I want to highlight an interesting point about Israel Apartheid Week on U of M and U of W campus this year.

Prior to IAW, CBC ran a story featuring Rana Abdulla a Winnipeg Palestinian woman who said she is compiling stories of Palestinian-Canadians and would like them included in the CMHR. These stories no doubt include the Palestinian claim to an inalienable right of return [for not only those 600,000 Palestinians who left homes in 1948 but also for the next four generations of their descendents] which amounts to close to at least 5 million people. 

One of the things that I foresee happening is that this issue will continue to percolate as it pertains to the CMHR. I also think it is very possible that activists or academics whose agenda is really the destruction of Israel (through the negation of a two state solution to the conflict that preserves the Jewish state) who come through Winnipeg for CMHR related events, will also likely end up speaking on our campuses.  The link between the CMHR and anti-Israel activity on campus may turn out to be quite direct. If this happens our campuses will potentially see an increase in these activities, as activists who do not recognize the existence of Israel are drawn to the CMHR and are therefore more likely to end up in our city.    

What's interesting about Abdulla is that within a short time after the CBC story, she appeared at a forum at Israel Apartheid Week that took place at the Millenium Library a short time later. The connection seems quite obvious--by complaining about the CMHR Abdulla recieved more attention than she otherwise would have and as a result of her becoming known to the public she received an invitation to speak at IAW (and potentially other forums). We may continue to see more of this connection in the future.

Here is what The Manitoban wrote about Abdulla:  

"A panel took place on Wednesday evening featuring professor Golden, human rights activist and United Church member Diane Baker, and Rana Abdulla, a Palestinian-Canadian who was recently featured in a CBC story about the lack of a Palestinian exhibit in Winnipeg’s under-construction Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

The panel discussion took place at the Millennium Library.

Abdulla spoke of her personal history as a Palestinian person born in Kuwait after her father had left Palestine."

http://www.themanitoban.com/2013/03/israeli-apartheid-week-held-at-u-of-m-and-u-of-w/14913/ 

For a summary of the activities on the two campus during IAW one can read the above article. Note that the article only interviews Liz Carlyle an IAW organizer, and does not give another perspective at all.