[tadamon-l] MONTREAL: Boycotting APARTHEID : Besieging OCCUPATION - THURSDAY, November 9th, 2006.

[Tadamon!]

Boycotting APARTHEID :: Besieging OCCUPATION

An evening of presentations, poetry and music in Montreal on the 4th 
International Day of Action Against the Israeli Apartheid Wall.

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THURSDAY, November 9th, 7pm
Maison de l'Amitie,
120 Duluth East
East of St. Laurent,
[Sherbrooke metro]
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* Tea & Refreshments, * Free Child-Care Available, * Whisper Translation 
Provided in English, French & Arabic.

Tadamon! is holding an evening of presentations, inspiring poetry & 
beautiful music to advance the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] 
campaign against Israeli apartheid in Montreal. This event is being held 
in coordination with groups internationally who are organizing events to 
mark the 4th international day of action against the Israeli apartheid 
wall.


----> Including Presentations from:

* JOONEED KHAN: Renowned international affairs reporter for La Presse, who 
has covered conflicts in over 50 countries. Khan has reported on Apartheid 
from South Africa & Palestine, where he covered both the 1st Intifada in 
the 1980's & in recent years the 2nd Intifada.

* MOSTAFA HENAWAY: Independent journalist & social activist with the 
International Solidarity Movement - Montreal, who will speak on Israeli & 
Canadian apartheid, drawing links between the struggle in Six Nations & in 
Palestine. Henaway is the current Community News Coordinator at CKUT Radio 
in Montreal, 90.3fm.

* Tadamon! Montreal: Representatives from Tadamon! will provide a 
report-back from the landmark Toronto conference of Israeli apartheid, 
outlining the growing call for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment & 
Sanctions against Israel. Tadamon! will present an analysis of the ways 
Israeli apartheid directly affects the entire Middle East region.


----> Featuring Performances by:

* KAIE KELLOUGH: Celebrated Montreal writer & poet who is a key member of 
the Kalmunity Vibe Collective. Kellough has performed widely throughout 
North America, is author of "Lettricity" & the upcoming anthology "Talking 
Book" published by Cumulus Press - http://www.cumuluspress.com.

* STEFAN CHRISTOFF on Piano & YASSER SHOUKRY on Percussion: A modern 
musical duo which blends classical improvisation on piano and Arabic 
percussion rhythms.

* HOSSEIN SHARANG, an Iranian poet born in Jiroft, Iran, who will recite 
poetry in Persian & French with CLAUDE MAHEU's 'musique actuelle' sounds 
on a variety of instruments.

* GHADA CHEHADE: Social justice activist, PhD student & member of Tadamon! 
currently writing a book on US foreign policy in the Middle East and a 
dissertation about the criminalization of dissent post-9/11. Chehade will 
be reading two poems that deal with her experience as a Palestinian in 
Diaspora and her identity as an Arab Woman.


----> Israeli Apartheid & Building an International Boycott, Divestment & 
Sanctions Movement:

Israel's "Separation Wall" has become a glaring symbol for a 58 year 
legacy of apartheid colonialist policies in Palestine. In 1948, Israeli 
settlers expelled approximately two-thirds of the indigenous Palestinian 
population from the land which became Israel. To this day, while Jewish 
people anywhere in the world are welcomed to Israel, the Palestinians who 
have been expelled can't return.

In 1967 the Palestinian people suffered further expulsion & dispossession 
when Israel occupied the remaining 22% of their homeland. Israel 
consolidated its claims to the occupied West Bank & Gaza Strip by 
developing an elaborate policy of territorial integration and demographic 
separation.

Israel systematically enclosed & expropriated Palestinian land while 
allowing the establishment of Jewish settlements in the occupied 
territories. Settlers continue to be governed by Israeli laws, while 
Palestinians are subjected to military laws & decrees that regulated their 
civilian, economic and legal affairs.

Apartheid Israel a close ally to the U.S. & Canada, expanded its war of 
dispossession beyond Palestine. For decades, Lebanon has been subjected to 
brutal Israeli military assaults. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon, killing 
over 14,000 people, largely civilians, during the first two weeks of the 
assault. Israel occupied much of south Lebanon up until 2000.

Israel's 2006 assault on Lebanon, carried out with full US and Canadian 
support, claimed the lives of over 1100 civilians, injured more than 4000 
others and displaced 1 million people. Israel wiped out thousands of homes 
leaving entire villages destroyed & many homeless. According to a U.N. 
estimate, apartheid Israel dropped an estimated 2 million bomblets during 
its 34-days military campaign on Lebanon, that's two or three bomblets for 
every man, woman and child in southern Lebanon.

Hundreds of thousands of unexploded bomblets lurk in farms, in tobacco 
fields, on rooftops, mixed in with rubble. Bomblets are injuring people 
continually & have killed tens of people since the U.S. brokered 
cease-fire in August. Israel continues violating the cease-fire [view a 
list of major violations, updated daily, at: http://tadamon.resist.ca].

Isolating apartheid Israel and containing its brutal US backed aggressions 
is more urgent than ever. In July 2005, 170 Palestinian civil-society 
organizations - including Palestinian labour unions, student groups, 
women's unions, peasant organizations, refugee committees and popular 
movements - joined to launch a call for a comprehensive Boycott, 
Divestment and Sanctions [BDS] strategy as the centerpiece of 
international solidarity efforts with the Palestinian people 
[http://www.bds-palestine.net]. In Lebanon, a strong boycott campaign is 
already underway.

In October of 2006, over 600 people responded to the international call in 
Canada by attending the Boycotting Israeli Apartheid Conference in Toronto 
held to discuss strategies for an effective BDS movement. The conference 
represented a landmark moment in the movement to end Israeli apartheid, 
with leading anti-apartheid activists from Palestine, South Africa, Canada 
& England sharing their visions on how to move forward with this campaign.

* For information on the Toronto conference: http://www.caiaweb.org

* Presentation from Rafeef Ziadeh, an organizers of the Toronto 
conference, during Tadamon's Fires of War & Voices of Resistance event in 
Montreal: http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2006/10/14544.php

In conclusion to the Toronto conference, activists from across Canada 
agreed to coordinate BDS-related actions & events on the international day 
of action on November 9th, called by the Stop the Wall campaign, based in 
the occupied West Bank. Tadamon! Montreal has taken up the call.

* Listen to an interview with Jamal Juma, of the Stop the Wall campaign, on 
CKUT Radio Montreal: http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2006/10/14545.php.

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