Wednesday, March 03, 2010


CANADIAN POLITICS-TORONTO:
UPCOMING EVENTS THIS WEEK IN TORONTO:
Here,from the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) is a run down of upcoming events this week in Toronto.
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Important Events this Week: International Women's Day, IAW, and Health for All!‏
Important Events in the City This Week:
1) ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK: March 1 - 7th @ U of T and Ryerson
2) Health for All Event: Fixing a Broken Health Care System for Immigrants and Refugees: Thursday, March 4th 6:30 @ U of T (Details Below)
3) JOIN OCAP at International Women's Day:
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Meeting: 12:30 at the corner of Bedford and Bloor St (outside of OISE)
More Details are Below!
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1) Israeli Apartheid Week:
Solidarity in action:
Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions
March 1 - 7, 2010
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We are very proud to announce our preliminary list of confirmed speakers along with the specific themes of each evening for IAW 2010.
Mark your calendars with the different topics for each evening and speakers:
To check out video footage from previous events held in Toronto and the official trailer of IAW 2010 see:
A complete list of speakers and events is available at http://www.apartheidweek.org/
MONDAY, March 1
Five Years Since the BDS Call - Celebrating Our Success
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Ted Rogers School of Management, Auditorium, 7th Floor,
Room TRS-1-067,
55 Dundas Street West,
Ryerson University
Hosted by the CAW
-Sam Gindin Chair in Social Justice and Democracy
Na'eem Jeena: is an academic, author, journalist, community leader and post-graduate student. He is currently the Director of the Afro-Middle East Centre, a research institute dealing with the Middle East, and a PhD candidate in Political Studies. Na'eem has a history of activism in the anti-apartheid struggle, and is a well-known activist in South Africa. He has been a leading figure in the Palestine solidarity and anti-war movements in South Africa. Na’eem also served for many years on the Board of the Freedom of Expression Institute, including as its Deputy Chairperson. He also worked for the FXI as Head of the Anti-Censorship Programme, Head of its Access to Information Programme, and as Director of Operations.
TUESDAY, March 2
Fighting Racism, Fighting Apartheid
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: OISE Auditorium, 252 Bloor St. West,
University of Toronto
Hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid – a working group of OPIRG-Toronto
Nadia Elia is a faculty member at Antioch University, Seattle, where she teaches Gender and Global Studies. She is co-founder of RAWAN (the Radical Arab Women's Activist Network), chairs the Anti-Militarism and Occupation taskforce of Incite! Women of Color Against Violence, and serves on the Organizing Committee of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. A scholar-activist, Elia is the author of Trances, Dances, and Vociferations: Agency and Resistance in Africana Women's Narratives, co-editor of The Color of Violence: the INCITE anthology, and has published numerous articles on the sociopolitical factors impacting gender and national identity in societies at war and/or under occupation.
Gabriel Ash is an activist and writer. Since 2000, Gabriel has been engaged in work in support of Palestinian liberation, including with Stop U.S.Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now!, Palestine Activist Forum New York, and the International Solidarity Movement. Gabriel wrote numerous articles about related topics, in particular Israeli politics, in many movement publications, including Left Turn, Electronic Intifada, Numb Magazine, Dissident Voice and others. He was born in Romania and grew up in Israel, where he translated Michel Foucault and J.-F. Lyotard into Hebrew. He contributes regularly to the blog, "Jews Sans Frontieres" and is active in the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network and in lachaine.ch, a web TV collective.
7th Generation Indigenous Visionaries (7th GIV) founding members met while attending Haskell Indian Nations University, our purpose is to build solidarity and bridge the gaps with tribes/nations in the U.S. and other Indigenous people around the world. 7th GIV is dedicated to the preservation of our culture by promoting educational experiences to increase awareness through reflexive interaction with other Indigenous peoples. Members of 7thGIV took part in a delegation to Palestine this past summer.
WEDNESDAY, March 3
‘Planning’ Apartheid: Environment, Architecture,and Colonialism
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: Medical Sciences Building, Auditorium, 1 King’s College Circle,
University of Toronto
Hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid – a working group of OPIRG-Toronto
Ilaria Giglioli has recently completed a Masters degree in Geography from the University of Toronto, where her research focused on water politics and territory in Palestine. She has worked on water vulnerability mapping for the Palestinian research institute ARIJ, and is a long-time Palestine solidarity activist in Canada and abroad.
Atif Kubursi is emeritus professor of economics and also teaches in the Arts and Science Programme at McMaster University. Dr. Kubursi also taught economics at Purdue University in Indiana, USA, was senior academic visitor at Cambridge University, UK in 1974/75, and lectured and consulted at Harvard between 1989-1998. Dr. Kubursi also served as the Acting Executive Secretary, at the Undersecretary General level, of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in 2006, 2007 and 2008. He is the recipient of the Canadian Centennial Medal.
THURSDAY, March 4:
Coming Out Against Apartheid: Queer Solidarity Activism
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Location: OISE Auditorium, 252 Bloor St. West,
University of Toronto
Hosted by Students Against Israeli Apartheid – a working group of OPIRG-Toronto
Trish Salah is a Montreal-based writer, activist and teacher at Concordia’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute. She has been politically active organizing around a wide range of issues, including Palestinian solidarity, sex workers' rights, anti-racism and anti-capitalism, employment security and healthcare for transsexual and transgender people. Her first book of poetry, Wanting in Arabic, was published by TSAR Books and her recent writing appears in the journals Open Letter, No More Potlucks, and Aufgabe. Her new manuscript is titled “Lyric Sexology.”
John Greyson is a Toronto video artist/filmmaker whose features, shorts and installations include Fig Trees (Best Documentary Teddy, Berlin Film Festival, 2009), Proteus (Diversity Award, Barcelona Gay Lesbian Film Festival, 2004), and Lilies (Best Film 'Genie', 1996). An associate professor in Film at York University, he was awarded the 2007 Bell Canada Award in Video Art.
Jenny Peto is an activist with the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid and a student in Sociology and Equity Studies at OISE. Her research on Israeli Apartheid has focused on the co-optation of human rights, including queer and feminist issues, by the Israeli State and its supporters.
FRIDAY, March 5
National Liberation: From Turtle Island to Palestine
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Rabab Abdulhadi
Location TBA - please consult http://www.apartheidweek.org/ - Show quoted text -
SATURDAY, March 6:
ISRAELI APARTHEID WEEK (Toronto) PRESENTS HIP HOPFOR PALESTINE WONT STOP ‘TIL DA WALL DROPS FEATURING SABREENA DAWITCH, THE NARCICYST AND LOCAL DJS
@ The Blue Moon Pub
725 Queen St. E. (at Broadview)
Doors Open: 9 pm
Tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door (tickets will be available during IAW events)
* This event is a fundraiser for Israeli Apartheid Week 2010 Israeli Apartheid Week is proud to present Palestinian hip hop artist, Abeer Alzinaty’s (aka Sabreena Da Witch) debut performance in Canada. The event will also feature Montreal based Iraqi MC Narcycist as well as local DJs. All are invited to this night of music and dance that will conclude the 6th annual Israeli Apartheid Week.
Abeer Alzinaty (aka Sabreena Da Witch) is a Palestinian hip hop artist. Born in 1984 in Lydd, she started performing R&B in Arabic and English in her teens and released her first original Mix-tape. Witch's intifada, in 2008. Abeer has been featured in a number of documentaries about Palestinian music including Jackie Salloum's award winning documentary Slingshot Hip-Hop. Abeer's music speaks to her experiences as a Palestinian woman living in Israel. Critiquing multiple injustices resulting from or supported by the occupation, while celebrating freedom, equality and enlightenment.
The Narcicyst is an Iraqi MC/Media Master. His musical career was spawned through the collaborative work of the Euphrates family; A growing collective of Muslim visual artists, musicians, painters, filmographers and photographers. Releasing two albums with Euphrates, the crew garnered worldwide attention from Time Magazine to publications out of the Middle East and Europe. With a book being released under the title “Fear of An Arab Planet”, and a brand new self-titled album and acting in feature length film"City of Life", The Narcicyst is sure to make you see yourself through the proverbial mirror that is the current state of the world.
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About IAW 2010
First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year, more than 35 cities around the world participated in the week's activities,which took place in the wake of Israel's brutal assault against the people of Gaza. In Toronto, IAW 2009 featured a full week of events kicked off by Palestinian activist and writer Omar Barghouti. IAW 2010 takes place following a year of incredible successes for the Boycott,Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement on the global level. Lectures, films,and actions will highlight some of these successes along with the many injustices that continue to make BDS so crucial inthe battle to end Israeli Apartheid.
Visit: http://www.apartheidweek.org/ for more Info and for the list of endorsers
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2) *Health for All:Fixing a Broken Healthcare System for Immigrants and Refugees*
*March 4th, 2010
6:30 PM
Location: Bahen Centre, Room 1180
Address: 40 St. George Street*
*SPEAKERS:
Dr. Meb Rashid, Family Physician
Jackie Esmonde, Immigration Lawyer
Manavi Handa, Registered Midwife, WestEnd Midwifery Collective
* The cost of healthcare has been established as a barrier for under and uninsured migrant communities in accessing healthcare for decades. Despite the talk, few affordable healthcare options have been made available to these communities. In recent years, the midwifery model of care in Ontario has proved to be a cost effective, accessible option for uninsured populations in Ontario to access maternity care. Payment structures that resulted from collaboration between the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care and professional midwives have served as an innovative way for persons without status living in Ontario to access maternity care.
Community Health Centres are another point of access to primary healthcare for underinsured populations in Ontario. Interdisciplinary staffing and coordination of care, with alternative payment structure arrangements from the Ministry of Health, seek to ensure that uninsured populations have access to primary care.
This evening will look at the opportunities and barriers to ensuring health for all! The panelists will discuss the successes of these two models of care, and the victories won by various professionals and communities in providing healthcare for the uninsured. As the momentum and pressure to recognize the fundamental human rights of those residing in our cities and communities grows, so must our organizing efforts within the health sector and beyond.
Join "Health for All" for an evening where we re-envision what a just healthcare system looks like and show how we are working to make it areality! http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/node/423http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=310034783049&ref=mfhttp://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#%21/event.php?eid=310034783049&ref=mf>
For more information, please email *healthforalltoronto@gmail.com
* ‘Health For All’ is a group of healthcare professionals, students, and activists. We believe health is a fundamental human right. Health requires not only access to medical, mental health and dental care, but also full economic, social, environmental and political rights for all people. We call for universal health coverage and full regularization for all people to ensure health for all! Endorsers:
Canadian Doctors for Medicare,
University of Toronto
Health Is Political
Health Providers Against Poverty
Law Union of Ontario
Medical Reform Group
No One Is Illegal - Toronto
Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Ontario Public Interest Research Group, University of Toronto
Public Health Interest Group, University of Toronto
Residents Without Borders,
University of Toronto Right to Health Coalition
Students for Medicare
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3) *JOIN the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty at International Women's Day*
*Joining with The Migrant Women’s Coordinating Body*
*Poverty is a Feminist Issue: Raise the Rates Contingent*
Joining up with - 'Working Class Women Unite Against Imperialism'
Saturday, March 6th, 2010
Meeting: 12:30 @ Bedford and Bloor (outside of OISE)
Approximately 100 000 people in Toronto are on Social Assistance - the vast majority are Women and Children. People are forced to live on Welfare and Disability rates that are shamefully inadequate. After welfare rates were cut by the Harris Tories in 1995 by 21.6%, and Disability rates were frozen, people's income levels have continued to fall for 15 straight years.
Today,with inflation and the cost of living increase since 1995, people are living on Social Assistance rates that are at least 40% below where they should be for an adequate living standard. As the fall-out of the economic recession deepens after billions of dollars in bail-outs were given to failing banks and corporations, governments are now scrambling to reduce deficits at our expense. The worst impact is yet to be felt, and will surely be felt hardest by Toronto's poorest communities.
Already we are seeing an increased criminalization of people on Social Assistance and massive cuts in access to the much needed Special Diet benefit. All three levels of Government are set to release their yearly Budgets by the beginning of April and it is clear that cuts to the Public Sector are on the agenda.
We won’t pay for their crisis or their deficit.
We demand the right to decent income and a future free of poverty.
We believe that Poverty is a Feminist issue - and on March 6th we plan to join with International Women's Day under the banner of 'End Poverty and Violence Against Women, Raise Social Assistance Rates by 40% Now!'
Join with OCAP Women, trans folks and allies on March 6th.
Join with OCAP again on April 15th for a large mobilization against the the McGuinty Government.
*For more information about IWD visit: http://www.iwdtoronto.org/
Contact OCAP: ocap@tao.ca , 416-925-6939*

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