Join us as we discuss future prospects for the Palestine solidarity movement in Canada: opportunities, threats, political trends, collaboration with other movements, dealing with opposition, and more.
CJPME and PSN-Edmonton are pleased to invite you to “Strengthening the Solidarity Movement for Palestine”. Two lead members from CJPME (Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East) will lead the discussion. Michael Bueckert and Thomas Woodley both have contributed to the recently published collection Advocating for Palestine in Canada. Michael’s doctoral work compared current opposition to the boycott of Israel to earlier opposition to that of South Africa. Thomas has been involved in Palestine solidarity work for over 20 years and is a founder and president of CJPME.
Robert (Asher) Kirchner recently returned to Edmonton following three months in the Masafer Yatta district, south of Hebron, in the West Bank. He was living with Palestinian residents and participating in solidarity activities through the Centre for Jewish Nonviolence. He and other activists accompanied locals during shepherding and farming work and faced harassment from soldiers and settlers. Robert and his partner Suzanne Gross will provide an overview of present realities for Palestinians; they’ll outline some recent decisions and actions by Israel which appear to test the ground for entrenching and expanding the illegal occupation. Their presentation will be followed by discussion to evoke responses which might promote positive and peaceful change in the region.
When: Sunday, July 17, 2022 Doors open at 12:30 pm for lunch and refreshments and a chance to reconnect with other network members. Presentation immediately follows. Where: Multi-purpose room, St. Paul’s United Church, 11526 76 Avenue, Edmonton
The McGill Alumni Association of Jordan invites you to join a thought-provoking conversation on the idea behind the soon-to-be-published book titled, Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out by Ramzy Baroud.
Based on the author’s articulation of the Palestinian position, the speakers will draw on their own personal experiences to illustrate Palestinian aspirations.
The discussion is hosted by Dr. Mona Taji, MA’94, PhD ’05 and the Q&A session will be moderated by Romana Rubeo (bios below).
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of The Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of six books. His forthcoming book, co-edited with Ilan Pappé, is Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals SpeakOut. Dr. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA).
Dr. Ghada Ageel is a visiting Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta, and the editor of both Apartheid in Palestine: Hard Laws and Harder Experiences and Women’s Voices from Gaza series. A third-generation Palestinian refugee, Dr. Ageel holds a Ph.D. and MA in Middle East Politics from the University of Exeter/UK and a BA in Education from the Islamic University/Gaza. Her research interests focus on rights-based approaches to forced migration, Palestinian refugees in comparative perspective, oral history and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Samah Sabawi is a writer and scholar. She is a recipient of multiple awards including the prestigious 2020 Green Room Award for Best Writing. Her critically acclaimed theatre credits include Tales of a City by the Sea and THEM. Sabawi received a Ph.D. from Victoria University for her thesis Inheriting Exile, transgenerational trauma and the Palestinian Australian Identity.
Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature, and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.
Details
This online event is free but registration is required.
Event starting time is listed in Amman time. Please be sure to check your local time zone in order to log in on time.
Zoom information will be shared with registrants prior to the day of the event.
To submit questions prior to the event, or for any other questions or comments, please write to jordan.alumni@mcgill.ca with “February Event” in the subject line.
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Netflix recently distributed a wide selection of Palestinian films; some of these focused on Palestinian refugees outside the Occupied Territories. The complex situation for these refugees usually leaves viewers with as many questions as answers. For Canadians who do watch, will viewing lead to deeper awareness? Is it too hopeful to think these stories on film could ever move viewers on to more active forms of support? This and other questions will form the basis of the first “Dialogue with the Diaspora” webinar organized by the Canadian-Palestinian Education Exchange (CEPAL) and sponsored by PSN.
Prior to the webinar, you are invited to view the representative documentary film Soufra. Its story follows a group of women entrepreneurs at the Burj al Barajneh camp in south Beirut. In the face of huge obstacles, they show unrelenting belief in each other, and their small business begins to take root. But the real test comes next, when they attempt to add on a food truck service which could carry business outside of their camp. (Click here for Soufra trailer.)
Click here to register for the webinar, and to receive a link to our sponsored viewing platform. Watch the film, at a time good for you and then join us for the panel discussion on November 18 (6pm, MST, 8PM Eastern)
Panelists include:
Robert Allison, Communications Director, Hamilton Voices of Palestine Film Screenings Dania Majid, Programmer and Media Relations, Toronto Palestine Film Festival Thomas Morgan, Producer-director of Soufra, and other films Henry Zaccak, Moderator, President, Canadian-Palestinian Education Exchange
View Soufra on-line, some time prior to the webinar.
US-based streaming service Netflix launched a new Palestinian film collection on Thursday, Reuters reported.
The collection, titled ‘Palestinian Stories’, consists in 32 films that are “either helmed by Palestinian filmmakers or about Palestinian stories,” Netflix said in a statement released on Tuesday.
A special webinar organized by “Stand Up for Palestinian Children’s Rights”, a broad based cross-Canada planning committee,in collaboration with the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine (OFIP).
Oct 13, 2021 12:00 PM (noon) Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Imagine heavily armed soldiers breaking into your home at 2 am, dragging your teenager out of bed and taking him off to be interrogated! Hundreds of Palestinian children are arrested in this way every year by the Israeli military. Many on “suspicion” of stone throwing which can bring a sentence of up to 10 years in jail. Their parents can also be arrested. In custody the children may be subjected to physical and/or psychological torture to reveal the names of their friends. The conviction rate of the children is 99%. Canadians Kathy Bergen and Dorcas Gordon will interview two on the spot observers – one Palestinian and one Israeli – from Jerusalem about this horrifying situation.
Salwa Dubais from Military Court Watch will tell us about the impact on Palestinian families and the difficulties teens face after their imprisonment. Dani Shenhar from HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual (an Israeli human rights organization assisting Palestinians of the occupied territories whose rights are violated due to Israel’s policies) will explain the difference in laws governing Palestinian and Israeli youth.
What can Canadians do? In 2020 the Canadian government admitted it is aware of what is happening. Yet no obvious action has been taken. Might the appointment of a Canadian special envoy help to change this?To learn more and join the conversation, you are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Oct 13, 2021 12:00 PM (noon) Eastern Time (US and Canada) Topic: Arrest and detention of Palestinian children
Fourteen years of a brutal, life-threatening blockade has denied Gaza of water, food, electricity, shelter and held two million people captive. Gaza was deemed “unlivable” by international agencies in 2020. Now the recent Israeli bombardment has only worsened the humanitarian disaster: roughly 60,000 people have been made homeless by the bombing, 800,000 people left without access to piped water. Six hospitals and eleven primary health-care centers, as well as 54 schools and educational facilities, damaged by the bombing.
With a severe lack of fuel due to the Israeli blockade and recent bombing damage to the electricity network, Gazans are reduced to an average of 4-6 hours of electricity per day. Besides the terrible impact on daily life, the lack of electricity hugely compounds the difficulty in providing health care. Gaza’s health system was already completely overwhelmed by a surge in COVID-19 cases in 2021; now the only laboratory for Covid-19 testing has been damaged.
About half of Gaza’s population is under 18, and there are many children who have lived through several of these terrifying Israel bombardments in their short lives. Even before this latest destruction, 80% or more of the population was dependent on humanitarian aid for survival. Now the need is more urgent than ever.
HOW YOU CAN HELP NOW Besides advocating for justice for the Palestinian people, we know we are also called to help those in dire need. There are many options for your giving; here are three respected organizations that have a good track record of getting urgent aid into the hands and homes of those who need it. (Courtesy of United Methodists for Kairos Response)
In the last month Israel’s grave human rights abuses have received unprecedented recognition and public condemnation in Canada. Across the country we have seen mass protests and demonstrations in many cities, statements by sitting MPs and senators, and the multiplication of calls for boycotts and sanctions. In response, the institutional Jewish community has linked these protests and condemnations to claims that there has been a significant rise in antisemitism, conflating the movement for Palestinian liberation with hatred towards Jews.
Complicating these claims are the isolated incidents of antisemitism which have taken place, some of which have been shown to be false, and others that can only be seen as verifiable instances of Jew-hatred.
How are we to understand the institutional Jewish community’s attempts to conflate a liberatory popular movement for Palestine with rising antisemitism? How is antisemitism being weaponized to push back against the growing movement for Palestinian liberation, and how can we work to counter this weaponization while standing steadfast against real antisemitism? What is the political strategy being used in this current moment to attack the Palestine solidarity movement, and how does that strategy rely on faulty assumptions and the structures of racism embedded in Canada?These are some of the questions this webinar will seek to address. IJV is proud to host experts from both academic and political backgrounds to engage these difficult but important topics. By discussing antisemitism, its history of weaponization in Canada, and our institutional Jewish community, the speakers will seek to gain a clearer insight of what is really happening, and what we need to do about it.
Once again, missiles and rockets flew between Israel and Gaza. When the ceasefire was finally declared on Thursday, at least 242 Palestinians – including at least 66 children – in Gaza had been killed, along with 10 Israelis, including two children. At least 14 Palestinians in the West Bank protesting the violence in Gaza were killed by Israeli security forces. Gaza suffered immense property destruction. And 75,000 Palestinians were forced to seek shelter in UN schools and other locations to escape the missiles.
As international human rights observers, we believe that the firing by Israel of missiles and shells into heavily populated areas of Gaza, its dreadful toll on civilians, property destruction and bombing of international media offices constitute war crimes. We also believe that the firing of rockets by Palestinian armed groups into Israeli urban areas violates international law. These actions must be investigated by the International Criminal Court.
Amid an upsurge in reports of antisemitic incidents in recent weeks, the Edmonton Palestine Solidarity Network reiterates that we categorically condemn and denounce all acts of antisemitism in the strongest possible terms. Those committing such attacks are not in solidarity with Palestinians, they are in solidarity with racism, the very force we are struggling to overcome.
We are committed to the liberation of the Palestinian people and are opposed to Israeli war crimes and their continued violation of Palestinian human rights, which have escalated in recent weeks. We are also committed to fighting all forms of racism, including antisemitism, with our allies.
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY NETWORK 