Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual international series of events held in cities and campuses across the globe. The aim of IAW is to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns as part of a growing global BDS movement.
Last year, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) took place in more than 40 cities across the globe. IAW 2009 happened in the wake of Israel's barbaric assault on the people of Gaza. Lectures, films, and actions made the point that these latest massacres further confirm the true nature of Israeli Apartheid.
IAW 2010 takes place following a year of incredible successes for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the global level. Lectures, films, and actions will highlight some of theses successes along with the many injustices that continue to make BDS so crucial in the battle to end Israeli Apartheid. Speakers and full programme for each city will be available soon.
Join us in making 2010 a year of struggle against apartheid and for justice, equality, and peace.
http://apartheidweek.org/en/pastapartheidweeks
Recently this has become an important issue for me despite not really affecting my life in any way, so I was happy to hear that something like this is being organized. Frankly, I don't believe that it is the most pressing issue of our time, or the most horrible thing currently going on, but the fact that a supposed first world nation is still opressing millions nearly twenty years after the end of apartheid in South Africa is pretty goddamn bad as far as I am concerned. The people of West Bank and Gaza are controlled by state of Israel in most things you can imagine - they are pretty much Israeli citizens in everything but name, only that they have no representation in the country that controls their movement, water, land, airspace, ports, borders, electricity, building permits and trade.
It's something like this that makes it very hard for me to call Israel a "democracy". In all intents and purposes, right now occupied territories are a part of Israel. And their citizens don't have their rights.
My town or any city in my country isn't on the list, but if you are interested in the issue and wish to participate, a list of the cities is found on the site.
http://apartheidweek.org/en/about
Posts
Looking at the list of places, I can't see any in Germany. Can't say I'm surprised.
And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
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as fucked up as the israel situation can be, apartheid it is not
this may have been a good argument prior to 2006, but unless you're going to hold israel responsible for the actions hamas, its a pretty ridiculous argument to make now.
I mean its pretty telling when you ignore the PLA altogether jump to a conclusion like that that what this shit is about.
I'm not sure what the PLA has to do with how Israel treats the Palestinians, unless you're trying to say that they (the Palestinians) have brought this on themselves and deserve to be treated this way.
In South Africa it involved, among other things:
I'm holding Israel responsible for the actions of Israel. Which is pretty much by the definition of the word apartheid. Just because they aren't the citizens of the country in official law, doesn't change that fact. What, you think Israeli Arabs are completely and utterly equal? Guess what, when you found a country based on a single race that is going to cause problems.
Hamas is a shitty terrorist organization, but Israel's actions are by any measurement far worse.
Israel is a terrorist state, and also illegitimate.
Ya, well our support for Israel is pretty strong.
here's some shit for people to educate themselves on
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http://apartheidweek.org/en
Official website of Israeli Apartheid Week
http://www.bdsmovement.net/
Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions strategy
http://maannews.net/eng/Default.aspx
Ma'an News, an indigenous Palestinian news agency
http://ochaonline.un.org/humanitari...13408&Page=1765
UNOCHA appeal for Palestine 2009, showing roadblocks, barriers, etc
http://www.unrwa.org/
UNRWA, the UN org for Refugee services, focusing mainly on Palestinian refugees
Some good reads to start on the issue:
The Israel-Arab Reader: A Documentary History of the Middle East Conflict, 7th Edition by Walter Laqueur
A good collection of primary resources and historical documents relating to the Arab-Israeli conflict, including UN docs, treaties, etc.
Breaking the Silence
An Israeli watchdog organization that collects testimony from soldiers serving in Israel's armed forces.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe
The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood by Rashid Khalidi
Palestine by Joe Sacco (intro by Edward Said)
Some good movies and documentaries to watch:
Paradise Now (2005)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhvNx2ZwRvY
About two boyhood friends who sign up to become suicide bombers. This powerful film was shot mostly in Nablus and is available for streaming from Netflix (so you can watch it now) or on youtube.
The Lemon Tree (2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIoowHIpUT0
About a widow who is protecting her land from settlers. Also shot on location. Available on Netflix.
Under the Bombs (2007)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbabkJPcTts
About a mother who is searching for her family in southern Lebanon after the 2006 Israeli invasion. Shot on location and available on Netflix streaming.
Death in Gaza (2004)
A documentary about the martyr culture in Gaza, about the conditions the Gazans live in, and also the death of the documentarian while making this film. Available on Netflix, Google Video, and YouTube.
Activism
Here is a list of places where events are officially being held:
Also, for those who live in Oregon:
And for those who live in Massachusetts:
http://people.dce.harvard.edu/~heirc/chomsky.html (Not sure if it's about IAW but I'm sure they'll mention it)
For those of you in Pennsylvania:
tl;dr if you don't think what israel is doing is blatantly wrong and completely contradictory to every international and moral law we have then you are a child
Wouldn't really say that Israel is any less legitimate then any other country in the world. Country legitimacy is an iffy issue anyway. And if we are using the most literal meaning of the term "terrorist state" then yes, both U.S. and Israel are terrorist states...though I don't see how it neccessarily has any bearing on the thread itself.
I know this is a crass over-generalization of what exactly is happening, but cry me a fucking river, Palestine.
I know a few places where criticism of Israel is appreciated here. For all the wrong reasons, however. *sigh*
And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
Ah, the old "all Muslims are the same" argument? Haven't heard that in a while.
This has got to be a joke post, no way is someone this ignorant
And as a German I feel it is my obligation to support them.
These are all joke posts, right?
"Brown people own all this can't palestinians go somewhere's else the nerve of them!!"
It's not about the land the jews have now. It's about the shit they do to their neighbors.
Claiming Israel as a country is "illegal" is pointless. They're there, they won't go away, everyone has to deal with it.
None of this is an excuse to firebomb civilians though.
And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
I dunno, but after barely surviving as a people my countries genocide 70 years ago, I'd say they deserve some peace and not need the whole Muslim world organizing agaisnt them.
More like: 7 million Israelis. 7 million Palestinians. The Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Palestine's pre-1967 territory are modest pieces of land. Just let them have it.
How do you think the Palestinians feel after having the same thing done to them for just about 60 years now, on top of having their homes pulled out from under them then and now?
I expected nothing less. The impossibility of even a moderately sane discussion on this topic is one of the reasons it's still an issue. Hell, if we can't weight fact against fact and come to a conclusion, why should politicians?
And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
Should we also take away some Arab land so the Catholics, Gypsies, Gays and Socialists can have a persecution free paradise?
I'd prefer to stop persecution by having the people stop persecution and allowing them to live in peace rather than giving them their own nation so they can do some good ol' persecution of their own.
Israel has the right to do whatever they need to do to defend themselves against their openly hostile neighbours. Not only Palestine but also Syria and Iran.
But Jay, we shouldn't expect the fairly wealthy and industrialized nation to act "civilized" while not expecting the guerrilla fighters to do the same thing. They are obviously equal!
And thus begins the slow spiralling flame debate until we start accusing each other of either being anti semite or anti arab before the thread is locked. :?
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*Israeli settlers destroy Palestinian homes, move in upon agreed upon Palestinian land*
Welp, not going to take this anymore
*Israeli responds*
Don't do it again!
*pushes settlers into Palestinian territory*
And that place should be in Gaza and not Berlin because...?
And Disney World is nowhere in sight.
The majority of palestinians don't send the rockets.
There is no enforcement to stop those who do.
Civilians aren't responsible for the actions of terrorists.
Stop being a goose.
don't bring a knive to a gun fight.
Ok, got it.