IAW PRESS ALERT
Prominent Palestinian author and activist Ali Abunimah on SA speaking tour
Prominent Palestinian-American journalist, activist, media-analyst, author and co-founder of the widely acclaimed and award-winning online publication The Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah, will be in South Africa for the 14th #IsraeliApartheidWeek (12 - 18 March 2018). Click here for his schedule of public events.
A graduate of Princeton University and the University of Chicago, Ali Abunimah has authored "One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse" and "The Battle for Justice in Palestine”. Abunimah is also the recipient of the 2013 Lannan Cultural Freedom Fellowship and has written thousands of articles in major publications including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times and has appeared on various television discussion programs on CNN, MSNBC, PBS, Aljazeera and other networks. Click here for a short video of Ali Abunimah speaking on the BDS movement.
Ali Abunimah's mother is originally from the Palestinian village of Lifta but became a refugee in the 1948 Israeli expulsion of indigenous Palestinians from their homeland. His father is from the village of Battir, now in the Palestinian West Bank, and served as a diplomat at the UN. Abunimah is one of the world's leading media and activist voices on the Palestinian issue. To arrange interviews with Ali Abunimah contact: +27 (76) 979 8801
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#IsraeliApartheidWeek (12-18 March 2018, endorsed in South Africa by over 100 organizations, is an international series of self-organized rallies, protests, lectures, cultural performances, concerts, sports events, films and workshops held annually in over 250 cities, communities and campuses across the globe. With "Afro-Palestinian solidarity" as this year's theme, #IsraeliApartheidWeek in SA will focus on both Israel’s apartheid policies against the Palestinians as well as the regime's discriminatory policies against Africans.
Israel is expelling thousands of Africans, giving them an ultimatum: leave by 1 April 2018 or risk indefinite imprisonment. Israel has offered one hundred thousand rands in bonuses to civilians who aide in forcibly deporting African asylum seekers. Israel has portrayed non-Jewish Africans as a threat to Israel's Jewish character calling them “infiltrators” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly calling for their expulsion saying that Africans "threaten the social fabric of society.” Israel’s Minister of Interior, Eli Yishai, has said that African immigrants “think the country doesn’t belong to us, the white man.” And the Israeli Minister of Culture and Sport, Miri Regev, has compared Africans to “a cancer”. In 2013 Israel was revealed to be forcibly sterilising African women without their consent. Click here for more information on #IsraeliApartheidWeek.
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For media interviews with the IAW South Africa Team, please contact:
Justin de Swardt, #IsraeliApartheidWeek National Spokesperson [Afrikaans, English +27 (0) 65 915 3803]
Alex Mdakane, #IsraeliApartheidWeek Deputy Spokesperson [Zulu, English, +27 (0) 78 526 8663]
Michia Moncho, #IsraeliApartheidWeek National Convener [Setswana, English +27 (0) 78 295 4668]
