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.

In Canada, Holocaust Memorial Day has been established by Heritage Canada to be on April 11. It is a good opportunity to review what we learn from the Holocaust experience and how we apply these lessons to the troubled situation in the Middle East.

Each year, in the lead up to Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW), organizers expect backlash and attempts to shut down events. IAW 2010 was no different. The Ontario Legislature condemned IAW, The Toronto District School Board banned IAW from its premises even though no events were scheduled there, and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff slammed IAW for the second year in a row.

Liberal Party of Canada Leader Michael Ignatieff motions the following: "On university campuses across the country this week, Israeli Apartheid Week will once again attempt to demonize and undermine the legitimacy of the Jewish state".

Far from such a representation of Israeli Apartheid Week is the scene in Lebanon. The American University of Beirut hosted a number of students, faculty and staff alike who came together for the first time in 2010 to join the international event.

This movement began in 2005 in Canada, initially by Canadians for Canadians who originally united with the resistance against apartheid in South Africa, and by analogy, with the Palestinian resistance against Israeli apartheid.

As the annual Israeli Apartheid Week got underway this week in universities across Ontario and around the world, the denunciations are mounting. In the Ontario Legislature last week, MPPs from all parties supported a motion brought forward by Willowdale MPP Peter Shurman condemning the event and its use of the word "apartheid," which he called "hateful" and "odious." A similar motion is expected to be moved in parliament by the federal Conservatives this week.