Montreal, May 2008: Join the International Middle East Media Center in Bethlehem (Palestine), in collaboration with CKUT 90.3fm in Montreal (Quebec, Canada), CHRY 105.5fm in Toronto (Ontario, Canada), CKDU 88.1fm in Halifax (Nova Scotia, Canada), and KBOO 90.7fm in Portland (Oregon, U.S.) for a historic international radio reflection of the Palestinian Nakba or catastrophe, including contributions from Pacifica Radio and Democracy Now!

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We read with dismay and sadness the report of your remarks in the Montreal Gazette with regard to those who criticize the State of Israel. As Jews, and as Canadians, we are deeply offended by your allegations that objections to Israeli policies that include the occupation, forced eviction, and denial of human rights to Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank — as well as discrimination against the many Palestinians living in Israel — are signals of “anti-Semitism.”

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Territory is a central theme in all political conflicts in the world, as national borders across the globe have consistently shifted. Territories is a new feature documentary by Montreal filmmaker Mary Ellen Davis that explores the photographic work and global journeys of Larry Towell, of the world-renowned photo agency Magnum, who travels along the world’s most conflicted border zones, from Latin America to the Middle East.

Indigenous people across the world have been victims of borderlines drawn in bloody wars fueled by colonial interests, and it’s these too-often-untold stories that are found in the striking photos of Larry Towell. From the electric fences of the Mexico-U.S. border to Israel’s concrete separation wall in Palestine, understanding the violence caused by borders is central to Towell’s work.

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to student unions and social movements across Quebec and Canada.

Montreal, May 2008 – L’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (ASSÉ), a Quebec-wide student union representing over 42 000 students, has passed a resolution to support the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israeli Apartheid. The motion was passed at the ASSÉ annual Congress, held on April 26th and 27th in Montreal. This resolution comes after over a year of consultations and discussions held within local student unions, in collaboration with Tadamon! Montreal, a local social justice collective. ASSÉ now invites all progressive organizations to join and support the call for the boycott campaign, issued by over 170 Palestinian civil society groups.

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An evening of Palestinian films to commemorate 60 years since Al-Nakba – the catastrophe of dispossession brought about by the establishment of the State of Israel – and to celebrate the Palestinian voice.

1947-1948: Zionist forces provoke the exodus of 750,000 refugees, forcibly evicted from their homes and villages. May 15 has been chosen to mark the tragedy.

2008: 5 million Palestinians live scattered throughout the world and demand recognition of their right to return. 4 million Palestinians live under brutal occupation in the West Bank and under a state of permanent siege in Gaza.. And over 1 million live in Israel as second-class citizens.

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It is with great shock and dismay that we have learned of your intention to participate in the Israeli Writers’ Festival this May, in conjunction with the “Israel at 60” festivities (largely supported by the Israeli Foreign Ministry). The function of cultural events such as this one in the international public relations campaigns of apartheid regimes is strongly reminiscent of the same maneuverings by the South African apartheid government. Have you forgotten the morally unconscionable historical ties between apartheid Israel and apartheid South Africa during the years of sanctions, when millions of dollars of weapons were supplied by Israel to the apartheid regime?

The friendships that you have shared with the late Palestinian scholar Edward Said, or John Dugard, UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Rights in the Occupied Territories, have offered you ample insight into the depths of the violence inflicted daily on Palestinians by the Israeli state. The 2001 World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban, South Africa, labeled Israel as a “racist, apartheid state” and denounced its policies as “crimes against humanity.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu has even asserted that the situation in Palestine is worse than apartheid South Africa.

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Lettre ouverte à Erri de Luca.

Cher Erri de Luca

Si nous prenons la plume pour vous écrire c’est que nous sommes avant tout des lecteurs de vos livres, qui apprécions beaucoup votre travail ainsi que votre parcours, si nous en croyons les articles que nous avons lus à votre sujet.

Nous croyons savoir que vous êtes un homme épris de justice. Nous savons aussi que vous vous intéressez à la Bible et au judaïsme, et que vous avez appris l’hébreu. Cette curiosité vous honore. Toutefois l’histoire du judaïsme, qui comporte de très belles pages dépasse, et de loin, celle de l’Etat d’Israël qui ne comporte que des pages tachées de sang. C’est parce que nous avons peur que vous confondiez les deux que nous vous demandons de reconsidérer votre participation au prochain Festival International des Ecrivains de Jérusalem, au mois de Mai.

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THURDAY MAY 8, 2008
11am Phillips Square
(Ste-Catherine & Union)
11:45am Place du Canada
(Boul. Rènè Lèvesque & rue de la Cathédrale /Metcalf)

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Bold claims about Middle East peace from
London ring hollow in the empty streets of Gaza.

It is a strange feeling: after working as a productive professional in Gaza for five years, I have become a black market junkie. I make several phone calls a day hunting for fuel for my car, diesel for the electricity generator waiting on standby to power the house, even cigarettes and vitamins. The only way to get hold of these things, to buy life-saving medicines, to purchase the essentials for a life of basic dignity, is through the black market, if at all. Today all Gaza suffers severe water shortages, with the fuel needed to pump and transport water (as well as sewage) dangerously scarce. The few cars seen on Gaza’s mostly empty streets today almost invariably run on used cooking oil due to the lack of diesel.

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Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ-CSN)

M. Denis Lemelin. Président national
Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des postes

Au nom de la Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ-CSN), j’aimerais féliciter le Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des postes (STTP) pour l’adoption d’une importante résolution de solidarité avec le peuple palestinien, lors de son congrès du 13 au 18 avril dernier réunissant des représentantes et représentants de plus de 50 000 travailleurs et travailleuses de l’État canadien. En effet, la recommandation adoptée par le STTP exprime, non seulement un appui politique à la lutte du peuple palestinien, mais elle permet de renforcir la campagne internationale de boycottage, de désinvestissement et de sanctions (BDS) contre l’apartheid israélien, tant qu’Israël ne respectera pas ses obligations de reconnaître le droit inaliénable du peuple palestinien à l’autodétermination et ne se conformera pas aux préceptes du droit international, incluant le droit au retour des réfugiés palestiniens dans leurs foyers et sur leurs terres, tel que stipulé par la résolution 194 des Nations Unies.

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