date: Fri, May 21, 2010 at 10:07 AM
subject: [endapartheid] REMINDER: May 26th, 12pm at Queen's Park - CAIA Province-wide Day of
May 26th - CAIA Province-wide Day of Action: Dalton McGuinty, Stop Doing Business with Israeli Apartheid!
Spend your lunch break with us as we deliver letters in person!
Meet at 12pm, Queen's Park - South end, just North of College - look for the banners!
The Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) is calling on our allies to join us in telling Premier Dalton McGuinty that Ontario should not be doing business with Israeli Apartheid.
This month, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will be traveling to Israel (May 23 – 27, 2010). McGuinty's trip is aimed at increasing Ontario's trade relations with Israel. Trade between Ontario and Israel totaled over 1.1 billion dollars in 2008. In February 2010, The Toronto Stock Exchange signed a trade agreement
with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
In 2008, Israel announced that it was launching a Rebranding Campaign aimed at promoting the 'positive side' of Israel in order to change its tarnished image. This campaign is intended to distract the world from its war crimes and violations of international law. McGuinty's announcement of his trip to Israel is a page out of the Rebranding Campaign handbook - praising Israel's technological and medical achievements, while ignoring its apartheid policies and crimes against the Palestinian people.
McGuinty is now selling his trip to Israel alongside his much criticized plan for recovery from the economic crisis. His "Open Ontario" plan threatens to make cuts to social assistance, public transit and the entire public sector. He wants Ontario to become more like Israel - a place where researchers and universities work hard to develop technology that is profitable for the military and big business. McGuinty is going to Israel to learn lessons from a country that has made billions from commercializing its research and technology. Israel is a world leader in profiting from selling the technologies of war and 'homeland security', and it is no secret that all major technology in Israel is made by or for the Israeli military.
CAIA is calling on our allies in Ontario to speak out against McGuinty's trip to Israel and Ontario's growing ties to Israeli Apartheid.
Participate in our May 26th Day of Action: Write, sign and deliver!
Step 1: Write a letter to Dalton McGuinty SAMPLE LETTER (http://tinyurl.com/CAIAtoMPPs
Step 2: Gather more letters by May 26th - be creative!
- Give/send copies to your friends, neighbours, co-workers to sign and send
- Copies of the open letter and leaflet workplaces, community centres, a welfare office, public events, grocery stores
- JOIN CAIA FOR A MASS LETTER DELIVERY AT QUEEN'S PARK (Toronto) - Meet us in front of the legislature at Noon on May 26th!
- MAIL IT! Find your MPP’s Address
- DELIVER IT! Plan a delegation (small or large!) to hand deliver the letters to your Member of Provincial Parliament.
RESOURCES:
On Israel’s Rebranding campaign (video with Naomi Klein on rebranding and BDS):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
On the dangers of the commercialization of research in Israel and Canada (University of Toronto President visits Israel in 2008):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
"McGuinty Readies for his first trade mission to Israel" (Canadian Jewish News):
http://www.cjnews.com/index.
On budget cuts at universities: Why is Queen’s University Principal Daniel Woolf going to Israel with McGuinty?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
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