Expulsions

“Is not the Corona pandemic enough?”, asks a Palestinian Christian who has already spent 72 Easters living under Israeli occupation

samia-reflections

There once was a time in which Christian, Muslim and Jewish Palestinians were neighbours and friends, remembers Samia Khoury. That was before the establishment of Israel in 1948. Since then, Israel has not let anything, even the coronavirus pandemic, get in the way of its ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people. Mrs. Khoury is the former president of the Palestinian YWCA and member of the Beirzeit University Board of Trustees. Read her letter about what Israel is doing this Easter under the cover of the COVID crisis. … (more…)

Governor-General Payette in Auschwitz to commemorate liberation of largest Nazi death camp – “Never again”

Canada’s Governor General Julie Payette visited the Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp in Poland on the 75th anniversary of its liberation by Soviet forces. She also met with a small number of Holocaust survivors. The memory of the horrors of the Holocaust still haunts Jews around the world, including Canadian Jews. It also continues to fuel the idea of a “Jewish State” and its consequent dispossession and oppression of the Palestinians. “We are the victims of victims”, said Palestinian intellectual and author Edward Said. Read more…. (more…)

Life and death in the Gaza Strip – Dr. Tarek Loubani to speak in Ottawa, Jan. 14th

life and death in gazaTarek Loubani is a Palestinian-Canadian emergency physician who regularly volunteers in the Gaza Strip. On January 14th, Dr. Loubani will discuss his experiences on the front lines delivering healthcare in Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa and on the front lines of the recent Great March of Return. He will be introduced by Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada. Read more…and come to hear them both… (more…)

A Palestinian/Canadian refugee maps his lifelong struggle to return to Palestine

Salman-Abu-Sitta

Salman Abu Sitta was ten years old when his Palestinian village was overrun by Zionist forces and his family forced to take refuge in Gaza. His life in exile took him to many countries, including Canada where he became a citizen, taught at UWO and even helped found the Canadian Arab Federation. But he never gave up thinking about and planning for the day when he and his family would return to the land from which he was expelled. A new memoir sheds light on the drama of his expulsion, and the struggle to regain justice for Palestinian refugees. Read more. (more…)

Famed Canadian-Israeli architect appalled at plans to “Disneyfy” Jerusalem with proposed cable-car

cable car jerusalem

“A total outrage against a fragile city,” says Haifa-born architect Moshe Safdie, of a proposed cable-car for Jerusalem.  The cable car project is promoted by Israeli settler groups who want to reinforce the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem. It would allow visitors to visit Jewish sites without encountering Arabs. It has faced opposition not only from Palestinians whose neighbourhoods will be defaced, but also from many Jews both inside and outside Israel. Read more. (more…)