From the Students for a Democratic Society Blog: Since it was first launched in 2005, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year, more than 40 cities around the world participated in the week's activities, which took place in the wake of Israel's brutal assault against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. IAW continues to grow with new cities joining this year. This year Houston is one of these cities. UH SDS is excited to host a week of events from March 8th to the 12th as part of this global week of action in solidarity with the Palestinian Struggle.

IAW will feature lectures, film screenings, cultural activities, and demonstrations aimed at raising awareness about Israel’s apartheid policies toward Palestinians and to gather support for the international Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The demands of the BDS campaign are:
1. Ending Israel's 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.
[Read Full Article with schedule and video]

Troupe Associate Director Replies: “Nothing” Was There in 1948

February 20, 2010 – The Israel Ballet’s recent performance of Don Quixote was protested by a coalition of activists who sought to highlight the troupe’s role in the Israeli government’s attempt to whitewash its record of war crimes, violations of international law, and other atrocities through promotion of its country’s artistic and cultural workers. Read More | Video

More Coverage: Student Group Advocates Boycott of Ballet | Dancing, Singing New Yorkers protest, calling for boycott of Israel Ballet | Israel Ballet Runs into “ResisDance” in Brooklyn | Israel ballet interrupted in Burlington, VT | Free Speech Again Censored at University at Buffalo | Coming up: Peace and social justice groups to boycott the Israel Ballet performance at Montgomery College, MD on Friday, February 26th

Related: Hit Play "I Heart Hamas" Reframes Palestinian Identity

Forty-five human rights activists called upon fellow New Yorkers to boycott the Israel Ballet at its performance Sunday at the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts. Accompanied by the Rude Mechanical Orchestra, protesters performed ballet, sang, chanted, and handed out mock programs to bring attention to the Israel Ballet's role in the Israeli state's use of the arts to whitewash its crimes against the Palestinian people. The demonstration was the third to take place along the Ballet company's U.S. tour in as many days. Hundreds of people entering the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts were handed mock programs that, when opened, described the connections between the Israel Ballet and Israeli apartheid. Outside of the venue, attendees could hear protesters chanting "Pas de deux or arabesque / The occupation is grotesque" and "A little tutu cannot hide / Your support for apartheid!" Dave Lippman of Adalah-NY commented, "We are here to let the Israel Ballet know that it cannot tip-toe around apartheid."

The 110 minute video as well as five out takes from the presentation on January 28 in Portland was organized and sponsored by www.PCASC.net. These are 5 short YouTube out takes from his 2 hour speaking engagement on 1.28.10: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Jose Baqendale discusses (1)The coupe (2)The Resistance (3)The Police (4)Missing People & Womans March (5)The Front's policies. Link to entire 100 min U-Tube Video

On January 16, Diné, O’odham and Autonomous/Anti-authoritarian (DO@) people answered a call-out from the O’odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective and Phoenix Class War Council to form the DO@ Block.

The bloc, consisting of anarchists and Indigenous people, converged on occupied Akimel O’odham Pi-Posh land (Phoenix) to take part in what was a larger march against Maricopa County, AZ, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Arpaio is well known for his racist border politics and strict prison regulations. However this time people were confronting his repression on those that take situations into their own hands and defiantly cross the border without the permission of others.

From the newswire: "Martin Macias, Jr., a credentialed freelance journalist who contributes to Vocalo.org, the online and new media outlet for Chicago Public Radio, was turned back from the Canadian border late Saturday night.

"[Macias] was a lead organizer for No Games Chicago, the all-volunteer citizens group that opposed the Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics. Martin was part of the No Games delegations that went to the International Olympic Committee's international headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland and then to Copenhagen, Denmark to deliver materials documenting the reasons why Chicago should not have been awarded the games. Martin was an invited guest a conference critical of the 2010 Vancouver games and the Olympic industry."

Quoting Macias: "I was in the passport line in Vancouver and I told them I was a radio journalist and a student a Malcolm X College. The agent put a big circle and x on my ticket. I was pulled out the line and questioned aggressively for two hours. They wanted to know what I was going to do in Vancouver, who i was meeting with, who organized the conference and what they looked like. They took all my contact information and business cards of journalists and other people I was to connect with while in Vancouver." When Macias demanded to know what his rights were, he was told: "You don't have any." Read more

Additional Coverage: Vancouver Media Co-op: Anti-Olympics organizer and journalist denied entry to Canada | No Games Chicago | Portland Indymedia | Democracy Now!: Canada Blocks Olympic Critic from Entering Country | Twin Cities IMC: Suppression of Independent Journalists for Widely Opposed 2010 Olympics | Rochester IMC Volunteer Detained at Canadian Border | All out against the 2010 Winter Olympic Games – Why the resistance? | 2010.mediacoop.ca

Past Indymedia Coverage on No Games Chicago: Chicago Opposition to 2016 Olympics Bid Ramps Up | Chicago Rallies Against 2016 Olympics with IOC Vote Looming | Chicago Public and Community Organizations Relieved by Lost Olympic Bid | From The Trenches coverage of April 2 IOC rally in Chicago | Chicago Independent Television feature on No Games Chicago

A delegation from the December 12th Movement and the Friday Haiti Relief Coalition departed from Kennedy Airport destined for Haiti on Monday morning. In the wake of the tremendous earthquake that shook the island nation, Black people throughout New York came together to begin their contribution to the relief process.

Photo: the water was distributed directly to the people of Leogane

RELATED: I am still very traumatized from seeing that many dead bodies. Stories from Haiti. | AID to Haiti! Not armed intervention! | Scientologists in Haiti: A Firsthand Account | Focus on Israel: Harvesting Haitian Organs | VIDEO: Naomi Klein on Haiti | Haiti: Canada's New Imperialism? | Feb. 11: Benefit for Haiti

February 7th marks the anniversary of Hampshire College's divestment from the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, the first institution of higher education to wash its hands of the systematic exploitation of the Palestinian people by the Israeli state.

Traditionally, Hampshire College has advocated for the oppressed, taking unpopular stands when others have preferred to turn away. In 1977 Hampshire College was the first college in the US to divest from Apartheid South Africa. In 2001 Hampshire was the first college to object to the war in Afghanistan."- Hampshire Students for Justice in Palestine.

The combination of an imperialist and racist mindset with defense of capitalist-imperialist material interests has led to refusal to save many thousands of dying people who could have been saved. It’s murder.

Journalist and author Naomi Klein spoke in New York last night and addressed the crisis in Haiti: "We have to be absolutely clear that this tragedy—which is part natural, part unnatural—must, under no circumstances, be used to, one, further indebt Haiti and, two, to push through unpopular corporatist policies in the interest of our corporations. This is not conspiracy theory. They have done it again and again." read more | Watch on Youtube

On Monday, the world's political and financial powerhouses met in Montreal, Canada to deliberate the future of Haiti. It was a six hour meeting between the United States (Haiti's most recent military intervener), France (Haiti's colonial ruler), and the IMF and World Bank (Haiti's financial creditors/despots). The United Nations, which is now the official security force, was also in the room, to referee the proceedings, while Canada played the role of a cordial and humanitarian host (that couldn't happen directly in the U.S.). Meanwhile... Venezuela, Bolivia, and Nicaragua boycotted the meeting along with Fidel Castro, who condemned it and accused the United States of turning the humanitarian effort into a military invasion of Haiti by the United States.

Before this Valentine’s Day weekend, C-U Haiti Relief will present an informational forum, performance, and fundraiser for earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Speakers with intimate knowledge of the country will share their experiences and perspectives on current events. Students will be given information on ways to participate in relief efforts. The evening will close with a musical performance by a to-be-determined ensemble. Specific speaker and musician lineup is forthcoming.

Sister Mawiyah was in Haiti when the earthquake hit on January 12. She has been doing missionary work there for the last 23 years and made it her home for the last five years. The name of her organization is Haitian American Ministries. Bro. Kofi had been notifying us that she was missing during the earthquake and was not responding. But around 2:00am on the morning of January 14, he received a text message from her that confirmed she was alive in the midst of thousands being found dead.

"Inside the cyber cafe, everything was fine. But once we stepped outside, it was chaos," said Sis. Mawiyah. "Concrete buildings had fallen. There was rubble all over. Where can you run in the middle of an earthquake? So everyone ended up standing in the middle of the street. And even as I'm sitting here talking to you, it seems so surreal. When it first happened I was in shock like everyone else. But the tremors continued. Even until the day I left on Saturday, tremors were still occurring," she said in a slurred tone. She described an unforgettable image of a woman running down a mountain covered in blood and dust and yelling that her home had collapsed and her baby girl was still trapped. "That was within five minutes of the earthquake," said Sis. Mawiyah. [Full article with photos]

Coverage from indymedia.us: Independent Reporting and Mutual Aid Initiatives in Haiti Continue; Supporters in US Hold Vigil | Fresh Stuff from Mediahacker: No help forthcoming for Haitian journalists determined to keep broadcasting | Plane full of medicine turned away while health workers strain to treat patients in Port-Au-Prince | Tell CNN to stop hyping fears of violence in Haiti.

Despite the heavy rain, 24 people took part in an emergency vigil for Haiti at the Downtown Federal Building, Thursday eve, Jan 21. The vigil's purpose was asking people "to donate money to go to grassroots women and their families, and therefore communities, rather than to thieving elites and their corrupt NGOs." One very dedicated participant had been waiting for us since noon when the weekly vigil for Haiti usually takes place.

Signs said “Haiti – Help Not Occupation. Return Aristide,” and asked people to question “Where is the Red Cross?” and to consider supporting earthquake victims through HaitiAction.net. Many signs simply called for humanitarian aid to take precedence over a U.S. Military presence. Others condemned the ongoing occupations in both Haiti and Honduras.

It was reported that other emergency vigils for Haiti were being held around the world including ones also organized by the Global Women’s Strike in London and in Philadelphia protesting that survivors are dying as the US military blocks food, water and medical supplies from getting through, and calling on the US to prioritize getting help to grassroots communities. And Haiti Action Committee has called a vigil in San Francisco on Monday, January 25.

Full story and photos: Emergency Vigil in Support of Haiti by Ross Plesset

Mutual Aid Disaster Relief in Haiti Team 1 has landed safely in Haiti and established themselves in the World Harvest compound. Their internet access is intermittent, but the latest available updates can be found at http://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/reports.shtml

Boston IMC's previous story on Mutual Aid Disaster Relief is at http://boston.indymedia.org/feature/display/209697/index.php

They have enough supplies for immediate operations, but will need to restock soon. They now have a Creole translator. Get more information and donate at http://mutualaiddisasterrelief.org/