6th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week - March 4-11, 2010 - Montreal

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Join us and over 40 cities around the world this year in marking the 6th annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). IAW is a week of lectures, workshops, film screenings, and cultural events to educate about Israel/Palestine, and also to give momentum to the growing campaign of Boycotts, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid. Events in Montreal will take place at UQAM, Concordia, McGill, and other locations around the city. Full schedule of events is below!

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**FULL EVENT SCHEDULE**

March 4 | March 5 | March 7 | March 8 | March 9 | March 10 | March 11

* Thursday March 4

  • "Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions: Celebrating the successes and overcoming the challenges of the BDS Movement against Israeli Apartheid"
  • Mcgill University 3480 University Street McConnel Engineering Rm 204
  • 6:30pm
  • Featured speakers: Kate Raphael (Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism, San Francisco), Shadi Rohana (Alternative Information Centre, Jerusalem), Dave Bleakney (Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Ottawa), introduced by SPHR
  • To kick off the 2010 Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal, this panel will feature presentations from four grassroots activists working on various aspects of the BDS Movement Against Israeli Apartheid. Drawing on both local and international examples of academic, labour, cultural, and consumer boycott campaigns, the speakers will discuss some of the successes of the movement so far, as well as challenges faced, and highlight the strategies of where to go from here.

* Friday, March 5

  • "Exposing Israeli Apartheid: Lessons From South Africa to Palestine"
  • Mcgill University, McConnell engineering building, 3480 University Street, room 204
  • 6:30pm
  • Featured Speakers: Noura Erakat (US Campaign to end the Occupation), Na'eem Jeenah (South African anti-apartheid activist), introduced by Tala Al-Jabri (SPHR-McGill)
  • This talk will explore the apartheid analysis and why the framework can be fittingly applied to Israeli colonialism, racism, and occupation. Through the lessons and experiences of South Africa, the speakers will explore the similarities and differences between the two contexts and speak in depth about Israeli Apartheid in order to expose the systemic racism and colonialism faced by all Palestinians, whether inside Israel proper, in the occupied territories, or as part of the largest refugee population in the world. The speakers will also talk about lessons and strategies from the international movement of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against South African apartheid and discuss how they can be applied to the current BDS movement for Palestine.

* Sunday, March 7

  • "Resisting Apartheid from Turtle Island to Palestine: Indigenous youth speak out!"
  • UQAM, 400 Ste-Catherine east, AM-050
  • 3:00pm
  • Featured Speakers: Melissa Franklin, Marei Spaola, Jodi Voice (7th Generation Indigenous Visionaries, Kansas)
  • From reservations to refugee camps, and from manifest destiny to Zionism, racist apartheid practices are carried out not only in Israel, but also right inside Turtle Island (“North America”). However, just as Palestinians rose up over the last decade during the Second Intifadah, indigenous communities have been engaged in their own Intifadah (“shaking off”) against settler colonialism since the arrival of Columbus on these shores, and it is an Intifadah which continues until today.

    During the summer of 2009, a group of 18 Native and Xicana youth from the United States/Turtle Island will travelled to the Occupied West Bank and Israel to connect with Palestinian youth and to collectively imagine a more just future for all indigenous peoples.
    The Indigenous Youth Delegation to Palestine, the first of its kind, is a project of grassroots organizations in both the U.S. and Palestine who have come together with the purpose of connecting Native and Xicana youth in the U.S with youth in Palestine. By creating a forum to reflect together and to share common struggles, this cross-continental exchange was an opportunity for youth to learn first hand from each other by sharing tools and strategies of resistance against displacement and colonization. Melissa Franklin, Marei Spaola, and Jodi Voice were members of the delegation, and they are all part of the 7th Generation Indigenous Visionaries (7thGIV), a grassroots collective at Haskell Indian Nations University in Kansas, where they currently study.

    This presentation will also feature photos and clips from a video documentary that 7th GIV is working on about the delegation.

* Monday, March 8

  • International Women's Day march - Palestine solidarity contingent
  • 5:30pm, Cabot Square (corner of Atwater and Ste-Catherine)

* Monday, March 8

  • Cinema Politica Film Screening
  • "Checkpoint Rock: Songs from Palestine" and "Up Front: Three Palestinian Women"
  • Concordia, 1455 de Maisonneuve west, H110
  • 7:30pm
  • "Checkpoint Rock"/Fermin Muguruza / Spain-Palestine / 2009 / 73 min

    A journey through one of the regions which is always in the glare of the world's media, yet one which few of us really know. What is the music that forms the backing track of this mythical place? What are its most iconic musicians and how do they live? What do they think of the unique conditions in which they live and how is that reflected in their lyrics and their melodies? From the neon and the billboards of Tel Aviv to the poverty and desperation of the occupied territories of the West Bank and the vast concentration camp the Gaza strip has become, in this "Checkpoint Rock" we will share with very different musicians, going from town to town and from checkpoint to checkpoint, in a journey that will change the way we see this people in conflict and also the way we see ourselves. Co-presented with Cinema Politica and Tadamon.

    For more info, see www.cinemapolitica.org/concordia

* Tuesday, March 9

  • "What is Israeli Apartheid? The Role of Canada in perpetuating Israeli apartheid"
  • UQAM, 320 Ste-Catherine east, DS M280
  • 6:00pm
  • Featured Speakers: Vincent Romani (Professor of political science, UQAM), Lorraine Guay (Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine)
  • Vincent Romani: Histoire et portée de la comparaison sud-africain dans le cas Palestiniens. Le propos est de donner une perspective historique aux usages de la comparaison entre l'Afrique du Sud et les politiques israéliennes d'occupation, L'objectif est de clarifier l'outil comparatif afin de maitriser son usage. On distinguera les comparaisons politiques des comparaisons scientifiques; les premières débutent dans les années 60 avant que le qualificatif ''apartheid'' soit infamant, de la part des responsables politiques sud-africains blancs et israéliens. Le terme devenant ensuite infamant, les Palestiniens s'en emparent pour condamner Israël. Sur le plan scientifique, la comparaison en sciences sociales se heurte aux luttes de classements politiques ainsi qu'à des obstacles méthodologiques qui seront expliqués ici.

    Lorraine Guay: Israël: une société d'apartheid avec la complicité du Canada

* Wednesday, March 10

  • "Between Oppression and Empowerment: Palestinian citzens of Israel under apartheid"
  • Concordia, D.B. Clarke Theatre, 1455 de Maisonneuve Ouest (basement)
  • 7:00pm
  • 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. By highlighting the oppressive realities faced by Palestinian-Israelis, such as continued evictions and house demolitions, the attack on Palestinian political organizing, a lack of access to land, water and other basic social services, and a two-tiered education system, Zahalka will expose the true nature of Israeli apartheid inside ‘48.

* Thursday, March 11

  • "Speak Up for Palestine!" Cultural event
  • Club Lambi, 4465 St-Laurent blvd.
  • 8pm, $10-15 (Venue not wheelchair accessible)
  • Featured performers: Abeer (Hip-hop, Palestine!), Rami Kanazi (spoken word, New York City), Rich Siegel (jazz piano, New York City), Ghada Chehade (spoken word), Moody Mo (Hip-hop), Sikh Knowledge (Hip-hop)

Note on accessibility: All event venues are wheelchair accessible unless otherwise noted. All events will have whisper translation available between French and English. Childcare will be provided at some events - please contact us at iaw-mtl@riseup.net for more details.

-->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

IAW Montreal 2010 is endorsed by the following organizations:

Al-Hidaya Association * Association facultaire de sciences humaines UQAM (AFESH-UQAM) * Arab Law Students Association Mcgill * Canadian Friends of Sabeel * Centre des femmes d'ici et d'ailleurs * Centre for Philippine Concerns * Centre 2110 * CKUT Radio * Coalition pour la Justice en Palestine UQAM (CJP-UQAM) * Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP) * Collectif de recherche sur l'autonomie collective (CRAC) * College and University Workers United (CUWU) * Concordia Sikh Student Association * Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW-STTP) * D'abord Solidaires * First Peoples' House McGill * Independent Jewish Voices Montreal * Ligue des droits et libertés * La Pointe Libertaire * Muslim Students Association Mcgill * No One Is Illegal Montreal * Not In Our Name Concordia * Palestinian and Jewish Unity(PAJU) * Presence Musulmane * Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie (PASC) * Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG-Concordia) * QPIRG-McGill * Q-Team * Radlaw collective McGill * Solidarity Across Borders * Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR-Concordia) * SPHR-McGill * Tadamon * Union Communiste Libertaire * Un seul État démocratique / Groupe Rezeq Faraj * Women of Diverse Origins

We look forward to seeing you at Israeli Apartheid Week 2010 in Montreal
Free Palestine!

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IAW Montreal Organizing Committee
iaw-mtl@riseup.net
www.apartheidweek.org
514-848-7583 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              514-848-7583      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              514-848-7583      end_of_the_skype_highlighting