March with QuAIA in the Edmonton Pride Parade!
mpet...@ualberta.ca
Hello!
A group of local social justice activists banding together under the
name Edmonton Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (Edmonton QuAIA -
pronounced KWAY-yah) are participating in the Edmonton Pride Parade
this Saturday, June 12, 2010, starting at 1pm.
We are contacting you personally to come support our cause and march
with us! Queers of sexual and/or political identity and non-queers are
welcome to join Edmonton QuAIA in the march.
The Parade will begin at 108 St. and Jasper Avenue and continue East
on Jasper Avenue, turning left onto 99 St. traveling north, and
finishing in Churchill Square.
Edmonton QuAIA will be marching in solidarity with queers and
non-queers in Palestine and Palestinian resistance movements around
the world. We will also be marching in support of Toronto QuAIA, which
has been denied the right to march in Pride Toronto by the organizing
committee there.
In spite of Toronto Pride's blatant censorship, the Edmonton Pride
Week Society has graciously allowed us to march in this year's Pride
Parade. We are glad to be allowed the opportunity to denounce
Israel's apartheid policies and state violence in a politically-open
forum supportive of free speech. We hope this non-violent, direct
action will help to re-energize the politics of "Pride" and Edmonton's
LGBTQ community.
Please do not bring your own signs or banners, as we will provide them
for you. If you choose to participate in our march, we would ask you
to sign a safety waiver (second page of attachment
"Pride_ParadeReg_Waiver2010"). It is NOT mandatory to sign to
participate, however.
All participants must obey and adhere to the laws in place while
participating in the parade, such as: alcohol consumption is not
permitted, and throwing any items is not permitted. Participant not
obeying laws will be removed from the parade. Please see the
attachment "view" for more information.
As a final note, if you are interested in marching with us, please
consider wearing an article of RED CLOTHING - the rest of us will also
be dressed in red as a sign of visual solidarity. You'll find me
(Marcus) wearing a pink-and-black bandanna.
To learn more about Edmonton QuAIA, please email: edmq...@gmail.com
or visit our Facebook: Edmonton Queers Against Israeli Apartheid
You can also be kept updated through our Google Group:
http://groups.google.com/group/edmquaia?lnk=
Thank you very much! Please pass on this message to anyone and everyone!
Edmonton QuAIA
MORE ABOUT Edmonton QuAIA:
Edmonton Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, or Edmonton QuAIA, formed
to work in solidarity with queers in Palestine and Palestinian
resistance movements around the world. We also formed to stand in
solidarity with Toronto QuAIA, which has been facing significant
criticism from Pride Toronto, and has had its participation in this
year's Toronto Pride Parade restricted.
Today, in response to increasing criticism of its occupation of
Palestine, Israel is cultivating an image of itself as an oasis of gay
tolerance in the Middle East. As queers, we recognize that
homophobia exists in Israel, Palestine, and across all borders. But
queer Palestinians face the additional challenge of living under
occupation, subject to Israeli state violence and control. Israel’s
apartheid system extends gay rights only to some, based on race.
There is no pride in apartheid, and Edmonton QuAIA is dedicated to
fighting it wherever it exists. We work in solidarity with
anti-colonial struggles and with queers leading their own struggles
of resistance.