March 12, 2010

Palestinian member of Israeli Knesset(MK) to denounce Israeli apartheid in Quebec's National Assembly tomorrow

Gov of Quebec Press release; http://www.communiques.gouv.qc.ca/gouvqc/communiques/GPQF/Mars2010/11/c8857.html?slang=en

Dr. Jamal Zahalka (MK) will be available for interviews in the Quebec National Assembly, between 11:30am-1pm, after his presence in the national assembly from 10 am-11am.


As part of the sixth annual Israeli Apartheid Week, Jamal Zahalka, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), will address members of Quebec's National Assembly on the apartheid policies faced by Palestinian citizens of Israel this Thursday, following Zahalka's key note lecture at Concordia University on Wednesday evening.

Jamal Zahalka will be presented by Mercier Deputy, Amir Khadir, of Québec Solidaire. His presence at Quebec's National Assembly is a historical occasion and takes place at a time when public support in Quebec and internationally continues to shift towards the plight of the Palestinian people.

“Our situation (Palestinians inside Israel) is deteriorating towards apartheid,” outlines Dr. Jamal Zahalka, “while the situation in Gaza and the West Bank is worse than apartheid.”

Dr. Jamal Zahalka, MK, is part of the political leadership of BALAD - the National Democratic Assembly in the Israeli Knesset (Parliament). Dr. Zahalka was one of the leaders and founders of the anti-occupation movement within Israel and was jailed in 1972, as a political prisoner for two years, due to his voicing of public demands for the human rights of Palestinians inside Israel.

Zahalka is the Former General Director of the AHALI Center for Community Development and a member of the Education and Culture Committee, the Science and Technology Committee, and the Committee for War against Drugs in the Israeli Knesset.

Zahalka's presence at Quebec's National Assembly is taking place more than one year since the violent Israeli military attack on Gaza. In this context, solidarity activism in support of the Palestinian struggle for liberation, equality, and justice is emerging as an important grassroots political force in North America against Israel's apartheid regime.

Israeli Apartheid Week is organized by several organizations in Montreal including Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), Tadamon, Not In our Name, the Quebec Public Interest Research Group (QPIRG) at Concordia and McGill, Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), and Coalition for Justice in Palestine-UQAM.

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