Keynote lecture of Israeli Apartheid Week 2009, recorded at McGill University on March 4. A lecture from ANC member and former South African minister Ronnie Kassrils on apartheid in South Africa and Israel.
Ronnie Kasrils was in born Johannesburg, South Africa in 1938. His grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Czarist Russia (Lithuania). He joined African National Congress (ANC) in 1960 after the Sharpeville massacre. He was a member of ANCâs military wing at its inception in 1961. As Chief of Military Intelligence, he operated from exile in neighboring African states and clandestinely in South Africa. He served on the national executive committees of both the ANC and Communist Party. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Defence in South Africaâs first democratic government (1994-99); Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry (1999-2004); Minister Intelligence Services (2004-2008). Currently, he is retired from government and devotes himself to writing and lecturing about Palestine solidarity.
First launched in Toronto in 2005, IAW has grown to become one of the most important global events in the Palestine solidarity calendar. Last year, more than 25 cities around the world participated in the week's activities, which also commemorated 60 years since the expulsion of the Palestinian people from their homes and land in 1947-1948. IAW 2008 was launched with a live broadcast from the South African township of Soweto by Palestinian leader and former member of the Israeli Knesset, Azmi Bishara.
This year, IAW occured in the wake of Israel's barbaric assault against the people of Gaza. Lectures, films, and actions will make the point that these latest massacres further confirm the true nature of Israeli Apartheid. IAW 2009 built and strengthened the growing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement at a global level.
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