Events – Page 21 – Canada Palestine Association

Letter to Transport Minister Omar Alghabra: Israeli Apartheid Not Welcome in Canadian Ports #BlocktheBoat

(The following letter was sent to Canada’s Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and called on “the Canadian government to stop legitimizing the crimes of apartheid…and suspend all instances of Zim-operated ships docking and unloading in Canadian ports.”. This action is part of the growing demand that Canada must hold Israel accountable, through economic sanctions and a bilateral arms embargo.)
Letter pulished in Mondoweiss.

June 15, 2021

Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra
Ottawa, Ontario

In recent weeks, people of conscience in Canada watched in horror as the Israeli regime ruthlessly targeted Palestinians from all regions of historic Palestine. What started as a popular movement to #SaveSheikhJarrah residents from further ethnic cleansing expanded into a broad unity of Palestinians from Jerusalem to Gaza to Haifa to Toronto and Vancouver all sending the same message. Palestinians will no longer accept the status quo of Israeli apartheid.

As part of this burgeoning movement, Palestinian-Canadians and their supporters have actively participated in rallies, pickets and #BlockTheBoat actions. The latter refers to the efforts to stop Zim-operated ships from either docking in, or unloading, at U.S., Canadian and other international ports.

Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd is Israel’s largest and oldest cargo shipping company, dealing in Israeli manufactured military technology, armaments and logistics equipment, as well as consumer goods.
The Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) and a large coalition of all major Palestinian workers unions and professional associations have called on fellow trade unions and workers worldwide to boycott Israel and businesses that are complicit with its apartheid regime. They specifically urge “refus[ing] to handle Israeli goods” and “supporting [union] members refusing to build Israeli weapons.”

Last month, and in response to the above appeal from Palestinian trade unions, South African trade unions refused handling cargo from an Israeli ship in Durban. Dockworkers in Italy have also successfully blocked a recent shipment of munitions and armaments destined for Israel.

At Canada’s largest port in Vancouver, there was a successful community picket on June 8 that tied up both the Port entrance and a busy intersection; activists from a diverse range of groups stated clearly – “Israeli Apartheid Not Welcome in Vancouver Ports”. (The same message was also delivered on June 14 at the Prince Rupert Port.)

Port Authorities in Canada fall under the Ministry of Transport. As such, Mr. Alghabra, allowing and enabling such Israeli apartheid profiteering makes both the ports and the Canadian government further complicit in the ongoing dispossession of the Palestinians. Both B’tselem and Human Rights Watch have been clear in exposing the system of Israeli governance as apartheid. We, the undersigned organizations, expect the Canadian government to stop legitimizing the crimes of apartheid, and to refuse to give economic incentives to such abhorrent behaviour.

Your ministry is already mired in controversy for refusing to cancel a contract with Elbit Systems to purchase one of their drones. Who would have imagined that the Canadian Ministry of Transport would be so entangled with Israeli apartheid? We call on you to observe your government’s alleged respect for international law and human rights and suspend all instances of Zim-operated ships docking and unloading in Canadian ports.

Popular protest is not going to stop as long as Palestinians are not free.

c.c. PM of Canada, Justin Trudeau
Vancouver Fraser Port Authority

Signed:

BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish Territories
Canada Palestine Association
Palestinian Youth Movement Vancouver
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Endorsed by:

Anti-Imperialist Alliance, Ottawa
Atlantic Canada Palestinian Society
BAYAN Canada
Canadian Peace Congress
Communist Party of Canada
Gabriela BC
Human Without Borders
Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver
Just Peace Advocates
Justice for Palestinians Calgary
Niagara Movement for Justice in Palestine Israel
OPRA – Oakville Palestinian Rights Association
Palestinian Association of Hamilton
Palestinian Canadian Community Centre – Palestine House
Poetic Justice Foundation
Regina Peace Council
SANSAD South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy
Sulong UBC
West Coast Coalition Against Racism Society

Vancouver Day of Rage: Defend Jerusalem

Vancouver Art Gallery

TUESDAY, JUNE 15, 2021 AT 5:30 PM

VANCOUVER: EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION
Facebook Event

Tomorrow hundreds of Israeli settlers will participate in the Zionist March of Flags to taunt and attack Palestinian neighbourhoods. Historically, this march has seen settlers chant “Death to Arabs” and swarmed Occupied Jerusalem, attacking Palestinians. In response, Palestinians are calling on us to mobilize to protect the Occupied Jerusalem community. We are calling for a day of rage in Vancouver to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque and to stand with Palestinians fighting settler violence.Bring your kuffiyehs and masks, and be ready to march from the Vancouver Art Gallery, right near the Hornby and Georgia intersection, as not to disrespect the Indigenous vigil on the steps in front of Robson Square.This event is taking place on the unceded and occupied territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples. The organizers stand in full solidarity and support of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination and with the ongoing movements to defend land, water and Indigenous peoples from plunder and settler colonialism.

Organized by:
BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories
Canada Palestine Association
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid Vancouver
Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)- حركة الشباب الفلسطيني
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Block the Boat Vancouver

URGENT UPDATE: New information shows that the Zim-operated ship was delayed and will now dock at the Vancouver harbour port on Tuesday, June 8. So grab your mask and keffiyeh and gather June 8 at 3 pm at Woodland Park.
** We strongly urge everyone to get all updates and news by texting your name to 1-833-590-1987 **

*(Marching to the Vancouver Port, June 8)*

#BlockTheBoat March in Vancouver

#BlockTheBoat – Speech by Hanna Kawas

And bravo to Oakland that on Friday held a successful #BlockTheBoat action, forcing the Zim-operated ship to finally leave the harbour without unloading. Our campaigns and organizing are working: Israeli Apartheid not welcome in Vancouver Port! FB Event Page

(Oakland community picket to Block The Boat June 4)

For the past 10 days, the threat of the #BlockTheBoat protest organized in the Bay Area has kept a cargo ship operated by ZIM – apartheid Israel’s largest and oldest shipping company – from docking at the Port of Oakland. We are winning! Our people power is working, and sending a clear message that Israel’s ongoing settler-colonialism, occupation, and violence against the Palestinian people will come with a heavy price. Every hour that ZIM cargo ships remain undocked and unloaded is a huge victory, as it means that the apartheid state of Israel is losing enormous amounts of money. Here in Vancouver, we are responding to an international call to action to BLOCK THE BOAT here at the Port of Vancouver as well! Learn more about #BlockTheBoat at https://blocktheboat.org

Let’s send a clear message: Israeli apartheid is not welcome at Vancouver’s ports! ** Because shipping times and docks can always change, it’s important to be organized and ready to block the boat! Text your name to +1-833-590-1987 to make sure you stay in the loop! **

Join us again to Stand with Palestine

(Updated May 23)
May 24, 2 pm, Car Rally
5235 Kingsway, Burnaby
FB Event page

May 22, 6 pm, Vancouver Art Gallery
Vigil/Rally to be followed by March

The Palestinian uprising isn’t over and we’re going to keep up this momentum and continue pressuring for change. Families in Sheikh Jarrah are still waiting to hear from Israeli colonial courts next month on whether settlers will take their homes, Gaza is being heavily bombarded with air strikes, and Palestinian protests are occurring from Ramallah to Haifa. On Saturday, May 22, we will hold a vigil and then a rally. The vigil will begin at 6 PM at the Vancouver Art Gallery, where we will commemorate the lives of those recently killed by Israeli violence in Gaza, Haifa, Jerusalem, Hebron and other Palestinian cities. We will have a few speakers, and provide candles, flowers, and the names and pictures of those killed. Following the vigil, we will be marching to the U.S Consulate with a list of demands for both Canada and the US as well as a call to action. Stay tuned for program details. The route for the march will also be published here so you can follow it.
(Be sure to bring your mask and keffiyeh or Palestinian scarf and observe appropriate physical distancing.)

FB Event Page

Photos from May 22 Vigil/Rally in Vancouver

Color Smoke | #FreePalestine Protest – Vancouver, May 22

Tarik Kiani reports on our rally

And interviews CPA Chairperson Hanna Kawas.

Vancouver comes out for Palestine in massive rally!

Vancouver’s #Nabka73 event started as a rally of one thousand at CBC Plaza and then marched through the downtown core, where some estimates say it swelled to over two thousand. It was a historic event for Vancouver, both in numbers, in diversity and in spirit. Check out our photo highlights below to see how Palestinians everywhere are making history.