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A Land Day Commemoration: 2019

Resist Israel’s Ongoing Colonization of Palestine and the Role of the Jewish National Fund (JNF)
Saturday March 30, 2019 

2:00 – 4:00 p.m. @ Dundas Square
Facebook link

Forty-three years ago, on March 30, 1976 Israeli Occupation Forces shot and killed six Palestinians and injured more than a hundred during protests against Israel’s expropriation of thousands of dunams of Palestinian land. Demonstrations took place throughout Palestine against land theft and Israel’s policies of erasure. Land Day is a commemorationof this resistance to settler colonialism.
This March 30th also marks the first anniversary of the Great Return March in Gaza. In thelast year, Israeli soldiers have killed at least 255 Palestinians and injured more than 7500.We pay tribute to the ongoing struggle of Palestinians and support the demands of the Great Return March: Lift the siege of Gaza and implement the Right of Return.
And as we commemorate Land Day and the Great Return March and pay tribute to those whohave lost their lives in the struggle to hold onto their lands, we call out and expose the role ofthe Jewish National Fund (JNF) in  the colonization of Historic Palestine. Eighty-nine destroyed Palestinian villages and towns lay underneath JNF parks and recreation areas (https://zochrot.org/en/article/55963). The JNF, an organization that actively practices discrimination in land policies, has charitable status in Canada.
Join us on Land Day to honour Palestinian resistance and call for the JNF Canada’scharitable status to be revoked.
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Israeli Apartheid Week 2019: Stop Arming Colonialism | University of Toronto, March 19th – March 27th | #IsraeliApartheidWeek #StopArmingColonialism

 
Join us all week for this year’s events and please share widely!

 

  • Tues 19 Mar @ 6:30pm – Dr. Ruba Salih: De-colonial and intersectional alliances in the Palestinian struggle for justice with No One Is Illegal @ University College Rm 144 | Facebook link

  • Thurs 21 Mar @ 6:30pm – Dr. Nahla Abdo: Palestine in Our Hearts, Palestine a Thorn in the Flesh of Imperialism @ University College Rm 52 | Facebook link

  • Tues 26 Mar @ 7pm – Film Screening: A Stone’s Throw from Prison @ Lash Miller Rm 158 | Facebook link

  • Wed 27 Mar @ 6:30pm – Wala3atIndigenous Interactive Musical Dance Performance opened by Sto: Loh Elder Lee Maracle @ Multi-Faith Centre, Main Activity Hall, $5-10 sliding scale, PWYC no one turned away. Additional funds will be donated to the Land Defence Coalition and the Unist’ot’en Camp | Facebook link

 

Continue reading “Israeli Apartheid Week 2019: Stop Arming Colonialism | University of Toronto, March 19th – March 27th | #IsraeliApartheidWeek #StopArmingColonialism”

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Palestinian Workers Under Occupation: A View From Within (Toronto event)

Join Imad Temeiza (Co-founder of Palestinian Postal Service Workers’ Union and member Palestinian Boycott National Committee) to learn about the multiple levels of oppression that Palestinian workers face in the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel in 1967, including the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. This will be discussed in the context of the failed Oslo Peace Process which began in the early 1990’s, and led to the creation of the Palestinian Authority. Contrary to the goal of creating a two-state solution, this process led to a system of Apartheid in the Territories, as prominently witnessed in cities such as Hebron.

Event Details:
Date: Saturday, March 2, 2019
Time: 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Location: Friends House, 60 Lowther Avenue
Toronto, ON
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/364080287776530/

MORE ABOUT IMAD TEMEIZA
Imad Temeiza is a human right defender and youth activist. He is Member of the Palestinian Boycott National Committee (BNC) for the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign. Imad is Co-founder of Palestinian Postal Service Workers’ Union (PPSWU) and has been elected as president of the Union for several mandates. He is also the Secretary of the Communications Workers’ Union – Palestine. Imad is a former member of the Secretariat of the General Federation of Independent Trade Unions – Palestine and former head of its youth department. He has achieved many successes with his fellow unionists in advancing the rights of Palestinian postal workers and hopes to be able to continue to serve them to the best of his ability. Imad now holds the position of International Relations representative in the PPSWU and is currently in Canada studying English at the University of Winnipeg.
Continue reading “Palestinian Workers Under Occupation: A View From Within (Toronto event)”

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Delivering Health Care Under Fire ft. Dr. Tarek Loubani | November 29, 2018

November 29th marks the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People. Join us at the James Graff Memorial Lecture to commemorate this day. In a lecture titled Delivering Health Care Under Fire, Dr. Tarek Loubani will discuss delivering healthcare in areas of conflict and the challenges this presents. He will also share his experiences in Gaza, where he provided aid to protesters injured during the Great March of Return before being injured himself when he was shot in both legs by Israeli snipers.

This event is organized by Canadian Friends of Sabeel (CFOS).

Event Information
Date: Thursday, November 29
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Victoria College Chapel, University of Toronto, 91 Charles Street West
Tickets: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/necef-sabeel-canada/events/delivering-health-care-under-fire-dr-tarek-loubani-in-gaza-jgml-2018/
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2154206084817889/?active_tab=about

The event will also be live-streamed for those who can’t attend in person. Further information can be found on the CFOS website.

Speaker Biography
Dr. Tarek Loubani is an Associate Professor at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University, and an emergency room physician at the London Health Sciences Centre and the Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza. He is well-known for his humanitarian work as a field medic in Gaza, where he was shot in the leg by the Israeli military in May 2018 while providing health care for injured Palestinians.  Dr. Loubani has combined his humanitarian efforts and medical expertise through the Glia Project, which has developed 3-D print stethoscopes that can be made in under 3 hours for less than $3. This project was inspired by the shortage of basic medical supplies in Gaza caused by Israel’s 11 years of illegal blockade. Currently, Dr. Loubani and the Glia research team are working on 3-D print tourniquets to help reduce deaths related to blood loss in Gaza.

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BDS 101: A Workshop on the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions Movement with Hind Awwad | October 29, 2018

As a Palestinian-led movement for freedom, justice, and equality, BDS is an acronym for Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, BDS has been adopted by many unions, churches, academic associations, companies, and grassroots collectives across the world. Join us to learn more about how you can participate in the struggle against Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid. This workshop will provide an overview of the BDS movement, its history, and information on divestment and boycott strategies that work to challenge international funding and support of the illegal Israeli occupation.

Hind Awwad is an organizer with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), a network of concerned individuals and organizations working to end Israeli apartheid.

Event Details:
Monday October 29th | 5:30 – 7:00PM
OISE 2279, University of Toronto
Admission: Free and open to all. Refreshments will be served.
Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/279922096194671/

This event is organized by UofT Divest in partnership with UTGSU and CUPE. Please contact the event organizers via Facebook (link above) with any questions and/or accessibility accommodations.

The University of Toronto exists on the lands of the Haudenosaunee, the Anishnaabe, the Wendat, and most recently the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

#DecolonizeTurtleIsland #FreePalestine

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14th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week | Toronto, March 7th-19th, 2018

Mark your calendars! The 14th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) will take place in Toronto from March 7th to 19th.

First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. This year, IAW will take place in more than 150 cities across the globe. The week aims to raise awareness about Israel’s ongoing practices of apartheid, occupation, and dispossession against the Palestinian people. Lectures, films, and creative performances will build support for the Palestinian  Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Israeli Apartheid Week in Toronto is organized by the University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union BDS Committee,  Students Against Israeli Apartheid, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3902 BDS Committee.

Our program of events can be found below.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/events/1750261708358708/

To endorse Israeli Apartheid Week in Toronto, contact divest@utgsu.ca.
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Balfour at 100: Cornerstone of the Zionist Settler Colonization of Palestine

Thursday, November 16 at 7:00 PM
OISE – Rm. 5250 – 252 Bloor Street West
This venue is wheelchair accessible
Tickets: $5 or PWYC
Facebook event

Actions for Palestine will be showing part 1 of a film entitled, al-Nakba, that describes the period before the creation of the state of Israel on the lands of Historic Palestine. Learn about the British practices of collective punishment, the camps they put Palestinians in, and the racism that undergirds and defines this entire colonial enterprise.

On November 16, 2017, join in resisting 100 years of the Zionist Settler Colonialism of Palestine. We will be critically addressing this shameful and ongoing stage of history with a film screening and a talk by Yves Engler.

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13th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week | Toronto, March 9th-17th, 2017

100 YEARS OF SETTLER COLONIALISM, 100 YEARS OF POPULAR STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE

First launched in Toronto in 2005, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. This year, IAW will take place in more than 150 cities across the globe. The week aims to raise awareness about Israel’s ongoing practices of apartheid, occupation, and dispossession against the Palestinian people. Lectures, films, and creative performances will build support for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

This year’s IAW will reflect on 100 years of resistance to settler colonialism across historic Palestine since the issuance of the Balfour Declaration in 1917. The Week will also link the history of Palestinian resistance to the struggles of the Indigenous peoples on whose territories we live, work, and study, and who are resisting settler colonial violence and dispossession. Our speakers this year will include Vijay Prashad, Lee Maracle, and Hind Awwad, among others.
To endorse Israeli Apartheid Week in Toronto, or to make a donation, contact: divest@utgsu.ca or saia.opirg.uoft@gmail.com.

The full program is available at www.uoftdivest.com/iaw17 and on Facebook.

IAW2017 Continue reading “13th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week | Toronto, March 9th-17th, 2017”

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BDS News: McGill Students Vote to Support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement

On February 22 almost 900 students attending the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Winter 2016 General Assembly (GA) voted on, and passed, a motion in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement with 58 per cent of the vote.

The BDS motion, brought forth by the McGill BDS Action Network, sought that the  SSMU support BDS campaigns through the office of the VP External, and that the President lobby the McGill Board of Governors for “divestment from companies profiting from violations of Palestinian human rights” by bringing the issue up at every meeting. Last year, two similar motions were brought up at the Fall 2014 and Winter 2015 GAs, where they were, respectively, postponed indefinitely and voted down.

McGill holds investments in at least three companies that profit from Israel’s activities in the occupied territories: L-3 Communications, Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, and RE/MAX. Following the GA vote a petition in solidarity McGill BDS received close to 2000 signatures.

Motions that pass at the GA need to be ratified online before they can be put into effect. On February 27 results of the online ratification process were announced with 2,819 votes (57 per cent) against the ratification and 2,119 votes (43 per cent) in favour effectively nullifying the motion.

In a statement published on its Facebook page following the ratification process, the McGill BDS Action Network, also known as McGill BDS, thanked it supporters and declared that “the fight is not over.” Melis Çağan, an organizer with McGill BDS, said, “Though we are disappointed with the outcome of the online ratification process, we are proud of the 2,119 students who stood for the rights of Palestinians… And that we have still made history. We passed the BDS motion on the same day as the [House of Commons of the Canadian] Parliament voted to condemn BDS. As history has shown, real change comes from the people and not from governments.”
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12th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week: “Our Struggles Unite” | March 8 -10, 2016 | Toronto

Mark your calendars! The 12th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week will take place in Toronto from March 8 to 10. Check back for updates and more details.

First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become IAW 2016 posterone of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. This year, IAW will take place in more than 150 cities across the globe. The week aims to raise awareness about Israel’s ongoing practices of apartheid, occupation and dispossession against the Palestinian people. Lectures, films, and creative actions will build support for the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.

Inspired by the ongoing popular resistance across historic Palestine and the intersections being made globally between various struggles with Palestine, we hope to make Israeli Apartheid Week 2016 a powerful contribution to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.

Tuesday, March 8: “Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Movement Intersections Across Palestinian, Indigenous, and Black Struggles”
Featuring: Amanda Lickers and Remi Kanazi, Ntuthuko Makhombothi
Organized by: UTGSU BDS Committee, CUPE 3902 BDS Committee
Location: University of Toronto, Rm 103 – Fitzgerald Building (150 College Street)
Time: 7 – 9 pm
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/187935918242314/
Contact: divest@utsgu.ca

Wednesday, March 9:
Film Screening: “Pressure Points: Israel, Berkeley and the Divestment Resolution”
Speakers: Laura Al Khoury and Ralph Haddad, BDS McGill student organizers
Co-sponsored by: Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP Ryerson)
Co-organized by: Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA),
Endorsed by: The Continuing Education Students’ Association of Ryerson (CESAR), Faculty for Palestine (F4P)
Location: Ryerson University, Rm RCC204, Rogers Communication Centre (80 Gould Street)
Time: 7 pm
trailer: https://vimeo.com/52124491
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/742843045816524/
Contact: endapartheid@riseup.net
The historic campaign for divestment on Berkeley campus depicted in the film is highly informative, documenting how a successful BDS resolution was eventually passed despite enormous opposition from Zionist organizers.
Students at McGill University are currently undergoing a similar campaign and challenges, so we are very fortunate to have two speakers from Montreal joining us to share their reflections on the campaign and the film.
Film Description: In 2010 students at the University of California Berkeley put forward a resolution advocating divestment from companies militarily supporting Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories and the blockade of Gaza. PRESSURE POINTS includes footage from the UCB’s Student Senate proceedings and explores the historic significance of the campaign within the context of U.S. social justice movements. The public debates on the resolution and the senate votes marked a significant advance in the acceptance of boycott, divestment and sanctions as effective tools for ending the occupation and blockade.

Thursday, March 10: “The Politics of Divestment: Building Links Between Movements”
Organized by: Students Against Israeli Apartheid UofT, Arts & Science Students’ Union UofT
Location: University of Toronto, Rm 1101 – Sandford Fleming Building (10 King’s College Road)
Time: 6 – 8 pm
Contact: saia.opirg.uoft@gmail.com

Continue reading “12th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week: “Our Struggles Unite” | March 8 -10, 2016 | Toronto”