Montreal, Quebec, July 2012 letter from Tadamon! collective

art work by Palestinian artist Nidal Elkhairy. Dear Cirque du Soleil,

We are a Montreal-based collective working in solidarity with the Palestinian people and are writing to you concerning your upcoming performances of Alegría in Tel Aviv, Israel in August 2012.

It is not uncommon for internationally renowned artists such as Cirque du Soleil to be invited to Israel. You may not be aware, however, that by performing in Israel, well-known artists provide credibility to, and indirectly endorse, the actions and policies of the Israeli government. In fact, the Israeli government is actively and openly pursuing a policy to attract artists to Israel in an attempt to whitewash its own violations of international law and the apartheid laws it imposes on Palestinians.

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Jerrold Kessel & Pierre Klochendler, Electronic Intifada 17 August 2010

Photo: Luay Sababa Palestinians try to cross into Jerusalem through an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank city of Bethlehem during the first Friday of the holy month of Ramadan, 13 August 2010.

Hirbet Deir, occupied West Bank – For Muhammad al-Baradiyeh, 38, the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is always a blessing.

In fact, every day of the month-and-a-half prior to Ramadan has been good for Muhammad. Thanks to a permit granted by the Israeli authorities, he’s been able to work inside Israel and save extra money he’ll need for the holiday.

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Al Jazeera by As’ad AbuKhalil May 2010

Photo: Palestinian solidarity rally in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Every year, Arabs around the world commemorate al-Nakba or “the catastrophe” on May 15 – the day following Israel’s declaration of statehood in 1948.

But poems and speeches are now too embarrassing to recite and Arab governments barely seem interested in remembering – so busy are they trying to win Israel’s approval for direct or indirect negotiations.

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report from the International Solidarity Movement May 2010

Photo: Jordan Valley hills in historic Palestine.

“Israel will never cede the Jordan Valley” Benjamin Netanyahu, March 2010

The Jordan Valley is an area under urgent threat of annexation, and during the last few weeks Israel has considerably tightened its grip on the indigenous Palestinian population. On the 11th of April the Israeli military shut of the main water source to Bardala – jeopardizing the village’s viability as a farming community – , on the 12th of April they declared Al Maleh a closed military zone, which prevented shepherds from grassing their animals, and on the 15th of April the Israeli military raided Al Farisiya and stole four water pumps in a further attempt to control all water resources in the area.

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Al Jazeera by Nisreen El-Shamayleh in Mafraq, northern Jordan.

Photo Urban landscape in northern Jordan.

Jordan has stood at the front-line of the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948, and in the six decades since has been de-mining battlefields where opposing armies once roamed.

Many of the country’s land mines date back to the 1948 partition of Palestine, the 1967 Six Day War, and hostilities with Syria in the 1970’s.

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report Al Jazeera Tuesday, October 27, 2009.

Photo: Palestine across the Dead Sea, viewing from Jordan.

Israel is denying Palestinians adequate access to clean, safe water while allowing almost unlimited supplies to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, human rights group Amnesty International has said.

“Swimming pools, well-watered lawns and large irrigated farms in Israeli settlements… stand in stark contrast next to Palestinian villages whose inhabitants struggle even to meet their domestic water needs,” the group said in a report released on Tuesday.

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Daily Star by Rami G. Khouri, Saturday, September 19, 2009.

Photo: Tanya Traboulsi. Sky over sea, Beirut, Lebanon.

The amount and quality of available scientific data on the global impact of climate change, I rediscovered at a seminar organized by the Danish Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen this week, is staggering. The debate that swirled around the issues of climate change and global warming just two or three years ago has vanished. There is much more certainty now on the nature and extent of the changes to the Earth’s climate that can be attributed to the impact of human activity, mainly the burning of fossil fuels that emit greenhouse gases.

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Al Kitab (Arabic for ‘Book’), is a new book club organized by Tadamon!

Photo: James Longley. Al-Mutanabi Street in Iraq.

Al Kitab club members (six to 10 people) will meet in a comfortable place (someone’s home, a quiet café, or a room in a public library) once a month to discuss and reflect on a book.

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Friday, March 7th, 7pm
Concordia University, H-435, Hall Building
1455 de Maisonneuve west
(Guy-Concordia metro)

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An economic association agreement between the European Union and Israel lends international political legitimacy to the Israeli government, while providing a critical export market for Israeli goods and products, an essential element to Israel’s international trade policy.

Growing debate is occurring within Europe concerning the E.U.-Israel agreement in the face of Israel’s continuing occupation of Palestinian land and systemic abuses of Palestinian human rights as documented by international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International. A critical provision within the economic agreement stipulates that both the E.U. and Israel respect human rights, a provision that has clearly been ignored in the continuation of the agreement, despite wide-spread abuses of Palestinian human rights by Israel.

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