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Israeli Apartheid Week kicks off in more than 200 cities

April 9, 2014 at 12:03 pm

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) has kicked off in more than 200 cities around the world. Organised by university students, events will be held in academic institutions with the aim of raising awareness about state discrimination against Palestinians by the Israeli authorities.


While the organisers of IAW have been issuing invitations to lectures the pro-Israel lobby has been warning that boycott calls are getting more strident. One invitation for an event at the London School of Economics and Political Science has raised the ire of Israel’s supporters. Arab students will be illustrating what life is like for Palestinians beyond the so-called Green Line in the occupied territories. At some locations, “Israeli checkpoints” will be established to give students some idea of what Palestinians are subjected to by the occupation authorities.

This is the tenth consecutive year that IAW events have been organised. The week coincides with an increase in the number of boycotts of Israel; in particular some Western and European public economic and financial institutions are boycotting Israeli banks and institutions as a result of what they call a violation of international law and the ongoing construction of illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.