*University of Ottawa Bans Israeli Apartheid Week Poster - Call to Action
February 21, 2009*
On February 20, 2009, the University of Ottawa became the second Ottawa
administration to ban the posters of Israeli Apartheid Week 2009, following
the lead of Carleton University in a blatant violation of free expression
for students speaking out on human rights. Like Carleton University's
administration, the University of Ottawa's Communications Office used
spurious "human rights" claims to ban the poster. The Communications
Office's short communique to Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights reads:
"A poster from the campus group Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights has
recently come to the attention of the Communications Office. All posters
approved by the Communications Office must promote a campus culture where
all members of the community can play a part in a declaration of human
rights recognizing the inherent dignity and equal rights of all students.
Consequently, we will not place this particular poster on our campus
billboards."
Please view the poster here:
http://www.apartheidweek.org/sites/apartheidweek.org/files/Israeli%20Apartheid%20Week%202009%20poster.jpg
This curt note notably fails to explain how the poster by noted cartoonist
Carlos Latuff, depicting an Israeli attack helicopter (labeled "Israel")
firing a missile at a Palestinian child (labeled "Gaza"), does not
"recognize the inherent dignity and equal rights of all students". In fact,
the banning of the poster is a failure to recognize the dignity and equal
rights of Palestinian students and those who seek to expose the violations
of human rights of Palestinians.
The poster is symbolic but it also depicts a factual situation. 430 children
were killed by the Israeli military in its latest attack on Gaza. It seems
that according to a growing number of campus administrations, depicting
these killings on a poster is some kind of human rights violation, while the
killings themselves, or the bombing of a University in Gaza, are not
(neither campus administration condemned the killings of civilians or the
bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza).
In contrast to these campus administrations, the movement for Palestinian
human rights is at the forefront of the struggle to recognize the inherent
dignity and equal rights of all students, and indeed, all people. As the
students at Carleton wrote when the poster was banned on their campus, "the
campaign is proudly anti-racist, and founded on the principles of opposition
to all forms of racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. It draws its
inspiration from the global campaign to end South African apartheid and is
led by many of the same individuals who were at the forefront of that
earlier struggle."
We present the same demands to the University of Ottawa as the students at
Carleton University demanded of their administration:
1. Immediately lift the ban on the Israeli Apartheid Week poster and
publicly apologize for the banning.
2. Explain, publicly and precisely, how the profound error of banning the
poster was made and address how to prevent such violations from occurring in
future.
3. Sponsor a full public debate--ensuring generous access to the entire
university community--on the University of Ottawa's position on the proposed
institutional boycott of Israeli academic institutions.
4. Appoint a university/community Commission to investigate the record of
the University in relation to democratic discourse and equity around issues
of Palestine solidarity.
We call on student organizations, social justice groups and concerned
individuals around the world to support students at the University of Ottawa
and the broader fight for freedom of expression.
Please take the following actions:
* Email/Fax/Call the President of the University of Ottawa, Allan Rock,
demanding that he immediately restore the Charter rights of students and
send a copy of your message of support to the Director of the Communications
Office, Andree Dumulon. Please send a copy of your letter to
sphr.uofo@gmail.com
Allan Rock: email president@uOttawa.ca, fax (613)562-5103, phone
(613)562-5809
Director of communications: email adumulon@uOttawa.ca, phone (613)562-5800
ext. 315
Showing posts with label Apartheid Week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apartheid Week. Show all posts
February 23, 2009
URGENT: IAW Posters Banned on Campus
February 1, 2008
January 23, 2008
4th Annual Israeli Apartheid Week schedule
4th ANNUAL ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK
FEBRUARY 3RD TO 9TH, 2008
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) Ottawa and Carleton and Not In Our Name (NION) Ottawa are proud to announce the schedule for the 4th annual Israeli Apartheid Week being held under the banner 60 Years of Nakba: End Israeli Apartheid. This international week, which began in Toronto in 2005, has now spread to Palestine, South Africa, Norway, UK and many cities across the US and Canada.
OTTAWA ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK SCHEDULE
______________________________
Friday Feb 1, 7:30 PM (Ottawa is starting the week earlier than other cities)
Film Screening: THE IRON WALL
Hosted by: Not In Our Name – Jewish Voices Against Israel's Wars
MacDonald Hall Auditorium (MCD 146),
150 Louis Pasteur Street
University of Ottawa
http://www.theironwall.ps/
__________________________
Saturday Feb 2, 1:00 PM
Demonstration: PICKET IN FRONT OF CHAPTERS/INDIGO - NO MORE SUPPORT OF ISRAELI MILITARISM!
Organized by: Not In Our Name - Jewish Voices Against Israel's Wars, CanPalNet Ottawa
Chapters/Indigo at Rideau and Sussex
For more information on the Chapters Boycott please scroll to bottom of email
www.nion.ca
http://www.canpalnet-ottawa.org/
____________________
Tuesday Feb 5, 7:00 PM
Lecture: A FAREWELL TO ISRAEL: THE COMING BREAK-UP OF NORTH AMERICAN ZIONISM
Norman Finkelstein
Organized by GSAÉD as part of their Interdisciplinary Conference: http://www.gsaed.ca/conference2008/
This is a free event, but space is limited so people should reserve tickets in advance (613-562-5935 or gsaed@uottawa.ca)
Tabaret Hall, room 112
550 Cumberland Street
University of Ottawa
Limited space, reserve your (free) tickets: 613-562-5935 or gsaed@uottawa.ca
http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/
___________________________
Wednesday, February 6, 7:30 PM
Lecture: STILL TOO MANY ENEMIES: THE NAHR EL BARED REFUGEE CAMP AND PALESTINIANS IN LEBANON
Marcy Newman
Fauteux 147 A
57 Louis Pasteur
University of Ottawa
Entry $3
www.bodyontheline.wordpress.com
____________________________
Friday, February 8,
Lecture and Discussion: RESISTING ISRAELI APARTHEID: BUILDING A GLOBAL MOVEMENT
Salma Wakim – Ittijah: the network for Palestinian non-governmental organizations in Israel
Issam Alyaman - Palestine House, Mississauga
Adam Hanieh - Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Toronto
MacDonald Hall Auditorium (MCD 146), 7:30pm
150 Louis Pasteur Street
University of Ottawa
http://www.palestinehouse.com/
http://caiaweb.org/
http://www.ittijah.org/
Join SPHR and NION in standing up against Israeli Apartheid!
For further information and schedules for different cities please visit the official
Apartheid Week 2008 website at: www.apartheidweek.org
Or contact the organizers at
sphr.uofo@gmail.com
sphrcarleton@gmail.com
nion.ottawa@gmail.com
______________________
STOP ISRAEL'S WARS
BOYCOTT CHAPTERS / INDIGO
1PM, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2008
At the Chapters at Rideau and Sussex
As the Israeli Occupation passes its 40th year with continuing brutality and the unflinching support of the Canadian government, it's integral for all Canadians who believe in justice and peace in the Middle East to take a stand. The boycott campaign against Chapters has picked up steam across Canada and has become a regular event in many cities. NION (Not in Our Name - Jews Opposed to Israel's Wars) hopes to make this a regular event in Ottawa as well – holding a two-hour boycott every other Saturday outside the Chapters/Indigo on Rideau.
On October 20, NION Ottawa and Canpalnet began pickets of Chapters every other week. The next action is planned for February 2, 2008. We call on all individuals and groups who oppose Israeli occupation to join us to picket outside Chapters/Indigo at Rideau. We will meet at Chapters on Rideau from 1 to 3PM.
NOT IN OUR NAME
On July 9, 2005, a call endorsed by 170 Palestinian civil society organizations was announced. It appealed to the people of the world to impose boycotts, divestments and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it recognizes the Palestinian people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law. We came together to form NION during the summer of 2006, in solidarity with the people of Lebanon and Palestine, and against Israel's wars. We stand in opposition to the complicity of the Canadian government with Israel's criminal actions.
WHY BOYCOTT CHAPTERS / INDIGO?
Starting in the summer of 2006, NION and the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid in Toronto began a boycott campaign against Chapters-Indigo. The key reason for this boycott is that Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, the majority shareholders of Chapters/Indigo, started and contribute over $3 million/year to the Heseg Foundation, a charity which supports 'lone soldiers' who come from others countries to fight Israel's wars. On the Heseg board are army and air force chiefs of staff, the former head of Israeli intelligence (Mossad), and Maj. General Doren Almog who has been accused of war crimes by Britain for his role in bombing civilians.
This concern for young mercenaries from around the world is in marked contrast to the lack of support that Heseg gives to the hundreds of Palestinian child prisoners languishing in Israeli military prisons.
For more information about the boycott campaign see:
1)"Why Do We Ask the Indigo CEO to Support Peace, Not War?" at http://www.nion.ca/downloads.htm
2) http://caiaweb.org/indigoboycott
OPPOSE ISRAEL'S WARS
As a group of Jews who are vehemently opposed to the atrocities being carried out in our name, we urge you to join us in standing in solidarity with our Palestinian brothers and sisters. We urge you to join NION Ottawa in opposing Chapters' support of the occupation through the Heseg Foundation.
To help us organize, please reply stating if you will be able to participate in this picket. Hope to see you all there!
Organized by Not In Our Name – Jewish Voices Against Israel's Wars
email: nion.ottawa@gmail.com web: www.nion.ca
Supported by Canada Palestine Support Network - Ottawa ( www.canpalnet-ottawa.org)
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