In the framework of IAW, several events which included a series of lectures and debates, BDS actions, a musical evening and a self-training session were organised from 12 to 23….
In the framework of IAW, several events which included a series of lectures and debates, BDS actions, a musical evening and a self-training session were organised from 12 to 23 March 2018 in the following French cities: Paris, Lyon, Montpellier, Toulouse, Grenoble, Saint Etienne, Rennes, Saint Nazaire and Marseille.
IAW has two major purposes:
– To alert public opinion to the fact that Israel is an apartheid state and that this situation must be brought to an end, as happened in the case of South Africa.
– To win support for the Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, launched and backed by Palestinian civil society since 2005.
Last year marked 100 years of struggle since the Balfour Declaration and 2018 marks 70 years of resistance to the Naqba[[The Naqba (catastrophe in Arabic) was not an event but is a process, which continues to this day: the expulsion of the Palestinians from their land. On 15 May 1948, Palestine was wiped off the map when the proclamation of the State of Israel was hurriedly recognised by the international community. In the months that preceded and followed that fateful day, hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages were destroyed by the zionist armed forces and two-thirds of the population were compelled to flee into exile.]], which is still in progress, and which was the theme of the 2018 IAW.
We were glad to welcome two speakers who toured France during IAW:
Virginia Tilley, Professor of Political Science at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in the USA and co-author, together with Richard Falk, of the United Nations report entitled: “Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid”. The report was subsequently censored by the UN Secretary-General.
Adri Nieuwhof, researcher and human-rights defender, journalist for the Electronic Intifada, who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa and who has conducted several workshops to organise the BDS campaign in Palestine and in Europe.
In some cities the organisers came under local pressure from agents of Israel, nevertheless all the events took place and were well attended, most of them being held on university campuses.
Inspired by and as allies of the popular resistance in Palestine, we made the French IAW 2018 a fitting contribution to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.
Details of each event can be found on the Facebook page IAW France, on BDS France (website and FB) and on Twitter CampagneBDS.