[van-announce] June 9- Ntl Day of Action to Picket Chapters and Indigo!

[Harsha]

PICKET CHAPTERS/INDIGO! CUT THE TIES WITH ISRAELI APARTHEID!
JUNE 9 NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION

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Saturday June 9 from 1-5 pm @ multiple locations:
Chapters - Robson & Howe 788 Robson Street
Chapters - Broadway and Granville 2505 Granville Street

We are also confirming pickets in Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam,
Langley, and North Vancouver. Please contact us for more details if you
can join us in these locations.
Email boycottapartheid at gmail.com or call 604-220-0451
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This June, Palestinians will mark the 40-year anniversary of Israel's
military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and the
Syrian Golan heights. This anniversary comes 59 years after the
Palestinian Nakba ("catastrophe" in Arabic) that saw the displacement of
over 750,000 Palestinians and the creation of the colonial state of Israel
in historic Palestine. In response to a call from the Active Steering
Committee of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign,
cities across Canada and around the world are holding actions against
Israeli occupation and apartheid.

In Vancouver, one of the various actions includes a picket of
Chapters/Indigo stores across the GVRD that is being organized by the
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign. A national boycott of Chapters/Indigo
bookstore was launched in December 2006, demanding an end the financial
ties between the majority owners of Indigo Books & Music Inc.and the
Israeli Military.

Majority owners Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, who own or control 68%
of the shares of Chapters and Indigo bookstores, are the founders of the
"Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers," which provides scholarships and
other financial support to soldiers in the Israeli Military on the basis
of need and military "achievement". At its peak, the foundation will
distribute up to $3,000,000 annually to former 'Lone Soldiers' -
individuals without family in Israel who have chosen to join the Israeli
military and remain in the country permanently. As Israeli soldiers, they
participate in a military that enforces the illegal occupation of
Palestinian land, and has a well-documented history of human-rights
violations and war crimes.

To mark the anniversary in Vancouver, join the Boycott Israeli Apartheid
Campaign on this National Day of Action in front of Indigo Books and Music
Inc. in locations throughout the city on June 9 to demand an end to the
financial support of majority shareholders Heather Reisman and Gerry
Schwartz for Israeli apartheid.

Boycott Indigo-Chapters, Boycott Israeli Apartheid!

Information: boycottapartheid at gmail.com or call 604-220-0451. This boycott
is endorsed by the Palestine Community Centre, Canada Palestine
Association, International Solidarity Movement - Vancouver, Trade Union
Committee for Justice in the Middle East, Jews for a Just Peace, No One Is
Illegal - Vancouver, Canada-Palestine Support Network, and Alliance of
Concerned Jewish Canadians.

==> WHAT YOU CAN DO

* Join us for the picket on Saturday June 9th.

* Tell friends and relatives not to shop at Chapters/Indigo. Encourage
them to support independent book retailers!

* Write/fax/phone the board of Indigo/Chapters demanding a public
renunciation of Reisman and Schwartz's financial support to the Heseg
Foundation for Lone Soldiers:

Indigo Board of Directors
500-468 King St W Toronto ON, MSV 1L8
Tel: (416) 364-4499
Fax: (416) 364-0355