End the Assault on Gaza: Boycott Israeli Apartheid / International Women's Day (March 8) and World Against War (March 15)

Join the CAIA contingents for Women’s Day (March 8) and Anti-War Rally (March 15) under the banner: End the Siege on Gaza (details for both contingents follow statement below).

On Friday, 29 February 2008, Israel's deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai threatened Palestinians in Gaza with a "holocaust," telling Israeli Army Radio: "The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger holocaust because we will use all our might to defend ourselves." This statement reveals how Israel is terrorizing a civilian population with acts of slow, or low-intensity, ethnic cleansing, with one of its senior government officials overtly inciting a full-blown "holocaust”.

Apartheid Israel knows it can violate international law with the full approval of the most powerful countries in the west. Stephen Harper's administration was the first country to deny recognition of the democratically elected government of Hamas in 2006. An exclusive report in Vanity Fair indicates that George Bush's administration actively fomented civil war in Palestine in efforts to remove the elected Hamas government
(http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/04/gaza200804).  The denial of aid and recognition of democratic processes unleashed a series of events leading to the current crisis.

In Gaza, the Israeli occupation is deploying the weapons that have become bitterly familiar to Palestinians over the past 60 years. Not satisfied merely with bombs, rockets and assassinations, the entire population of Gaza is being targeted for collective punishment. Their crime: being Palestinian. The Nakba that began in 1947-48 with massacres and violent expulsions continues in 2008 with forced transfer and the starvation of the population.

In solidarity with the people in Gaza, shopkeepers in Ramallah have attempted to implement a strike, but have been blocked by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Three students were arrested by PA police for encouraging storeowners to continue the strike. The police also forced owners to reopen their shops. Palestinians recall that during the first intifada (uprising) of 1987, Israeli occupation soldiers played this role, breaking up general strikes in an attempt to weaken Palestinian unity. CAIA urges the Palestinian Authority not to play the role the occupation forces have designed for it.

People of conscience around the world must stand together against this war that is not only against Palestinians, but against the very values of the popular struggles for freedom, justice and equality all over the world. We are calling all movements and organizations to join the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli Apartheid and to hold the Canadian government accountable for its diplomatic, financial and military support for Apartheid Israel.

On Women’s Day, Saturday March 8, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid will march in solidarity with the people of Gaza in a larger contingent of migrant women, women of colour and our allies.  Please come out and join us under the banner: End the Siege on Gaza - Women Fight for Palestine.   We will assemble in front of Tim Horton's at the corner of Bloor Street West and Bedford Rd. (St. George subway station has an exit on Bedford Rd.) at 12:30 p.m.

Also, on Saturday March 15 join the CAIA contingent for the “World Against War” rally to demand “Troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, End the Siege on Gaza”. The opening rally begins at Queen’s Park at 1:00pm (look for the Palestinian flags).