6th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week summary

On behalf of the organizing committee of Israeli Apartheid Week, we would like to thank everyone who attended or supported IAW 2010. This year’s week, the 6th annual edition, was a huge success!



Panelists and presenters at IAW touched on many important themes throughout the week, such as recent successes in the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, the myth of democracy for Palestinians living inside Israel, the situation in the Occupied Territories, queer support for Palestine, aboriginal support for the Palestinian struggle, and Canada’s links to Israeli aparthied. Attendees also learned about the apartheid nature of Israeli policies, and their similarities to South African apartheid, straight from activists who fought directly against South African apartheid.



Despite the shameful and hypocritical condemnations from the Ontario government and certain federal politicians, IAW is growing steadily in Montreal. 2010 marked the first year that IAW events were held at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), thanks to the hard work of the Coalition pour la justice en Palestine-UQAM (CJP-UQAM). Every year, new and eager people are attending IAW events, and many different social justice organizations are offering their endorsements. Finally, the week ended with a rousing concert at Club Lambi, featuring the talented hip-hop artist Abeer from Palestine, and many other wonderful performers from Montreal and New York City.



Of course, IAW wouldn’t have been possible without the gracious support of the following organizations: Simone de Beauvoir Institute for Women’s Studies at Concordia, College and University Workers United, and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Les Soeurs Auxiliatrices, the Coalition pour la justice et paix en palestine, La Pointe Libertaire, Union Communiste Libertaire, and many other individual donors.



If you have any feedback or comments, or suggestions for how to improve Israeli Apartheid Week, OR if you want to get involved in IAW 2011, please get in touch with us at iaw-mtl(at)riseup.net.



Media



Below you will find links to the audio recordings of all the panels and lectures presented during IAW, as well as links to various print articles. In addition, all of the panels and lectures during IAW were video-taped. We are currently in the process of editing the footage, and we will be posting it online in the coming weeks and sending out the links.



Audio recordings:


March 4th: Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions: Celebrating the successes and overcoming the challenges of the BDS Movement against Israeli Apartheid

Featuring Dave Bleakney, Kate Raphael, Shadi Rohana


March 5th Exposing Israeli Apartheid – Lessons from South Africa to Palestine

Featuring Noura Erakat and Na’eem Jeenah


March 7th: Resisting Apartheid from Turtle Island to Palestine – Indigenous youth speak out

Featuring Melissa Franklin, Marei Spaola, Jodi Voice, Clifton Nicholas

March 9th: Qu’est-ce que l’apartheid? Ou le rôle du Canada dans la pérennité de l’apartheid israélien

Featuring Vincent Romani and Lorraine Guay


March 10th: Between Oppression and Empowerment: Palestinian citizens of Israel under apartheid

Featuring Jamal Zahalka




Press coverage



Le Devoir Ottawa s’oppose à la dénonciation d’Israel



Le Devoir La Semaine contre l’apartheid israélien divise les Communes




National Post Counterpoint: In Support of Israeli Apartheid Week

The Concordian Israeli Apartheid Week Opens to Good Attendance, Controversy

The Link Size Doesn’t Matter, But Apartheid Does

McGill Daily It is Apartheid



McGill Tribune Suppressing Debate: Ontario’s Language Politics


IAW Montreal is a joint initiative of the following organizations


2110 Centre

CJP-UQAM
QPIRG-Concordia

QPIRG-McGill
Q-Team

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights

Tadamon!



IAW was also 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 all at Israeli Apartheid Week 2011!