Ottawa 2009

IAW Poster Banned at Carleton - Call to Action for Student Rights

SAIA Carleton Website: http://carleton.saia.ca/

Monday, March 2, 7:30pm
Political Prisoners from Turtle Island to Palestine
Speakers: Bob Lovelace and Yafa Jarrar
University of Ottawa, Room: Fauteux 232

Robert Lovelace is a retired Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation. On February 15, 2008, Robert was sentenced to 6 months in prison for contempt of court. His crime was taking a leadership role in securing Algonquin land and refusing to permit exploration for uranium near Ardoch, Ontario. He is an Adjunct Lecturer in Global Development Studies at Queen's University and a professor in Ecosystems Management at Sir Sandford Fleming College. He has written about community development as a de-colonizing strategy.

Yafa Jarrar is a member of the Peterborough Coalition for Palestinian Solidarity. She was born in Jerusalem, Palestine, moved to Canada in 2003 to attend Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific. She has represented Palestine in the Arab League of Nations in Cairo in 2001 to speak on the effects of the Israeli occupation on the Palestinian educational process and then elected to represent Palestine to speak at the United Nations, in the same year. She is currently finishing her degree in Politics and International Development Studies at Trent University.

Tuesday, March 3, 6:30pm
Film and Panel Discussion: The Invisible Nation, The Story of the Algonquin Presented by the Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement: Ottawa
Library and Archives Canada

We are honoured to have Dr. William Commanda, the most respected 95-year old Algonquin Elder, Founder, Circle of All Nations, to conduct an opening ceremony for us on this evening!

Panelists: Claudette Commanda, Algonquin, Anishinabeg, National Coordinator of First Nations Confederacy of Cultural Education Centre, Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie, Directors - The Invisible Nation
Location: Auditorium, Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street

The Algonquin once lived in harmony with the vast territory they occupied. This balance was upset when the Europeans arrived in the 16th century. Gradually, their Aboriginal traditions were undermined and their natural resources plundered. Today, barely 9,000 Algonquin are left. They live in about 10 communities, often enduring abject poverty and human rights abuses. – NFB.ca

Wednesday, March 4, 7:30pm
Apartheid Israel: Democracy as an Existential Threat
Speaker: Omar Barghouti
University of Ottawa , Room: Fauteux B147

Omar Barghouti is an independent Palestinian researcher, commentator and human rights activist. He is a founding member of the Palestinian campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) to force Israel to uphold international law and universal human rights.
He holds a bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Columbia University, NY. He contributed to the philosophical volume, "Controversies and Subjectivity" (John Benjamins, 2005) and to "The New Intifada: Resisting Israel's Apartheid" (Verso Books, 2001). He advocates an ethical vision for a unitary, secular democratic state in historic Palestine.

Thursday, March 5, 7:00pm
Boycott Israel - The Apartheid State
Speaker: Ronnie Kasrils
Carleton University, Room: 301 Azrieli Theatre

Ronnie Kasrils was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1938. His grandparents are Jewish immigrants from Czarist Russia (Lithuania). He joined the ANC 1960 after Sharpeville massacre. This led to a lifetime of political activism. Ronnie was a member of ANC's military wing at its inception in 1961. He became chief of military intelligence, operated from exile in neighboring African states and clandestinely in South Africa. For many years, he was a member of both ANC and Communist Party national executive committees. Ronnie was appointed deputy minister of defense in South Africa's first democratic government (1994-99); Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry (1999-2004); Minister Intelligence Services (2004-2008). He has retired from government and devotes himself to writing, lecturing and Palestine solidarity work. His autobiography is entitled "Armed & Dangerous" (publisher Jonathan Ball, Johannesburg).

Friday, March 6, 7:00pm
From Warsaw Ghetto to Gaza Ghetto
Speakers: Suzanne Weiss and Samah Sabawi
Carleton University, Room: 102 Azrieli Theatre

Suzanne Weiss is an activist in anti-imperialist movements in Canada, including the Coalition to End Israeli Apartheid, and its sister organization, Not In Our Name (NION): Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism. She is the author of "Anti-Semitism, Zionism, and the Defense of Palestinian Rights", and also co-author of "Venezuela Eyewitness: Achievements and Challenges Facing the Bolivarian Revolution Today". She is a Jewish holocaust survivor.

Samah Sabawi is a Palestinian Canadian writer who was born in Gaza and was displaced with her family in the aftermath of Israel's occupation of the Gaza strip in 1967. Today, Samah still has family and loved ones living under Israeli siege in Gaza. Her work reflects her passion about her heritage and her desire for a peaceful resolution that is based on justice and respect of human rights for all. Ms. Sabawi has written and produced two plays and she continues to be involved with various grass roots organizations in Canada as well as in the Palestinian Occupied Territories.

Israeli Apartheid Week Ottawa 2009 is endorsed by the following organizations:

Agitate! Queer Women of Colour Collective
Association of Palestinian Arab Canadians
Books To Prisoners – Ottawa
Canada Palestine Support Network
Canadian Arab Federation
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Canadian Union of Public Employees (local 4600)
Carleton University Womyn’s Centre
Coalition of Canadian Arab Professional and Community Associations
Common Cause Ottawa
CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee
Faculty for Palestine
Independent Jewish Voices – Canada
Indigenous Peoples Solidarity Movement of Ottawa
Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies - Human Rights Program (Carleton)
No One Is Illegal – Ottawa
Not in our Name – Jewish Voices Opposing Zionism
NOWAR-PAIX
OPIRG-GRIPO (Ottawa)
Ottawa Palestine Solidarity Network
Ottawa Raging Grannies
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – Carleton
The Socialist Project
Women in Solidarity with Palestine