lettre ouverte au Cirque du Soleil, de la part du collectif Tadamon!

Illustration réalisée par l’artiste Palestinien Nidal Elkhairy

Nous sommes un collectif montréalais qui travaille en solidarité avec le peuple palestinien et nous souhaitons communiquer avec vous concernant le spectacle Alegria programmé à Tel Aviv, en Israël, en août 2012.

Il n’est pas rare que des artistes internationaux soient invités en Israël pour donner des spectacles. Cependant, la présence de ces artistes en Israël crédibilise, et indirectement encourage, les actions du
gouvernement israélien. En effet, le gouvernement israélien poursuit ouvertement une politique visant à attirer des artistes en Israël, afin de blanchir ses violations des lois internationales et de se disculper de ses propres lois d’apartheid qu’il impose aux Palestiniens.

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photo via Nakba protest at Lebanon/Palestine border May 2011.

Photo: Palestinian march toward return, at Lebanon’s border to historic Palestine.

A Palestinian man holding a Palestinian flag looks toward fellow demonstrators gathering to commemorate Nakba on May 15, 2011. Palestinian refugees from throughout Lebanon converged at Lebanon’s historic border with Palestine to demand and protest for their right to return to Palestine as refugees, outlined in UN resolution 242.

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by Simona Sikimic & Wassim Mroueh Daily Star Tuesday, November 16, 2010.

Photo Beirut skyline view from civil war destroyed building.

People across the country prepared for three days of relative calm as they planned to gather with family and friends Tuesday to celebrate Eid al-Adha.

The break is viewed by many as much-needed reprieve from the heated political rhetoric that has raged over the impending indictment from the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and engulfed Lebanon in a spiral of mistrustful bickering, threatening to reignite sectarian strife.

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Hicham Safieddine, Electronic Intifada 18 August 2010

Photo Massel Cassel A weapon is positioned at a UN base in southern Lebanon.

The international coverage of border clashes between Lebanese and Israeli military forces earlier this month may have suggested the confrontation was a mere squabble over cutting a tree that went awry in a “trigger-happy” and “conflict-prone” region. Less than a week later, one of several recent speeches by Hizballah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah managed to get brief global media coverage. He presented visual and audio material suggesting that Israel may have assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February 2005.

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par Ramzy Baroud, Palestine Chronicle – Beyrouth, Liban. traduction: JPP

Photo Simon Norfolk Bourj el-Barajneh – camp de réfugiés palestiniens.

Deux fillettes se tiennent là, debout, comme figées, et à leurs pieds commence Beyrouth, comme toujours pleine de vie. Leur balcon, comme le reste de leur maison et la plus grande partie de leur camp de réfugiés, est d’une couleur indéfinissable. Sale, comme leurs vêtements. Elles par contre sont belles et radieuses, même si leur avenir ne l’est pas.

Ici, à Bourj el-Barajneh, l’un des douze camps de réfugiés palestiniens au Liban, le temps semble s’être arrêté il y a des années. Génération après génération, les enfants ont grandi dans la même réalité désespérée, punis pour des crimes qu’ils n’ont pas commis, blessés par une histoire qu’ils n’ont pas écrite. Les fillettes se tiennent là, debout, sur leur balcon sale, fissuré, irréparable, à regarder vivre Beyrouth et le monde.

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open sit-in by FuturePipe Workers in Akkar, North Lebanon

Photo Farah Koubaissy Half of Lebanese population lives with two dollars.

Since the 12th of July 2010, workers of the FuturePipe Factory in North Lebanon have been holding an open sit-in protesting against the closure of the factory. The management of the factory had stated that the reason behind closure is due to significant losses.

Yet the workers clearly indicate that the factory is not making any losses. It is actually generating substantial profit. Only about a month ago, the owners of the factory bought new equipment at a cost of more than a million US dollars. They also opened branches in different Arab countries.

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Août 2010, Montréal, Québec

Photo des immeubles de Beyrouth en avion au-dessus de la Méditerranée.

Le collectif Tadamon aimerait exprimer son entière solidarité avec M Samah Idriss, éditeur d’Al Adab (« littérature ») Magazine.

Au sujet de Al Adab

Depuis sa création en 1953, cet important magazine de culture Arabe a joué un rôle clé dans l’encouragement de la pensée progressiste et de la création d’espace de débat dans le monde arabe.

Publié à Beyrouth, capitale libanaise, le magazine Al Adab est devenu un point central favorisant la réflexion critique sur les mouvements démocratiques locaux, mais aussi un espace où les militants peuvent dénoncer aussi bien la colonisation que la dictature à travers tout le Moyen-Orient.

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Monday, August 02, 2010 Al Jazeera

Photo Palestinians inspect ground after Israeli bombing in Gaza.

A global treaty banning cluster munitions has gone into force.

The Convention on Cluster Munitions, which became binding international law on Sunday, prohibits the use, production and stockpiling of the weapon, which is blamed for killing and maiming tens of thousands of civilians.

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Independent Robert Fisk, Saturday, 31 July 2010

Photo Israeli air force cadets at military training.

The death of five Israeli servicemen in a helicopter crash in Romania this week raised scarcely a headline.

There was a Nato-Israeli exercise in progress. Well, that’s OK then. Now imagine the death of five Hamas fighters in a helicopter crash in Romania this week. We’d still be investigating this extraordinary phenomenon. Now mark you, I’m not comparing Israel and Hamas. Israel is the country that justifiably slaughtered more than 1,300 Palestinians in Gaza 19 months ago – more than 300 of them children – while the vicious, blood-sucking and terrorist Hamas killed 13 Israelis (three of them soldiers who actually shot each other by mistake).

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Tuesday, July 27, 2010 by Elie Nasrallah Daily Star

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

Canada has always been a favorite destination for many Lebanese emigrants. However, the country is now changing its immigration policies and is beginning to resemble a club open to a chosen few who possess the required skills, education and selective criteria to enter.

Last June 26, Jason Kenney, Canada’s minister for citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism, announced that to be eligible to apply as a federal skilled worker, immigrants must either have a job offer from a Canadian employer or experience in one of just 29 in-demand occupations.

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