[van-announce] Starting this Sunday: The Bil'in Tour: Israeli Apartheid on Trial – Vancouver June 7 & 8 ***Speakers Added***

[mia amir]

***PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY. APOLOGIES FOR CROSS POSTINGS***

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The Bil'in Pan-Canada Tour: Israeli Apartheid on Trial
Two Events in Vancouver, Unceded Coast Salish Territory
June 7th and 8th
Featuring:
*Mohammed Khatib of the Popular Committee Against the Wall, Bil'in, Occupied
Palestine, *Emily Schaeffer an Israeli lawyer representing the village of
Bil'in
*Carol Martin, Nisga'a/Gitxsan Nation, Downtown Eastside Women's Centre
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1) Sunday June 7th
6pm-8pm
Room 1700, SFU Harbour Centre (515 West Hastings)
Suggested donation $10.00 - $25.00
No one will be turned away for lack of funds

2) Monday June 8th
7pm – 9pm Talk
9pm – 10pm - Reception
Vancouver Unitarian Church 949 West 49th Avenue
Suggested donation $10.00 - $25.00
No one will be turned away for lack of funds
Childcare available on-site.

***All monies fundraised will go directly towards covering tour costs and
Bil'in's legal fees***

For Facebook posting:
http://www.facebook.com/friends/?filter=afp&offset=400#/event.php?eid=85926438186&ref=ts
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About Bil’in and this Tour

Bil’in, a Palestinian village located in the West Bank, has become an
internationally celebrated symbol of Palestinian popular resistance to the
ongoing construction of the Israeli apartheid wall and settlements. Since
2005, villagers have led weekly nonviolent protests, with active
participation from both Israeli and international solidarity activists, in
opposition to illegal Israeli colonization and annexation of Palestinian
land. Almost 60% of Bil'in's land has been annexed by Israel to date.

Bil’in has filed a lawsuit in the Quebec Superior Court against two Quebec
registered companies: Green Park International and Green Mount
International. The companies are accused of illegally constructing
residential and non-residential buildings for the Israeli settlement of
Mattityahu East on the Bil’in's lands. According to the lawsuit, the lands
of Bil'in are subject to the rules and obligations of international law
because the West Bank is currently under Israeli military occupation.
Bil'in's case against the construction of settlements on their land is based
on the provisions of the Geneva Convention, which prohibit an occupying
power from transferring its civilian population into territory that it has
occupied as a result of war. The case against Green Park and Green Mount
seeks an immediate order from the Canadian court that it end its illegal
activities.

In June 2009, Mohamed Khatib of Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall
and Emily Schaeffer, an Israeli lawyer representing the village of Bil'in,
will be embarking on a tour of 11 Canadian cities to speak on Bil'in and a
historic court case scheduled to be heard in Montreal in late June 2009.
They will be in Vancouver to talk about this case and Bil'in's resilient
struggle.

For more background information about the lawsuit, please see
http://www.montrealmirror.com/2008/073108/news2.html

For more information on Bil'in see http://www.bilin-village.org/

For more information on local events please contact
bilinevents(at)gmail.comor 604.780.8463.

In Vancouver, events are being organized by the Boycott Israeli Apartheid
Campaign http://www.boycottisraeliapartheid.org/
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Endorsers and Sponsors

Locally these events have been endorsed and sponsored by: Adala - Arab
Justice Committee, Canadian Arab Federation, Canada-Palestine Association,
CanPalNet, Concerned Transit Operators of Metro Vancouver, Co-op Radio,
Independent Jewish Voices Canada - BC, Jews for a Just Peace, Lawyers
Against the War, Masjid Al-Salaam, No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Outlook
Magazine, Pakistan Action Network, Public Service Alliance of Canada - BC
Region, SFPIRG, Social Justice Committee of the Unitarian Church of
Vancouver, Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights-UBC, StopWar, Vancouver
District Labour Council, Vancouver Muslims, Vancouver Quaker Meeting,
Vancouver Socialist Forum, UBC Colour Connected, World Peace Forum.

Nationally the Bil'in Tour is organized by: Solidarity for Palestinian Human
Rights (SPHR), Tadamon, and Young Jews for Social Justice with endorsement
and sponsorship from: the Canadian Arab Federation, Canadian Friends Service
Committee, Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Canadian Union of Postal
Workers, Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada, KAIROS, the Near East Cultural
and Educational Foundation, Canadian Friends of Sabeel, Science for Peace,
United Jewish People's Order, Womens International League for Peace and
Freedom (WILPF) Canadian Section
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Articles on Bil'in

An interview by with Mohammed Khatib of the Bil’in Popular Committee by
Stefan Christoff
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/3674

National Post: Palestinian village sues Canadian contractors
http://bilin-village.org/english/articles/press-and-independent-media/Palestinian-village-sues-Canadian-contractors

CBC report about legal proceedings in Quebec - Canada (October 7, 2008)
http://bilin-village.org/english/videos/6351-CBC-report-about-legal-proceedings-in-Quebec-Canada-10-07-2008

Photo Gallery of Bil'in village non-violent resistance:
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/photos/

A letter from Mohammad Khatib honouring slain Palestinian Bassam Ibrahim
Abou Rahme
http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/different-look/His-name-was-Basem

Photos: Solidarity with Bil'in in Montreal
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/3545

Palestine: Bil'in international conference closing statement
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/3432