March 1st: APARTHEID IN CANADA

Frontline voices of Indigenous resistance on Turtle Island

SUNDAY, MARCH 1, 7pm
1455 de Maisonneuve West, H-110
near Guy-Concordia métro
Wheelchair accessible. Event is free.

Opening Panel of Israeli Apartheid Week (Montreal) March 1-9, 2009

This special panel features frontline Indigenous activists who are resisting the destruction and displacement of their lands on Turtle Island (occupied "North America"). (photo: Judy da Silva)

Speakers include:

Elizabeth (Tshankuesh) Penashue
Innu elder from Nitassinan (Labrador)

Elizabeth was born and raised into a traditional hunting and trapping family whose way of life was devastated by the flooding of their lands and the destruction of hunting equipment. Elizabeth has raised awareness and resisted the militarization and appropriation of Innu territory by NATO low-level military flying exercises out of Goose Bay over land that the Innu use for hunting and fishing. She has also opposed the further development of the Churchill River to power mainly settler communities in the south.


Judy Da Silva
Anishinabekwe from Grassy Narrows, northwestern Ontario

Judy is the mother of 5 children, fighting to protect the way of life of the Anishnabe people. She is active in resisting the environmental devastation and destruction of the land, animals and people, by logging and mining companies and the provincial and federal governments. She is currently involved in an environmental contaminants study of three northwestern Ontario Indigenous communities.


Introduced by Laith Marouf of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR). Laith has visited and worked in solidarity with various First Nations across Turtle island and has lectured on the similarity of the struggles for self-determination here and in Palestine. For the past decade he has organized with SPHR and currently is the Branches Coordinator at the National Office of the organization.

INFO: info@qpirgconcordia.org - 514-848-7585 - www.iawmontreal.org

The following groups have endorsed Israeli Apartheid Week in Montreal (updated February 8, 2009):

l'Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiant (ASSÉ) * l'Association étudiante de la culture arabe de l'UQÀM * l'Association facultaire des Sciences humaines de l'UQÀM (AFESH) * l'Association des Étudiants Musulmans de L'Université de Montréal *L'Association des femmes iraniennes de Montréal * l'Association Générale des Étudiant-e-s du cégep de St-Jérôme * Bloquez l'empire-Montréal * Le Centre d'appui aux Philippines * Le Centre des femmes d'ici et d'ailleurs * Le Centre Social Autogéré * Le Centre de travailleurs immigrants/Immigrant Workers Center * La coalition pour la justice en Palestine (UQÀM) * Le collectif féministe les Sorcières * Le Collectif opposé à la brutalité policière (COBP) * Le collectif de recherche sur l'autonomie collective * College and University Workers United (CUWU) * Comité d'action et de coordination des femmes de diverses origines pour le 8 mars * Comité d'action pour la lutte étudiante boulonnaise (CALEB) * Le comité des sans-emploi Montréal Centre * La Fédération Canado-Arabe/Canadian Arab Federation * Groupe de recherche d'intérêt publique/QPIRG-Concordia * Groupe de recherche d'intérêt publique/QPIRG-McGill * McGill Arab Law Students Association * Midnight Kitchen McGill * Muslim Students Association (MSA) Concordia * Opération Objection * La Otra Campaña de Montréal * People's Potato Concordia * Personne n'est illegal/No One Is Illegal-Montréal * PINAY – Organisation des Femmes Philippines du Québec * Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie (PASC) * La Pointe Libertaire * Q-Team * Radlaw - McGill University Radical Law Community * Solidarité sans frontières * Solidarité pour les droits palestiniens-Concordia * Solidarité pour les droits palestiniens -McGill * Solidarité pour les droits palestiniens-Canada * Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des postes (STTP)/Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) * Student Association for Muslim Awareness (SAMA) at Concordia * Tadamon * Tamil Action Committee-Montreal * 2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy * Voix juives indépendantes/Independent Jewish Voices * and more [to add your endorsement: iaw-mtl@riseup.net ]