An open letter from CPA to the B.C. Organization to Fight Racism (BCOFR) regarding their relationship with the Zionist organization, the “Canadian Jewish Congress” (CJC).
Click on each image enlarge and view each page of the 4-page letter:
CPA sent an open letter to the BCOFR Executive Committee on the same subject prior to the November 18th, 1981 letter being issued:
Original letter to BCOFR EXECUTIVE
Here is an archival look at what Palestinian activists were doing in Vancouver in 1976. A Palestine Liberation Organization PLO delegation was attending the UN Habitat Conference, after several attempts to block their participation. The local community organized several events to bring the Palestinian voice to a broader sector of Canadian society, from films and exhibits to a major public meeting that highlighted Shafiq al-Hout as the keynote speaker and poetry by Mahmoud Darwish. In 1976, the PLO actually represented the concepts in its own name, and was labeled as “terrorist” by imperialist forces; this is why it was an achievement for the delegation to even make it to Vancouver at all. Check out these old documents which include an announcement, the original agenda for the public meeting and the introductory speech; they will give a sense of the spirit and sumoud that characterized the work of that decade.
Check out what was happening 40 years ago in the Vancouver solidarity movement. The local Palestinian support group published 6 issues of “Palestine in Struggle”, and here is one of them, the issue that covered the visit of the PLO delegation to the Habitat conference in Vancouver. There is also coverage of indigenous leader Leonard Peltier, who was facing extradition from Canada at the time. We hope to have all 6 issues archived and up for viewing in the near future.
