Standing United with the People of Gaza
Viejo Vizcacha
Students Against Israeli Apartheid (Carleton) and Solidarity for
Palestinian Human Rights
(U of O) invite you participate in Israeli Apartheid Week 2009 –
Standing United with the People of Gaza
We are excited to launch Israeli Apartheid Week in Ottawa, and we thank
you for your solidarity in the face of campus repression both at
Carleton and the University of Ottawa! For updates on campus repression
and IAW, please check www.carleton.saia.ca as well as the video report
of the latest protest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6qLLXdpdrQ
In this e-mail:
(1) Israeli Apartheid Week Schedule of Events and Speaker Biographies
(2) About Israeli Apartheid Week
(1) Israeli Apartheid Week – Standing United with the People of Gaza
Monday, March 2, 7:30pm
Political Prisoners from Turtle Island to Palestine
Speakers: Robert Lovelace and Yafa Jarrar
Moderator: Professor George Sioui (Aboriginal Studies)
University of Ottawa, Room: Fauteux 232
Robert Lovelace is a retired Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation.
On February 15, 2008, Robert was sentenced to 6 months in prison for
contempt of court. His crime was taking a leadership role in securing
Algonquin land and refusing to permit exploration for uranium near
Ardoch, Ontario. He is an Adjunct Lecturer in Global Development Studies
at Queen's University and a professor in Ecosystems Management at Sir
Sandford Fleming College. He has written about community development as
a de-colonizing strategy.
Yafa Jarrar is a member of the Peterborough Coalition for Palestinian
Solidarity. She was born in Jerusalem, Palestine, moved to Canada in
2003 to attend Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific. She has
represented Palestine in the Arab League of Nations in Cairo in 2001 to
speak on the effects of the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian
educational process and then elected to represent Palestine to speak at
the United Nations, in the same year. She is currently finishing her
degree in Politics and International Development Studies at Trent
University.
Tuesday, March 3, 6:30pm
Film and Panel Discussion: The Invisible Nation, The Story of the
Algonquin Presented by the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement: Ottawa
Location: Auditorium, Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street
We are honoured to have Dr. William Commanda, the most respected 95-year
old Algonquin Elder, Founder, Circle of All Nations, to conduct an
opening ceremony for us on this evening!
Panelists: Claudette Commanda, Algonquin, Anishinabeg, National
Coordinator of First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centre,
Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie, Directors - The Invisible Nation
The Algonquin once lived in harmony with the vast territory they
occupied. This balance was upset when the Europeans arrived in the 16th
century. Gradually, their Aboriginal traditions were undermined and
their natural resources plundered. Today, barely 9,000 Algonquin are
left. They live in about 10 communities, often enduring abject poverty
and human rights abuses. – NFB.ca
Wednesday, March 4, 7:30pm
Apartheid Israel: Democracy as an Existential Threat
Speaker: Omar Barghouti, Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and
Cultural Boycott of Israel
Moderator: Professor Rim Jaber (Telfer School of Management)
University of Ottawa , Room: Fauteux B147
Omar Barghouti is an independent Palestinian researcher, commentator and
human rights activist. He is a founding member of the Palestinian
campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) to force Israel to
uphold international law and universal human rights.
He holds a bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering
from Columbia University, NY. He contributed to the philosophical
volume, "Controversies and Subjectivity" (John Benjamins, 2005) and to
"The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid" (Verso Books, 2001). He
advocates an ethical vision for a unitary, secular democratic state in
historic Palestine.
Thursday, March 5, 7:00pm
Boycott Israel - The Apartheid State
Speaker: Ronnie Kasrils, a Jewish South African and a former Minister in
an ANC government (this event is co-sponsored by OPIRG – Carleton)
Moderater: Professor Radha Jhappan (Political Science)
Carleton University, Room: 301 Azrieli Theatre
Ronnie Kasrils was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1938. His
grandparents are Jewish immigrants from Czarist Russia (Lithuania). He
joined the ANC 1960 after Sharpeville massacre. This led to a lifetime
of political activism. Ronnie was a member of ANC's military wing at its
inception in 1961. He became chief of military intelligence, operated
from exile in neighbouring African states and clandestinely in South
Africa. For many years, he was a member of both ANC and Communist Party
national executive committees. Ronnie was appointed deputy minister of
defence in South Africa's first democratic government (1994-99);
Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry (1999-2004); Minister
Intelligence Services (2004-2008). He has retired from government and
devotes himself to writing, lecturing and Palestine solidarity work. His
autobiography is entitled "Armed & Dangerous" (publisher Jonathan Ball,
Johannesburg).
Friday, March 6, 7:00pm
From Warsaw Ghetto to Gaza Ghetto
Speakers: Suzanne Weiss, a Jewish holocaust survivor, and Samah Sabawi,
a Palestinian Canadian born in Gaza
Moderator: Professor Peter Gose (Sociology & Anthropology)
Carleton University, Room: 102 Azrieli Theatre
Suzanne Weiss is an activist in anti-imperialist movements in Canada,
including the Coalition to End Israeli Apartheid, and its sister
organization, Not In Our Name (NION): Jewish Voices Opposing Zionisn.
She is the author of "Anti-Semitism, Zionism, and the Defense of
Palestinian Rights", and also co-author of "Venezuela Eyewitness:
Achievements and Challenges Facing the Bolivarian Revolution Today". She
is a Jewish holocaust survivor.
Samah Sabawi is a Palestinian Canadian writer who was born in Gaza and
was displaced with her family in the aftermath of Israel’s occupation of
the Gaza strip in 1967. Today, Samah still has family and loved ones
living under Israeli siege in Gaza. Her work reflects her passion about
her heritage and her desire for a peaceful resolution that is based on
justice and respect of human rights for all. Ms. Sabawi has written and
produced two plays and she continues to be involved with various grass
roots organizations in Canada as well as in the Palestinian Occupied
Territories.
For more information: www.apartheidweek.org and www.carleton.saia.ca
(2) About Israeli Apartheid Week
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual international series of events
held in cities and campuses across the globe. The aim of IAW is to
educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to
build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a
growing global BDS movement.
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is taking place in more than 40 cities
across the globe (the number of cities is growing daily). This year, IAW
happens in the wake of Israel's barbaric assault on the people of Gaza.
Lectures, films, and actions will make the point that these latest
massacres further confirm the true nature of Israeli Apartheid. IAW 2009
will continue to build and strengthen the growing BDS movement at a
global level.
Prominent Palestinians, Jewish anti-Zionists, and South Africans have
been at the forefront of this struggle. At the same time, an
international divestment campaign has gained momentum in response to a
statement issued in July 2005 by over 170 Palestinian civil society
organizations calling for boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS)
against apartheid Israel . Important gains have recently been made in
this campaign in countries like South Africa , the United Kingdom ,
Canada and the United States .
The aim of IAW is to contribute to this chorus of international
opposition to Israeli apartheid and to bolster support for the BDS
campaign in accordance with the demands outlined in the July 2005
Statement: full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, an end
to the occupation and colonization of all Arab lands – including the
Golan Heights, the Occupied West Bank with East Jerusalem and the Gaza
Strip – and dismantling the Wall, and the protection of Palestinian
refugees’ right to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in
U.N. resolution 194.
In previous years IAW has played an important role in raising awareness
and disseminating information about Zionism, the Palestinian liberation
struggle and its similarities with the indigenous sovereignty struggle
in North America and the South African anti-Apartheid movement. Join us
in making this a year of struggle against apartheid and for justice,
equality, and peace.
www.apartheidweek.org www.carleton.saia.ca
Please support Israeli Apartheid week by attending the various events.
Israeli Apartheid Week Ottawa 2009 is endorsed by the following
organizations:
Agitate! Queer Women of Colour Collective
Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians
Canada Palestine Support Network
Books To Prisoners – Ottawa
Canadian Arab Federation
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Canadian Union of Public Employees (local 4600)
Carleton University Womyn’s Centre
Coalition of Canadian Arab Professional and Community Associations
Common Cause Ottawa
CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee
Faculty for Palestine
Independent Jewish Voices – Canada
Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement of Ottawa
Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies - Human Rights Program (Carleton)
No One Is Illegal – Ottawa
Not in our Name – Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism
NOWAR-PAIX
OPIRG-GRIPO (Ottawa)
OPIRG – Carleton
Ottawa Palestine Solidarity Network
Ottawa Raging Grannies
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – Carleton
The Socialist Project
Women in Solidarity with Palestine