From March 2 to March 6, UC Berkeley students will host Israeli Apartheid Week. The week long event will include lectures, panel discussions and movies addressing the legal system of Apartheid in Occupied Palestine. The event is also orientated toward educating the public about the boycott, divestment, sanctions campaign, of Israeli products. In its fifth annual year, Israeli Apartheid Week will be held in over forty cities around the world. At UC Berkeley, the event is happening for the second year.

This year’s events at UC Berkeley will address institutional and legal discrimination of Palestinians in 1948 Israel, Palestinian political prisoners, the US-Israeli relationship and a cultural festival featuring Palestinian poetry and music. Speakers include former mayor of Santa Cruz Scott Kennedy, Professor Joel Benin and Electronic Intifada’s Osamah Khalil.

Israel Apartheid Week seeks to bolster understanding of the oppression facing the Palestinian people, Zionism, and the struggle for Palestinian liberation. This year the week of events takes place roughly two months following the recent bombardment of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Occupation Forces. During the three week incursion of air strikes and ground assault, more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and more than 5,000 were injured.