As a contribution to Israeli Apartheid Week programme PASSOP will be hosting a talk at Imizamo Yethu township, near Hout Bay, on Thursday March 14th. The talk aims to explore the complex social divisions in Israel and to focus on the abuse of refugees and immigrants by Israeli authorities, as well as to educate the host township community on the plight of Palestinians.
The talk will have a panel made up of two eminent figures in Professor Farid Esack and Comrade Denis Goldberg and will be chaired by PASSOP director Braam Hanekom. The event will begin at 16:00, and will end by 18.30.
We feel the choice of location for this talk is a very apt one, given the history of the Imizamo Yethu settlement, and that it is crucial for us to take the debate to the community. We urge all interested parties, media and student groups to attend this engaging debate on an issue of immediate importance. PASSOP can assist with transport for students, if needs be.
For more information contact Liam Brickhill (PASSOP media liaison) on 0794284885
Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is an annual campaign that takes place in over 250 cities around the world during February and March. South Africa is hosting the 9th international Israeli Apartheid Week between March 11th and March 17th, with events being held at more than 15 universities and 35 cities, towns and communities across the country. The aim of these events is to raise awareness of Israel’s apartheid policies towards indigenous Palestinians, garner support for non-violent actions against these policies, and stoke debate around the important issues. PASSOP is one of more than 50 member groups to endorse the IAW 2013 campaign.
Professor Farid Esack is a South African scholar of Islam, writer and political activist. An anti-apartheid activist in his youth, Esack was appointed a National Commissioner on Gender Equality by President Nelson Mandela after the fall of apartheid. He has lectured at universities around the world, and is currently a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Johannesburg. He continues his work as an activist through Positive Muslims, an organization working with Muslims who are HIV positive in South Africa, and through the several development boards on which he serves in South Africa and internationally.
Denis Goldberg is a South African social campaigner, and a veteran of the anti-apartheid movement. Imprisoned for 22 years by the apartheid regime, after his release in 1985 he went into exile in London where he served as ANC spokesman and was presented with the Albert Luthuli Peace Prize in recognition of his work against Apartheid. Vehement in his criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, Goldberg has also been active in a large number of social movements, founding Community H.E.A.R.T. in London in 1995. He returned to South Africa in 2002.