CAIA Statement of Solidarity with Ardoch Algonquin First Nation

Stop Frontenac Ventures Corp. (FVC) uranium mining now!
Free Political Prisoner Bob Lovelace!
Reverse all Court Decisions Relating to AAFN co-Chief Paula Sherman!

February 20, 2008 - As a grassroots Palestine-solidarity organization committed to the rights of indigenous peoples worldwide, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) unreservedly condemns the recent decision by judge Douglas Cunningham to sentence AAFN spokesperson Robert Lovelace and AAFN co-chief Paula Sherman to six-month terms in jail. CAIA further condemns the onerous $25,000 and $15,000 fines respectively imposed on the two community activists and the additional $10,000 fine imposed on the AAFN community. CAIA notes that as an 'unrecognized' First Nations community, the AAFN receives no funding from government sources and that the imposition of such fines can only be read as an attempt by the courts to extinguish the financial viability of this community.

The highly politicized nature of these sentences further underscores the unjustified nature of 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).

Furthermore, CAIA strongly denounces Frontenac Ventures Corp. (FVC) rapacious attitude in this matter and its expropriation (without negotiations) of 30,000 acres of AAFN and Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation (SOFN) lands for the purposes of what it describes as an "aggressive exploration and development program" designed to exploit regional uranium deposits. CAIA notes that FVC's land-grab is being made on the basis of the Ontario's outdated Mining Act, which was established in the late-19th century (at the height of settler-colonial expansionism on Turtle Island). As community leaders continue to argue, the provisions of the Mining Act directly violate repeated findings of the Supreme Court of Canada with respect to First Nations treaty-rights and land-claims in similar instances. Furthermore, as the FVC itself admits, the corporation's operations "enclose a large area of very high radioactivity" meaning that FVC is knowingly engaging in a process that risks exposing local populations to the documented dangers of uranium mining.

It is for these reasons that CAIA calls for the immediate reversal of the politically motivated sentences imposed on community leaders Bob Lovelace and Paula Sherman. CAIA is particularly concerned with the repeated failure of Ontario's provincial-Liberal and Canada's federal-Conservative governments to seriously deal with land-claims in this province.

We call on all friends and allies to offer financial support to the on-going struggle of the AAFN to reclaim their lands and resist FVC's destructive behavior targeting Turtle Island. The AAFN is asking supporters to please send donations, made out to: "Chris Reid, in trust for the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation" at the address below:

Christopher M. Reid
Barrister & Solicitor
154 Monarch Park Ave.
Toronto, ON M4J 4R6
Tel: (416) 466-9928
Fax: (416) 466-1852

To The Community Coalition Against Mining Uranium (CCAMU), whose mandate is raising public awareness on the uranium issuing and achieving a moratorium. Please make cheques out to: "Uranium Mining Moratorium Fund" and mail to:
83 Cockburn St.
Perth, ON
K7H 2B7

For more information click HERE and HERE

Defend the Rights of Student Organizers! Our Movement Will Not Be Silenced!

CAIA Statement on Campus Repression at McMaster University

The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) calls on all supporters of Palestinian rights to defend the right to organize at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. Last week, the McMaster Provost office, second in authority to that of the President's office, announced that student clubs were banned from using the term “Israeli Apartheid”. This is an unprecedented attack on the right to free speech, academic freedom, and the right to organize.

This shocking decision came as students were attempting to organize events as part of Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) and was accepted by McMaster Human Rights & Equity Services (HRES) and, in turn, the McMaster Student Union. This information was communicated to Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) and McMaster Muslims for Peace & Justice (MMPJ) by the MSU and HRES. Due to this decision, these MSU approved clubs have not been able to get approval for various initiatives related to campaigns against Israeli Apartheid.

Across the globe, the movement against Israeli apartheid and in support of a comprehensive campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions has been endorsed by hundreds of universities, unions, religious groups and social justice organizations. This campaign is proudly anti-racist, and founded on the principles of opposition to all forms of racism, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. It draws its inspiration from the global campaign to isolate South African apartheid and is led by many of the same individuals who were at the forefront of that earlier struggle.

According to the U.N definition, the crime of Apartheid is defined as the “…institutionalised regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups” and includes crimes such as “… murder, extermination, deportation or forcible transfer of population, imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution against any identifiable group or collectively on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural or other grounds."

Prominent South African individuals and organizations including the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and John Duggard, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, have described Israeli practices as a form of Apartheid. Former US President Jimmy Carter, certainly no friend of the Palestinians or people of the Global South, has called Israel an apartheid state. Even Israelis, such as Haaretz journalist Danny Rubinstein, have used this term. Would McMaster University prevent these people and organizations from speaking on campus?

The movement against Israeli apartheid is rapidly growing on campuses across the world. Two days ago, the student union at the London School of Economics voted in favour of divestment from Israel. This year, Israeli Apartheid Week occurred globally in 25 locations and was launched by exiled Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, Azmi Bishara, in Soweto, South Africa (see apartheidweek.org). Over 2000 students and community members attended IAW events in Toronto, which included a conference launching the new group, High Schools Against Israeli Apartheid (HAIA).

It is in response to this success that the Zionist movement and their supporters are launching a campaign of intimidation, repression and bureaucratic maneuverings. During IAW, pro-Israeli apartheid organizations attacked the week in paid full-page advertisements in national newspapers. The Israeli ambassador organized a public forum in Ottawa to speak against IAW. Zionist groups attempted to organize counter-events on campuses but these were poorly attended and by their own admission failed miserably. A pro-apartheid demonstration organized by the far-right Jewish Defense League on the first night of Israeli Apartheid week at Ryerson University attracted a meager 25 individuals, while, at the same time, over 350 people attended the IAW lecture that night.

CAIA firmly believes that this attempt to repress student organizing will ultimately fail. The McMaster University administration should understand this message very clearly: We refuse to be silenced and we will fight back.

We call on student organizations, social justice groups and concerned individuals from around the world to support students at McMaster and the broader rights of Palestine organizers. Please take the following actions:

* If you live in the Ontario region, please plan to attend the forum on free speech and Israeli apartheid planned at McMaster University on Friday 29 February. Free buses will be leaving to McMaster from University of Toronto, Ryerson University and York University to attend this important meeting. The forum will begin at 10am with a rally immediately afterwards, and buses will return to Toronto around 2pm. All are welcome (you don’t need to be a university student) and transportation is free. Please RSVP as below.

BUS DETAILS

>>>
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
Two buses courtesy of CUPE 3903 and OPIRG UofT
Buses Leaving: 8:30am
Place: Hart House, 7 Hart House Circle University of Toronto
See: http://www.harthouse.utoronto.ca/ for directions
RSVP: macbuses@gmail.com
>>>>

>>>
YORK UNIVERSITY
Bus courtesy of York Federation of Students
Buses Leaving: 8:30am
Place: Meet at Vari Hall
RSVP: vpequity@yfs.ca
>>>>

>>>
RYERSON UNIVERSITY
Bus courtesy of Ryerson Student Union,
Local 24 Canadian Federation of Students
Buses Leaving: 8:30am sharp
Place: Student Centre, 55 Gould street
RSVP: macbuses@gmail.com
>>>>

* Email the following persons asking why they have permitted this infringement of basic democratic principles and requesting that he immediately restore the Charter rights of McMaster students.

McMaster University Provost, Dr. Ilene Busch-Vishniac: provost@mcmaster.ca

McMaster University President, Dr. Peter George: preswww@mcmaster.ca

McMaster Student Union President, Ryan Moran: msupres@msu.mcmaster.ca

Human Rights and Equity Services: hres@mcmaster.ca

* Send a message of support to the McMaster students organizing against this decision at unitedforstudentrights@gmail.com

* Contact your local media and request that they write a story on student organizing and repression at McMaster University.

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UNITED FOR STUDENT RIGHTS (U4SR) PRESENTS A Public Forum:

Rights & Responsibilities in Political Discussion on Campus: Who Speaks for McMaster?

Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 12:00pm

Details to be determined

United for Studnt Rights (U4SR) is holding a Public Forum to discuss the recent shocking decision by McMaster Student Union (MSU) and administration to unequivocally ban on campus the usage of the phrase "Israeli Apartheid". This decision was first passed by the McMaster Provost office, which is second in authority only to that of the President's office. It has been

accepted by McMaster Human Rights & Equity Services (HRES) and, in turn, the MSU. This information was communicated to Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR) and McMaster Muslims for Peace & Justice (MMPJ) early in February 2008 by the MSU and HRES. Due to this decision, these MSU approved clubs have not been able to get approval for various initiatives related to Israeli Apartheid. It is the MSU that is directly enforcing this decision, as it is the only campus body with jurisdiction over student clubs. MSU President, Ryan Moran, explained that though the MSU is not bound by this decision, it has chosen to implement it none the less. U4SR is calling on the MSU to rescind this decision immediately as part of opening up the discussion for all to decide.

Statement of Human Rights & Equity Services: "The university has taken the position that literature which refers to "Israeli apartheid" and activities promoted under the banner, "Israeli Apartheid Week" are unacceptable. The university takes the position that this phrase is in violation of the university's efforts to ensure that all people will be treated with dignity and tolerance."

According to the statement of HRES, banning Israeli Apartheid organizing is a matter of dignity and tolerance. In the view of those who use the term, opposing Israeli Apartheid is a matter of dignity and tolerance for the peoples of the Middle East and world over who are fighting for justice and for human rights. Clearly, there is a contradiction of a political nature between these two views.

U4SR considers this decision unacceptable especially given that the recent decision of the Provost is in keeping with consistent efforts by the McMaster administration, MSU and even Hamilton Police to repress Palestinian solidarity work over the last six years. At every point, Palestinian solidarity views have been presented as anti-Semitic and a matter of hate crimes. The most recent decision by the Provost is a ramping up of longstanding attempts to criminalize the views of students who oppose
Zionist violations of the human and national rights of Palestinians. Such efforts overlook the importance of political engagement and discussion on university campuses, while making political issues a matter of policy and decisions taken behind closed doors by various offices of the university. This history provides an important context for understanding that the banning of terms diverts from the violation of the political and human rights of students attempting to defend a just peace for Palestine.

These are not simple matters to be decided arbitrarily and in private. They are related to profound questions of rights and responsibilities on campus and in society at large. It is unjust to require that the students most affected should submit to this decision or simply engage in an unequal private dialogue with the administration.

A Matter for All to Decide

It is important to note that the administration has an obligation to society to respect the basic legal and moral rights of the university community. Despite all its efforts to claim that the university can act like a private corporation, McMaster is a public institution that plays a central role in the development of youth and intellectual thought. In turn, Human Rights & Equity Services is mandated to defend and elaborate issues of human rights on campus, and this function has ramifications for all of society. Similarly, the MSU plays an important role in supporting and intervening in society, as the organized front of students. In sum, the functioning of all these parts of the McMaster University and their recent decision are a matter that concerns all students, faculty, and the general Hamilton and Canadian society.

For this reason, U4SR is holding a public forum so that everyone's views can be heard. We are inviting the administration and MSU to be part of this discussion and no longer use their positions of power to impose their views on the conscience of students. We are also calling on all students, faculty, staff and members of the Hamilton community to join the discussion. Organisers will ensure that everyone's participation and comments are respected.

We, as Canadian students, are taking up our responsibility to society. We are working to end the marginalization of the McMaster community and Canadian polity at large from the decision-making processes that affect their lives and the political orientation of our society. This struggle at one university campus is a converging point for all those who believe that Canadian society should decide political matters in a public and transparent way. Join us!

United for Student Rights is an ad-hoc committee of McMaster University and Hamilton community members that was formed to facilitate public involvement in this issue. For information please contact: unitedforstudentrights@gmail.com

Shawn Brant to Speak on Indigenous Resistance

2008: Finish the Job!

Shawn Brant Speaks on Mohawk Militancy and the Struggle for Aboriginal Rights

Tuesday 26 February 2008
3:00-5:00 p.m.

The Great Hall, Champlain College, Trent University

All Welcome

Sponsored by Trent University Department of Canadian Studies, Political Studies, History, Sociology, and Indigenous Studies as well as the Peterborough Coalition Against Poverty and Champlain College.

Background Information Here

Feb. 6th Event - Occupation 101 Film Screening

Film Screening of Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority

7pm

Sadlier House, 751 George St. N.

This is a wheelchair accessible event.

Free popcorn, but donations are happily accepted!

'Occupation 101' (2006) is an award-winning introductory documentary on the nature of Israeli rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Co-hosted by the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) - Peterborough and the Peterborough Coalition for Palestinian Solidarity (PCPS)

For more information about the film screening, contact OPIRG at (705) 741-1208 or opirg@trentu.ca

60th anniversary of Al Nakba or ‘The Catastrophe’ marked by commemorative events across the globe

by Sarah Kardash and Stacy Douglas

February 3rd to 10th 2008 marks the fourth annual Israeli Apartheid Week. This international week, which began in Toronto in 2005, has now spread to Palestine, South Africa, Norway, the UK and many cities across the US and Canada. In Toronto events will take place at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University and York University.

An increased interest in these events on campuses world-wide has come at least partially as a result of the British-lead academic boycott against Israeli Universities. While touted as a controversial move, advocates of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) strategy assert that Israel holds a dominant role as a superpower in the conflict, and is buoyed by the world's fourth strongest military and a highly developed economy. According to supporters, the boycott comprises a non-violent and peaceful strategy aimed at bringing justice and therefore peace to the region. The application of a BDS strategy is inspired by the success of the struggle in the 1980s to abolish apartheid in South Africa. In the face of a formidable apartheid regime in South Africa, university students, labor unions, and churches used their economic agency to apply leverage to the demand that all racist and discriminatory practices be renounced.

In 1947-1948, over 60% of the indigenous Palestinian population were dispossessed from their land and driven from their homes. In their wake, Israel, a state resembling apartheid South Africa, was established on their homeland. Palestinians call this process of ethnic cleansing, which also includes 40 years of brutal military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Al Nakba, or ‘The Catastrophe’. In 2004 the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s currently erected ‘security barrier’ to be a violation of international law and to have it dismantled. Four years later, the 640 km long wall, complete with heavily policed checkpoints, still stands.

The call for BDS was initiated in July 2005 by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, including the Palestine trade union movement. These punitive measures are intended to be maintained until Israel ends its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantles the aptly named apartheid Wall; recognizes the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and respects, protects and promotes the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.

In the summer of 2007, while most students and faculty were off campus, presidents from over 20 universities in Canada – including Trent’s Bonnie Patterson – unilaterally issued statements declaring their opposition to the boycott of Israeli academic institutions. In response to this bold move, the Ryerson Students' Union passed a motion calling for the statement to be retracted and for a transparent and honest debate to be held around the university response to Israeli apartheid – the President's Office and the Student Union co-hosted a debate on this issue in November. In early October the Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ), which represents 60,000 CEGEP students in Quebec, approved an important motion joining the global movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions. Delegates to the 2006 CUPE Ontario annual convention passed a similar resolution (Resolution 50), which supports the international BDS campaign against Israel until that state recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination. As such, CUPE has identified the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a priority, according to their website, “particularly as Israel has violated more U.N. resolutions than any other country”.

In Peterborough, a coalition of individuals have recently come together out of a common interest in building a collective voice in support of the growing Palestinian solidarity movement. According to members of the group, called the Peterborough Coalition for Palestinian Solidarity (PCPS), their aim is to encourage awareness and informed debate and to organize collectively against Israeli apartheid. PCPS also seeks to make links with ongoing International struggles to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine, such as the Wall Must Fall and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaigns.

PCPS’s first event is sponsored by CUPE Local 3908, which represents contract faculty and student academic workers at Trent University. The event is part of CUPE’s efforts to educate its members on the apartheid nature of the Israeli state and Canadian political and economic support for these practices. Labour-focused, the PCPS event will also cover the role of trade unions in a growing global movement in solidarity with Palestine. Katherine Nastovski, member of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and former Chair of CUPE Ontario's International Solidarity Committee will present on CUPE's Resolution 50 and Herman Rosenfeld, CAW retired staff person, will discuss the reasons why Canadian workers and unions should support the rights of Palestinians.

The free event is scheduled for February 3rd from 11:00 to 1:00, in the Traill College Lecture Hall. All are welcome to attend.

Feb. 3rd Event - International Solidarity: Labour and Social Justice in Palestine

International Solidarity: Labour and Social Justice in Palestine

Sunday, February 3rd

11:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Traill College Lecture Hall

310 London Street

Peterborough, ON

This event is free and all are encouraged to attend.

The space is wheelchair accessible.

The afternoon will include presentations by:

Herman Rosenfeld

Retired Staff Person Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and member of Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA)

Katherine Nastovski

Former Chair of CUPE Ontario International Solidarity Committee and member of CAIA

AND

Zatoun Fair Trade Products from Palestine

This educational workshop will include information on the basics of Israeli Apartheid and why there has been a call for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) from over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations, including the Palestinian trade union movement.

Issued in JUly 2005, this call to action is modeled on the movement to end South African Apartheid. Labour-focused, the event will also cover the role of trade unions in a growing global movement in solidarity with Palestine, and against racism, occupation, and discrimination.

Sponsored by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3908, representing contract faculty and student academic workers at Trent University, the event is organized by the Peterborough Coalition for Palestinian Solidarity (PCPS).