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Former member of the African National Congress and anti-apartheid activist Ronnie Kasrils has adamantly claimed that South African apartheid was not as "obscene" as the military lockdown on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Kasrils gives the keynote address at the fifth annual Israeli Apartheid Week, which takes place on campuses across the globe from March 1 to 8.
"The massacre in Gaza sparked a new wave of momentum and reminded us in really horrific detail of the violence that comes with apartheid," says Meg Leitold, member of the Israeli Apartheid Week Montreal organizing committee. Leitold hopes that the event series will educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and help build the growing global boycott, divestment and sanction campaign (BDS) against Israel.
While the international event takes place on campuses in 25 cities around the world, and is endorsed by over 35 organizations in Montreal alone, Leitold says that a strong Israeli lobby usually clamps down on the event. McMaster University, for example, banned the term "Israeli apartheid" last year, and this year, Carleton, the University of Ottawa and U of T prohibited posters for the event. Leitold hopes the event can rejuvenate campuses as a place for discussion and debate.
Lectures, films and actions will take place all week, starting with a panel March 1 on Apartheid in Canada, which features indigenous activists and will situate the historical relationship between Canada and both Israel and South Africa and focus on Canada's reserve system. Other guests and speakers include Lebanese political prisoner Soha Bechara, who speaks March 2; Ronnie Kasrils, March 4; Omar Barghouti, founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, March 5; and freelance Palestinian journalist Laila El-Haddad, March 6; and the film Slingshot Hip-Hop, about Palestinian youth who resist occupation through hip-hop, screens March 9.
IAW takes place at Concordia and McGill, March 1-8. For more info and events and lectures, as well as times and locations, visit http://montreal.apartheidweek.org.
Source: Hour.ca |
