Saturday Morning BDS Conference Sessions

Several general educational session were offered the Saturday morning of the conference; Apartheid 101, Lessons from South Africa, Popular Resistance to Israeli Apartheid, Israeli Apartheid as a Feminist Issue, Exploring Canada's Ties to Israeli Apartheid, Jewish Support for BDS, Indigenous Solidarity, Access to Healthcare Under Israeli Apartheid, and Land and Environment under Israeli Apartheid.

Indigenous Solidarity

“The burden of decolonization should not rest on indigenous people.” Harsha Walia

I was drawn to the Indigenous Solidarity session because I can see similarities between the Israeli colonization of the Palestinian people, and the European colonization of the indigenous people of Turtle Island – and because Judy Da Silva was one of the speakers. Judy is an elder from the Anishnabe nation and lives in Grassy Narrows, Ontario – a community that invited CPT to accompany them when they began their blockade of logging roads in 2002 to prevent Abitibi from clear-cutting their traditional lands.

Clifton Arihwakehte Nicholas is a Kanienkahak (Mohawk) and was the first speaker in this session. He reminded attendees that they didn't need to go to other countries to see apartheid – it exists in our own backyard in Canada. The cultural, social and linguistic depravation of the First Nations, a deliberate strategy of European colonization, has resulted in the 3^rd world conditions on reserves. There are different levels of effects of colonization across Canada because of different points of contact with European colonizers (i.e. it is more recent in western and northern Canada). Clifton shared how comfortable he feels around his Palestinian friends because they understand his struggle and he understands theirs. Clifton encouraged organizations interested in indigenous solidarity to work on getting Canada to ratify the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Harsha Walia is a South Asian activist, writer and researcher based in Vancouver who has been involved in the migrant justice movement. She warned us to avoid simplifications when working on both indigenous solidarity and the BDS campaign as 500 years of colonization is very different than the relatively recent Israeli occupation of Palestine. According to Harsha, all organizing should have indigenous solidarity at it's core because all the issues, to a higher percentage of the population, affect indigenous people. However the indigenous struggle cannot be absorbed into any other kind of struggle. Racism of indigenous people is nothing like racism of other people of colour. Our solidarity with the indigenous struggle must not come from a place of guilt but a place of responsibility.

Judy Da Silva said that only about 50 of 700 people from Grassy Narrows are active in organizing against the colonization of their lands. Her people carry a lot of fear and this affects what some of them are willing to do – especially when they experience discrimination on a daily basis from the Canadian government, companies wanting access to their land, and neighbouring white communities. The indigenous population across Canada is increasing at a rate 3% higher than the rest of Canada – and she feels that's why First Nations women are being targeted for attacks, rapes and murders – as they are the life-givers and mothers of the nations. She encouraged people and organizations standing in solidarity with Grassy Narrows to think about where the paper that they use come from and where the paper for books that they read/promote come from.

Jewish Support for BDS

“The red line in the discourse around Israel has changed from 10-15 years ago for Jews – now we can criticize Israel – the new line is BDS.” Sydney Levy

Sydney Levy has been with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) since 2000, currently working on a campaign to encourage TIAA-CREF (retirement investment planning company) to divest from companies that profit from the Israeli occupation. Sydney spoke about the importance of Jewish organizations joining the BDS campaign to help address the backlash against the campaign. The arguments are that BDS is anti-Semitic and divisive. The JVP provides Jewish answers to these arguments - to backlashes that the JVP receives and to backlashes against other non-Jewish organizations working on the BDS campaign. Israeli authorities have said that the BDS campaign is a threat to the state and there are efforts to have a Jewish counter response for any BDS campaign event within 12 hours. This article in the Tuesday edition of the Montreal Gazette is perhaps an example of such a response to the recent conference, and is full of the standard counter arguments against the BDS campaign.

These two sessions for me emphasized the strong purpose of the conference – to build solidarity both between different groups which are working on the BDS campaign – and also between other organizations who are mainly working on other issues, but who support the BDS call.

From Sharpeville to Gaza: 5 Years Since the Palestinian Call for BDS

“If calling for equality destroys any state then what does that say about the state?” Omar Barghouti

“South Africans have experienced apartheid so they don't apply that label on other parts of the world lightly.” Stephen Faulkner

The opening session of the October 22-24 BDS Conference in Montreal Quebec was an inspiring panel of three great speakers – below is a summary of the highlights for me of what each of them spoke about.

Areej Ja'fari is a Palestinian refugee living in Deheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem. She is the West Bank coordinator for the Palestine Freedom Project and has been working with grassroots Palestinian youth organizations in the refugee camps on promoting support for BDS and anti-normalization. One definition of the term 'anti-normalization', is efforts to combat “the subtle and insidious processes that legitimize Israel's colonization and occupation policies even as they purport to pursue peace.” This normalization of the occupation has been perpetuated by international organizations (especially after Oslo) that fund projects in Palestine and require the project to have an Israeli partner. From her work, Areej feels that Palestinian youth know their rights, but don't always have the tools to fight for their rights. She said that Palestinians need better leadership that comes from both women and youth. Areej was one of the organizers of the first Israeli apartheid week at Palestine universities this past spring - she's definitely a leader!

Stephen Faulkner is the International Officer of the South African Municipal Workers Union, one of the larger affiliates of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). COSATU plays a leading role in several campaigns including the Coalition for a Free Palestine, a united front of South African Palestine solidarity groups. Stephen provided several lessons that the BDS campaign could learn from the struggle against Apartheid South Africa:

• be careful in thinking that victory is around the corner, it is a long haul

• there is no substitute for self-determination, it IS a Palestinian BDS call

• make sure you give enough attention to what to do after you win the BDS demands, simply defeating apartheid has not solved the problems in South Africa

Stephen encouraged the BDS campaign to be a microcosm of the type of society that we want to build – and to be fully democratic, united, moving outwards, and willing to motivate people.

Omar Barghouti is the founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (his upcoming book, BDS: The Global Struggle for Palestinians Rights, will be published by Haymarket). Omar spoke about how the Israeli occupation has not only been a colonization of the land, but also a colonization of the mind (i.e. the destruction of thousands of Palestinian books, closures at different points through the years of schools and universities). This deeper level of colonization of Palestine makes the call for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel that much stronger. Omar also touched on the increasing shift to the right of the Israeli government, to the point that the debate in Israel among the Jewish population is about fascism not apartheid. With the Israeli government discussing anti-BDS legislation, Israel is beginning to shift towards becoming non-democratic for Israeli Jews (it is already non-democratic for Palestinian Arab Israelis). Omar had the following recommendations for the BDS campaign:

• that local organizations decide the tactics and targets as they know the context of their local situation best

• a boycott of ALL Israeli good and products (it is the state that built and supports the settlements, so don't just do a boycott of settlement goods)

• put pressure on the Jewish National Fund (for which there is a Canadian chapter of that has charitable status in Canada)

• call for an immediate arms embargo in the region (for all parties in the conflict)

• call for an end to free trade agreements with Israel

Omar was interview by The Real News Network about the BDS call.

For those of you new to the 2005 Palestinian BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) of Israel call please go to www.bsmovement.net to learn more about it. The call asks for BDS measures to be maintained until Israel meets its obligation to recognize the Palestinians people's inalienable right to self-determination and fully complies with the precepts of international law by:

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall;

2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and

3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN resolution 194.