My Palestinian Mother-in-Law, and the Generation of Survivors

They succeeded in raising successive generations of Palestinians that remain attached to their land, to their culture, to their national identity. This is the real legacy of the Nakba survivors, the fact that their great-grandchildren are still fighting for, and dreaming of, a Free Palestine.

First published in Mondoweiss (by Marion Kawas)

My mother-in-law recently passed away at age 97 surrounded by her extended family.… Read more

Boycotting Israeli Products has a long history in Vancouver

In the late 1980s, Canada Palestine Association launched their first targeted consumer boycott of Achva Halva bars. Previous calls to boycott Israel had been more general and this campaign was to be the first of many consumer boycott initiatives. The campaign met with some success as several small businesses in the popular Commercial Drive area agreed to no longer carry the Halva bars, produced in an illegal Israeli settlement “industrial zone”.… Read more

Sabra and Shatila massacre: a scar that won’t heal

Pubished Sept. 17, 2020 in Mondoweiss

There are certain profound events in a nation’s history that leave an indelible mark on all its people. The massacre in two Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut, Sabra and Shatila, on September 16, 1982 stands as one of those events.

Taking place during the course of the Lebanese civil war, Israeli forces shot flares into the night sky, lighting the way for far-right Lebanese militias to carryout the systematic killing of up to 3500 Palestinian and Lebanese men, women and children.… Read more

Why We Oppose Zionism and Anti-Semitism

The progressive Palestinian movement has always maintained that Zionism and anti-Semitism are two faces of the same coin and that they often feed off each other. Opposition to both is based on opposition to racism and on a principled and solid belief that human rights should be applied equally and universally to all human beings regardless of their nationality, color or religion.… Read more

The progressive Palestinian movement has always maintained that Zionism and anti-Semitism are two faces of the same coin and that they often feed off each other. Opposition to both is based on opposition to racism and on a principled and solid belief that human rights should be applied equally and universally to all human beings regardless of their nationality, color or religion.… Read more

Past Correspondence with Amnesty International, Canada regarding David Matas

(Note: CPA’s work over the past 34 years has been largely undocumented on our website, but we are trying to rectify this.)

AI-Canada Stated Zionist Legal Network Coordinator Didn’t Compromise their Commitment to Impartiality

The following letters were exchanged between CPA and Bonnie Harnden, Executive Assistant of Amnesty International Canada in Jan./Feb 2002.
We checked recently with AI-Canada about the status of David Matas and we received the following response on Feb.… Read more

(Note: CPA’s work over the past 34 years has been largely undocumented on our website, but we are trying to rectify this.)

AI-Canada Stated Zionist Legal Network Coordinator Didn’t Compromise their Commitment to Impartiality

The following letters were exchanged between CPA and Bonnie Harnden, Executive Assistant of Amnesty International Canada in Jan./Feb 2002.
We checked recently with AI-Canada about the status of David Matas and we received the following response on Feb.… Read more

MP Irwin Cotler: “Canada remained (at Durban I) at the request of the Israeli government”

From a Facebook post on Dec. 4, 2009:

The loyalty war for Israel between the two main Canadian parties, the Conservatives and the Liberals, is heating up and in the process, exposing many facts. One of them is that Canada stayed at the Durban I conference not to further the anti racism agenda, but “at the request of the Israeli government” to further another country’s agenda in implementing apartheid, ethnic cleansing and war crimes against the Palestinian people.… Read more

A Dismal United Church of Canada Resolution

ucc resolution

Initial Comments on Resolution passed by the United Church of Canada
by Hanna Kawas
Aug. 15, 2009

The one resolution passed by the 40th General Council of the United Church of Canada includes item 1(g) (see below), which calls on Palestinians to recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state.

We also learned with horror this week, after reading the United Church Moderator’s statement that the official Church position, since 2003, has been the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state.… Read more