At a time when every Canadian is nervously waiting for Corona to cause hurt to us or our loved ones and even to our country, its hard to keep in mind that it could be (and no doubt will be) worse for others. How do we balance our need for self protection with our desire to show solidarity to others? A Montreal disaster nurse who is a longtime human rights activist talks about international solidarity in the time of COVID. See the video interview here…

“A crisis can bring out the best in each of us,” wrote Scott Weinstein, in a recent post on the website of Independent Jewish Voices Canada. (IJV Canada).

“Besides being a nurse, I’m Jewish, so I know trouble,” he continued. “I have helped coordinate disaster relief efforts & systems in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and in Port au Prince after the Haitian earthquake. ” The COVID-19 corona-virus crisis is another challenge we need to face with our values, and our smarts. Solidarity, common sense, clear communications and best practices are our greatest gifts.”

CTIP was able to catch up with Weinstein recently to interview him about how he balances local activism and international solidarity. (Ed. Note: Apologies for the choppy image and audio quality in the first 20 seconds or so. It appears that Skype is having difficulty getting bandwidth as more people work from home.)

IJV disaster nurse Scott Weinstein interviewed in Montreal. Montreal has become one of Canada’s hotspots for COVID-19.

For further information on what to do, where to go for advice, many practical ideas and some useful links check out Scott’s IJV post.

____________________________________________________________________________

Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) is the weekly newsletter of Peter Larson, Chair of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP). It aims to promote a serious discussion in Canada about the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue.

Want to learn more about what we do? Go to http://www.ottawaforumip.org.

Contact us at: ofip.chair@gmail.com.