Opinion Editorials, February 2009

 
 
SOAS Palestine Society and LSE SU Palestine Society present

Israeli apartheid Week: 28th February-6th March 2009

The Fifth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week March 1 - 8, 2009

Mark your calendars - the 5th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week will take place across the globe from March 1-8, 2009!

First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year, more than 25 cities around the world participated in the week's activities, which also commemorated 60 years since the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homes and land in 1947-1948. IAW 2008 was launched with a live broadcast from the South African township of Soweto by Palestinian leader and former member of the Israeli Knesset, Azmi Bishara.

This year, IAW occurs in the wake of Israel's barbaric assault against the people of Gaza. Lectures, films, and actions will make the point that these latest massacres further confirm the true nature of Israeli Apartheid. IAW 2009 will continue to build and strengthen the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement at a global level.

Day 1

From South Africa to Palestine - The Struggle Continues

Speakers:

Ronnie Kasrlis
&
Tariq Ali
Chair: Victoria Brittain

Ronnie Kasrils is a South African politician and supporter of the Palestinian cause for justice and national self-determination. He was Minister for Intelligence Services from 2004 to September 2008. He has been a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC) since 1987 as well as a member of the Central Committee of the South African Communist Party (SACP) since December 1986.
 
Tariq Ali is a novelist, historian, political campaigner and one of New Left Review's editors. He published many articles and books, among them The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power (Scribner 2008), The Clash of Fundamentalisms (Verso 2003), Bush in Babylon (Verso 2003) and many others.
 
Victoria Brittain is the former associate foreign editor of the Guardian, a journalist and a research associate at the London School of Economics. She co-author the book Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey to Guantanamo and Back (2006). Her previous books include Hidden Lives, Hidden Deaths: South Africa's Crippling of a Continent (1988) and Death of Dignity: Angola's Civil War (1997)

Saturday 28th February
6pm, SOAS, Brunei Gallery
 
* £2 donation will be appreciated
 
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Day 2

No Crimes in Gaza

Speaker: Eyal Weizman
Chair: Eyal Sivan

Eyal Weizman is the director of the Centre for Research Architecture at Goldsmiths College, University of London. His books include Hollow Land (Verso Books, 2007), A Civilian Occupation (Verso Books, 2003), the series Territories 1,2 and 3, Yellow Rhythms and many articles in journals, magazines and edited books.
Eyal Sivan is a London based Film-maker, producer, essayist and Reader in Media production at the school of social sciences, media and cultural studies at the University of East London (UEL). Sivan directed more then 10 worldwide awarded feature-length political documentaries and produced many others. Among Sivan's films: Izkor, Slaves of Memory (1991) The Specialist (1999) Route 181 fragments of a journey in Palestine-Israel, (2003) I Love You all (2004).
 
Monday 2nd March
6pm, SOAS, KLT
 
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Day 3
   
The Wounds of Gaza

Speakers: Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta & Dr Swee Chai Ang
Chair: Izzat Darwazeh

Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah  is a Plastic, Reconstructive and Craniofacial surgeon at Chelsea and WestminsterHospital. He worked in Palestine during the first and second Intifada. He also treated wounded civilians in South Lebanon and in Iraq (1991)

Dr Swee Chai Ang  is a consultant of the upper limb Orthopaedic surgeon at Barts (St.BartholomewsHospital). She volunteered as an orthopaedic surgeon to treat war victims in Beirut and witnessed the Sabra and Shatila massacres, later to return to Shatilla during the CampWars. She recorded her experiences in her book From Beirut to Jerusalem.
 
Izzat Darwazeh is a professor of engineering at University College London. Has been living in the UK for 25 years and was one of the founders of Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the late 80's. He is Palestinian, born in Syria and lived in Syria, Jordan and the UK.
 
Tuesday 3nd March
6pm, LSE, Room G108 (20 Kingsway)
 
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Day 4

Zionism, Jews and History
Speaker: Mike Marqusee

Followed by:
Between oppression and empowerment: The Palestinian Citizens of Israel
Speaker: Nimer Sultany

Chair: Selma James

Mike Marqusee is a writer, journalist and political activist. He is the authors of If I am Not for Myself: Journey of an Anti-Zionist Jew (Verso 2008) as well as other books about Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan and global cricket.

Nimer Sultany is a Palestinian citizen of Israel and currently a doctoral candidate at HarvardLawSchool. He has worked as a human rights lawyer in the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and as the head of the political monitoring project at Mada al-Carmel (the Arab centre for applied social research).
 
Selma James is a strategist, critical thinker, women's rights and anti-racist campaigner and author; and colleague & partner of Marxist, historian and sportswriter CLR James. She is a founder member of the UK branch of the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network.  Ms James lectures in the UK, US and other countries and has worked with the Venezuelan Revolution since 2002.
 
Wednesday 4th March
6pm, LSE, Room D202 (Clement House)
 
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Day 5
 
Towards Palestinian Unity
Speaker: Hussam Khader (TBC)       

Chair: Izzat Darwazeh

Hussam Khader is an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and a member of Fatah. He has long been known as a fierce defender of the separation of powers, the basic rights concerning freedom of speech and freedom of press, the struggle against corruption in the Palestinian Authority and the strengthening of NGOs and other civilian institutions. He was imprisoned by Israel on March 2003 by Israel and was released in August 2008.
 
Izzat Darwazeh is a professor of engineering at University College London. Has been living in the UK for 25 years and was one of the founders of Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the late 80's. He is Palestinian, born in Syria and lived in Syria, Jordan and the UK.
 
Thursday 5th March
6pm, SOAS, KLT

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Day 6

The American and British Media and the aggression on Gaza
Speakers:
Asa'd AbuKhalil & Sharif Nashashibi
Chair: Dina Matar

As'ad AbuKhalil, is a professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus and visiting professor at UC, Berkeley. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News. He is hosting the website "angryarab.blogspot.com", a source on politics, war, the Middle East, Arab poetry and art.
Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi is the co-founder and chairman of Arab Media Watch, non-profit organisation that strives for objective coverage of Arab issues in the British media. He has worked and trained at Dow Jones Newswires, Reuters, the UN Development Programme in Palestine, the Middle East Broadcasting Centre, and the Middle East Economic Survey in Cyprus. Sharif is a regular contributor to the Guardian, and presents the programme Middle East Today on Press TV every Saturday.
 
Dina Matar is a lecturer in Arab media and political communication in the Centre for Media and Film Studies in SOAS.

Friday 6th March
6pm, SOAS, KLT


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About Israeli Apartheid Week

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is taking place in more than 40 cities across the globe (the number of cities is growing daily). 

IAW has been held in the UK since 2006. Its activities have taken place in academic institutions located in selected strategic British centers of political and cultural power including London, Oxford and Cambridge.

IAW events have contributed to mainstreaming solidarity with Palestine, pushing forth the discussion of Israeli apartheid at the heart of the British intellectual establishment.

Every year the week features a list of high profile speakers providing first rate analysis about the realities of the Palestinian cause. It also includes a variety of activities ranging from popular film showings to local musical concerts. IAW activities are typically filled to capacity and they have been attended by several thousand people since their launch in the UK, serving as popular spaces of discussion and dissemination of Palestinian solidarity literature. 

This year, IAW occurs in the wake of Israel's barbaric assault against the people of Gaza. Lectures, films, and actions will make the point that these latest massacres further confirm the true nature of Israeli Apartheid.

IAW 2009 will continue to build and strengthen the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement at a global level. It will moreover provide a venue for educating future British leaders about the realities of the Palestinian situation and to mobilize for Palestine in leading centers of learning in the UK.

Last but not least, IAW helps showcase Palestinian solidarity in the media, attracting significant public attention each year.

A Jerusalem Post article published on January 30, 2009 noted "the event's growing popularity."
 
For more information: www.apartheidweek.org
 
 
Please note that this is NOT a CAABU event
About CAABU
Promoting an enlightened and positive approach to Arab-British relations in Government, Parliament, the Media, education and amongst the wider public.
 
We are the oldest and largest organisation of its type in Europe having been set up in 1967. We strive hard to build on the historical, political and cultural links between the Arab world and Britain.