In addition to the panels, we held a street theater demonstration on campus on Tuesday (link includes coverage by Daily Cougar and Jewish Herald Voice), and a demonstration against Caterpillar on Friday their sales of bulldozers used to build apartheid to the Israeli Military and in observance of the murder of Rachel Corrie by the IDF driving Caterpillar bulldozers.

The goal of Israeli Apartheid Week is to draw attention to Israels policies against Palestinians, and encourage a Boycott, Divest and Sanctions strategy to push for justice in Israel/Palestine. More info at Students for a Democratic Society at UH Blog

RELATED: The Sixth Annual Israeli Apartheid Week 2010 | Israeli Aparthied Week at UH March 8th to 12th

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]

"It has been important for me to shake up peoples' notions of who a Palestinian woman is," says Jennifer Jajeh, the brains and talent behind the one-woman play I Heart Hamas: And Other Things I'm Afraid to Tell You.  Jajeh wraps up a two-week run at the Bedlam Theatre on the West Bank of Minneapolis this weekend with four more shows.  Despite the title, I Heart Hamas has less to do with the democratically-elected militant group than with one Palestinian-American's unique, enlightening struggle against misunderstanding and injustice.

Using slides, music, storytelling, pop culture and live theatre to explore often hilarious themes and events, the show has built buzz and garnered rave reviews in San Francisco, New York, and now the Midwest.  I asked Jennifer some questions about the Palestinian struggle and her experience.

Jajeh interviewed on KFAI's Catalyst | IHeartHamas.com | Buy tickets via Bedlam Theatre | Final MPLS Shows: Thurs.--Sat. 7pm, Sun. 4pm | Related @ Indymedia.us: Activist Coalition Tells Israel Ballet: Don't Tiptoe Around Apartheid

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

On December 27, 2008, Israel began its bombardment on Gaza and then on January 3, 2009 began its ground offensive. The bloody operation in Gaza came after the expiration of a six-month-long ceasefire between Israel and resistance groups in Gaza, including Hamas. However, Israel failed to ease the embargo on the Gaza Strip that continues to cripple economic life further creating a humanitarian crisis, and was one of Israel's obligations under the ceasefire. Although Israel unilaterally withdrew its illegal settler population from the Gaza Strip in 2005, it remained the occupying power as it controlled the borders, sea and airspace, as well as the population registry.

A December 2009 report prepared by Oxfam International, Amnesty International UK, United Civilians for Peace, Christian Aid, and a dozen other international NGOs found that even one year later, Due to the Israeli embargo which blocks goods and equipment from entering Gaza, Gaza residents are being prevented from rebuilding the extensive damage to their shattered society. Many feel that the world community and Arab world have done little to stop Israel, despite the pledged aid for the re-building of Gaza. Here in Houston hundreds gathered to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the Israeli attack on Gaza. [full article with audio]

Ryan is currently being held at a deportation facility in Ramle, where his request for release has been rejected by the prison judge. His lawyer is working on submitting an appeal to the District Court in Tel Aviv this Sunday, 27 December.

Ryan was visiting the al-Kurds in the tent the Palestinian family built in their own backyard, after the recent setter take-over of a section of their house. At 1.15pm, on Friday 18 December, 6 Israeli police walked into the tent, where Ryan was talking to the family members and drinking tea, and took him for questioning at the Russian Compound police station in west Jerusalem. (For more information about his arrest click here.)

Ryan was released without charges the following Saturday, 19 December, before the beginning of a trial with 26 Israeli activists arrested in Sheikh Jarrah, only to be illegally re-arrested by immigration police right outside of the same police station that told him he was free to go. Now Ryan is facing illegal deportation after being held in Israeli prisons for a week.

Earlier: Minnesota activist arrested, to be deported | Related: Gaza Freedom March - Minneapolis Solidarity March December 30, 2009 | Minnesotans to Join Freedom March Through Egypt and Gaza | Israel's Palestinian Prisoners - America's Other Guantanamo