Thaer El Rifai, M.D. is a Canadian medical doctor practicing family medicine in Ottawa. Born in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, he is one of the lucky refugees to survive and get out. He has written a short book about his experiences. In a video interview, I ask him about his book, and about why the refugee issue is not better understood. Read more. (more…)
“Should Canada support BDS?” There is growing debate in Canada over the international movement to boycott Israel, known as BDS. In March, the federal government adopted a motion “denouncing” BDS. But a resolution in the same direction failed in the Ontario legislature in May. Canada Talks Israel Palestine (CTIP) wants to encourage a thoughtful discussion: We offer a $1000 prize for the best essay. Read more. (more…)
Among the millions of new refugees displaced by the war in Syria are hundreds of thousands of existing refugees – Palestinians who have been stuck in camps in Syria and Lebanon since 1948. They depend on UNRWA, a UN organization, for the basics of survival. But in a recent letter, Liberal minister Marie Claude Bibeau seems to say that the Liberals are not in any hurry to reverse the Harper government’s decision to cut off UNRWA funding. Read more. (more…)
By a show of hands, the biennial Assembly of the Mennonite Church Canada meeting in Saskatoon in early July, voted overwhelmingly to call on the Canadian government to apply economic sanctions against Israel for its continued occupation of Palestinian territory. Read more. (more…)
Canada’s NDP is one of 153 social democratic parties around the world who are members of the “Socialist International” (or SI). At its semi-annual meeting at the United Nations in Geneva on July 1 -2, 2016, the SI council expressed for the first time support for the growing international movement to boycott Israel. Read more… (more…)
Canada Talks Israel/Palestine 