ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK 2008
February 3 – 10
60 Years of Nakba: End Israeli Apartheid

Dear Friends:

We invite you to take part in the global week of activities, Israeli Apartheid Week, to be held on campuses across the world from 3 - 10 February 2008. Israeli Apartheid Week will be taking place for the fourth consecutive year. It will be a week-long series of events held concurrently in Canada, the U.S, U.K, South Africa, and Palestine.

The past few years have seen an explosion of literature and analysis that has placed Israel alongside other settler-colonial states like South Africa, arguing that Israel is in fact an apartheid state, not just a belligerent occupying power. Prominent Palestinians, Israeli anti-Zionists, and South Africans have been at the forefront of these efforts. At the same time, an international divestment campaign has gained momentum in response to a statement issued in July 2005 by over 170 Palestinian grassroots and civil society organizations calling for boycotts, divestments and sanctions against Israel. Important gains have recently been made in this global campaign.

The aim of Israeli Apartheid Week is to push forward the analysis of Israel as an apartheid state and to bolster support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign in accordance with the demands outlined in the July 2005 Statement: full equality for Arab citizens of Israel, an end to the occupation and colonization of the West Bank and Gaza, and the implementation of the right of return and compensation for Palestinian refugees pursuant to UN resolution 194.

Israeli Apartheid Week began with these objectives in Toronto almost 4 years ago. It was a big success that received the attention of media worldwide. Last year, several other university campuses across Canada and the UK joined together and organized a coordinated Israeli Apartheid Week. This year, still more campuses have pledged to participate.

The analysis of apartheid put forward during Israeli Apartheid Week in previous years has played an important role in raising awareness and disseminating information about Zionism, the Palestinian liberation struggle, and its similarities and differences with the indigenous sovereignty struggle in North America and the South African anti-Apartheid movement.
Our events are united by an analysis of Israel as an apartheid state, commitment to the Palestinian right of return, opposition to all forms of racism, and solidarity with oppressed people across the globe. In North America (Turtle Island), we have attempted to highlight the central importance of solidarity with indigenous people of the continent. The simultaneous events across the globe make a powerful statement against Israeli apartheid.

The 2008 Israeli Apartheid Week takes place on the 60th Anniversary of Al Nakba; 60 years of ethnic cleansing and exile for Palestinians.

For the first time IAW will also be occurring at universities in the West Bank. Activities vary from campus to campus, consisting of guest lectures, demonstrations, cultural events and film nights.

We would like to invite your organization to participate in IAW by organizing an event or series of activities for IAW 2008. It can be as little as one lecture or as much as a full week's activities. The events will be listed on the IAW website, endisraeliapartheid.net Please contact us at.. if you would like to be part of these activities, tell us a little bit about your organization and what type of event(s) you might organize between 3 February - 10 February.

Join us in making 2008 a year of resistance to Israeli apartheid.
The refugees will return!

Contact: saia@riseup.net