Turtle Island to Palestine: Free All Political Prisoners!
To coincide with Palestine Political Prisoners Day, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), is organising a fundraiser in support of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFN) in their struggle against uranium mining on their land.Join us for a night of live cultural performances, dancing, silent auction and great food! All funds raised will be forwarded to the AAFN community.
On February 15 2008, in a travesty of justice, AAFN Spokesperson Robert Lovelace was sentenced in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Kingston to 6 months incarceration and crippling fines amounting to $25,000 for refusing to comply with an injunction that would prevent him from protesting against uranium mining on land that is part of a 25-year-old Algonquin land claim. In addition, the community was fined $10,000 and Chief Paula Sherman $15,000. The AAFN and the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation started their blockade of uranium exploration in the area in June 2007.
The highly politicized nature of these sentences further underscores the on-going criminalization of indigenous people's basic rights to self-determination and the free use of their lands and resources. Just as Israel refuses to fulfill its obligations under international law with respect to the basic rights of the Palestinian people (including the incarceration of over 10,000 Palestinian political prisoners), the Canadian government has decisively rejected its obligations under the 'UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' and continues to incarcerate indigenous leaders who defend the basic rights of their peoples to self-determination. Such a right includes the right of indigenous peoples to: "freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development" (Article 3, UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples).
Location: The Cervejaria Downtown Bar and Grill, 842 College Street (College and Ossington) Time: 7pm - 2am