[R-G] High Schools Against Israeli Apartheid

[Anthony Fenton]

High Schools Against Israeli Apartheid

Natalie Shalabi

Canadian Dimension magazine, September/October 2008 issue

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

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.