On Dec 12, Israeli soldiers raided the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, a renowned cultural institution whose mission is to promote justice, equality and self-determination for Palestinians. Two of the theater’s producers, Ahmed Tobasi and Mustafa Sheta, were taken away by Israeli troops. Their whereabouts are still unknown. Watch our interview with Canadian resident Rik Walton about working at the theatre....
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Israel claims that it is carrying out a “war on Hamas” but the evidence shows that its objective is something bigger. Professor Rashid Khalidi argues that this is one more chapter in Zionism’s “hundred years war“ to take over all of Palestine and expel the Palestinian people. Read more….
The Israeli government formally declared war on Hamas on October 8th, setting the stage for a massive Israeli military attack on Gaza. But the destruction of water mains, hospitals, electric power stations, water treatment plants, schools and other infrastructure indicates that Israel is really aiming at something much darker – to make Gaza unliveable and force Palestinians to leave. That fear is borne out by statements from Israeli ministers and even from a recently leaked Israeli government report.
Israeli cabinet minister Avi Dichter declared: “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba … Gaza Nakba 2023. That’s how it’ll end.” (In 1947/1948, Jewish forces expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes, in what Palestinians refer to as the “Nakba” or “Disaster”).
Prime Minister Netanyahu himself recently made a speech in Hebrew in which he cited a biblical passage which called for the death of all Israel’s enemies, men, women, and children, as well as their “infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
And now an Israeli government document which has been leaked suggests the “mass relocation” of Gaza’s 2.3 million people to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and makes explicit Israel’s intention to carry out another mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. The leaked document, first reported in Israeli media, was compiled by Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence and had apparently been already drafted well before the October 7th attack.
All of this has revived Palestinians’ memories of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people who fled or were forced from their homes during the fighting surrounding Israel’s creation in 1948, which Palestinians refer to as the Nakba, the Arabic word for catastrophe.
Neither Israel’s brutality nor its objective come as a surprise to Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi. It fits into what he calls the “hundred years’ war on Palestine”, initiated by the British at the end of the first world war and carried on today by Israel backed by the United States.
Khalidi’s thesis is brilliantly laid out in a 2019 book called “The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine” in which he describes the successive Israeli attempts to take over Palestinian territory. He agreed to do a Canadian book launch of his book in a webinar with the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine in November 2020.
In a recent interview with US journalist Chris Hedges, Dr. Khalidi explains how the recent brutal Israeli attack on Gaza is a continuation of this Hundred Years’ War.
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 Canada’s response to the complicated and emotional Israel/Palestine issue with a focus on the truth, clear analysis and human rights for all. Readers with different points of view are invited to make comment.
Want to learn more about us? Go to Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine.ca
On June 8th, the Federal Government Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security issued a report on violent extremism in Canada. One of its 30 recommendations called for the government to “condemn” strong criticism of Israel on Canadian campuses. How criticism of Israel might be related to violent extremism was not clear. OFIP wrote an open letter to Mr. Carr asking for an explanation. His answer was less than satisfactory. Read more…
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As Prime Minister-elect Trudeau is at work deciding who will be in his cabinet, his key staff will also be drafting “mandate letters’ which give new ministers instructions on what the PM expects them to do in their portfolios. In an open letter, I make a number of suggestions with respect to the Israel/Palestine issue. See my letter.
The Canadian Parliament has 308 members. About 40 participated in a special “take note” debate on the “world wide rise in antisemitism” on February 24th orchestrated by MP’s Irwin Cotler and Jason Kenney.
The Canadian House of Commons held a special 3 ½ hour late night debate on Tuesday, February 24th focusing on “the troubling rise in antisemitism around the world”, winding up with a unanimous resolution of condemnation. The debate was proposed by Liberal MP Irwin Cotler and Conservative Minister Jason Kenney, supported by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), the main Israel lobby group. What was the real objective of the debate and how important was it? (more…)
Canada Talks Israel/Palestine 