Issues CAIA's Speakers Bureau can address

Introduction to Palestine : A Primer

Nakba (1948 - creation of State of Israel)
Meaning “disaster” or “catastrophe” in Arabic, the Nakab refers to the expulsion and flight of approximately 750 thousand Palestinians (around two-thirds of the total Palestinian population) from what is now called Israel in 1947-1948. During this time, Zionist militias committed massacres against Palestinians in an attempt to drive the indigenous population from their land. These Palestinians became refugees. Many of them now live with their descendents in refugee camps across the Middle East awaiting their return home. Our speakers can provide more in depth analysis of Nakba.

Right of Return of Palestinian Refugees
This fundamental right is found in article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). It states clearly that "everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country." This right has been violated by Israel for nearly 60 years, through its denial of the right for Palestinian refugees to return to their homes after the Nakba. According to Israel’s 1950 ‘Law of Return’, any person of Jewish descent, from anywhere in the world, has the right to move to Israel and become an Israeli citizen (a right, it should be noted, that is explicitly passed from generation to generation). This is one example of Israel’s apartheid nature: Palestinians are forbidden from returning to their homeland precisely because of the fact that they are Palestinian. Palestinians now make up the largest stateless refugee population in the world. International law recognizes their right to return to their homes and lands, both as a collective refugee group and as individual refugees. Our speakers can present an in depth overview of the Palestinian refugees and their right of return.

The Wall
In June 2002, Israel began implementing the next stage of its expansionist program by building a large concrete wall and associated network of electrified fences, trenches and minefields inside the West Bank. The Apartheid Wall, as it has become known by the Palestinian population, is planned to extend for 703 km. When finished, an estimated 60,500 West Bank Palestinians living in 42 villages and towns will reside in the closed zone between the Wall and the 1948 armistice line (the Green Line).The path of the Wall is aimed at annexing Israeli settlements into Israel-proper and caging off Palestinian areas into isolated cantons that resemble open-air prisons. Massive destruction has been felt by communities including the razing of agricultural land, damage to irrigation networks, isolation of water resources, and the demolition of homes and community infrastructure; all of this atop of the prevention of accessing their land, markets, and traveling for employment and to visit family. CAIA can speak more about the impact and the ideologies underlying this massive colonialist project.

Apartheid - South Africa connection
The origins of Apartheid can be traced to the early South African regime of racial separation. The word Apartheid itself means “separateness” or “apartness” in Afrikaans and is defined as a legal system whereby separate systems of law are applied to different groups of people based solely on ethnic or racial grounds. Israel is an apartheid state. Palestinians living in Israel face deliberate and systematic discrimination even though they are Israeli citizens. Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are subject to harsh Israeli military law while Israeli settlers occupying the same geographical location fall under Israeli civil law. Our speakers can present how Israeli apartheid closely resembles the apartheid nature of South Africa.

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign: On July 9th 2005 over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations called for a campaign of international boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Inspired by the struggle against racial discrimination in Apartheid South Africa, this campaign calls for the isolation of Israel and the cutting of ties with Israeli economic, political, cultural and academic institutions until such time as the Israeli government adheres to international conventions and UN resolutions. CAIA speakers can talk about the burgeoning movement around the world to boycott and divest from apartheid Israel.

House Demolitions
Since 1967, over 12,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished by the Israeli military, leaving 70,000 Palestinians homeless. In the Gaza Strip alone, 12, 712 people have been made homeless due to house demolitions since September 2000. These demolitions are carried out for punitive reasons or to force Palestinians to leave particular areas. Residents are often given only a few minutes before the demolition takes place and lose their belongings in the destruction. CAIA can speak more about demolition of Palestinian homes in the Occupied Territories by the Israeli military and the impact on Palestinian families.

Settlers / Settlements
According to current estimates over 400 thousand Israeli settlers currently reside in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. During the Oslo Peace Accords, the number of settlers in the West Bank doubled. Israel continues to build illegal settlements. These settlements are built on confiscated Palestinian land and are strategically placed to divide Palestinian population centers from each other. The construction of the apartheid wall is intended to annex these settlements into Israel proper. CAIA speakers can present how the settlements within in the Occupied West Bank and devastated the Palestinian livelihood.

Water and Land resources
Palestinian use of water is regulated by Israeli military orders and it is illegal to construct wells or deepen existing ones in the West Bank. 75 percent of occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip renewable water resources are used by Israel. Three million Palestinians are allowed to use 250 million cubic metres per annum (83 cubic metres for each Palestinian per year) while six million Israelis enjoy the use of 2.0 billion cubic metres (333 cubic metre for each Israeli per year), which means that one Israeli consumes as much water as do four Palestinians. Each Israeli settler is allocated 1,450 cubic metres of water per year. CAIA speakers can discuss how the environment in Palestine has been affected by the Israeli apartheid.

Gaza
This narrow piece of land along the Mediterranean coast measures only 40km in length and 10km in width and is home to more than 1.4 million Palestinians, giving it one of the world’s highest population densities. Israel officially seized Gaza during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. In 2005, Israel redeployed its troops and settlers from the area. Nevertheless, Israel still controls Gaza’s airspace, economy, water, and all entry into and out of the strip. Gaza thus remains under Israeli occupation. Currently eight refugee camps are located in Gaza and are intertwined with surrounding communities. Gaza has become a besieged and imprisoned territory as a result of sanctions imposed by Israel and the West, and consequently is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in Palestinian history. CAIA members can speak in more detail about the current situation and strangulation of Gaza.

West Bank
The West Bank fell under the British Mandate of Palestine in 1922 after the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Following the 1948 Nakba, Jordan took control of the area until 1967 when it was occupied by Israel. One-fifth of the Palestinian population was driven from their homes and lands by Israeli forces during the 1967 war. The vast majority of these people would be prevented from ever returning. Palestinians call this second expulsion (the first being in 1947-1948) the “Naqsa” (disaster). Israel declared a military government that controlled every aspect of Palestinian life in the occupied territories. Palestinians living in the West Bank did not become Israeli citizens but came under Israel’s political, economic and military control. Over 2,500 military orders were passed that apply only to Palestinian residents in the area, not to Israeli settlers who are governed by Israeli civil law. This dual, discriminatory system of laws for two people living in the same area is one illustration of the apartheid-like system Israel has established in the West Bank. CAIA members can speak in more detail about the particular humanitarian crisis and the apartheid situation in this area.

Political Prisoners
Ten thousand Palestinians from the Occupied Palestinian Territories are being held as political prisoners by the Israeli army or police. This figure includes 370 Palestinian children and 103 Palestinian women (including girls). Israel continues to practice torture and other forms of mistreatment against Palestinian detainees including severe beatings, being tied in painful and contorted positions for long periods of time, psychological abuse, long periods of solitary confinement, and pressure to collaborate with the occupying forces. Most of these prisoners are transferred out of the occupied territories to prisons inside Israel, in violation of international law.

Palestinian Women
Palestinian women have bore the brunt of Israeli apartheid. Thousands of women have endured the loss of their husbands, sons, daughters, their homes and land to the brutality of the occupation. Many women, whose families live off the benefits of their land have found themselves with no source of livelihood after the Apartheid Wall has severed them from their land and crops. Currently Israeli prisons hold 103 Palestinian women (including girls) as prisoners; over the past three years, over 500 women have been arrested by Israeli occupation forces. CAIA speakers can give a more detailed overview of how Palestinian women’s lives are affected by Israeli apartheid.

Palestinian children
As a result of the continuous aggression by the Israeli army within the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian children are exposed to daily violations of their rights in contravention of international law. Cuts to international aid to the Palestinian people have directly affected the implementation of economic, cultural and social services, undermining the exercise of children's rights. In 2006, the Israeli army killed 124 children during military operations in the Palestinian Territories. The total number of children killed since the beginning of the Second Intifada in September 2000, by the Israeli army and illegal Israeli settlers, is now at 860. Additionally, 5200 Palestinian children have been arrested by the Israeli army since the Second Intifada and among them, close to 400 are still being held in Israeli prisons and interrogation centres, exposing them to many violations of their rights.

Oslo Process
The disastrous Oslo Accords of 1993 established a system in which the Palestinian Authority (PA) became reliant upon foreign funds in return for political quiescence. Israel guaranteed the subservience of PA through control over border crossings and movement between cities along with massive land confiscations that included setting up checkpoints, settlements, and bypass roads. The number of Israeli settlements doubled during the Oslo years, further cementing the system of apartheid in the West Bank. Following the beginning of the Second Intifada in September 2000, various ‘peace initiatives’ were undertaken by the international community including Camp David II, The Road Map, Geneva Accord, Gaza’s ‘unilateral disengagement plan’, and recently the Riyadh summit. Our speakers can discuss these negotiations from a Palestinian perspective and provide insights on how the Palestinian population has been affected by them.

Palestine and the United Nations
The United Nations has a long and difficult relationship with the struggle for Palestinian rights and justice. Following the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 194, affirming the right of Palestinian refugees from the 1947-48 war to return to their homes and to receive compensation for their losses. When Israel joined the UN the following year, its membership (Resolution 273) was contingent on its acceptance of the obligations imposed by earlier resolutions, including 194. But Israel has largely ignored this and many other resolutions since. While many resolutions have been passed in the UN General Assembly addressing the rights of Palestinians, the US has vetoed many of those brought to the Security Council. Our speakers can provide a thorough analysis of the role the United Nations has played in the region.

Israeli Democracy
Although Israel often markets itself as the only "democracy" in the Middle East, Palestinian citizens of Israel face systematic discrimination in areas of employment, housing and education. In the 2002 budget, Israel’s housing ministry spent about $30 per person in Palestinian communities inside Israel compared with up to $3250 per person in Jewish ones. The same year, the health ministry allocated just 1.6m shekels ($433,700) to Palestinian communities of its 277m-shekel ($76 million) budget to develop healthcare facilities. In 1965, Israel declared the lands and homes of 100,000 Palestinian citizens of Israel as “unrecognized.” They still exist, but are denied electricity, water, sewage and other basic services. They do not appear on maps. Israel has reserved 93 percent of the land in Israel proper – most of it either belongs to Palestinian refugees or was expropriated from Palestinians - for Jewish development through state ownership, the Jewish National Fund and the Israeli Lands Authority. These are all aspects of Israeli apartheid. CAIA speakers can discuss the situation of Palestinian citizens of Israel in detail.

Zionism / anti-Zionism
Zionism is a colonialist ideology promoting the establishment of an exclusively Jewish state in Palestine. This ideology has spearheaded the settlement of Palestinian land and the expulsion of the indigenous population. In 1923 Vladimir Jabotinsky, one of the leading intellectuals of the Zionist movement, wrote: "Zionist colonization must either stop, or else proceed regardless of the native population. Which means that it can proceed and develop only under the protection of a power that is independent of the native population - behind an Iron Wall, which the native population cannot breach." Since that time, these words have become the official and unspoken policy of the Zionist movement and later the state of Israel. Since its inception, many Jews have opposed Zionism but their voices have largely been silenced by mainstream pro-Israel, Jewish organizations. Our speakers can provide an historical overview of both Zionism and the anti-Zionist movement.

Anti-Semitism: What it is, and What it isn’t
Supporters of Israel frequently label those who are critical of Israeli state policies as anti-Semitic. These charges are meant to divert attention from Israel’s human rights abuses. The idea of an exclusively Jewish state on Palestinian land is based on a political ideology, Zionism, and is not the same as the religious or cultural identity of Judaism. In fact there are many Christian Zionists, and there are many anti-Zionist Jews. CAIA opposes all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism. To falsely raise the charge of anti-Semitism trivializes the experiences of those who have suffered from it, and at the same time serves to silence discussion and dialogue that advances solidarity for Palestinian rights. Our speakers can address these issues in detail.

Canada and Israel
Under the previous Liberal government and the current Conservative government, Canada has shed any pretense at having an independent foreign policy. The Canadian government provided full support to Israel in its U.S-armed war against the people of Lebanon last year. As Israeli state violence escalated through the summer, claiming hundreds of Palestinian and more than a thousand Lebanese lives, Prime Minister Stephen Harper described Israel’s attack as a "measured response" while Foreign Minister Peter Mackay referred to Israel as a "democracy" acting in "self-defense". In March, 2006, the Canadian government was the first in the world to cut aid to the democratically-elected Palestinian Authority. The Canadian government also maintains a large number of economic and political agreements with Israel that help to sustain Israeli apartheid and Canadian corporations have close links with Israel. Israeli war criminals frequently visit Canada with impunity. These links are supported by a network of pro-Israel advocacy organizations. CAIA speakers can provide further information about the links between Canadian foreign policy and Israeli apartheid, as well as Israel advocacy groups within Canada.

Israeli war Crimes / Palestine and International Law
In the name of ‘security’ Israel regularly carries out war crimes in the occupied territories and has embarked on a massive colonialist project of building checkpoints, settlements, and the Apartheid Wall in West Bank. In the Gaza Strip alone, between June 25 and November 2006, over 400 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military, more than half of them civilians, including 90 children. In the course of operations termed “Summer Rains” and “Autumn Clouds”, the Israeli military committed 364 military incursions in Gaza, along with persistent artillery shelling and air-to-surface missile attacks, destroying homes, schools, hospitals, mosques, public buildings, bridges, and all electricity supplies. These alarming figures are compounded by Israel’s war against Lebanon in the summer of 2006, where over 1000 Lebanese civilians were killed by Israel’s military in just over one month. CAIA speakers can provide a complete overview of Israeli war crimes and history of Israel’s violation of international law.

Palestinian Workers
The exploitation of Palestinian workers and the destruction of the Palestinian economy are pillars of Israeli occupation and apartheid. The struggle for socio-economic rights and justice of the Palestinian workers is thus an integral part of the Palestinian national struggle for liberation. The struggle for decent work in Palestine is not only a struggle for better working conditions, salaries and benefits but also a struggle against the system of permits, exclusion, harassment and oppression imposed on the workers by the Occupation. International solidarity for Palestinian workers is thus foremost solidarity against the Occupation. On February 11, 2007, Palestinian workers' federations and vocational and professional trade unions reaffirmed the Unified Palestinian Call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions issued on July 9, 2005, and called for workers solidarity to 1) Boycott and divest from Israel, 2) Work towards sanctions upon Israel, 3) Boycott the Histadrut (Israeli trade union federation). They appealed for such actions "until Israel stops its crimes against our people and implements international law and human rights." CAIA members can talk more about the situation of Palestinian workers and how to be effectively in solidarity with them.