3rd annual Israeli Apartheid Week

3rd annual Israeli Apartheid Week

New York, NY, February 9 - The 3rd annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) will take place in New York City from February 10-17 2007. It will be a week-long series of events organized by a coalition of different groups in the city and will feature lectures, film screenings, and cultural activities. Concurrent events are being held in Canada and the United Kingdom.

"This week of events, being held in New York for the first time, adds to the growing international chorus of opposition to Israeli apartheid that includes voices of Palestinians, Israelis, South Africans, and many others who stand for justice," says Ryvka Bar Zohar, an organizer of the week.

The aim of IAW is to push forward the analysis of Israel as an apartheid state and to gather support for the international boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign called for by over 170 Palestinian civil society organizations in 2005. The events of the week are organized around the three demands outlined in this call: full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, an end to the occupation and colonization of the West Bank and Gaza, and the implementation of the right of return and compensation for Palestinian refugees pursuant to UN resolution 194.

"Israeli apartheid has created a system where Palestinians live either as second-class citizens in Israel, as occupied subjects in the West Bank or as refugees denied the right to return to their homes" said Ahmad Shokr, another organizer of IAW. Shokr adds that "by supporting the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign the international community can isolate the apartheid regime and work toward a future where all inhabitants of the land can live in dignity as equals."

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