Winnipeg Events to Mark Israeli Apartheid Week
For the first time in its six-year history, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) will be marked in Winnipeg from March 8-12 with series of meetings, panel discussions and lectures.
The objective of Israeli Apartheid Week is to draw attention to the racist and discriminatory policies and practices of the Israeli state against the Palestinian people, as well as to promote the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign (BDS) against Israel. Since the first Israeli Apartheid Week was held six years ago, organizers in cities across North America have been subject to coordinated intimidation campaigns aimed at shutting their activities down. Some university campuses have banned IAW material or events on the pretext that they were anti-Semitic, with pro-Zionist forces arguing that even the use of the term “Israeli apartheid” is an act of anti-Semitism.
The Winnipeg IAW organizers are confronting this intimidation head ont, holding two public events that put the pro-Zionist claims to the test. On Tuesday, March 9, a meeting under the title “Is There a New Anti-Semitism?” will be held at the Millennium Library. The following day a public meeting will be held on whether the topic of Israel as an apartheid state is a legitimate subject of discussion. The featured speaker at both events will be Mordecai Briemberg, a well-known peace activist and broadcaster who is a founding member of the Canada-Palestine Support Network (Vancouver).
Originally, the latter was to be held as a debate, with Briemberg arguing the legitimacy of raising the question of apartheid and a local pro-Zionist lobbyist arguing against. However, the pro-Zionist lobby decided that engaging in the debate would be giving the topic legitimacy and instead targeted their energies on shutting down free speech by writing the presidents of both the University of Manitoba and the University of Winnipeg asking them to stop IAW activities on their campuses, arguing they pose a threat to the security of Jewish students.
In response to B’Nai B’rith’s appeal, IAW organizers wrote to each president noting that IAW events “...do not target Israeli citizens or Jewish people, they are about the Israeli state and its apartheid practices. IAW is an anti-racist event, opposed to anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and all forms of racism. We plan to announce this fact at the beginning of every IAW event on campus, as we do not wish to have our events used to promote any form of racism. We do not threaten the safety of any students, Jewish or otherwise.”
Israeli
Apartheid Week
March 8-12
Monday, March 8, 2:00 p.m.
“Women & Apartheid”
224 University Centre, U of M
Tuesday, March 9, 2:00 p.m.
“Israel as an Apartheid State”
217 University Centre (GSA Lounge), U of M
Tuesday, March 9, 7:00 p.m.
“Is There A New Anti-Semitism?”
Carol Shields Auditorium
Millennium Library
Wednesday, March 1, 12:30 p.m.
“Is the Topic of Israel, as an Apartheid State,
a Legitimate Subject of Discussion on
Canadian University Campuses?”
Concourse Lounge, University College, U of M
Thursday, March 11, 7:00 p.m.
Evening of Entertainment & Solidarity
Degree’s Diner, 3rd Floor, University Centre, U of M
Friday, March 12 2:00 p.m.
“Canadian Apartheid & Indigenous Solidarity”
224 University Centre, U of M