After years of ignoring the horrors of the residential school system, Canada slowly embarked on a process of “Truth and Reconciliation” with its indigenous peoples. The final report of the TRC commission was officially adopted by the Government of Canada. In Israel, however, there is still denial about the impact of the creation of the State of Israel on the indigenous Palestinians. Could this ever change? One organization is trying to educate Israeli Jews about their own history. It’s making some progress. But it’s not easy. Read more.

Israel is triumphant. Dominant militarily, diplomatically and economically. The West Bank economy has been decimated. Unemployment is soaring. Tourism – long a main source of income, especially in towns like Bethlehem, has been almost completely shut down. And with it, the possibility of selling handicrafts to tourists. Here are a couple of ways Canadians can act to help keep the Palestinian economy afloat in the West Bank until this devastating pandemic is under control. Read more…

Professor Michael Lynk, (bottom left) UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories responded to questions about his work at the UN from OFIP panelists and a large audience. Clockwise: Peter Larson, Chair, OFIP, Eman Ayyoub, Rebekah Sears and David Halton. Watch video of the informative session.

The Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF) was conceived in 2008 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba. It is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization dedicated to bringing Palestinian cinema, music, cuisine and art to Toronto area audiences. Now, because of COVID, it has gone on-line, making a wide variety of interesting films available to people outside the GTA. Read more…

In a powerful book written in 2006, Avram Burg, a former speaker of the Israeli Knesset, argued that Jews have been so traumatized by the horrific events of the Holocaust that they have lost the ability to trust the world around them. Burg used his own family history–his parents were Holocaust survivors–to suggest Jews need to move on and eventually live in peace with their Arab neighbors and feel comfortable in the world at large. That fear still haunts most Jews in Canada today. But not all. Here are candid recollection on the Holocaust, anti-Semitism and Zionism by two Canadian Jews who are members of the Advisory Council of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine. Watch and learn.