Photo: Palestinian waving flag at demonstration against occupation in West Bank.
The Israeli parliamentary Law Committee has recently approved a law proposal the (“Nakba bill”) that, if passed by the Knesset, would impose economic sanctions on the organizers of Nakba commemorations. Every year in May, Palestinians and supporters of their right of return commemorate the Nakba of 1948, which marks the single most traumatic and far-reaching event in the long and ongoing process of forced displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people by the state of Israel. Nakba commemorations are important events in Israel, where some 335,000 Palestinians, citizens of Israel, continue to be denied their right to return to their homes, lands and communities, and are forced to live as internally displaced persons within their own country.
Photo Israeli military demolishes Palestinian Labbada house in Nablus, West Bank.
The sixth annual Israeli Apartheid Week is back again in Montreal, and will be featuring events on three campuses in the city from March 4 to 11.
Every year for the last six years, many cities (43 cities participated last year) around the world join together to coordinate this week, which focuses on the growing campaign of boycotts, divestments and sanctions against the state of Israel. And this year, like every year in the past, pro-Israel apologists respond with campaigns which range from outright offensive to bizarre and puzzling.
A call from Montreal artists to support the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israeli apartheid…
Today, a broad spectrum of Montreal artists are standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and supporting the growing international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against the Israeli state. Last winter, the Israeli state launched a violent military assault on the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, leaving over 1400 Palestinians dead, including over 300 children. Despite the official end of military operations, the blockade continues to this day, with devastating consequences for Gaza’s residents.
Over 60 years from the beginning of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948, in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from historic Palestine through Israel’s creation, Montreal artists are united in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.
I signed the call for sanctions against the state of Israel because of Operation Cast Lead, the incursion and blockade of Gaza, which targeted hospitals, water wells and thousands of Palestinian homes, because of the F-14 and F-16 fighter jets and Apache attack helicopters used against a defenseless civilian population, because of the hundreds of children killed in those attacks, because of the on-going series of targeted assassinations which are extra-judicial killings, which are simply murder, because of the Israeli refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, because of the on-going blockade of the Gaza Strip which deprives 1.5 million people of food, fuel and basic medical supplies,
Carleton students have released a report detailing how the Carleton University Pension fund invests in companies involved in violations of human rights and of international law.
The report was created by Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA Carleton), who are launching a campaign to end Carleton’s unethical investments and adopt a socially responsible investment policy.
letter from Bil’in’s Abdallah Abu Rahmah was shared from his prison cell to his lawyers
Dear Friends and Supporters, It has been two months now since I was handcuffed, blindfolded and taken from my home. Today news has reached Ofer Military Prison that the apartheid wall on Bil’in’s land will finally be moved and construction has begun on the new route. This will return half of the land that was stolen from our village. For those of us in Ofer, imprisoned for our protest against the wall, this victory makes the suffering of being here easier to bear. After actively resisting the theft of our land by the Israeli apartheid wall and settlements every week for five years now, we long to be standing along side our brothers and sisters to mark this victory and the fifth anniversary of our struggle.
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!
