[IPSM] call for donations: Apartheid In Canada event (Montreal)

[Jaggi Singh]

*Dear friends and allies of indigenous justice struggles in the
Montreal-area --*

This coming March 1st, there will be a very special panel that will feature
the voices of frontline resistance to displacement and environmental
degradation on Turtle Island. We are privileged to be able to hear from Judy
Da Silva, from the community of Grassy Narrows in northwestern Ontario, as
well as Innu elder Elizabeth Penashue from Labrador. More detailed bios are
included below.

Together, Judy and Elizabeth represent organizing and activism
against destructive corporations and governments, in defence of their
lands and way of life. They will share compelling testimonies
of self-determination, from frontline but remote communities (relative
to Montreal).

We are writing you to request a donation to cover the expenses for this
event. As supporters of indigenous solidarity and sovereignty efforts, we
are hoping to meet our main expenses by donations.

The major expense for our event is travel, particularly for
Elizabeth Penashue who is traveling with her husband Francis Penashue from
Goose Bay, Labrador. Those travel costs amount to at least $2000. The
total budget for our event is approximately $4000 (including lodgings,
food, travel, and a modest honorarium for our guest speakers).

Please consider making a donation ($50, $100 or more) towards the costs of
this event, which will contribute to ongoing local efforts at raising
awareness about displacement and genocide on Turtle Island.

--> IF YOU CAN DONATE, please get in touch by e-mail info at qpirgconcordia.org
  or phone 514-848-7585 so that we can keep track of donations.

If donating by cheque, you can write your cheque to "QPIRG-Concordia" with
"Apartheid in Canada" indicated clearly in the memo line.

If donating by cash, please get in touch by phone or e-mail.

You can mail cheques to:
QPIRG-Concordia/Apartheid in Canada
1500 de Maisonneuve Ouest, #204
MONTREAL H3G 1M8

[If you send a cheque, please let us know by e-mail].

Thank you for considering this request.

In solidarity,
The "Apartheid in Canada" Organizing Crew
(Aaron, Emma, Jaggi, Laith, Lisa, Nathalie, & Ricky)
tel: 514-848-7585; info at qpirgconcordia.org
----------


[français ci-dessous] [please post and forward widely]
[facebook announcement: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=54090291370 ]

APARTHEID IN CANADA:
Frontline voices of Indigenous resistance on Turtle Island

SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 7pm
1455 de Maisonneuve West, H-110
near Guy-Concordia métro
Wheelchair accessible. Event is free.

Opening Panel of Israeli Apartheid Week (Montreal)
March 1-9, 2009

This special panel features frontline Indigenous activists who are resisting
the destruction and displacement of their lands on Turtle Island (occupied
"North America"). Speakers include:

Elizabeth (Tshankuesh) Penashue
Innu elder from Nitassinan (Labrador)
Elizabeth was born and raised into a traditional hunting and trapping family
whose way of life was devastated by the flooding of their lands and the
destruction of hunting equipment. Elizabeth has raised awareness and
resisted the militarization and appropriation of Innu territory by NATO
low-level military flying exercises out of Goose Bay over land that the Innu
use for hunting and fishing. She has also opposed the further development of
the Churchill River to power mainly settler communities in the south.


Judy Da Silva
Anishinabekwe from Grassy Narrows, northwestern Ontario
Judy is the mother of 5 children, fighting to protect the way of life of the
Anishnabe people. She is active in resisting the environmental devastation
and destruction of the land, animals and people, by logging and mining
companies and the provincial and federal governments. She is currently
involved in an environmental contaminants study of three northwestern
Ontario Indigenous communities.


Introduced by Laith Marouf of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR).
Laith has visited and worked in solidarity with various First Nations across
Turtle Island and has lectured on the similarity of the struggles for
self-determination here and in Palestine. For the past decade he has
organized with SPHR and currently is the Branches Coordinator at the
National Office of the organization.

INFO: info at qpirgconcordia.org - 514-848-7585 - www.iawmontreal.org