[opirgyork] Israeli Apartheid Week starts TODAY!

[aruna at opirgyork.ca]

The Eighth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week
March 5 - 11, 2012
www.apartheidweek.org
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We are very proud to announce our full list of confirmed speakers along
with the specific themes of each evening for IAW 2012. Mark your calendars
with the different topics for each evening and speakers.

A complete list of speakers and events is available at:
www.toronto.apartheidweek.org

Please follow us on twitter @ApartheidWeekTO

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MONDAY, March 5th
Anti-Apartheid Frequencies
Full day of radio programming on York University's CHRY 105.5fm
Noon-6:00 PM
Listen live at www.chry.fm

MONDAY, March 5th
Film Screening: Jaffa: the Orange's Clockwork
A film by Eyal Sivan
4:30 - 6:30 PM
Location: York University, Chancellor's Room, Student Centre

Jaffa: the Orange's Clockwork narrates the visual history of the famous
citrus fruit originated from Palestine and known worldwide for centuries
as "Jaffa oranges". What was once a commune industry to Arabs and Jews in
Palestine, the orange came to symbolize the loss of the Palestinian
homeland and its destruction.

MONDAY, March 5th
Israeli Apartheid Week endorses No Mining on Sacred Lands!  KI Speaks Out
Against God's Lake Resources and McGuinty Government
KI LEADERS SPEAK, NEW VIDEO LAUNCHED
6:30 PM
Location: Steelworkers' Hall, 25 Cecil Street

God's Lake Resources Inc., a mining exploration company, is threatening to
re-enter the Homeland of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) Indigenous
Nation this month to resume exploring on sacred burial grounds. KI has
told God's Lake Resources that they are not welcome on their Homeland.
Ontario has refused to step in and stop the exploration and KI is calling
for public support and mobilization, particularly in Toronto and Southern
Ontario.

As part of this broader mobilization, the Toronto KI Support Group, CUPE
3902, OPIRG U of T, the University of Toronto Graduate Students' Union,
Earthroots, Mining Watch Canada, and Council of Canadians are organizing a
speaking event on March 5, 2012 at the Steelworkers' Hall at 25 Cecil
Street in Toronto.  At these events KI leaders will speak to the public
about the situation they are facing with God's Lake Resources Inc. and
about KI’s bold vision for their homeland and environment.

For more information about how you can help build this mobilization,
please check out the Toronto KI Support Network's facebook page at 
www.facebook.com/TorontoKISupport and KI's website, www.kilands.org

TUESDAY, March 6th
Israeli Apartheid Week endorses Rally and March with KI
12:30 PM  (N.B. Come early at 11:30 to participate in the Mining Injustice
Solidarity Network actions
http://www.facebook.com/events/278041455596726/.)
Location: 255 Front St. W.

TUESDAY, March 6th
Workshop on Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) at York University 5:00 -
7:00 PM
Location: York University, Chancellor's Room, Student Centre
Co-sponsored by the Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA) and Students
Against Israeli Apartheid at York

TUESDAY, March 6th
Economic Mappings of Apartheid
Speakers: Dalit Baum, Justin Podur and Eva Bartlett
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: University of Toronto, Earth Sciences Centre, Room 1050, 5
Bancroft Ave.
Hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid – a working group of
OPIRG-Toronto
*This event is wheelchair accessible

Dalit Baum Ph.D., is a co-founder of Who Profits from the Occupation, an
activist research initiative of the Coalition of Women for Peace in
Israel. During the last five years, Who Profits has become a vital
resource for dozens of campaigns around the world, providing information
about corporate complicity in the occupation of Palestine. Dalit is a
feminist scholar and teacher in Israel, who has been teaching about
militarism and about the global economy from a feminist perspective in
Israeli universities. As a feminist/ queer activist, she has been active
with various groups in the Israeli anti-occupation and democratization
movement, including Black Laundry, Boycott from Within, Zochrot,
Anarchists against the Wall and Women in Black.

Justin Podur is a Toronto-based writer and editor. He writes on political
conflicts and social movements, primarily for Z Communications
(www.zcommunications.org). He has reported from Palestine, Haiti, the
Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia, Pakistan, and India. He is the
author of the upcoming book Haiti's New Dictatorship: From the Overthrow
of Aristide to the 2010 Earthquake (Pluto Press 2012). He is also
contributor to Empire's Ally: Canadian Foreign Policy and the War in
Afghanistan (University of Toronto Press 2012) and Real Utopia:
Participatory Society for the 21st Century (AK Press 2008). His blog is
www.killingtrain.com.

Eva Bartlett is an independent Canadian activist and freelance journalist
who has spent long periods in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip
volunteering with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and
reporting from the ground.  In November 2008, Eva sailed with the Free
Gaza Movement boat from Cyprus to the Gaza Strip where she joined the ISM
in accompanying fishermen in Palestinian waters and farmers in the border
regions. During the 2008-2009 Israeli massacre of Gaza, Eva and other ISM
members joined Palestinian medics in their ambulances, documenting the
victims of Israel's massacre, including Palestinian medics and rescuers. 
>From November 2008 until June 2010, Eva continued this work, also writing
for the Electronic Intifada, IPS news, the Dominion, and various
independent media, as well as maintaining her blog, In Gaza.  She returned
to Gaza in May 2011 to see little change or improvement in Palestinians'
living conditions. During her recent few months in Gaza, Eva witnessed the
resurgence of Israeli bombings, which of course never made the corporate
media.  Her website isingaza.wordpress.com and her earlier reports were at
opt2007.wordpress.com

WEDNESDAY, March 7th
Women`s Resistance: From the Uprisings, to Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Speakers: Deena Gamil, Nahla Abdo, and Monira Kitmitto
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location:  York University, York University, Chemistry Building, Rm 121
Hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid - York

Deena Gamil is a journalist, writer, revolutionary socialist activist and
leading figure in the Socialist Popular Alliance Party. She works as a
reporter, a radio and TV producer and an editor at various press and media
institutions like Al-Alam al-Youm economic daily newspaper, Rose
al-Youssef weekly magazine and the BBC. She is currently the editor of the
home section at Al-Shuruq daily newspaper.  Deena is a founding member of
the largest leftist party in Egypt – the Socialist Popular Alliance Party.
She has participated in various fronts and coalitions such as Kefaya and
the Popular Committee for Solidarity with the Palestinian Uprising. Deena
has a Masters in sociology from the American University in Cairo (AUC).

Nahla Abdo is a Arab feminist activist and Professor of Sociology at
Carlton University. Nahla is interested in understating the dynamics
between gender, class, race/ethnicity, sexuality and the state. More
specifically, her work has focused on issue such as: gender, sexuality and
the State in the Middle East; the dynamics between feminism(s) and
nationalism(s); the gendered East/West; and resistance and challenges from
the field.

Monira Kitmitto  is a Palestinian activist and member of CAIA who has
recently returned from traveling around the Middle East. Monira will be
discussing the way in which the developments of the ‘Arab Spring’ are
impacting Palestine solidarity efforts. She has worked in Palestinian
refugee camps Lebanon and was an active member in the Union of Palestinian
Women.

THURSDAY, March 8th
Film Screening: Izkor: Slaves of Memory
A film by Eyal Sivan
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Ryerson University, Oakham House, Thomas Lounge (on 1st floor),
63 Gould St.
Hosted by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) - Ryerson,  and
Students Against Israeli Apartheid

IZKOR, is a portrait of the Israeli society that has never been shown
before, thirty days in the life of a State that lives to the rhythm of its
memory. This award-winning film puts forward a passionate and severe
analysis of the Hebrew state.

“IZKOR,” means "remember" in Hebrew and this film looks in depth at this
imperative that is imposed on the children of Israel. In Israel during the
month of April feast days and celebrations take place one after another.
School children of all ages prepare to pay tribute to their country's
past. The collective memory becomes a terribly efficient tool for the
training of young minds.

FRIDAY, March 9th
Cutting the Ties to Israeli Apartheid: Cultural and Academic Boycott 
Speakers: Remi Kanazi, Mary-Jo Nadeau, and Richard Fung
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: University of Toronto, OISE Auditorium, 252 Bloor St. West
Hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid - a working group of
OPIRG-Toronto
*This event is wheelchair accessible

Remi Kanazi is a poet, writer, and activist based in New York City. He is
the editor of Poets For Palestine (Al Jisser Group, 2008). His political
commentary has been featured by news outlets throughout the world,
including Al Jazeera English, GRITtv with Laura Flanders, and BBC Radio.
His poetry has taken him across North America, the UK, and the Middle
East, and he recently appeared in the Palestine Festival of Literature as
well as Poetry International. He is a recurring writer in residence and
advisory board member for the Palestine Writing Workshop.

Mary-Jo Nadeau is a researcher/writer, and contract lecturer at University
of Toronto Mississauga.  She is a co-founder of Faculty for Palestine
(F4P) and is active in the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA).

Richard Fung is a Toronto-based video artist, writer, theorist and an
associate professor in the Faculty of Art at OCAD University. His work
investigates topics ranging from colonialism, immigration, racism,
homophobia, AIDS and to his own family history and experiences with
diaspora. Richard is a public intellectual who has pushed forward the
debates about queer sexuality, Asian identity and the uneasy borderlands
of culture and politics.

SATURDAY, March 10th
A People’s Interrogation of Law and Human Rights
Speakers: Frank Barat, and Faisal Bhabha
3:00 - 5:00 PM
Location: Ryerson University, Library Building, Room 72, 350 Victoria St. 
Hosted by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) - Ryerson, and
Students Against Israeli Apartheid

Frank Barat is a Human Rights activist based in London. He is the
coordinator of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, a popular tribunal
created in 2009 to expose and examine Israel's impunity in regards to its
treatment of the Palestinian People. He has edited two books; 'Gaza in
Crisis' with Noam Chomsky and Ilan Pappe, and 'Corporate Complicity in
Israel's Occupation' with Asa Winstanley. He has also participated in the
book 'Is there a court for Gaza?' with Daniel Machover. He writes for
Counterpunch, Al Jazeera English, The Electronic Intifada, The New
Internationalist, the Palestine Chronicle, Ceasefire Magazine and other
publications. He has often travelled to Palestine/Israel.

Faisal Bhabha has researched and published in the areas of human rights,
equality, multiculturalism, national security and access to justice.
Previously, he sat as Vice-chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
He holds an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and carried on a varied public
and private law practice, appearing before administrative boards and
tribunals and at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of
Canada. He also advised or represented numerous public interest
organizations and NGOs in matters related to constitutional law and human
rights. Professor Bhabha’s perspective on legal research and education is
global. He has spent time living and working abroad, including advocating
for human rights in the Middle East, and researching comparative
discrimination law in South Africa. Professor Bhabha’s current research
focuses on diversity in legal education and in the legal profession. He
has served as a member of the Equity Advisory Group of the Law Society of
Upper Canada and has been involved in a number of local and international
initiatives concerning justice and development.

SATURDAY NIGHT: IAW presents RHYMES OF RESISTANCE AND THE SOUNDS OF EXISTENCE
with poet Remi Kanazi, Red Slam and Chand-nee
at the Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Ave.
Doors open at 7:00 PM
$10 - $20, sliding scale**

Join us in celebrating our final night of IAW 2012.
An evening of music and poetry in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle
for freedom.

Red Slam is a hiphopsoulrock fusion band whose music uplifts,
self-identifies and promotes unity through Spoken, Lyricism which Arranges
Meaning (SLAM). The group is comprised of young poets, songwriters,
rappers, musicians, composers, and vocalists, breakers and graf artists.
The Red Slam Movement started back in the fall of 2008 after a 12 week
Slam Poetry Workshop series facilitated by Mahlikah Awe:ri at the On-U
Youth Program, located at the Native Canadian Centre in Toronto. In 2009
with support from the Toronto Urban Aboriginal Strategy fund and the OAC
Access & Career Development Grant the collective began professional
development recording workshops with award winning recording artists
Digging Roots. In 2010 with support from OAC Word of Mouth Travel Grant,
Red Slam began the DissemiNation Tour performing live in cities across
Ontario and Quebec.

2011 Red Slam featured at the NXNE Music Festival, the Home and Native
Sound Music Series and Manifesto Urban Arts Festival; Red Slam Collective
also provides Urban Arts Workshops in slam poetry; collective rap
compositions and recording; graffiti arts and break dancing to children,
youth and intergenerational communities in both urban and rural
settings.Red Slam's first recording project is due for release this year.

Chand-nee is an artist, activist-scholar. She has been involved in
community organizing locally and globally around issues of justice and
equity for a number of years. Her southern African roots motivated her
anti-apartheid activism and brought her to organize with Students Against
Israeli Apartheid. Politics and music inspired her academic work on
Palestinian hip hop and spoken word as a modality of youth cultural
resistance.

**Tickets available in advance, at all IAW events

Please contact us at saia at riseup.net if you have questions or concerns
about accessibility
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About IAW 2012

First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of the most
important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year,
97 cities around the world participated in the week's activities.  In
Toronto, IAW 2011 featured a full week of events, featuring keynote
speaker, Judith Butler.

Endorsers of Israeli Apartheid Week 2012 so far:
Association of Part-Time Undergraduate Students, Canada Palestine
Association, Caribbean Studies Students' Union (U of T), The Centre for
Women and Trans People at the University of Toronto, The Centre for Women
and Trans People at York University, Common Cause, Community Solidarity
Network, Conference of the United Church of Canada, Educators for Peace
and Justice, Equity Studies Students' Union, Faculty for Palestine,
Graduate Geography and Planning Student Society (GGAPSS) - Toronto, Health
Studies Students' Union- Toronto, The Holy Land Awareness and Action Task
Group of SW Presbytery in Toronto, International Jewish Anti-Zionist
Network - Canada, Independent Jewish Voices - Canada, Labour for
Palestine, No One Is Illegal - Toronto, Not in Our Name, Ontario Public
Interest Research Group - Toronto, Ontario Public Interest Research Group
- York, Palestine House Community Centre, The Public Health Social Justice
Collective (PH SJC) - Toronto,Queers Against Israeli Apartheid, Ryerson
Free Press, Socialist Project, Teachers for Palestine, Toronto District,
International Socialists, Toronto Bolivia Solidarity, Toronto New
Socialists, UofT Graduate Students' Union Social Justice Committee, Women
and Gender Studies Students Union at U of T, Women in Solidarity with
Palestine, York University Free Press