Conference Program
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES:
Boycotting Israeli Apartheid
Conference Oct 6-8 2006
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE)
252 Bloor St W, Toronto ON, CANADA
AIMS & PURPOSES:
• To develop understandings, strategies and networks related to Israeli apartheid and to Palestinian solidarity
• To consolidate an implementation plan and create impetus for the BDS campaign in Canada
Conference Program
Friday, 6 October 2006
1700- 2130 Conference Registration
1930- 2130 Opening Plenary Public Forum: South Africa to Palestine: Building an Anti-Apartheid Movement - OISE Auditorium, Main Floor
This Public Forum will highlight ongoing struggles to end apartheid in Palestine by drawing lessons from the South African experience. Key players in the current BDS movement against Israeli apartheid are featured.
Speakers:
Jamal Juma’a was born and lives in Jerusalem and is the coordinator of the Palestinian grassroots anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. He is a founding member of several support organizations including the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC) and the Palestinian Association for Cultural Exchange (PACE) on whose boards he continues to serve. He has written several widely published and translated analysis pieces on the Wall and the struggle for Palestine. He regularly represents the Stop the Wall Campaign.
Rafeef Ziadah is a third-generation Palestinian refugee and an organizer with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) and SUMOUD - Political Prisoner Solidarity Group in Toronto. She has been active with a number of grassroots campaigns on Palestine including the SUSTAIN (Stop US Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now!) campaign in Washington DC. She is currently completing her PhD at York University.
Salim Vally has been a social justice activist since high school and was a regional executive member of the high school South African Student's Movement (SASM) which played a pivotal role in the Uprising of 1976. He has been a teacher, union educator, organizer and spokesperson, and as a researcher of grassroots community and worker conditions and needs has produced numerous critical reports. Since 1995 he has been a lecturer and senior researcher at the School of Education at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg and is the chairperson of the Palestine Solidarity Committee and the Anti-War Coalition.
Chair: Larissa Cairncross grew up under South African apartheid, has been involved in anti-apartheid, anti-racist and women’s organizing since the 1980s and is currrently an organizer with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA).
NOTE: Due to unforeseen circumstances at COSATU, and in spite of COSATU's continuing support for the conference and the BDS Campaign, Willie Madisha, the President of COSATU, will be unable to attend the conference.
[Willie Madisha's biographical information: Willie Madisha has been president of both the South African Democratic Teacher’s Union (SADTU) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) since 1999 and was recently reelected at COSATU’s 9th National Congress in September 2006. COSATU is South Africa’s largest labour federation, representing 1.8 million workers across 21 industries, and played a leading role in the struggle against apartheid. Willie Madisha is also a key member of the Tri-Partite Alliance consisting of COSATU, the ANC and the S.A. Communist Party. He has traveled to Palestine and is a leading international critic of Israeli apartheid.]
Saturday, 7 October 2006
8:30 - 9:30 Registration - Room 2198
9:30 - 10:30 Plenary: Inside the Apartheid Wall - OISE Auditorium, Main Floor
Insight into the brutal conditions of apartheid in Palestine and how the people survive. Who are the grassroots organizations that came together to call for an international BDS campaign in July 2005 and what are their main focuses for the campaign?
Speaker:
Jamal Juma'a.
Chair: Nadia Daar is a graduate student in the Political Science department at York University and a founding member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA).
10:45 - 11:45 Plenary: Supporting Apartheid: Israel Advocacy in Canada - OISE Auditorium, Main Floor
The brokers who facilitate support for the Israeli Apartheid regime are very active in Canada. Who are they and how do they operate?
Speakers:
Diala Al-Dabbas is a Palestine solidarity activist at the University of Western Ontario and an executive member of the Western chapter of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights
David Noble is a professor at York University who has researched extensively on the corporate Canadian institutions which support Israeli Apartheid.
Dan Freeman-Maloy is a Toronto activist and member of the Grassroots Anti-Imperialist Network (GRAIN) at York University.
Chair: TBA
11:45 - 12:45 Lunch
12:45 - 14:00 Plenary: Perspectives on Resistance: lessons from the South African struggle - OISE Auditorium, Main Floor
South African campaigners share their history and experience in both the anti-apartheid struggles.
Speakers:
Salim Vally
Chair: Yolisa Dalamba is a South African who was active in the Toronto-based anti-apartheid movement. She is a popular educator.
14:00 - 14:15 Break
14:15 - 16:00 Concurrent Sessions: Perspectives on Resistance
Lobbying Room 2212
Evaluating the Palestine movement's record in pressuring decision makers to take positions consistent with International Law relevant to Palestine and how to coordinate lobbying efforts around the demand of BDS.
Speakers:
Khaled Mouammar is the President of the Canadian Arab Federation and a longtime lobbyist on behalf of Palestinian rights.
Amina Sherazee is a Toronto lawyer and human rights activist and a member of the Muslim Canadian Congress.
Betty Hunter has been General Secretary of the UK Palestine Solidarity Campaign for over five years during which time the PSC has become the leading organisation in Britain promoting support for Palestinian national and human rights.
Raja G. Khouri directed a landmark study of the Canadian Arab community and authored the book 'Arabs in Canada: Post 9/11'. He serves the Ontario Hate Crimes Community Working Group.
Chair: Dania Majid is President of the Arab Lawyer's Association (ACLA).
Media Management for BDS Room 2213
Messaging for the campaign in mainstream and alternative media to give media activists tools for getting the BDS message out and BDS campaigners guidance on how to get positive results for the campaign.
Speakers:
Kristin Schwartz has been News Director at CKLN 88.1fm since 2000. She is a board member of the National Campus/Community Radio Association and sits on the Steering Committee of a national news program in development, "GroundWire: Community Radio News". Her activist background includes many years in grassroots anti-racist movements in Toronto.
Rahul Mahajan is an author and freelance journalist who has reported from occupied Iraq including Fallujah during the April 2004 assault. His activist roles include sitting on the Steering Committee of United for Peace and Justice, the national antiwar coalition in the United States.
Justin Podur is a writer and editor at ZNet (www.zmag.org). He has reported from Haiti, Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Palestine, and Chiapas (Mexico). He is a member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (www.caiaweb.org) and other activist organizations in Toronto.
The Research Connection Room 2296
Identifying relevant lessons from the struggle against South African apartheid, what research needs to be done to support a BDS campaign in Canada, and providing participants with the tools and methodologies to research the links between Canada and Israel.
Speakers:
CP Pandya is a freelance journalist and researcher on economic issues who has published in ZNet, Z Magazine, and Critical Asian Studies and been a contributing editor for The New Standard and a producer for Democracy Now!
Robert MacDermid teaches Political Science at York University and is an expert on campaign and party finance systems in Canada and who funds political parties.
Adam Hanieh is an activist with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, Al- Awda Toronto and Sumoud - Political Prisoners Group. He is co-author of Stolen Youth: The Politics of Israel's Detention of Palestinian Children.
Chair: Andrew Hugill is currently an activist with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA).
Art Strikes Back: Role of Artists in Promoting the Cultural Boycott (PWYC) Room 2214
A workshop for artists in any discipline who want to support the BDS campaign.
Artists include:
Faith Nolan is is a singer, song-writer, and guitarist who is renowned for the power and appeal of her voice. An Afro-Nova Scotian activist whose songs deal with a range of issues including Afro-Canadian history, native heritage, feminism, workers' issues and children's rights, she is a much-respected, longtime contributor to social justice and solidarity work across Canada.
Bassam Bishara is from Upper Galilee, Palestine. He is a vocalist, plays the oude and qanoon and has toured extensively throughout Europe and the United States, raising funds for the Intifada, performing with an orchestra and as a soloist. He teaches at York University and is establishing a school in Toronto which will be dedicated to Middle Eastern music.
Bill Shawanda is a designer, cross-cultural educator and community animator. He has developed workshop and creation work for some of the most challenging communities in the province. He is recognized for his work on the “Peace Tree†Project which explored the relationship between Aboriginal and non-Native peoples in 1997.
Chair: Florencia Berinstein is a visual artist in Toronto and the Coordinator of the Mayworks Festival. She was a member of Creative Response, a group of artists that put on cultural projects in support of and in solidarity with Palestine in 2002/2003.
16:00-1900 Break
1900-22:00 BILADI Cultural Evening
Join us for an Iftar (breaking the fast)/dinner followed by some of the best poets and artists in the city in an evening of solidarity between the Indigenous Peoples of the World in our struggles against Settler Apartheid
Saturday, October 7
Cecil Community Centre: 58 Cecil Street
(One street South of College, just East of Spadina)
Doors open at 6:30pm
Featuring performances by:
Bassam Bishara
Faith Nolan
Rafeef
Spin
Bighead
And
Bill Shawanda
Event will include Iftar / dinner
Sunday, 8 October 2006
0900-1000 Registration Room 2198
1000-1200 Concurrent Sessions: Focal Points of Action
The Labor Connection Room 2214
There have been many recent developments within this key sector from which to build and generate an overall organizing strategy.
Speakers:
Ken Luckhardt was Chairperson of the South African Congress of Trade Unions (SACTU) Solidarity Committee from l980-88. Founded in l955, SACTU was the first non-racial trade union federation in South. The SACTU Solidarity Committee (Canada) was mandated to establish solidarity relationships between SACTU and the Canadian labour movement by the SACTU National Executive Committee, a crucial role in mobilising labour support for the call for sanctions against the apartheid regime of South Africa. Luckhardt has also taught in Anthropology and Sociology departments in Canadian universities.
Denis Kosseim is a college professor based in Montreal. He is a member of the executive board of La Coalition pour la justice et la paix en Palestine and has campaigned extensively for his teachers's union, La FAC (Fédération Autonome du Collégial) to support the Israel boycott campaign.
Katherine Nastovski is chair of the International Solidarity Committee of CUPE Ontario, and Ontario rep, CUPE National Global Justice Committee as well as Vice President Unit 1 CUPE 3903. She was instrumental in bringing Resolution 50 to the floor in the spring Provincial convention.
Chair: Herman Rosenfeld is a member of Trade Unionists Against the War and an activist in CAW.
The Community Role Room 2213
Key communities need to be centrally involved in the BDS project. The Palestinian and Arab communities as well as solidarity communities all have significant roles to play.
Speakers:
Issam Al-Yamani is the Executive Director of Palestine House Educational and Cultural Centre in Mississauga.
John Clarke is a member of the executive committee of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP).
Others TBA
Chair: Owen Leach is a member of the Black Action Defense Committee and the Coalition of Concerned Taxi Drivers.
1200-1300 Lunch/Break
1300-1500 Concurrent Sessions
The Faith Sector Room 2214
Educating, organizing and providing resources to deliver the BDS message within faith-based communities is a specific campaign. What can we learn from past BDS campaigns and how can we manage the challenges and opportunities of the faith-based BDS campaign.
Speakers:
Wahida Chishti Valiante is a longtime political and social activist who writes on social and religious issues, including gender equality and social justice. She promotes interfaith dialogue on ethical issues and is a founding member and current national vice-president of the Canadian Islamic Congress and a member of the Christian Muslim Liaison Committee.
Richard Chambers has a Master's degree in applied ethics from Harvard University, is the public policy and advocacy co-ordinator with The United Church of Canada and serves on their Ethical Investment Committee. The United Church of Canada is the largest Protestant church in the country with congregations in over 2,000 communities.
Mohammed Shokr has been active with the Muslim community for the past 20 years in several educational and social roles. He is a National Board member of the Canadian Islamic Congress (2004-2005), and a member of The Muslim Unity (a politically advocacy group).
Chair: Karin Brothers
Campus Organizing Room 2212
What can be done on campuses -- institutional de-linking, academic boycott, withdrawal of University/College investments in apartheid corporations. What roles can students and faculty play, and how can we build a campus-based campaign across Ontario and Turtle Island.
Speakers:
Jonathan Rosenhead is Emeritus Professor at the London School of Economics. He is a member of BRICUP, the British Committee for Universities in Palestine, which is campaigning for an academic boycott of Israeli higher education institutions.
Zainab Amadahy is a Toronto-based writer, singer, activist and community worker. She was active in the University of Toronto campus anti-apartheid campaign against South Africa in the 1980s. She currently works with the Coalition in Support of Indigenous Sovereignty - Indigenous Caucus and is the Executive Director of Community Arts Ontario.
Melanie Newton is a Professor of Caribbean history, culture and politics at the University of Toronto.
Jamila Ghaddar ran in the 2003 federal elections as an Independent in the Hamilton West while still a student at McMaster University
Chair: Hazem Jamjoum is an activist with Al-Awda, Toronto and with Sumoud - Political Prisoner Solidarity Group.
1500 – 1515 Break
1515 - 1615 Plenary Session: Building A National BDS Movement: Setting the Foundations for an Anti-Apartheid Network OISE Auditorium, Main Floor
This session will evaluate past successes/failures of existing BDS campaigns and discuss ways of building a national BDS campaign. Discussion will focus on the best means of coordinating work in different cities and between different sectors.
Speakers:
Dr. Ismail Zayid was born in Beit Nuba, Palestine has had a distinguished career as a teacher and medical researcher. He has been an activist in the Palestinian and Arab cause throughout his lifeand is currently the president of the Canada Palestine Association and the Arab Canadian Association of the Atlantic Provinces. He plays a key role in the campaign to strip the JNF of its charitable status based on its active participation in the violent dispossession of Palestinians and the use of Canadian tax revenue to fund Israeli war crimes. See the website http://izayid.tripod.com
Reena Katz Is a long-standing organizer with the Jewish Womens' Committee to End the Occupation (JWCEO), the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) and ZATOUN Fair Trade Olive Oil from Palestine. She is also an audio artist and composer, focusing on violin, laptop and audio installation. She works at the Toronto Women's Bookstore, a proudly anti-racist, feminist, independent Bookstore.
Ehab Lotayef is VP communication of "Parole arabe", a member of ISM in Montreal and an active participant and organizer through the Montreal-based Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (CJPP). Ehab has travelled in recent years to both Palestine and Iraq and he is also an accomplished photographer, poet and songwriter.
Chair: Navyug Gill is a student-activist at the University of Toronto in the Palestinian anti-apartheid struggle and for indigenous people’s sovereignty in Turtle Island.
1630-1730 Plenary: Summary of Conference and Closing Panel
Confronting Apartheid at Home and Abroad: Steps Forward OISE Auditorium, Main Floor
Making the links between the struggles of Palestinians against Zionist settler-colonial apartheid and the struggles of indigenous peoples here on Turtle Island against Canadian settler-colonialism; and suggesting new directions for the struggle against Israeli apartheid.
Speakers:
Co-Chief Robert Lovelace was born into a line of Tslagi Indians through his great grandparents and is a member of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation located in the Ottawa Valley. He has been an Aboriginal rights activist for many years and currently teaches indigenous studies at Fleming College and Queen's University.
Adam Hanieh.
Chair: Zainab Amadahy
Conference end
The organizers of the conference would like to thank CUPE 3903 for its generous support without which this conference would not have been possible, and SPHR-York for its financial support.