(March 10-17) Israeli Apartheid Week Montréal

Israeli Apartheid Week | March 10-17th, 2014
http://www.iawmontreal.org

Tenth annual Israeli Apartheid Week featuring inspiring conferences, workshops, film screenings, and cultural events to raise awareness around the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israeli apartheid.
Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal is endorsed by: AFESH — Centre for Gender Advocacy at Concordia – Cinema Politica Montreal — FachoWatch Quebec — Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Montreal — McGill Radical Law Community — Midnight Kitchen — No One is Illegal Montreal — People’s Potato Concordia — Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at Concordia — Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at McGill — Simone de Beauvoir Institute — Solidarity Across Borders — Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) Concordia — Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill — Tadamon — Women of Diverse Origins (WDO)

[facebook: www.facebook.com/events/1399224643676939/]
Monday. March 10
Fragments of Palestine : Film Screening with Cinema Politica
7:00-10:00 PM

DB Clarke Theatre
Concordia University
1455 de Maisonneuve West
Montreal, Quebec
[Metro Guy-Concordia]
Admission by donation.
Description:
Join Cinema Politica Concordia for the screening of this hopeful doc which meanders through protests, house demolitions and political theatre to create a feeling of resistance, solidarity and urgency. The screening is co-presented with Israeli Apartheid Week – Montréal
*Fragments of Palestine
Marie Caspari / Germany / 2011 / 88 ‘ / English – Arabic / S.T. English
The movie “Fragments of Palestine” portrays the lives of three young people from Palestine, Israel and the UK and their perception of the Israeli-Palestinian reality.
Rabea, 27 years old, was a resistance fighter for a Palestinian militant group from the City of Jenin, the Palestinian city most attacked during the second Intifada. Rabea decides to change the course of his resistance, thus, he lays down his rifle after seven years as a fighter and starts resisting using his art on a theatre stage. He joins the first acting school of the Jenin Freedom Theatre. Together with his colleagues and their mentor, Juliano Mer Khamis, they develop a powerful play which addresses their life under occupation. On a trip to different areas around Jenin he shares his past as a fighter and his future vision as an artist fighting for freedom.
Maya, 18 years old, is a young Israeli activist. After encountering a Palestinian girl at the age of 15, she decides to explore the reality of the conflict objectively. She becomes a political activist and rejects to serve in the army as a conscientious objector, which results in her arrest for 42 days in military prison. After being discharged Maya works as a tour guide for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolition (ICAHD), where she provides tourists and Israelis with an alternative perspective on the conflict. The movie tracks her on a tour and documents her efforts as an activist in the West Bank.
Jody Mcintyre, is an 18-year old disabled British activist from London. He joins the peaceful struggle against the occupation in the small village of Bil’in in the West Bank. Despite his disability, Jody is always at the forefront of the weekly demonstration against the Separation Wall which separates the Palestinian residents from most of their lands. Together with his friend and host father Mohammed Khatib and the residents of Bil’in, Jody guards the village at night, attempting to prevent the Israeli military from arresting the local youth.
The result of this work contributes to a brave and strong movie that allows the audience to see another view of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. It is the view of young people whose hopes remain high and fuels their fight to achieve a peaceful end to this long conflict.
For more information: www.cinemapolitica.org/concordia
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/225092264362380/
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Tuesday, March 11
Israeli law and citizenship under apartheid: A Talk with Noura Erakat
6:30 PM

Arts W215, McGill Arts Building
853 rue Sherbrooke Ouest
Montreal, Quebec
[Metro McGill]
Israeli Apartheid Week – Montréal and the Centre for Gender Advocacy present:
Israeli Apartheid, the Law and Canadian Complicity: A talk with Noura Erakat
Description:
Noura Erakat will be discussing the bifurcation of nationality and citzenship in Israeli law and how that facilitates ongoing population transfer and apartheid.
Noura Erakat is a human rights attorney and writer. She is currently a Freedman Teaching Fellow at Temple University, Beasley School of Law and is a member of the Legal Support Network for the Badil Center for Palestinian Refugee and Residency Rights.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1376881789253528/
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Wednesday, March 12
Where Should the Birds Fly: Film screening and discussion with Noura Erakat
6:00-8:00 PM

Faculty of Law, McGill University
Chancellor Day Hall
3644 Peel Street
Montreal, Quebec
[Metro Peel]
Description:
The film is the first of its kind, created by two Palestinian women documenting their life under siege in Gaza.
The film will be followed by a discussion moderated by Noura Erakat, a human rights attorney and activist. Noura is currently an Abraham L Freedman Teaching Fellow at Temple University, Beasley School of Law, and a Co-Editor of Jadaliyya (an independent ezine produced by the Arab Studies Institute). She has taught international human rights law in the Middle East at Georgetown University since 2009. Her research interests include the laws of war, human rights law, humanitarian law, refugee law, social justice, Palestine, and the Middle East in general.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/472355422866345/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
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Thursday, March 13
Apartheid in Israel/Palestine and in North America: A conversation with Rania Khalek and Zainab Amadahy
6:30 PM

Room EV 1.605, Concordia University
1515 Ste-Catherine West
Montreal, Quebec
[Metro Guy-Concordia]
Description:
Apartheid systems are fundamental to the settler colonial projects of both “Canada” and in Palestine/Israel. With contributions from activist Zainab Amadahy and journalist Rania Khalek, and moderated by Sarwat Vigar, this talk will address the strong relationship between “Canada” and Palestine/Israel and possible points of solidarity in the continued struggles against settler-colonialism.
Of African American, Cherokee (Tsalagi) and European heritage, Zainab Amadahy is an activist, author and educator. Among her publications are Wielding the Force: The Science of Social Justice, which explores emerging science and its relevance to activism and community organizing. Zainab also authored the science fiction novels Resistance and Moons of Palmares. Zainab’s recent activism has been devoted to building relationships between Indigenous and other racialized communities. She is also a Palestine solidarity activist. For more information about Zainab’s work:www.swallowsongs.com.
Rania Khalek is an independent journalist reporting on the underclass and marginalized. She’s written for Extra, Truthout, The Nation, Al Jazeera America, the Electronic Intifada and more. For more of her work check out her website Dispatches from the Underclass and follow her on Twitter @RaniaKhalek.
Moderated by Sarwat Viqar.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/662233013843462/?context=create&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
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Friday, March 14
Pinkwashing and Homonationalism: Challenges and Invitations to Solidarity
6:00 PM

Arts W215, McGill Arts Building
853 rue Sherbrooke Ouest
Montreal, Quebec
[Metro McGill]
This panel discussion will explore the cynical use of gay and queer rights in downplaying Israeli apartheid, a concept articulated as “pinkwashing.” The tactic of using marginal subjects, such as queer populations, in defense of nationalism, will also be discussed. In particular, the panel will highlight the links between pinkwashed campaigns and marketing techniques in North America to the perpetuation of Israeli Apartheid and Islamophobia globally, and discuss activist and academic organizing around these issues.
With Panelists Heike Schotten, Natalie Kouri-Towe, and Nadia Awad.
C. Heike Schotten is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she teaches political theory, feminist theory, and queer theory. She is co-author, with Haneen Maikey, of “Queers Resisting Zionism: On Authority and Accountability Beyond Homonationalism.”
Natalie Kouri-Towe is an academic and activist based in Toronto. Her work examines the politics of solidarity and the emergence of the queer Palestine solidarity and anti-pinkwashing movement. She is a member of QuAIA Toronto and has written for Canadian publications such as Upping the Anti, FUSE Magazine, and Briarpatch.
Nadia Awad is a filmmaker and visual artist who work has been shown at Elizabeth Foundation Gallery, flux factory, and mauve?. She is currently producing a documentary on transnational solidarity and Palestine. She has also written articles for Mondoweiss, Alternet, and, most recently, co-authored an article with Colleen Jankovic on queerness and Palestinian video for Camera Obscura.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1444593772443667/?context=create&ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
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Sunday, March 16
Imaging Apartheid Artist Talk

5-7pm

Imaging Apartheid — poster project for Palestine
Exhibition at Casa del Popolo / Montréal, March 2014
In collaboration with Israeli Apartheid Week 2014 the Imaging Apartheid collective will present a series of silk screen posters, printed and designed in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, on the walls of Casa Del Popolo in Montréal throughout March.
Imaging Apartheid is a Montréal-based initiative, done in collaboration with the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, aimed at bringing awareness and support to the Palestinian struggle for liberation through the production and dissemination of poster art.
Featuring:
Apartheid Wall — Eric Drooker (San Francisco)
The Uprooting Of The Olive Trees — Jamaa al-Yad collective (Beirut)
Wall — Jason Kuhrt (Montreal)
Solidarity With Gaza — Kevin Yuen Kit Lo, LOKi design (Montreal)
Toward Freedom Palestine — Josh MacPhee (Brooklyn)
No Justice No Peace — Jesse Purcell (Toronto)
Visit Palestine — Amer Shomali (Ramallah)
artist statements / background info on posters
* Apartheid Wall — Eric Drooker (San Francisco)
http://www.justseeds.org/other_artists/22iadrooker.html
Eric Drooker is an award winning painter and graphic novelist born and raised in Manhattan NY, United States. This poster is a silk screen of an original art work by Drooker, who has been actively involved in Palestine solidarity work over many decades, having traveled on multiple occasions to occupied Palestine to present workshops and to work on mural projects in collaboration with Palestinian arts organizations.
* The Uprooting Of The Olive Trees — Jamaa al-Yad collective (Beirut)
http://www.justseeds.org/other_artists/22iajamaalyad.html
“Always remain standing no matter what happens.” This design is part of a poster series originally published in a Lebanese newsprint periodical documenting the crimes and criminals of apartheid Palestine. The theme involved daily life in Palestine, with references to those profiting from the occupation of Palestine. Lebanese proverbs are used to show solidarity and speak metaphorically of the eventual triumph of justice. Jamaa al-Yad, an artists’ collective located in Beirut, Lebanon.
* Wall — Jason Kuhrt (Montréal)
http://www.justseeds.org/other_artists/22iakuhrt.html
Jason Kuhrt, is a designer based in Montréal, Canada. This poster, wall, was created for Imaging Apartheid: the poster project for Palestine. It challenges a wall being built by Israel which divides itself from the West Bank. Depending whom one asks the name of this wall differs. Among Israelis it includes “separation fence”, “security fence”, and “anti-terrorist fence”; among Palestinians: “racial segregation wall”, or “apartheid wall”. The International Court of Justice refers to it as just “wall”, and the BBC style guide allows for “barrier”, “West Bank Barrier”, and “separation barrier”.
* Solidarity With Gaza — by Kevin Lo (Montréal)
http://www.justseeds.org/other_artists/22iakevgaza.html
This poster was originally designed in 2009 during the invasion of the Gaza Strip, in support of the BDS movement. It was disseminated widely as a digital image, and in 2013 was reworked as a 4-colour silkscreen poster. Kevin Yuen Kit Lo (http://www.lokidesign.net/) is a Montreal based art director, graphic designer and community organizer.
* Toward Freedom (Palestine) — by Josh MacPhee (Brooklyn)
http://www.justseeds.org/josh_macphee/04tfpalest.html
“This is one of three prints inspired by the recent uprisings in N. Africa and the Middle East. Central to struggles in the region is the conception of a Palestine free from the repression and control of Israel (and maybe even an Israel free from the repression and control of Israel!). So this print series is connecting Palestine to Egypt to the USA, which of course reconnects back to Palestine and Egypt as the US is the largest funder of repressive regimes in both places,” writes designer Josh MacPhee.
* No Justice No Peace — Jesse Purcell (Toronto)
http://www.justseeds.org/jesse_purcell/22nopeace.html
“This piece was designed in early December 2012 as the Idle No More movement was picking up steam. For those of you out side of Canada, the architectural element is the Peace Tower which is located over the front doors of parliament in Ottawa. Why should Indigenous people recognize the Canadian state if it continually violates their human, treaty and territorial rights? Settler society needs to recognize and support Indigenous communities’ right to revolt against the Canadian state,” writes designer Jesse Purcell.
* Visit Palestine — Amer Shomali (Ramallah)
http://www.justseeds.org/other_artists/22iashomali.html
This poster is a remix of a postcard illustrated by Franz Krause in 1936. Amer Shomali is a member of Zan Studio, a Ramallah-based open space for young professional artists and technicians working on projects that interact with their social and political environment.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/635076529862093/
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Monday, March 17, 5pm
NO FRACKING WAY!: The anti-fracking movement at Elsibogtog
A short film by Clifton Nicholas; Film Screening and Discussion

at QPIRG Concordia
1500, de Maisonneuve West, #204
métro Guy-Concordia
venue is wheelchair accessible
for free childcare, please reserve in advance at 514-848-7585
please get in touch with any accessibility needs
snacks and drinks
No Fracking Way! is a short 20 minute documentary about the struggle against fracking in Mi’kmaq territory and the impact of heavy handed police intervention on peaceful protest in October 2013. The people of Elsibogtog and people involved in the anti-fracking movement discuss the impact of the proposed fracking operation by Texas based energy company SWN and the RCMP response to the resistance to fracking. Information for donations for legal defense for those arrested will be provided at screening.
Film by Clifton Nicholas, a member of the Kanehsatake Mohawk Community.
Introduction by Lindsay Nixon of the Indigenous Women and Two-Spirit Harm Reduction Coalition.
Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCrRfrSQNsE
This event is part of Israeli Apartheid Week (March 10-17); info:www.iawmontreal.org
Presented by QPIRG Concordia: Your campus-community link for social change. info: www.qpirgconcordia.org

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For full information about Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal
web: www.iawmontreal.org

Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal is endorsed by: AFESH — Centre for Gender Advocacy at Concordia – Cinema Politica Montreal — FachoWatch Quebec — Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Montreal — McGill Radical Law Community — Midnight Kitchen — No One is Illegal Montreal — People’s Potato Concordia — Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at Concordia — Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at McGill — Simone de Beauvoir Institute — Solidarity Across Borders — Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) Concordia — Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) McGill — Tadamon — Women of Diverse Origins (WDO)