7-9pm Andy’’s Place (AH100)
In his new book Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid, the speaker argues that the long term trajectory of Canada’’s foreign policy towards Israel has been clear. Six decades of mostly one-sided support has culminated with Canada (at least diplomatically) becoming the most pro-Israel country in the world during the past four years, under the guidance of a Conservative minority Government, led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
This book is a critical primer about Canada’’s ties to Israel and suggests Canadian complicity in the 20th and 21st century colonialism, dispossession and war crimes. The book also documents the history of Canadian Christian Zionism, Lester Pearson’’s important role in the United Nations negotiations to create a Jewish state on Palestinian land, millions of dollars in tax-deductible donations used to expand (illegal) Israeli settlements in the West Bank and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) ties to Israel’’s Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad).
Speaker: Yves Engler
Yves Engler is a former Vice President of the Concordia Student Union and served as their media spokesperson in 2002, when he was suspended for one semester after taking the lead role at a political demonstration. Currently, Yves is an activist and author based in Montreal and has earned respect within some Jewish communities in Canada, who themselves believe Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal.
Yves has previously published three books: The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy (Shortlisted for the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-Fiction in the Quebec Writer’s Federation Literary Awards); Playing Left Wing: From Rink Rat to Student Radical and (with Anthony Fenton) Canada in Haiti: Waging War on The Poor Majority.
Born in Vancouver, Yves grew up playing hockey. He was a Pee Wee teammate of NHL star Mike Ribeiro at Huron Hochelaga in Montréal and later played in the B.C. Junior League. Yves is still a passionate fan of the great Canadian game of hockey.