American academic Judith Butler will be one of the keynote speakers at the 7th annual Israeli Apartheid Week in Toronto, set to take place from March 7-11.

Butler is renowned for her contributions to critical theory, ethics, women and gender studies, queer theory, comparative literature, and post-structuralism.

Perhaps most recognized for her work on gender, Butler argues that gender is performative -- an act that is much more about "doing" than it is about "being." Her work encourages non-conformity and the opening-up of alternative ways of perceiving identity that do not necessarily abide by dominant group and societal norms.

Just a week after being proclaimed the most popular politician in Quebec, Amir Khadir, the only MNA from Quebec solidaire, was out in public again to support a controversial issue knowing it would prompt rabid attacks from his opponents.

Khadir took to the street on Dec. 18 to picket a Montreal shoe store that sells Israeli-made products, as a part of a consumer boycott campaign initiated by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction group, a Palestinian solidarity organization. While the effectiveness of this tactic for the Palestinian cause is debatable, one ought to commend Amir's courage to stand up for his principle without fearing what it will do to his popularity.

This month, the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) have discontinued sales of Ahava cosmetic products. Ahava is an Israeli company that has been a target of the Palestinian campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

HBC was the main retailer in Canada that carries Ahava's line, and has been targeted by a number of Palestine solidarity group over the past 18 months. Many participated in the campaign across the country, including Tadamon in Montreal, the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid in Toronto, with Canadians for Peace and Justice in the Middle East being the latest group to join in.