The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid reported a Day of Action Against Indigo Books and Music Inc. as part of its protest activity in Toronto, Canada during the third annual Israeli Apartheid Week.
As reported in The Electronic Intifada on February 23, 2007,
Chanting “Fight the power, turn the page: Heather, Jerry, hear our rage!”, one hundred and fifty protesters marched from the Israeli consulate to a nearby Indigo Books and Music store in Toronto on Saturday afternoon. They were protesting Indigo’s majority shareholders’ support for Israeli Apartheid. The day of action was organized by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) as the culmination of the third annual Israeli Apartheid Week.
Heather and Gerry refer to Heather Reisman and Gerry Schwartz, who founded Heseg: Foundation for Lone Soldiers. At its peak, the foundation will distribute up to $3 million a year to provide scholarships and other support to former ‘Lone Soldiers’ in the Israeli military. ‘Lone Soldiers’ are individuals who have no family in Israel but decided to join the Israeli military. As Israeli soldiers, they are considered to have participated in a military that enforces apartheid by operating checkpoints restricting Palestinian freedom of movement, enforces the occupation of Palestinian land, and has a documented history of human rights violations. This bookstore has been target by CAIA before.
As Andrew Hugill, a spokesperson of the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid explained,
We’re here to put pressure on the majority owners of Indigo Books and Music Inc. to stop supporting the Israeli military through Heseg: Foundation for Lone Soldiers.
Israel is an apartheid state, founded on racism and discrimination. This boycott is part of a worldwide campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions to isolate Israel until it ends the occupation of all Arab lands, release all Palestinian and Arab political prisoners, give the right of return to Palestinian refugees according to UN resolution 194, and grant equal rights to Palestinian citizens of Israel.
Naomi Binder Wall of the Jewish Women’s Committee to End the Occupation, and also a CAIA spokesperson, said,
This store [Indigo Books and Music] presents itself as a benign cultural institution. But its majority shareholders have used the considerable wealth they have derived from it to support the Israeli military, which has been accused of war crimes in Lebanon and Palestine, and has broken international laws regarding the treatment of prisoners. As a Jew, I’m outraged that Reisman and Schwartz are supporting the Israeli military through Heseg: Foundation for Lone Soldiers.
Israeli Apartheid Week otherwise consisted of a series of lectures and activities held on campuses in Canada (Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa), the UK (Oxford, Cambridge), and the United States (New York) to highlight Israel’s policies in the West Bank.
In Toronto, Dr. Jamal Zahalka, a member of the Israeli Knesset, gave a keynote address. It was reported by Dr. Zahalka that he is facing investigation in Israel for “incitement” for giving a lecture entitled, Debunking the Myth of Israeli Democracy. Dr. Zahalka explained to the audience of 350 people who gathered at the University of Toronto that this infringement of the free speech of an elected politician underscores the lack of democracy for Palestinians living under Israeli Apartheid. He reported that a law that could revoke the citizenship of anyone who expresses disloyalty to the idea of “a Jewish and democratic state” had already passed its first reading in the Knesset. The law, he said, targets the Palestinian minority inside Israel.
The CAIA continued to support the call for boycott, divestment and sanctions that came from 170 Palestinian organizations. Reena Katz of the Jewish Women’s Committee to End the Occupation explained the importance of this call for the possibility of a solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict:
Our understanding of restorative justice and true democracy comes from the thousands of Palestinian led progressive, grassroots groups and coalitions worldwide.
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http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6584.shtml
Crossposted at My Left Wing, Eternal Hope, Evenhanded Democrats
