[Fresh Ink] High Schools Against Israeli Apartheid

[Richard Menec]

http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2008/09/04/2020/

Canadian Dimension magazine, September/October 2008 issue

High Schools Against Israeli Apartheid

Natalie Shalabi

In July 2005, 171 Palestinian civil-society organizations issued a call to 
the "international civil society organizations, and people of conscience all 
over the world, to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment 
initiatives against Israel, similar to those applied to South Africa in the 
apartheid era." This call came after 57 years of ethnic cleansing, 38 years 
of military occupation and one year after the International Court of Justice 
issued its advisory opinion declaring Israel's apartheid wall to be illegal 
under international law.

The Palestinians issued this call for boycotts, divestment and sanctions 
(BDS) following the failure of the UN and the international community to 
provide protection and solutions to the Palestinians. And responses were not 
late in coming. Unions throughout the world issued decisions to adopt the 
BDS campaign and to work actively on raising awareness about human-rights 
violations and war crimes committed by Israel. It was in this spirit and 
environment that High Schools Against Israeli Apartheid, or HAIA, was 
created.


Taking Stock of the Problem

HAIA was founded in a Toronto alternative high school early in the winter of 
2007, when a small group of concerned students got together to take action 
against Israeli apartheid. From the beginning, HAIA's goal was to educate 
peers about Israel's true nature by exposing the misconceptions. When the 
state of Israel was created in 1948, three quarters of the indigenous 
population of Palestine was expelled and more than five hundred villages 
were destroyed, creating one of the world's biggest refugee situations. 
Today there are around seven million Palestinian refugees - the world's 
largest refugee population. To this day, refugees are forbidden to return to 
their homes - a violation of international law and a breach of UN Resolution 
194.

Canada has a long history supporting Israel. Canada was the first government 
to cut aid to the Palestinians after Hamas won the Palestinian elections. As 
well, Canada blindly supported Israel's aggression against Lebanon and 
ignored the war crimes Israel committed during the war, which led to the 
deaths of more than 1,100 innocent people. This year, Prime Minister Stephen 
Harper took part in celebrating Israel's sixtieth anniversary, reiterating 
his support for Israel and totally ignoring the fact that the creation of 
Israel was accompanied by large-scale ethnic cleansing, the effects of which 
people are still suffering from today.

"The Student School" is a small high school with 185 students and eight 
staff. The school is unique in the way it operates. In addition to academic 
issues, the school focuses on raising students' awareness about social 
injustice. Students are encouraged to participate in decision-making 
processes that happen in student council meetings. Every other week, the 
entire school meets for council during one 75- minute-long period. Here, 
students can make announcements, move motions and form committees. All 
motions have to be voted on. When it comes to voting, teachers and students 
both have an equal vote.


High School Students Take Action

It was at such a regular council meeting that one student brought forth a 
motion to start a committee in solidarity with the Palestinian people. 
Except for a few abstentions, the motion, which included recognition of 
Israel as an apartheid state, passed unanimously. In subsequent council 
meetings, during which members of HAIA would give updates about the 
humanitarian crisis in Palestine, a motion was passed to invite members of 
the Coalition against Israeli Apartheid
(CAIA) to give a presentation. Following a powerful, informative 
presentation, a motion was passed to start a subcommittee of CAIA. As the 
group grew in popularity, so did the movement.

In the fall of 2007 HAIA picked up momentum. The entire school watched the 
educational documentary Occupation 101. After the screening, a debate took 
place. As a part of its outreach campaign to educate peers, HAIA received a 
designated wall in the school and an information desk. HAIA also teamed up 
with the mural committee to start banner productions for protests. During 
the fourth annual Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) 2008, HAIA held its founding 
conference, which was attended by forty high-school students from seven 
different high schools across Toronto. To support Palestinian workers and 
farmers, the school began selling traditional scarves (keffiyeh) and 
fair-trade Palestinian olive oil.


Organizing Toronto Schools

Members of HAIA have been invited to other high schools to discuss Israeli 
Apartheid. The group has held fundraisers to support the people of Gaza, who 
live under siege. In May, 2008, as part of the commemorative events to mark 
sixty years of "Nakhba" (catastrophe), HAIA united with SAIA (Students 
Against Israeli Apartheid) to hold a youth day of action.

The school, at HAIA's urging, joined other BDS campaigns in the city. For 
example, the council voted to boycott Chapters Indigo bookstores because of 
the financial support that their majority shareholders, Gerry Schwartz and 
Heather Reisman, give to the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers.

HAIA is now working on expanding the movement to other schools, and is in 
the course of formulating strategies and action plans to increase 
involvement of Canadian youth in the struggle against apartheid in 
Palestine, as well as in social-justice issues and international solidarity 
in general. HAIA's goal is to mobilize the youth and get them involved in 
struggles for just causes, like the issue of Palestine and the struggle of 
the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island. To learn more about HAIA and to get 
involved, please e-mail us at: haia [at] caiaweb.org.