2008 CAIA Bulletins
1000 People March in Toronto: Stop the Assault on Gaza, Free Palestine!
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, December 29, 2008 (TORONTO) – At least 1000 people poured into Toronto streets on Sunday to show their outrage at the Israeli attacks on the people of Gaza. Protesters rallied in front of the Israeli consulate for over an hour before spilling on to the street and spontaneously marching down University Avenue to the U.S Consulate. The demonstration was one of hundreds of rallies worldwide that expressed popular condemnation of Israel's violent and illegal military actions. CAIA, Palestine House, and other organizations in Toronto are following the situation in Gaza closely and will be planning further solidarity actions for the coming week (more info).
DEMONSTRATE AGAINST THE ISRAELI ASSAULT ON GAZA!
* WHEN: 2pm on Sunday December 28, 2008 * WHERE: Israeli Consulate, 180 Bloor St. W (at Queen's Park) * The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) joins other respected community organizations in protesting this latest Israeli assault on the people of Gaza. CAIA is calling on friends and allies to respond with outrage to the latest massacre of Palestinians by the Israeli apartheid regime. At least 285 Palestinians have already been killed and over 700 injured in sustained Israeli aerial assaults on the Gaza Strip within the past 24 hours. The threat of further killings still hangs heavily over the skies of Palestine. The numbers of dead and injured are steadily mounting, especially as already limited medical supplies are running out due to the brutal siege imposed against Gaza since 2006 (more info).
KEEP YOUR HOLIDAY SEASON APARTHEID-FREE BOYCOTT CHAPTERS & INDIGO!
On Thursday 21 December 2006, activists in Toronto and Montreal officially announced the launch of a boycott campaign against Chapters and Indigo Bookstores. The campaign demands an end to the financial support offered by the majority owners of Chapters and Indigo to Heseg the Foundation for Lone Soldiers, a program of financial support for former 'lone soldiers' in the Israeli military. On the second anniversary of this campaign, make the demand loud and clear: CUT THE TIES WITH ISRAELI APARTHEID! Join the information picket on December 20th, from 1-2pm in front of the Indigo Books store at 55 Bloor St. (Bay and Bloor). To learn more, click here.
Jafa - A Bulletin in Solidarity with Palestinian Workers and Unions
As an initiative coming out of the first Labour for Palestine conference, held in Toronto May-June 2008, we are pleased to bring you the first issue of 'Jafa: A Bulletin in Solidarity with Palestinian Workers and Unions'. Jafa will be published quarterly and aims to bring together news and analysis on the situation of Palestinian workers and unions wherever they are - in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, citizens of Israel, refugee camps and across the diaspora. Jafa takes its name from the Arabic acronym for the Palestinian Arab Workers Society (Jame'yat Alomal Al Falestiniya Alarabiya), the first Palestinian labour federation founded in Haifa in on March 21, 1925. As part of our mandate, we hope to help in the rediscovery of the history of Palestinian trade unionism and workers struggles in the region (to learn more, click here).
Candle Light Vigil In Solidarity with the People of GAZA
Wednesday, November 26, at 6 PM (180 Bloor West) - Palestine House invites everyone to join us in solidarity with our besieged people in Gaza who are denied the basics of human life – food, medicine, electricity, and freedom of movement from and to Gaza. In commemoration of the International Day in Solidarity with the Palestinian People and in protest against the repeated Israeli attacks which have resulted in killing tens of Palestinians in the last ten days - come out to participate, let us be their voice here in Toronto! Bring a candle or two / Tell you friends and family members. (more info).
PHOTO EXHIBIT: BIL'IN - VILLAGE AGAINST THE WALL
Tinto Coffee House and the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid Present: PHOTO EXHIBIT: BIL'IN - VILLAGE AGAINST THE WALL **Opening Night: Wednesday, November 19th at 7pm** **Exibit runs from November 12 - 25th, 2008** Tinto's Cafe: 89 Roncesvalles Ave. Featuring: Video and Speakers about the struggle in the West Bank Village of Bil'in against the Apartheid Wall and the recent launch of legal action against Canadian corporations involved in building settlements on Bil'in village land. (www.bilin-village.org) Join us for the opening night event taking place on Wednesday, November 19th at 7pm featuring video footage and speakers (more info).
November 9 - 16: Join the Mobilization Against the Apartheid Wall in Palestine
The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) and Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) in Toronto invite you to take part in the 6th International Week Against the Apartheid Wall (http://stopthewall.org/activistresources/1633.shtml). The Toronto calendar of events is available @ www.caiaweb.org (download poster). PLANNED EVENTS SO FAR (listed in full below): 1) Bil'in Photo Exhibit and Event; 2) Public Education on Campuses; 3) No to the 'Re-branding' of Apartheid: PUBLIC FORUM @ U of T (download poster); 4) Boycott Chapters-Indigo: Picket. Snaking through West Bank, the Wall has isolated 78 Palestinian villages, separating communities and wrecking livelihoods. 14 of these villages face imminent demolition and are in serious danger of being wiped off the map (more info).
Action Alert: Demand your university president cut ties with Israeli Apartheid!
Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) deeply condemns the recent visits of nine Ontario and Quebec university presidents to Israel to forge ties with Israeli academic institutions over the summer of 2008. These presidents included: David Naylor from the University of Toronto (pictured here at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, standing to the left); David Johnston from the University of Waterloo; Sheldon Levy from Ryerson University; Luc Vinet from the Universite de Montreal; Peter MacKinnon from the University of Saskatchewan; Alan Rock from the University of Ottawa; William Barker from the University of King's College; Stephen Toope from the University of British Columbia and Heather Monroe-Blum from McGill University. The academic institutions these presidents visited are complicit with Israeli apartheid (more info).
Join Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) on September 17th for a Panel Discussion on the situation in Palestine on the 60th year of the Nakba. Hear eyewitness accounts of the realities of apartheid in Occupied Palestine, how Canada and U of T support this system of apartheid, and how we in Toronto can show solidarity with students in Palestine (download poster). Featuring Photos and Video on Wednesday, September 17th @ 7:00 PM @ Ramsay Wright Building, 25 Harbord St. (one building west of St.George) Room 110 - Brought to you by Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA). BOYCOTT, DIVEST, SANCTION ISRAELI APARTHEID! Contact:saia@risesup.net and Visit: www.opirguoft.org
Toronto Workers March for a Free Palestine!
For the third year in a row, Labour for Palestine, a network of rank and file union activists promoting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli Apartheid, marched in the annual Toronto Labour Day parade. The float was part of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (Ontario) contingent whose 2006 historic BDS resolution was followed this year by a similar Canadian Union of Postal Workers resolution (the first national union in North America to adopt such a resolution). The ‘Free Palestine – Boycott Israeli Apartheid’ contingent marched with an 8ft Handala structure and large images of Palestinian workers with facts about the dire situation these workers face under Israeli Apartheid. Three thousand leaflets explaining the BDS campaign and urging trade unionists to get involved in the struggle against Israeli Apartheid - as they did in the struggle against South African Apartheid - were distributed (more info and pics).
COMMUNITY GROUPS DENOUNCE ‘BRAND ISRAEL’ INAUGURATION
(TORONTO, August 26, 2008) – Yesterday over a hundred Torontonians showed up at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Center (MNJCC) to voice their opposition to the official launch of a 1-million dollar ‘Brand Israel’ rebranding campaign at that venue. Toronto has been selected as a ‘test market’ for a year-long public relations campaign launched by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs to improve “Israel’s image” – a state who’s racism against Palestinians has come under increasing scrutiny by the growing worldwide boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. (full press release).
ACTION ALERT: JOIN CAIA AND ALLIES THIS MONDAY TO SAY "NO TO THE RE-BRANDING OF APARTHEID ISRAEL!"
What: Information Picket / When: Monday, August 25 @ 6pm / Where: Miles Nadal Center, south-east corner of Bloor/Spadina ||| Dear Friends and Allies: The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has selected Toronto as a 'test market' for a million dollar re-branding campaign. The 10-month 'Brand Israel' campaign is being launched this coming Monday, August 25th at the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Center in downtown Toronto. CAIA is calling on its friends and community allies to come out on Monday and show that Torontonians will not 'buy' into a gimmicky Israeli advertising campaign that is based on cynically racialized marketing techniques. Just as Torontonians rejected attempts in the 1980s to ‘re-brand’ apartheid-era South Africa, CAIA is confident that they will do the same with attempts to normalize Israeli apartheid (full callout).
New Edition of "Labour for Palestine: A Reader for Unionists and Activists" Now Available!
Labour for Palestine, the labour committee of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), is proud to announce that a significantly revised and expanded edition of "Labour for Palestine: A Reader for Unionists and Activists" is now available for purchase. The first edition of this 135-page book has become the essential handbook for rank-and-file activists involved in union solidarity with Palestine. It was sold out soon after its launch in March 2007. This new edition contains never before published material on Palestine solidarity work in the North American trade union movement, analysis of Israeli apartheid, and discussions on the experiences of the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign in the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). (full details)
SAHRRA: Summer Party and Fundraiser for CAIA
* Please Post Widely * Fundraiser for the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) and the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. Join us on Wednesday, August 6. Doors open at 7 p.m. Party starts at 8 p.m. @ Cervejaria Lounge, 842 College Street , just west of Ossington. $10 sliding scale. Arabic DJ * Arabic Music * Dabka * fun * dancing * entertainment * silent auction * cash bar and food * and much more * [download 8.5X11 poster (.PDF) or 11X17 poster (.PDF)]
STOP THE WALL CAMPAIGN: LETTER OF SOLIDARITY FOR SHAWN BRANDT
Dear Shawn Brandt: We have heard of your arrest and the arrest of other members of the Tyendinga Mohawk community, and we write to extend our solidarity from the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall campaign. The struggle against colonization and land theft is global for Indigenous people, and the Mohawk nation and the First Nations people of North America have the unconditional support of all of us who are fighting for our rights for self-determination and against the colonial plans to strip us of our land and rights in Palestine. Canada continues to oppress the First Nations of that land, just as now it shows full support for the state of Israel and the oppression of the Indigenous people on this land. (full text).
TORONTO PALESTINE FILM FESTIVAL INVITES YOU TO THE TORONTO PREMIERE OF "33 DAYS" BY MAI MASRI
COME OUT TO THIS PRE FESTIVAL FUNDRAISER SCREENING AND SUPPORT TORONTO'S FIRST PALESTINE FILM FESTIVAL!! || Sat. July 12, 2008 at 7:00 pm || Bloor Cinema - 506 Bloor Street West (Bathurst Street Subway) || 416-516-2331 || Tickets $10 / $5 seniors students unwaged || "33 days"is a documentary on life in Lebanon under the Israeli bombardment of July - August 2006. Award winning Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri follows the efforts of several dedicated humanitarians to keep their communities strong in the midst of destruction: from a woman reporting from the rubble as rockets jet past her, to a young man who keeps his neighborhood's children entertained with improvised games in his local theatre while bombs fall in the distance.The film is full of compassion and humanity even as it records the devastation of war. Advance tickets available: online at http://www.tpff.ca/33-days.htm || Toronto Women's Bookstore: 73 Harbord Street || Palestine House: 3195 Erindale Station Rd Mississauga, 905.270.3622 (more information and website).
PICKET SHAREHOLDERS MEETING CHAPTERS/INDIGO – Wed. June 25 - CUT THE TIES WITH ISRAELI APARTHEID
When: Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 @ 9:30 a.m. || Where: MaRS Centre, 101 College St Toronto (College and University SE corner) || TTC: Queens Park Subway or College streetcar || Come out on Wednesday, June 25th - Indigo Books and Music Inc. will be holding its annual shareholders’ meeting at the MaRS Centre in downtown Toronto. The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) invites its friends, supporters and allies to join us in protest to send a clear message to majority shareholders Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz that their financial ties to HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers - which provides scholarships and other support to recruits from abroad who serve in Israel's Apartheid military - are unacceptable! CAIA will continue to build a growing nation-wide boycott campaign of Chapters/ Indigo until their majority shareholders publicly announce that they are cutting all financial ties to HESEG. We need your support to make sure that all Indigo Books and Music Inc. shareholders hear our message! For more information please see our research page or email us at endapartheid@riseup.net.
Workers Against Apartheid and Occupation: Kicking Off Brick by Brick Labour Conference
* Free Public Forum, All Welcome * When: 7pm, Friday 30th May, 2008 * Where: Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St Toronto (South of College, West of Spadina) * Join Manawell Abdul Al, member of the executive committee of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions, and Paul Loulou Chery,Secretary of the Confederation of Haitian Workers, as they discuss the current situation of Palestinian and Haitian workers. These two prominent labour leaders will discuss the links between these struggles and the role of the Canadian government in perpetuating occupation and apartheid. The forum will also hear from representatives of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE Ontario) and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), two key unions that have adopted resolutions against Israeli Apartheid in the recent period. Sponsored by Labour for Palestine and the Toronto Haiti Action Committee. ** This public forum will launch Brick by Brick: Building Labour Solidarity with Palestine, to be held in Toronto 30 May - 1 June. To find out more about Brick By Brick, please click here **
GATHERING OF MOTHER EARTH PROTECTORS - ALL OUT!
On May 26th Indigenous communities and our supporters will gather at Queens Park to uphold our duty to protect the land, forest, water, and air and to promote respect for our Indigenous rights to say no to economic exploitation and environmental destruction. It is time to end the jailing and harassment of our people for protecting mother earth and traditional ways. Please come to our large rally on May 26th at the legislature. We are also inviting supporters to join us in four days of ceremony, speakers, workshops, music, and a three night sovereignty sleep-over directly on the front lawn of the legislature. (download pdf / jpg version of the poster).
Commemorating 60 Years of Al Nakba - Palestinian Refugees Will Return!
10 May 2008 - Join CAIA during the month of May to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba. The following schedule of events is planned for May 2008 in commemoration of Al-Nakba. Events include a May 8th press conference with Nakba survivors (full audio), a May 10th rally at Queen's Park, the Canadian debut of Palestinian hip hop group DAM, as well as a number of film-screenings, workshops and public forums. For more information please view the full schedule and press release (including media contacts) or contact Palestine house at info@palestinehouse.com.
TORONTO, (April 23, 2008) Internationally-renown pioneers of Palestinian Hip Hop, DAM, will be performing live in Toronto on May 15, 2008. Featuring songs from their debut international album DEDICATION (Red Circle Music), Toronto will be the final stop on their first-ever North American tour, which opens in Austin on May 8, and includes shows in Houston, San Francisco, and New York City. Hailing from the slums of Lod, a mixed town of Palestinian and Jewish Israelis about 15 kilometers from Jerusalem, brothers Tamer and Suhell Nafar and Mahmoud Jreri have been performing together since the late 1990s. Drawing on musical influences as diverse as Tupac Shakur and the traditional Lebanese singer Fairuz, DAM's music is a unique East/West fusion, which combines rap with Middle Eastern influences and rhythms, to broadcast a powerful message of dignity and freedom. The Washington Post calls DAM "one of the most powerful and popular cultural voices for the global Palestinian diaspora." (Read the full press release).
16 April 2008 - CAIA extends its warm congratulations to the delegates of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers national convention held in Ottawa, Canada, April 13-17th 2008. At the convention, CUPW passed an historic resolution, Resolution 338/339, in support of the global campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israeli Apartheid. This resolution is an extremely significant landmark for the Palestinian solidarity movement in Canada. It represents the first time in North American history that a national union has passed a BDS resolution. The resolution recognizes Israel as an apartheid state and expresses CUPW’s support for boycott and divestment from Israel. It was passed almost unanimously after nearly one hour of discussion on the convention floor (read the full statement / sign solidarity petition / send message of support).
fUNDraIseR: Turtle Island to Palestine: Free All Political Prisoners!
Location: The Cervejaria Downtown Bar and Grill, 842 College Street (College and Ossington) || Time: 7pm - 2am ||To coincide with Palestine Political Prisoners Day, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), is organising a fundraiser in support of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) in their struggle against uranium mining on their land.Join us for a night of live cultural performances, dancing, silent auction and great food! All funds raised will be forwarded to the AAFN community. The highly politicized nature of these sentences further underscores the on-going criminalization of indigenous people's basic rights to self-determination and the free use of their lands and resources. Just as Israel refuses to fulfill its obligations under international law with respect to the basic rights of the Palestinian people (including the incarceration of over 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners), the Canadian government has decisively rejected its obligations under the 'UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' and continues to incarcerate indigenous leaders who defend the basic rights of their peoples to self-determination. Also be sure to read the solidarity statement with the AAFN and KI6 leadership recently issued by the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign.
"My Name Is Rachel Corrie" premieres @ Toronto's Tarragon Extra Space
Location: * Please Post Widely * Limited number of seats available! In 2003 American activist, Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer. She was 23 years old. Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner edited Rachel's diaries and emails turning them into a play, "My Name Is Rachel Corrie". The play was produced by the Royal Court Theatre in London where it played to sold out audiences and wide acclaim. Subsequent attempts to mount the play have met with stiff resistance from supporters of Israeli apartheid - including a year ago when a scheduled production at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Performing Arts was pulled. "My Name Is Rachel Corrie" premiers @ Toronto's Tarragon Extra Space. Freedom of speech will not be silenced, and so it is that My Name Is Rachel Corrie has found a home at the Tarragon Extra Space. To learn more, click HERE.
Join the CAIA contingent for Women’s Day (March 8) and the Anti-War Rally (March 15) under the banner: "End the Siege on Gaza." People of conscience around the world are mobilizing against this war, which is not only against Palestinians but against the very values of popular struggles for freedom, justice and equality over the world. We are calling all movements and organizations to join the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israeli Apartheid and 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 on March 8 under the banner: "End the Siege on Gaza - Women Fight for Palestine." 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”(look for the Palestinian flags).
The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) calls on all supporters of Palestinian rights to defend the right to organize at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Last week, the McMaster Provost office, second in authority to that of the President's office, announced that student clubs were banned from using the term “Israeli Apartheid”. This is an unprecedented attack on the right to free speech, academic freedom, and the right to organize. This shocking decision came as students were attempting to organize events as part of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). CAIA firmly believes that this attempt to repress student organizing will fail. We call on student organizations, social justice groups and concerned individuals to support students at McMaster and the broader rights of Palestine organizers (full statement : info on action).
4th ANNUAL ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK DATES: 3RD - 10TH OF FEBRUARY 2008 
Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) is proud to announce the 4th annual Israeli Apartheid Week under the banner "60 Years of Nakba: End Israeli Apartheid" (press release). It will be a week-long series of events held concurrently in Canada, the U.S, U.K, South Africa, and Palestine. In Toronto events will take place onthree campuses: University of Toronto, Ryerson University and York University, including the founding conference of High-Schoolers Against Israeli Apartheid (HAIA). The 2008 Israeli Apartheid Week takes place on the 60th Anniversary of Al-Nakba; 60 years of ethnic cleansing and exile for Palestinians. For the firsttime IAW will also be occurring at universities in the West Bank. Activities vary from campus to campus, consisting of guest lectures, demonstrations, cultural events and film nights. (See also February 9th demo in solidarity with the people of Gaza : poster - .PDF format; leaflets - .PDF format; factsheet 1 - .PDF format; factsheet 2 - .PDF format).
2007 has been a busy and exciting year for the Palestine solidarity movement. While Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert attempt to hide Israel's crimes behind the lie of 'peace negotiations', thousands of individuals and organizations around the world are building a real and effective alternative centered on boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid. Here in Toronto, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) has been a proud participant in this global movement. This brief report captures some of our activities over 2007. (Full report)