Israeli Apartheid Week Johannesburg 2009

BACKGROUND
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is taking place in more than 40 cities across the globe (the number of cities is growing daily). As South Africans who took strength from the international campaign against apartheid we persist in condemning Israel's actions by declaring "Apartheid for one is apartheid for all!". In this spirit, the Wits Palestine Solidarity Committee together with the South African Student Congress, Young Communist League, ANC Youth League as well as with support from several University departments joins over 40 cities across the globe in hosting Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). Events will take place at both The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) and The University of Johannesburg (UJ) campuses. This year, IAW happens in the wake of Israel's barbaric assault on the people of Gaza. IAW 2009 works to build and strengthen the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement at a global level.

EVENTS

Monday-Friday, 2nd- 5th March 2009: Art Installation: Gaza Strip-ped
Wits University
East Campus
Library Lawns

Join us for a week-long interactive art display highlighting Israel's latest massacre in Gaza.

Tuesday, March 3: Panel Discussion: Should Wits Boycott Israel?
Wits University
East Campus
South West Engineering Building
Graduate Seminar Room, Faculty of Humanities
1:15

Chair
Dr Noor Nieftagodien – Department of History

Panelists
Prof. Shireen Hassim – Department of Political Studies
Prof. Ran Greenstein – Department of Sociology
Salim Vally – Education Policy Unit

Thursday, March 5: Public Rally: Why Cosatu Boycotts Israel
Wits University
East Campus
South West Engineering Building
Graduate Seminar Room, Faculty of Humanities
1:15

Bongani Masuku the international secretary of COSATU speaks about South Africa's largest congress of trade unions' action to boycott Israel.

Following the recent Israeli massacres in Gaza, the workers of COSATU (The Congress of South African Trade Unions), have taken determined efforts towards boycott, most prominently calling a national day of action against Israel under the banner "Free Palestine! Isolate Apartheid Israel!" As motviation for their actions, COSATU cites Israel's terror, including flagrant breaches of international law; repeated bombing of densely populated neighbourhoods; illegal deployment of chemical white phosphorous; and attacks on schools, ambulances, relief agencies, hospitals, universities and places of worship.

These acts support the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union's (SATAWU) historic show of solidarity with the Palestinian people: heeding a call from Palestinian civil society organisations to boycott apartheid Israel, SATAWU dockworkers refused to offload a ship that was carrying Israeli goods to South Africa.

This stand follows the example of non-violent protest and compulsion set by the international community's boycott of apartheid South Africa. As in 1963, just four years after the Anti-Apartheid Movement was formed, Danish dockworkers refused to off-load a ship with South African goods setting off a chain reaction leading to boycotts by workers in Sweden, Liverpool, and San Francisco. For this reason, SATAWU workers say, "This is the legacy and the tradition that South African dock workers have inherited, and it is a legacy we are determined to honour."

Israeli Apartheid Week Johannesburg is organized by: Wits Palestine Solidarity Committee and the Progressive Youth Alliance (ANC YL, YCL, SASCO)

To ENDORSE Israeli Apartheid Week in Johannesburg, to make a DONATION or GET INVOLVED with the organizing please email witspsc@gmail.com