toronto
Speakers: Ilaria Giglioli, Atif Kubursi
Atif Kubursi is emeritus professor of economics and also teaches in the Arts and Science Programme at McMaster University. Dr. Kubursi also served as the Acting Executive Secretary, at the Undersecretary General level, of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Thursday, March 4 -- 7:00 pm
Trish Salah is a Montreal-based writer, activist and teacher at Concordia's Simone de Beauvoir Institute. She has been politically active organizing around a wide range of issues, including Palestinian solidarity, sex workers' rights, anti-racism and anti-capitalism, employment security and healthcare for transsexual and transgender people. Her first book of poetry, Wanting in Arabic, was published by TSAR Books and her recent writing appears in the journals Open Letter, No More Potlucks, and Aufgabe. Her new manuscript is entitled "Lyric Sexology."
John Greyson is a Toronto video artist/filmmaker whose features, shorts and installations include Fig Trees (Best Documentary Teddy, Berlin Film Festival, 2009), Proteus (Diversity Award, Barcelona Gay Lesbian Film Festival, 2004), and Lilies (Best Film 'Genie', 1996). An associate professor in Film at York University, he was awarded the 2007 Bell Canada Award in Video Art.
Jenny Peto is an activist with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and a student in Sociology and Equity Studies at OISE. Her research on Israeli Apartheid has focused on the co-optation of human rights, including queer and feminist issues, by the Israeli State and its supporters.
Friday, March 5 -- 7:00 pm
Library Building, Ryerson University LIB072, 350 Victoria Street
Speakers: Rabab Abdulhadi and Shawn Brant. ASL Interpretation will be provided.
Hip Hop for Palestine Wont Stop ‘Til Da Wall Drops
Saturday, March 6 -- Doors open at 9:00 pm
Blue Moon Pub, 725 Queen St. E. (at Broadview)
Tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door (tickets will be availabe during IAW events) -- this event is a fundraiser for Israeli Apartheid Week 2010
(aka Sabreena Da Witch) debut performance in Canada. The event will also feature Montreal based Iraqi MC Narcycist as well as local DJs. All are invited to this night of music and dance that will conclude the 6th annual Israeli Apartheid Week.
Abeer Alzinaty (aka Sabreena Da Witch) is a Palestinian hip hop artist. Born in 1984 in Lydd, she started performing R&B in Arabic and English in her teens and released her first original mix tape Witch's Intifada, in 2008. Abeer has been featured in a number of documentaries about Palestinian music including Jackie Salloum's award winning documentry Slingshot Hip-Hop. Abeer's music speaks to her experiences as a Palestinian woman living in Israel. Critiquing multiple injustices resulting from or supported by the occupation, while celebrating freedom, equality and enlightement.
The Narcicyst is an Iraqi MC/Media Master. His musical career was spawned through the collaborative work of the Euphrates family; a growing collective of Muslim visual artists, musicians, painters, filmographers and photographers. Releasing two albums with Euphrates, the crew garnered worldwide attention from Time Magazine to publications out of the Middle East and Europe. With a book being released under the title "Fear of An Arab Planet", and a brand new self-titled album and acting in feature length film "City of Life", The Narcicyst is sure to make you see yourself through the proverbial mirror that is the current state of the world.
Film Screening: Slingshot Hip Hop
Monday, March 1 -- 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Student Center, GSA (Room 430)
Tuesday, March 2 -- 1:00 - 3:00 pm
McLaughlin Junior Common Room, Room 014
Wednesday, March 3 -- 1:00-3:00 pm
McLaughlin Junior Common Room, Room 014
Thursday, March 4 -- 1:00 - 3:00 pm
McLaughlin Junior Common Room, Room 014
McMaster United for Freedom Forum
Monday, March 1 -- 11:30 am-1:30 pm
Mill Plaza (Between MUSC and Mills Library)
McMaster groups joining together to oppose the oppression of the Palestinian people.
Presented by: McMaster Muslims for Peace & Justice
Goldstone Report: What's All the Fuss about ?
Monday, March 1 -- 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
ABB 102, McMaster University
Presented by: McMaster Palestinian Society (MPS) and McMaster SPHR
Tuesday, March 2 -- 6:30- 9:30 pm
Hamilton Hall 302, McMaster University
Presented by: McMaster Muslims for Peace & Justice
Sponsored by: Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, Independent Jewish Voices
- Hamilton & Campus Choice
Wednesday, March 3 -- 6:30-9:30 pm
HSC 1A5, McMaster University
Presented by: McMaster SPHR
Thursday, March 4 -- 6:30-10:00 pm
Celebration Hall, McMaster University
$10 at the door (Includes food catered by Paradise Catering)
Presented by: McMaster Muslims for Peace & Justice (MMPJ)
Sponsored by: Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, Independent Jewish Voices - Hamilton & Campus Choice
A night full of art, food and entertainment. Performances include: Seven Jewish Children, Spoken Word Poetry. Artists include: Bethany Klapwick. Tristan Raganan. Halal Meat.
Palestinian Cultural Day
Friday, March 5 -- 1:30pm-4pm
Location: TBA
Presented by: McMaster Palestinian Society
Sponsored by: McMaster Muslims for Peace & Justice, McMaster SPHR
Various events are sponsored by Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War, United Steelworkers Local 1005, Independent Jewish Voices-Hamilton & McMaster Campus Choice.
Guelph
Personal Testimonies from Palestine
Monday, March 1 -- 12:00 noon-2:00 pm
Branion Plaza, University of Guelph
Sponsored by the CSA Human Rights Office
Come read and listen to testimonies of those who were directly impacted by the violence of the ongoing conflict in Palestine. These testimonies were gathered and published by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
Film Screening and Speaker: Occupation 101
Tuesday, March 2 -- 5:30-7:30 pm
Mackinnon Rm 229, University of Guelph
Occupation 101: A thought-provoking and powerful documentary film on the current and historical root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It presents a comprehensive analysis of the facts and hidden truths surrounding the never ending controversy and dispels many of its long-perceived myths and misconceptions.
Michael Keefer is a professor at the UofG that will be talking about "the Attack on Palestinian Human Rights in Canada."
Zero Degrees of Separation
Wednesday, March 3 -- 5:30-8:30pm
Mackinnon Rm 229, University of Guelph
Sponsored by: Queer Media Collective
Zero Degrees of Separation looks at the Middle East conflict and the Palestinian Occupation, through the eyes of mixed Palestinian and Israeli gay and lesbian couples.
Art as Resistance
Thursday, March 4 -- 7:00-9:00 pm
10 Carden Street, Downtown Guelph
Sponsored by: OPIRG-Guelph
Come check out various Palestinian and Anti-Occupation pieces of art and artists. Learn about how Israeli Apartheid and Occupation is being resisted through graffiti, cartoons, visual art, poetry and music with performances and presentations.
Author Yves Engler and Book Tour for "Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid"
Friday, March 5 -- 5:30-7:00 pm
UC 103, University of Guelph
Sponsored by the CSA Human Rights Office
Yves is a Montreal activist and writer, and his new book is called "Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid," regarding Canadian complicity in 20th and 21st century colonialism, dispossession and war crimes.
Speaker and Films: A People's History of Israel
Saturday, March 6 -- 1:00-5:00 pm
10 Carden St, Downtown Guelph
Sponsored by: Guelph Peace Alliance
Movies:
"Izkor: Slaves of Memory" -- An Israeli documentary which provides a critical look at how the israeli educational system shapes a national "official memory" and provides support for militarism.
"Matzpen" -- The film touches on the main issues of the Zionist-Palestinian struggle, through the eyes of some of the Matzpen socialist organization’s prominent figures, their ideas, opinions and activities, then and today.
Film Screening: Slingshot Hiphop
Sunday, March 7 -- 2:00-3:30pm
Bookshelf Theatre, 41 Quebec Street
Suggested Donation of $5 at door goes to support the Cinema Jenin Project (http://www.cinemajenin.org)
Sponsored by the Bookshelf
Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and employ it as a tool to surmount divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and Separation Walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them.
For expanded info/resources/outreach material please visit: iawguelph.wordpress.com
or email: iawguelph@gmail.com
Apartheid 101
Monday, March 1 -- 10:00 am-1:00 pm
Concourse, Wilfred Laurier University (WLU)
Students for Palestinian Rights (SFPR) and Laurier for Palestine (L4P) will be displaying bristol boards at the WLU concourse area outlining the nature of Israel's apartheid system. Members will walk you through the information and address your questions. Debate is highly encouraged.
March Against Apartheid
Monday, March 1 -- 1:30-3:00 pm
From University of Waterloo to Wilfred Laurier University
Stand up against Israeli Apartheid by joining SFPR and L4P as they march from UW to WLU. We will gather in front of UW's Dana Porter (DP) library at 1:30 PM, leave to WLU at 2:00 PM, and conclude our march at 2:30 PM at the WLU concourse.
The Road to Gaza
Tuesday, March 2 -- 10:00 am-4:00 pm
Student Life Center (SLC), Great Hall, University of Waterloo
SFPR and L4P will be holding an information booth about the Gaza Strip at UW's SLC great hall. Bristol boards outlining UN and Amnesty International findings will be displayed, along with a photo gallery and gallery of political cartoons.
Promises and Betrayals: Britain and the Struggle for the Holy Land
Tuesday, March 2 -- 1:30-3:00 pm
UW Student Life Center (SLC), Great Hall
Tuesday, March 2 -- 6:00-8:00 pm
J.R Courts Engineering Lecture Hall (RCH), Room 307, University of Waterloo
Speakers: Suzanne Weiss and Kiraz Janicke
Suzanne Weiss: Holocaust survivor and lifelong human rights advocate. Member of Not In Our Name: (NION) Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism and the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA).
Kiraz Janicke: An internationally prominent analyst of the process of social change in Venezuela. Based in Caracas, she is a staff writer for Venezuelanalysis.com. She has written often on labour issues, the role of the media, the role of women in the Bolivarian process, and Venezuela's foreign relations and is well versed on international relations of Latin American states and the world at large.
Wednesday, March 3 -- 10:00 am-4:00 pm
University of Waterloo - Student Life Center (SLC), Great Hall
(see previous March 1 event for description)
Lecture by Hannah Carter: Deconstructing Apartheid --
A Journey through the West Bank
Wednesday, March 3 -- 6:30- 8:30 pm
Multipurpose Room (MPR) at the Student Life Center (SLC), University of Waterloo
Hannah Carter, a noted photographer, humanitarian, and Waterloo local, speaks about her experiences traveling through Palestine's West Bank.
The Road to Gaza
Thursday, March 4 -- 10:00 am- 4:00 pm
UW Student Life Center (SLC), Great Hall
SFPR and Laurier for Palestine (L4P) will be holding an information booth about the Gaza Strip at UW's SLC great hall (see also Tuesday event)
Documentary and Discussion: To See if I'm Smiling
Thursday, March 4 -- 6:00-7:30 pm
University of Waterloo, Math and Computer Building (MC), Room 4021
Organized by: SFPR and L4P
Tamar Yarom's award winning documentary in which six Israeli women share their experiences as soldiers in the occupied territories during the bloody period since the first Palestinian uprising.
Lecture by Yves Engler -- Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid
Saturday, March 6 -- 7:00-10:00 pm
KW Community Centre for Social Justice, 63 Courtland
Sudbury
Film Screening: Amreeka
Thursday, March 4 -- 4:00 pm
J.N. Desmarais Library, Room J-234, Laurentian University
Distributing Literature and IAW Schedule of Events
Thursday, March 4 -- 11:00 am-1:30 pm
Great Hall, Laurentian University
Film Screening: Waltz with Bashir
Friday, March 5 -- 8:00 pm
Classroom Building, Room C-114, Laurentian University
Film Screenings: Peace, Propaganda and the Promised Land; Slingshot HipHop
Saturday, March 6 -- 8:00 pm
Classroom Building, Room C-309, Laurentian University
Author Yves Engler and Book Tour for "Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid"
Monday, March 8 -- 1:30 pm
Upper Fraser, Room: FA-055, Laurentian University
Film Screening: Orientalism
Tuesday, March 9 -- 10:00 am
Classroom Building, Room C-205, Laurentian University
Unsettling Relations: Aspects of Jewish Identity and History
Tuesday, March 9 -- 2:30 pm
Parker Building, Room: L-239, Laurentian University
Speaker: Dr. Reuben Roth, Professor of Sociology and Labour Studies at Laurentian
Film Screening: Occupation 101
Tuesday, March 9 -- 1:00 pm
Lower Fraser, Room: FA-054, Laurentian University
Repeat Film Screening: Occupation 101
Wednesday, March 10 -- 1:30 pm
Parker Building, L-507, Laurentian University
Film Screening: American Radical
Wednesday, March 10 -- 7:00 pm
Arts Building, Room C-102, Laurentian University
Palestinian Working Conditions in the Occupied Territories
Wednesday, March 10 -- 7:00 pm
Classroom Building, Room C-306, Laurentian University
Speaker: Dr. Reuben Roth, Professor of Sociology and Labour Studies at Laurentian
What Can We Do about the Occupation of Palestine? An Educational Discussion on the Right to Education and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign
Thursday, March 11 -- 1:00 pm
Lower Fraser, FA-054, Laurentian University
Mark Evard, National Director, Central Region, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW)
Rafeef Ziadah, a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3903, the International Solidarity Committee of CUPE Ontario, and a founding member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) -- “Israeli Apartheid: The case for Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions”
Alan Sears, member of Faculty for Palestine and professor in the Sociology Department at Ryerson University -- “Against the Silencers: Free Speech and BDS in Palestine Solidarity”
Student Centre (near SGA office), Laurentian University
Featuring: Rafeef Ziadah a Palestinian spoken-word artist and activist and Silvertongue, a well-known Sudbury rapper and spoken-word artist.
Sudbury Israeli Apartheid Week is organized by: Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG) at Laurentian University, Faculty for Palestine (F4P), and Sudbury Against War and Occupation (SAWO).
To ENDORSE Israeli Apartheid Week in Sudbury, to make a DONATION or GET INVOLVED please email gkinsman@laurentian.ca and Sudburyawo@gmail.com
Windsor
Author Yves Engler and Book Tour for Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid
Tuesday, March 9 -- 7:00 pm
Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall, University of Windsor
Yves Engler, author of The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy, will be in Windsor March 9 to speak about his latest book, Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid.
Sponsored by U. of W. Cinema Politica, OPIRG Windsor and Windsor Peace Coalition.
MANITOBA
Panel Discussion: Women and Apartheid
Monday, March 8 -- 2:00 pm
224 University Centre, University of Manitoba
Panel Discussion: Israel as an Apartheid State
Tuesday, March 9 -- 2:00 pm
217 University Centre, University of Manitoba
Is the Topic of Israel, as an Apartheid State, a Legitimate Subject of Discussion on University Campuses?
Wednesday, March 10 -- 12:30 pm
Concourse Lounge, University College, University of Manitoba
Presentation by Mordecai Briemburg
Evening of Entertainment and Solidarity
Wednesday, March 10 -- 7:00 pm
Degree's Diner, 3rd Floor, University Centre, University of Manitoba
Spoken Word/Hip-Hop event
Canadian Apartheid and Indigenous Solidarity
Friday, March 12 -- 2:00 pm
224 University Centre, University of Manitoba
For information: Brian, Media Spokesperson, at iaw.winnipeg@gmail.com
Edmonton
Lecture by Ali Abunimah: Beyond Apartheid:
Paths to Ending the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse
Monday, March 1 -- 6:30 pm
Telus Centre Theatre 150, U of A
Co-sponsored by the Canada-Palestine Cultural Association (CANPAL)
Ali Abunimah is a Palestinian American journalist and co-founder of Electronic Intifada, a not-for-profit, independent online publication about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Born in Washington D.C., he spent his early years in the United Kingdom and Belgium before returning to the United States to attend college. His mother is originally from the village of Lifta, now controlled by Israel, but became a refugee in the 1948 Palestinian nakbah. His father is from the village of Battir, now in the West Bank, and is a former Jordanian diplomat who served as ambassador to the United Nations.
Rouge Poetry -- Poets Against Apartheid
Tuesday, March 2 -- 9:00 pm
Rouge Lounge, 10111-117 Street
Join us at Rouge Lounge for an incredible night of spoken word and performance poetry relating the liberation struggle of the Palestinian people. This night will leave you inspired to share the stories of struggle with others and to be part of the growing movement against the injustice of apartheid in Palestine. Sorry, no minors.
Jailed For An Idea -- A Lecture by Mohammad Othman
Live from Palestine (via Skype)
Wednesday, March 3 -- 12:00 noon-1:50 pm
Telus Centre Room 236/238, U of A
Wednesday, March 3 -- 6:00 pm
Telus Centre Room 236/238, U of A Campus
Co-sponsored by Cinema Politica-Edmonton
Lecture by Anna Baltzer: Palestine -- What Aren't We Hearing
& How Is Peace Possible
Thursday, March 4 -- 6:30 pm
Telus Centre Theatre 150, U of A
Co-sponsored by the University of Alberta Department of Political Science and the Alberta Public Interest Research Group (APIRG)
Friday, March 5-- 12:00 noon-2:00 pm
Fine Arts Building (FAB) 2-20, U of A Campus
Featuring Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Abigail Bakan and Scott Harris
Yasmeen Abu-Laban is Professor and Associate Chair (Research) in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta. Abigail Bakan is Professor of Political Studies and Chair of Undergraduate Studies at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. They are currently conducting research on Israel/Palestine from the perspective of racial contract theory. Scott Harris is an organizer with the Palestine Solidarity Network in Edmonton. During the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, he spent a month in the West Bank in Occupied Palestine, volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement in Nablus, Jayyous and Ni'lin.
Saturday, March 6 -- 12:00 noon-2:00 pm
MEC Edmonton, 12328 — 102 Avenue
During its brutal three-week assault on Gaza just over a year ago, the Israeli military killed 1400 Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians. A recent report to the UN by Judge Goldstone concluded that Israel's attack was "designed to punish, humiliate and terrorize a civilian population." Since its founding in 1948, the State of Israel has systematically oppressed the Palestinian people and denied them the fundamental rights of freedom, equality and self-determination. The ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine is defined by racism, dispossession, and brutal violence, as the recent massacre in Gaza has demonstrated.
Since the Gaza massacre of a year ago, the global Palestinian-led movement calling for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) until Israel complies with international law has accelerated. In Canada, members have been asking MEC to end its "partnerships" Israeli factories -- including military contractors -- that produce MEC brand seamless underwear and hydration systems. These partnerships are antithetical to MEC's promotion of itself as an organization with "rigorous ethical sourcing requirements," and its professed belief that "business can advance human rights." MEC's house brand "partner" for hydration systems is Source Vagabond, an Israeli military designer and supplier that boasts on its website (www.source-military. com) "[Founder] Yoki and most of the members of our R&D team are experienced ex-officers of elite IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) units." As Naomi Klein said in January 2009, "The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa."
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
* Do not buy products made in Israel at MEC (click here to see Israeli-made MEC products)
* Communicate to MEC your concerns about sourcing from Israel
* Ask friends and relatives to not buy Israeli goods at MEC
* Vote for MEC board members who support a boycott of Israeli suppliers
* Join one of our information pickets at MEC in Edmonton
Vancouver
Vancouver will have two Israeli Apartheid Week events. The one is at Langara College, located at 100 W 49th Ave.; the blog is http://antiwarlangara.blogspot.com/. The second set of events is happening at UBC.
Israeli Apartheid Week Film Festival, March 9-11
A week of film screenings followed by guest speakers and discussion
A Caged Bird's Song
Tuesday, March 9 -- 3:30 pm
Room A253
Occupation 101
Wednesday, March 10 -- 3:30 pm
Room A253
Thursday March 11-- 3:30 pm
Room B144
Tuesday, March 2- Friday, March 5
Chalk Graffiti on Wall of Student Union Building
The SUB wall as been done up to look like the apartheid wall where people are encournaged to leave graffiti to voice their concerns against Israeli Apartheid.
Tuesday March 3 -- 7:00 pm
WOOD 6 -- ** PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN LOCATION!!!!**
Cosponsored by: Cinema Politica UBC
To learn more about the Documentary, its content, creators, and thesis click here.
Friday March 6 -- 5:00 pm
of their experiences in Palestine and how the apartheid affects everyday life.
Sunday, March 8 -- 7:00 pm
Alice MacKay Room, Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia Street
Admission by donation. $10 - $20 suggested
Cosponsored by: Canpalnet
Feature speaker Ronnie Kasrils, a leader in the struggle against South African Apartheid
and member of the ANC.
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