Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign (BIAC) - Vancouver
3rd VANCOUVER RALLY TO END THE SIEGE ON GAZA & PROTEST ISRAELI WAR CRIMES !
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Saturday Jan 10 @ 1 pm
Vancouver Art Gallery
For info email vancouver.gazaprotest@gmail.com
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Nearly 1000 people have came out in the midst of snowstorms on Monday Dec 29th and January 3rd to show our solidarity with the people of Gaza. With the ground invasion starting this week and a growing number of fatalities, our ongoing support for the people of Palestine - along with millions of other people of conscience worldwide - is critical.
Demonstrations across Canada this weekend were held in Winnipeg, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Windsor, London, Hamilton, as well as Montreal and Toronto where 10,000 people gathered in each city. With further actions being planned globally, please come out for a 3rd rally (rain, snow or shine!) to demonstrate your outrage and our collective humanity in response to the latest massacre of Palestinians.
==> TAKE ACTION!!!
The latest crisis is the single largest massacre in Gaza since Israel illegally occupied Gaza in 1967, many among the dead are civilians and children and the numbers keeps mounting. Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has stated that, "the operation will last as long as necessary". Israel's latest massacre in Gaza occurs with official US and Canadian complicity towards Israel’s illegal siege and ongoing sanctions over the civilian population in Gaza. Over the past two years the Gaza Strip has been undergoing the daily violence of a wide-ranging humanitarian catastrophe triggered by severely reduced access to energy, food, and medicines.
1) Email the prime minister, foreign affairs minister, and leaders of the opposition. Visit: http://www.cjpme.ca/action_gaza_2008_12.shtml
2) Respond to biased media coverage. Visit http://letgazabeheard.wordpress.com to send sample emails to the BBC, CNN, and Fox News regarding their biased coverage and use those template letters to send to Canadian media outlets.
==> ENDORSING ORGANIZATIONS
Adala - Arab Justice Committee
Al-Awda - Vancouver
BC Muslim Association
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign
Canadian Arab Federation - National
Canada Palestine Association - Vancouver
Canadians Against War
Canadian Islamic Congress BC
Canadian Muslim Union
Canpalnet
Code Pink Women for Peace (local chapter)
DTES Elders Council
Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)
Indigenous Action Movement
Iranian Centre for Peace Freedom and Social Justice
Jews for a Just Peace - Vancouver
Muslim Canadian Federation - Vancouver
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
Palestinian Islamic League - Canada
Salaam -Vancouver
Siraat Collective
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights - University of British Columbia
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
StopWar Coalition
Students for a Democratic Society (UBC)
The Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice
Vancouver Socialist Forum
Voice of Palestine - Vancouver
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
==> REPORTS ON DEC 29 AND JAN 3 RALLIES
1) DEC 29: Approximately 250 in Vancouver Protest Israeli Massacres in Gaza
Article (including 34 photos) from Dec 29th protest:
http://www.straight.com/article-177783/protesters-rally-vancouver-against-israel%3F%3Fs-gaza-attacks
Mainstream news from the Province:
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=7832a374-dc9e-4079-9b83-eaa9eff2ae8e
Video from Dec 29th protest:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TATYHJiLOL4
Press TV coverage of Dec 29th:
mms://217.218.67.244/presstv/20081230/OUTPUT_10-03-00-FTP-ZAHRA-VANCOUVER.wmv
2) JAN 3: Approximately 800 in Vancouver Protest Israeli Massacres in Gaza
Amidst a heavy snow storm and some of the coldest weather in Vancouver yet, approximately 800 residents of Vancouver gathered to express their outrage at the latest Israeli massacre in Gaza. Protesters gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery and then marched along Vancouver's busy shopping district along Robson Street, including a stop at Chapters-Indigo bookstore whose majority shareholders financially support the Israeli military. Just as the protest was beginning, those gathered received news that Israel had begun a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip. Speakers during the protest included Palestinians, Anti-Zionist Jews, indigenous elders, trade unionists, leaders within the BC Muslim community, community organizers, and students; all of whom condemned Israel's latest massacre, Israel's ongoing illegal occupation of Palestine, and the US and Canadian government's unconditional support of Israel including the siege and sanctions regime against Gaza. Chants during the march included "Hey Gaza don't you cry, Palestine will never die", "Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea", "Occupation is a crime, from BC to Palestine", "Viva Viva Intifada", "Fight the Power, turn the Tide, End Israeli Apartheid", "Hey Hey Israel, Palestine will not kneel" and "Free Free Palestine". The rally ended with tens of young people throwing their shoes at photo caricatures of US President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barack. It was also announced that $3500 was raised to go to Gaza directly via the Takkaful Project.
* Photos: http://flickr.com/photos/blackbird_hollow/sets/72157612208504516/
* Video footage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g3IufhAun4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywYGQE0iNnc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hckXAqb1jpU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w43MG9Li0OI&feature=channel
==> FAQ ABOUT CURRENT SITUATION IN GAZA
1) IS ISRAEL STILL OCCUPYING GAZA?
Yes. Despite withdrawing its illegal settlements and army bases from the Gaza Strip in 2005 it remained the occupying force according to international law.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Territory, Prof. John Dugard, stated in 2008: “The test for determining whether a territory is occupied under international law is effective control, and not the permanent physical presence of the occupying Power’s military forces in the territory in question. Judged by this test it is clear that Israel remains the occupying Power as technological developments have made it possible for Israel to assert control over the people of Gaza without a permanent military presence."
2) DID HAMAS VIOLATE THE CEASEFIRE?
No. This is an Israeli myth. Hamas respected their side of the ceasefire, except on those occasions early on when Israel carried out major offensives against the civilian population in the West Bank. In the last two months, the Israeli military broke the ceasefire and killed 17 Palestinians.
Furthermore, Israel did not live up to any of its obligations under the terms of the ceasefire. This included ending the siege and allowing vital humanitarian aid to resume in Gaza. Rather than the average of 450 trucks per day being allowed across the border, on the best days only eighty have been allowed in; with the border remaining hermetically sealed 70% of the time. Throughout the supposed cease-fire; Gazans have been forced to live like animals, with a total of 262 dying due to the inaccessibility of proper medical care. Now after hundreds dead and counting, it is Israel who refuses to re-enter talks over a cease-fire. They are not intent on securing peace as they claim; it is more and more clear that they are seeking regime change – whatever the cost.
3) ISN'T ISRAEL ACTING IN SELF-DEFENCE?
No. Israel has the most powerful military in the Middle East and is the largest recipient of US military aid in the world. In contrast, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have lived under military occupation since 1967 and lack any effective military capabilities.
According to United Nations statistics, from September 2000 to April 2008, the Israeli military killed 2677 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In the same period, 11 Israelis were killed by Palestinian home-made rockets. In November 2008 (the last month of the cease-fire), at least 14 Palestinians were killed by Israeli military. Not a single Israeli was killed. Over the last week, the Israeli military has killed over 400 Palestinians and nearly 2000 are critically injured. Five Israelis have been killed. These figures make it clear who is really under attack.
But in order to really understand the disastrous situation in the Gaza Strip we need to look beyond the fatality statistics and understand that Israel’s targeting of Palestinian civilians has a long history: For over 19 months, Israel has placed the Gaza Strip under complete siege. Food, medical supplies, fuel and other necessities of life have not been allowed into the area. Nearly half of the population in Gaza does not have enough food to meet its basic needs. A total of 262 Palestinians have died because Israel’s siege prevented them from receiving proper medical attention. The reality is clear: over 1.5 million Gazans effectively live in an open-air prison and are now being bombarded by the most powerful military force in the Middle East. To claim that Israel is acting in self-defence is simply to engage in blaming the victim and to obscure where the real culpability lies.
4) ARE ISRAEL'S ACTIONS IN COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL LAW?
No. Israeli indiscriminate bombardment of the Gaza Strip constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention to which Israel is a signatory. The places that Israel has targeted include schools, mosques, a university that provides education to over 20,000 students, private homes, densely populated refugee camps, police stations, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Justice, the Palestine Legislative Council. All of these are clearly not military installations, and targeting them is considered a breach of the Geneva Conventions.
Professor Richard Falk, an authority on international law and the current UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Territory issued a statement accusing Israel of massive and severe violations of international law, including collective punishment, targeting civilians and disproportionate military response. In addition to the destruction visited on the Gaza Strip. Israel is also blocking aid and supplies from arriving to the Gaza Strip, leaving the Palestinians in the Strip on the brink of famine, and the already impoverished hospitals with little ability to provide heath services.
5) WHAT CAN PEOPLE IN CANADA DO?
First, we need to understand that peace is impossible without justice. Palestinians must be allowed to live free of occupation and those driven from their homes and lands in 1948 must be allowed to return. These are basic human rights and the essential preconditions for peace.
The renowned legal scholar and UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Territories, Richard Falk, recently wrote “I call on all Member States [of the UN], as well as officials and every relevant organ of the United Nations system, to move on an emergency basis not only to condemn Israel’s serious violations, but to develop new approaches to providing real protection for the Palestinian people.”
The Canadian government is doing precisely the opposite. The Canadian government has not condemned Israel’s clear violation of international law and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, which is consistent with their longstanding policy of unconditional support for Israel. There are historical precedents. In the struggle against South African Apartheid, the Canadian government placed sanctions on the South African apartheid regime until it complied with international law. Likewise, the Canadian government can do the same today and people in Canada must demand that this happen.
6) WHAT DOES THE UN SAY?
The overwhelming majority of the international community has strongly condemned the recent Israeli attacks on Palestinians in Gaza. In particular, the United Nations, has strongly condemned the attacks on a besieged population in Gaza.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed her grave concern and distress at the enormous loss of life in the escalating violence in Gaza. She called on Israel’s leaders to uphold International humanitarian law principles, especially those relating to proportionality in the use of military force and the prevention of collective punishment and the targeting of civilians. She also called on Israel to lift the air, sea and ground blockade it is imposing on the 1.5 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, and to allow humanitarian assistance and independent outside monitoring.
Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Territories:
“The Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip represent severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions, both in regard to the obligations of an Occupying Power and in the requirements of the laws of war.”
“I note that Israel’s escalating military assaults have not made Israeli civilians safer; to the contrary, the one Israeli killed today after the upsurge of Israeli violence is the first in over a year. Israel has also ignored recent Hamas diplomatic initiatives to re-establish the truce or ceasefire since its expiration on December 26.”
“The Israeli airstrikes today, and the catastrophic human toll that they caused, challenge those countries that have been and remain complicit, either directly or indirectly, in Israel’s violations of international law. That complicity includes those countries knowingly providing the military equipment including warplanes and missiles used in these illegal attacks, as well as those countries who have supported and participated in the siege of Gaza that itself has caused a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; UN Humanitarian Chief:
John Holmes, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator expressed shock at the living conditions in the Gaza Strip and deplored the current restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial goods in and out of the area.
“I have been shocked by the grim and miserable things that I have seen and heard today, which are the result of current restrictions and the limitations on the number of goods that are being allowed into Gaza.”
7) WHAT ARE SOME TALKING POINTS TO COUNTER MEDIA MISINFORMATION?
Gaza is the world's largest open-air prison. 1.5 million residents are packed into an area 45 km long x 10 km wide, while Israel controls Gaza's air space and borders. Over 80% of the population are refugees denied their legal Right to Return to the homes and lands from which they were expelled in 1948. Israel also illegally restricts Palestinian freedom of movement into and out of Gaza. For example, in August 2008, Israel denied three Gazan Fulbright Scholars their basic right to education by having
their American entry visas revoked.
Gaza has been under complete siege since June 2007, during which time the 1.5 million people of Gaza have been cut off from sufficient fuel, food, and medicine. Two weeks ago, the UN reported that Gazans were living without power for up to 16 hours each day; half of Gaza's population was receiving water only once a week for a few hours; 80% of the water in Gaza did not meet World Health Organization standards for drinking; the unemployment rate had risen to almost 50%; only 23 of 3,900 industrial enterprises were operational; more than 79% were living below the poverty line; more than 56% were food insecure; and patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer or diabetes could not be adequately treated or cared for. (See: http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_situation_report_2008_12_17_english.pdf)
Since 2001, fewer than twenty Israelis have been killed by Qassam rockets. In three days, nearly 400 Gazans have been killed by Israeli state violence. This is a ratio of 20 Gazan lives for each Israeli life, with the death toll in Gaza certain to increase. In January 2008, UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard stated, "a distinction must be drawn between acts of mindless terror, such as acts committed by Al Qaeda, and acts committed
in the course of a war of national liberation against colonialism, apartheid or military occupation. While such acts cannot be justified, they must be understood as being a painful but inevitable consequence of colonialism, apartheid or occupation." Israeli and Palestinian violence can in no way be viewed as symmetrical -- individual Palestinians have chosen to resist their occupiers with largely ineffective home-made
rockets, while the Israeli state, which boasts the fourth most powerful military in the world, has responded by collectively punishing the captive population that it illegally occupies. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, collective punishment is a war crime. As the occupier, the burden is on Israel to end its state violence.
Israel is an apartheid state. Canada must sever diplomatic ties with Israel and implement sanctions against it until Israel complies with international law. UN General Assembly President Father Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann recently called for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel, similar to the one that ended apartheid in South Africa.
8) WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION?
* Live from Palestine diaries
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/diaries.shtml
* The Gaza Crisis Talking Points by Phyllis Bennis
http://www.zmag.org/zspace/commentaries/3727
* Democracy Now interviews:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/29/israeli_attacks_kill_over_310_in
* Gaza: Colonial Violence and Flawed Justifications
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/2373
* If Hamas Did Not Exist: Israel Has No Intention of Granting a
Palestinian State by Jennifer Lowenstein
http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein01012009.html
* Gaza: the logic of colonial power in The Guardian
http://tinyurl.com/8sp9bf
* Israeli Slaughter, International Culpability
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/20075
* Gaza massacres must spur us to action by Ali Abunimah:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10055.shtml
* Israel's Wanton Aggression On Gaza
http://countercurrents.org/lendman291208.htm
* Current Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza:
http://www.freegaza.ps/english/index.php?scid=100&id=555&extra=news&type=55
END THE SIEGE ON GAZA! PROTEST ISRAELI WAR CRIMES !
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Saturday Jan 3 @ 1 pm
Vancouver Art Gallery (Robson side - (corner Hornby)
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Hundreds came out in the rain, sleet and snow on Monday Dec 29th to show our solidarity with the people of Gaza. We're mobilizing again for Saturday Jan 3rd, 1pm at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Please come out rain, snow or shine to demonstrate your outrage and our collective humanity in response to the latest massacre of Palestinians.
*** Article (including 34 photos) from Dec 29th protest: click here.
*** Mainstream news from the Province: click here.
*** Video from Dec 29th protest: click here.
*** Press TV coverage of Dec 29th: click here.
At least 300 Palestinians have been killed and over 1400 injured in the latest Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, while the threat for further bloodshed still hangs heavily as air strikes continue. This is the single largest massacre in Gaza since Israel illegally occupied Gaza in 1967, many among the dead are civilians and the numbers keeps mounting. The Israeli state shows no sign of halting its assault anytime soon as they have begun to amass tanks and ground assault military vehicles on the border with Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, has stated that, "the operation will last as long as necessary".
Israel’s latest massacre in Gaza occurs with official US and Canadian complicity towards Israel’s illegal siege and ongoing sanctions over the civilian population in Gaza. Over the past two years the Gaza Strip has been undergoing the daily violence of a wide-ranging humanitarian catastrophe triggered by severely reduced access to energy, food, and medicines. In effect, Gaza is the world’s largest open air prison.
Join us in Vancouver as people of conscience to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza and to demand an end to the siege of Gaza and Israeli apartheid.
==> TAKE ACTION!!!
1) Email the prime minister, foreign affairs minister, and leaders of the opposition. Visit: http://www.cjpme.ca/action_gaza_2008_12.shtml
2) Respond to biased media coverage. Visit http://letgazabeheard.wordpress.com to send sample emails to the BBC, CNN, and Fox News regarding their biased coverage and use those template letters to send to Canadian media outlets.
==> LINKS ON CURRENT SITUATION:
* Photos from Gaza:
http://thephilistine.org/2008/12/27/the-latest-pictures-from-the-bombing-of-gaza/
http://ingaza.wordpress.com/
* Live from Palestine diaries
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/diaries.shtml
* The Gaza Crisis Talking Points by Phyllis Bennis
http://www.zmag.org/zspace/commentaries/3727
* Democracy Now interviews:
http://www.democracynow.org/2008/12/29/israeli_attacks_kill_over_310_in
* Gaza: Colonial Violence and Flawed Justifications
http://www.tadamon.ca/post/2373
*If Hamas Did Not Exist: Israel Has No Intention of Granting a Palestinian State by Jennifer Lowenstein
http://www.counterpunch.org/loewenstein01012009.html
* Gaza: the logic of colonial power in The Guardian
http://tinyurl.com/8sp9bf
* Israeli Slaughter, International Culpability
http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/20075
* Gaza massacres must spur us to action by Ali Abunimah:
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10055.shtml
* Israel's Wanton Aggression On Gaza
http://countercurrents.org/lendman291208.htm
* Current Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza:
http://www.freegaza.ps/english/index.php?scid=100&id=555&extra=news&type=55
==> TALKING POINTS ABOUT GAZA FROM COALITION AGAINST ISRAELI APARTHEID
* Gaza is the world's largest open-air prison. 1.5 million residents are packed into an area 45 km long x 10 km wide, while Israel controls Gaza's air space and borders. Over 80% of the population are refugees denied their legal Right to Return to the homes and lands from which they were expelled in 1948. Israel also illegally restricts Palestinian freedom of movement into and out of Gaza. For example, in August 2008, Israel denied three Gazan Fulbright Scholars their basic right to education by having their American entry visas revoked.
* Gaza has been under complete siege since June 2007, during which time the 1.5 million people of Gaza have been cut off from sufficient fuel, food, and medicine. Two weeks ago, the UN reported that Gazans were living without power for up to 16 hours each day; half of Gaza's population was receiving water only once a week for a few hours; 80% of the water in Gaza did not meet World Health Organization standards for drinking; the unemployment rate had risen to almost 50%; only 23 of 3,900 industrial enterprises were operational; more than 79% were living below the poverty line; more than 56% were food insecure; and patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer or diabetes could not be adequately treated or cared for. (See: http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_gaza_situation_report_2008_12_17_english.pdf)
* Since 2001, fewer than twenty Israelis have been killed by Qassam rockets. In three days, nearly 400 Gazans have been killed by Israeli state violence. This is a ratio of 20 Gazan lives for each Israeli life, with the death toll in Gaza certain to increase. In January 2008, UN Special Rapporteur John Dugard stated, "a distinction must be drawn
between acts of mindless terror, such as acts committed by Al Qaeda, and acts committed in the course of a war of national liberation against colonialism, apartheid or military occupation. While such acts cannot be justified, they must be understood as being a painful but inevitable consequence of colonialism, apartheid or occupation." Israeli and \alestinian violence can in no way be viewed as symmetrical -- individual Palestinians have chosen to resist their occupiers with largely ineffective home-made rockets, while the Israeli state, which boasts the fourth most powerful military in the world, has responded by collectively punishing the captive population that it illegally occupies. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, collective punishment is a war crime. As the occupier, the burden is on Israel to end its state violence.
* Israel is an apartheid state. Canada must sever diplomatic ties with Israel and implement sanctions against it until Israel complies with international law. UN General Assembly President Father Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann recently called for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions against Israel, similar to the one that ended apartheid in South Africa.
==> Organized by various Palestine solidarity groups.
For more information email vancouver.gazaprotest@gmail.com
** ENDORSED BY:
Adala - Arab Justice Committee
Al-Awda - Vancouver
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign
Canadian Arab Federation - National
Canada Palestine Association - Vancouver
Canadians Against War
Canadian Islamic Congress BC
Canadian Muslim Union
Canpalnet
Code Pink Women for Peace (local chapter)
Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)
Indigenous Action Movement
Iranian Centre for Peace Freedom and Social Justice
Jews for a Just Peace - Vancouver
Muslim Canadian Federation - Vancouver
No One Is Illegal-Vancouver
Palestinian Islamic League - Canada
Salaam -Vancouver
Siraat Collective
South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights - UBC
StopWar Coalition
Students for a Democratic Society (UBC)
The Organizing Centre for Social and Economic Justice
Vancouver Socialist Forum
Voice of Palestine - Vancouver
Groups that are part of the CAIA network agree with the basis of unity but organize their activities and actions in an independent manner.
PICKET CHAPTERS/INDIGO! CUT THE TIES WITH ISRAELI APARTHEID! JUNE 9 NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION
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Saturday June 9 from 1-5 pm @ multiple locations:
Chapters - Robson & Howe 788 Robson Street
Chapters - Broadway and Granville 2505 Granville Street
We are also confirming pickets in Surrey, Burnaby, Richmond, Coquitlam,
Langley, and North Vancouver. Please contact us for more details if you
can join us in these locations.
Email boycottapartheid@gmail.com or call 604-220-0451
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This June, Palestinians will mark the 40-year anniversary of Israel's military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Syrian Golan heights. This anniversary comes 59 years after the Palestinian Nakba ("catastrophe" in Arabic) that saw the displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians and the creation of the colonial state of Israel in historic Palestine. In response to a call from the Active Steering Committee of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, cities across Canada and around the world are holding actions against Israeli occupation and apartheid.
In Vancouver, one of the various actions includes a picket of Chapters/Indigo stores across the GVRD that is being organized by the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign. A national boycott of Chapters/Indigo bookstore was launched in December 2006, demanding an end the financial ties between the majority owners of Indigo Books & Music Inc.and the Israeli Military.
Majority owners Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, who own or control 68% of the shares of Chapters and Indigo bookstores, are the founders of the "Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers," which provides scholarships and other financial support to soldiers in the Israeli Military on the basis of need and military "achievement". At its peak, the foundation will distribute up to $3,000,000 annually to former 'Lone Soldiers' - individuals without family in Israel who have chosen to join the Israeli military and remain in the country permanently. As Israeli soldiers, they participate in a military that enforces the illegal occupation of Palestinian land, and has a well-documented history of human-rights violations and war crimes.
To mark the anniversary in Vancouver, join the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign on this National Day of Action in front of Indigo Books and Music Inc. in locations throughout the city on June 9 to demand an end to the financial support of majority shareholders Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz for Israeli apartheid.
Boycott Indigo-Chapters, Boycott Israeli Apartheid!
Information: boycottapartheid@gmail.com or call 604-220-0451. This boycott is endorsed by the Palestine Community Centre, Canada Palestine Association, International Solidarity Movement - Vancouver, Trade Union Committee for Justice in the Middle East, Jews for a Just Peace, No One Is Illegal - Vancouver, Canada-Palestine Support Network, and Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians.
==> WHAT YOU CAN DO
* Join us for the picket on Saturday June 9th.
* Tell friends and relatives not to shop at Chapters/Indigo. Encourage them to support independent book retailers!
* Write/fax/phone the board of Indigo/Chapters demanding a public renunciation of Reisman and Schwartz's financial support to the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers:
Indigo Board of Directors
500-468 King St W Toronto ON, MSV 1L8
Tel: (416) 364-4499
Fax: (416) 364-0355