The direction of the University Paris 8 yields to pressure from the CRIF and cancels a conference

We learn with consternation that the President of the University Paris 8 has decided to retract the authorization that had been previously granted for a conference entitled “Israel, a state of apartheid?” This initiative, to be held on the 27th and 28th February, intended to bring together specialists from France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Belgium in order to have a rational discussion about the aforementioned subject matter.

Using the pretext of possible “trouble to public order”, the President of Paris 8 has retracted permission for the conference, despite there having been detailed knowledge of the program, the speakers and a budget allocated by the management of the university for the event.

What is clear is that the intolerable pressure exerted by the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) has led the President of Paris 8 to retract its permission for the event. In a recently published statement, the CRIF denounced the conference, waving the threat of possible disturbance to “public order”.

Is it no longer possible to exercise freedom of speech in French universities in relation to the field of the politics of Israel and Palestine? According to the CRIF and its followers, the response is no. This buckling in the face of pressure from the CRIF is not unusual. Last year it succeeded in shutting down a forum for discussion, which resulted in the cancellation of a conference at the Ecole Normal Supérieur (ENS).

The cancellation of the upcoming conference and last year’s at the ENS is a clear demonstration of how the management of a public academic institution will yield to the injunctions and threats from a corpus that presents itself as the voice of the entire Jewish community in France but is in reality a mouthpiece for the Israeli embassy.

We ask the President of Paris 8 to reverse this decision and permit the conference to take place. Freedom of expression and academic liberties are far too precious to be smothered by intimidation campaigns.

Endorsing organizations (in alphabetical order) :

14 Friends of Palestine, Marin, California

Al Awda, The Netherlands

Al Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition

Al-Awda NY- The Palestine Right to Return Coalition

Al-Nakba Awareness Project

American Arab Forum, New Jersey, USA

Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine.

Association Belgo-Palestinienne (ABP)

Bay Area Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace

Bay Area Women in Black, Oakland, California, USA

BDS Catalonia

BDS Group Berlin

BDS South Africa

Birmingham Peace Project

Birthright Unplugged

Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign – Vancouver

Breed Platform Palestina (Haarlem), The Netherlands

BRICUP, British Committee for the Universities of Palestine

Central New York Working for a Just Peace in Palestine & Israel – Syracuse New York, USA

Centre international d’études pédagogiques – CIEP

Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Toronto, Canada

CODEPINK Women for Peace

Comitato Pace, Disarmo e Smilitarizzazione del Territorio- Campania

Comitato Palestina Bologna, Italy

Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine, Oak Park Illinois

COMMIT – Community Leadership Institute: Growing Justice & Accountability

Coordinamento Pace e Solidarieta, Parma, Italia

Cornell Student for Justice in Palestine (JSP)

CU-Divest! Don’t Invest in Israeli Apartheid

Ecumenical Working Group for Middle East Peace, Philadelphia, PA USA

EPACBI, European Platform for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

Forum Palestina, Italy

Free Palestine and Secure Israel

Free Palestine Movement

Friends of Palestine (WI)

Haags Vredesplatform, The Netherlands

Hope Foundation, The Netherlands

Humanistisch Vredesberaad, The Netherlands

ICACBI, Italian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel

Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter

InterDenominational Advocates for Peace in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild, US

International Socialist Organization (ISO), USA

International Solidarity Movement – Italy (Turin)

International Solidarity Movement – Italy (Udine)

International Solidarity Movement – Northern California

Internationale Socialisten (IS), The Netherlands

Israel Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA)

Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions-USA

Justice First Foundation, Inc.

Jews for Justice for Palestinians, London

Justice for Palestinians, San Jose, CA USA

Justice Voices

Keep Hope Alive Olive Tree Campaign-USA

Labor for Palestine – New York City Labor Against the War

Labor for Palestine (U.S.)

Leidse Actiegroep Stop de Bezetting, The Netherlands

Miami-Dade Green Party

MidEast: JustPeace (Traverse City, Michigan, USA)

Nederlands Arabische Stichting (NAS), The Netherlands

Nederlands Palestina Komitee, The Netherlands

New Profile

New School Students for Justice in Palestine,

New School University, New York, NY, USA.

Osservatorio EuroMediterraneo e del Mar Nero

Palestijnse Gemeenschap Nederland (PGN), The Netherlands

Palestina Komitee Nijmegen, The Netherlands

Palestina Komitee Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Palestina nel cuore (Rome, Italy)

Palestine Solidarity Committee – Harvard College

Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI)

Peace Action Montgomery (Montgomery County, Maryland, USA)

Penn for Palestine, University of Pennsylvania

PennBDS, University of Pennsylvania

People of Faith CT

Right To Education, Birzeit University, Palestine

Saint Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

San José Peace and Justice Center

Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights – University of British Columbia (SPHR – UBC)

Stanford Students for Palestinian Equal Rights

Stichting Palestijnse Vrouwen in Nederland, The Netherlands

Stichting Palestina, The Netherlands

Stichting Stop de Bezetting, The Netherlands

Students Allied for Freedom & Equality, University of Michigan

Students for Justice in Palestine-  University of New Mexico

Talliq, The Netherlands

Task Force on Peace with Justice in Palestine/Israel of United Methodist Upper New York Conference

Temple University Students for Justice in Palestine

The Committee for Peace in Israel of East Hampton, NY USA

The Free Palestine Subcommittee, US

The Norwegian comitee for academic and cultural boycott of the state of Israel (AKULBI), Norway

Tiye International, The Netherlands

Trade Union Friends of Palestine (Irish Congress of Trade Unions)

Transnational Institute (TNI), The Netherlands

U4P, The Netherlands

Un ponte per…

Universitaire Activisten, The Netherlands

US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

US Palestine Community Network- (USPCN)

US Palestinian Community Network

VAMEP – Virginains for Middle East Peace,  Arlington, VA

Verenigde Wereldburgers voor Internationaal Recht, The Netherlands

Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel

Veterans for Peace in the USA, New Hampshire

Vrijwillige Internationale Aktie (VIA), The Netherlands

Vrouwen in het Zwart, The Netherlands

Way to Jerusalem – Church of the Savior , Washington DC

Werkgroep Keerpunt, The Netherlands

WILPF Nederland, The Netherlands

Yorkshire Palestine Cultural Exchange, Sheffield

MONDAY, MARCH 12

Featuring:
Remi Kanazi, Palestinian poet from New York 
Special guests including Indigenous poet Kat Norris
and the Palestinian children’s art exhibition, 
A Child’s View from Gaza  

Facebook Event:https://www.facebook.com/events/175622595882387/

- additional performers to be announced!-

Join the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign for a powerful night of cultural resistance and poetic in/justice. Art, culture, poetry and performance are a part of the struggle for liberation, reflecting its creative potential, insisting on existence in the face of genocide, colonialism, occupation and imperialism, speaking truth to power and tearing down apartheid walls.

Featuring powerful spoken word and poetry from:

Remi Kanazi, acclaimed  Palestinian-American poet, writer, and activist based in New York City. He is the editor of Poets For Palestine (Al Jisser Group, 2008). His political commentary has been featured by news outlets throughout the world, including Al Jazeera English, GRITtv with Laura Flanders, and BBC Radio. His poetry has taken him across North America, the UK, and the Middle East, and he recently appeared in the Palestine Festival of Literature as well as Poetry International. Remi is the author of the long-awaited collection Poetic Injustice: Writings on Resistance and Palestine, a diverse mix of unabashed resistance poems. You can find out more about Remi and Poetic Injustice at poeticinjustice.net.

Videos of Remi’s performances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ60E1Y-yNE, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZJ4bWfPa1k&feature=related

Kat Norris is the founder of Indigenous Action Movement and survivor of the Kuper Island Residential School. Kat joined the American Indian Movement and has been a social activist since.

…and presenting the art exhibition, A Child’s View From Gaza, featuring 25 drawings and paintings created by Palestinian children and youth from the Gaza Strip following the 2009 Israeli assault on Gaza. It will be touring the Vancouver area, organized by the Vancouver Child’s View From Gaza Committee. The full exhibition will join us at InterUrban Gallery for this evening of resistance culture!

Organized by Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign (Vancouver).

Canada and Israel:

A free public forum featuring:

Glen Coulthard
Dana Mohammed Olwan
Mike Krebs

Monday March 5th
7 pm @ SFU Harbour Centre
515 W. Hastings Street, Vancouver

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/368923696468778/

On a recent trip to Israel, Canadian foreign minister John Baird stated that ‘Israel has no greater friend in the world than Canada.’ This is only the latest statement of strong support by the Conservative government for Israel, at a time when around the world Israel is coming under growing criticism for its ongoing policies of apartheid towards Palestinian people, the continued occupation of their lands, and the denial of their right to return to the lands from which they have been displaced in repeated wars of colonization since 1948.

This increased awareness about Israel’s policies of apartheid is reflected in the growing world-wide campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) targeting Israel until it complies with international law, and is a response to the 2005 call from Palestinian civil society for BDS as one of the most effective ways for people to support the Palestinian struggle against Israeli apartheid and occupation.

Meanwhile, the resistance of indigenous people continues all across Canada, including struggles against the continued theft of indigenous lands and resources, surviving the countless abuses of the residential school system, and demanding an end to the gendered colonial violence that continues against indigenous women.

How does the Canadian government’s support for Israel relate to Canada’s own historical and ongoing colonization of indigenous people here? What are the implications for supporters of the Palestinian struggle in carrying out solidarity work from within a ‘fellow’ settler society?

This event is part of Vancouver’s program for Israeli Apartheid Week, an international series of events held each March in cities and campuses across the globe. This year, Vancouver will be joining more than 70 cities around the world in raising awareness about the system of apartheid in Israel and building the growing international movement of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns. For the full Vancouver IAW schedule, please see http://boycottisraeliapartheid.org/iawvancouver

About the speakers:

Glen Coulthard is a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation and an assistant professor in the First Nations Studies Program and the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

Dana Mohammed Olwan teaches in the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University. She is former national chair of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights and a current member of Faculty for Palestine.

Mike Krebs is a Vancouver-based indigenous activist of Blackfoot and European descent. He is a member of the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign in Vancouver.

Organized by Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign (Vancouver).

Facebook event:  https://www.facebook.com/events/179203568849907/
Please forward WIDELY!

Join us for a VIGIL and PROTEST for Khader Adnan, Palestinian prisoner on the 61st day of his Hunger Strike, protesting his arbitrary detention without charge. We will stand outside the CBC building to highlight Khader Adnan’s invisibility – and the invisibility of the Palestinian voice – on CBC and in Canadian media.

This vigil comes in response to an urgent call for international solidarity from Randa Adnan, Khader Adnan’s wife, and Jihad Adnan, Khader Adnan’s father. Khader Adnan is a Palestinian political activist, baker, husband and father who is being held in administrative detention by the Israeli occupation military forces. Administrative detention is detention without charge, based only on secret evidence, indefinitely renewable by military judges.

His hunger strike has now lasted 61 days. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for Khader Adnan to be charged or released. Thousands of people around the world have called for his release. In Palestine, dozens have been injured as protests calling for his release were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Despite these calls, an Israeli military appeal upheld Khader’s administrative detention on Monday. He has still not been – and will not be – charged with any crime. Khader Adnan is demanding the end of administrative detention in Palestine.

And here in Canada, Khader Adnan’s case has been missing from the Canadian media – ignored and silenced – while the Harper government parades its unconditional support of Israel (and its illegal settlements, land confiscation, and detention without charge).

Khader Adnan has been on hunger strike since December 17, 2011, when he was seized from his home in Arraba outside Jenin in the occupied West Bank of Palestine by Israeli soldiers Before entering his house, soldiers used the driver that takes Khader’s father to the vegetable market, Mohammad Mustafa, as a human shield by forcing him to knock on the door of the house and call out Khader’s name while blindfolded. Khader Adnan was tortured and abused – and has never been charged with any crime.

For more information on Khader’s case: http://samidoun.ca/2012/02/urgent-heed-randa-adnans-call-military-court-rejects-khader-adnans-appeal-in-de-facto-death-sentence/

Lavan, the skin care and soap store that boasts of carrying all Israeli products, notes that its name, Hebrew for “white,” “was chosen to represent purity and cleanliness but also to bring Canada and Israel together with the color the two countries share on their flag.” This was the third picket of the store by the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign
 (boycottisraeliapartheid.org) and allied activists. Lavan has festooned its store with Valentine’s Day decorations and promotions, including a “Wall of Love” on which it invites customers to write.

Of course, for a store that sells all Israeli products, the “Wall” carries a different meaning – a meaning of separation, segregation, land-theft and dispossession. “Shame, Lavan, Shame – no apartheid in love’s name!” “Justice for Palestine! Justice on Valentine’s!” Protesters chanted Valentine’s chants and serenaded Lavan their own version of “Tainted Love” (See lyrics) as they carried signs adorned with hearts, flowers, and ribbons and balloons, distributing flyers and candy to passers-by.

Three buzzards of occupation made an appearance overhead, carrying Lavan’s “Apartheid-Tainted Love” in their beaks and claws, and even the notorious Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman made an appearance in puppet form with the Puppet Liberation Front.

The “Apartheid Wall of No Love” dominated the sidewalk in front of the store, drawing attention to the sharp distinction between the aura of luxury promoted by Lavan – and the real cost of their “secrets from the Dead Sea” for Palestinians.

Marking those real costs of occupation and apartheid, picketers honoured Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, currently on hunger strike for 57 days, with real love, calling for his freedom. Khader Adnan is held without charge by the Israeli military, and has been on hunger strike since his arbitrary detention, protesting torture and abuse. Hunger strikers face dangers of organ failure after the 50th day, and Khader Adnan is currently in hospital, shackled to his bed, and continuing to resist.

The protest was not announced prior to the event, but Lavan summoned police immediately upon the activists’ arrival; the Vancouver Police Department showed up in four police cars. While the police were in the store talking to Lavan, a Lavan supporter or staff member came out of the store, grabbed the Apartheid Wall and attempted to drag it off inside the store. The VPD told protesters the Wall would have to remain further out on the sidewalk, so as to not “block the display” in Lavan’s window.

While the police lectured protesters about “constructive engagement,” activists insisted that the police must instead return to the store and address the only person engaged in any form of violence or vandalism. That individual continued to periodically exit the store during the protest to photograph and swear at picketers.

Activists from the Canada Palestine Association, Samidoun, Queers Against Israeli Apartheid and other community groups joined the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign for the protest – as did the puppets (and their people) from the Puppet Liberation Front.

While Israeli companies like Lavan benefit from the minerals of the Dead Sea, Palestinians from the illegally Israeli-occupied West Bank have been denied access to the northern Dead Sea’s beaches and minerals for over a decade. The Palestinian people, living under occupation and apartheid and in exile, have called for a global campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions against all Israeli goods, products, and institutions. Protesters planned to keep spreading the word about Lavan’s apartheid-”Tainted Love.”

For more information or to get involved, please visit the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign at http://boycottisraeliapartheid.org/.

Video:
http://youtu.be/eGnbyVHeiCw

Photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/108372588540838322157/NoLoveForIsraeliApartheidValentineSDayLavanPicketFeb122012

Story at the Vancouver Media Co-op:http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/story/no-love-valentines-palestine-activists-protest-lavans-tainted-love/9902

“Tainted Love” alternate lyrics

Sometimes we feel we’ve got to
Run away
We’ve got to
Get away
From the pain Lavan drives into the heart of us
We know you don’t care
We’re not going anywhere
and we’re here to fight
we don’t know how you sleep at night

(chorus)
Once people ran to you (we ran)
Now They’ll run from you
these tainted soaps you’ve given
gave you all apartheid could give
Taking lives and that’s not nearly all
Tainted love
Whoa oh oh
Tainted love

Now we know, we’ve got to
Run away
We’ve got to
Get away
You don’t really want any more from us
To make things right
You think apartheid is alright
And it may be valentine’s day
But we’re sorry
we don’t play that way

(chorus…)
Once people ran to you (we ran)
Now They’ll run from you
these tainted soaps you’ve given
gave you all apartheid could give
Taking lives and that’s not nearly all
Tainted love
Whoa oh oh
Tainted love

Don’t touch me pleaseeee (stretch last word)
Boycott will bring victorieees (stretch last word)
and lavan will be
first to go
So You should pack your bags and go
Tainted love,
Whoa oh oh
Tainted love
Whoa oh oh
Tainted love
Tainted love
don’t Touch my baby,
don’t touch my baby,
tainted love (x2)