Mark the date — Sunday, April 14, 2019, 4:30 pm
Outside Congregation Schara Tzedeck
3476 Oak St., Vancouver (gather SW corner Oak and 19th)
Facebook Event
Once again this year, Vancouver activists are issuing a callout to protest the fund raising gala of the Jewish National Fund. The racist and discriminatory policies of the JNF have been well documented and are of particular concern here in Canada due to the creation of “Canada Park” on the ruins of 3 Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank. A recent CBC expose also revealed that JNF solicits donations and issues charitable tax receipts for funds that go directly to the Israeli military and to the illegal settlements in the occupied territories.
This year is also an occasion to mark Palestinian Land Day and the one year anniversary of the Great Return March in Gaza; since March 30, 2018, 220 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military and tens of thousands injured.
Call on the Canadian Government to revoke the tax deductible status for the JNF, and stop being complicit in these WAR CRIMES.
More info at Stop the JNF, Canada website
No Canadian Charity for the Israeli Military!
No Tax Breaks for Apartheid and Colonization!
Organized by:
Canada Palestine Association and Independent Jewish Voices-Vancouver.
Endorsed by:
Alliance for People’s Health
Canada Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights
East Indian Defense Committee
ILPS Just Peace Campaign
International League of Peoples Struggle
SANSAD South Asian Network for Secularism & Democracy
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights UBC
Vancouver & District Labour Council
Vancouver Peace Council
Check out our new video documenting 20 years of Vancouver activists coming out to protest the Jewish National Fund and its pivotal role in dispossessing the Palestinian people.
Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 2 PM – 4 PM
Room 7000 SFU Harbor Centre 515 West… Read more
Saturday, February 23, 2019 at 2 PM – 4 PM
Room 7000 SFU Harbor Centre 515 West Hastings Street
The late Edward Said left an indelible mark on post-colonial studies with his book, “Orientalism” and taught generations to recognize the West’s constructions of its “other,” particularly in the Middle East and the Islamic world. As a Palestinian intellectual Said brought his anti-colonial critique to bear on what he called “The Question of Palestine,” revealing Zionism as a colonial ideology and the Western liberal support of this as a part of its colonial heritage. He was one of the first to publicly criticize the Oslo Accords and said one month after the signing of Oslo in 1993 that it was “an instrument of Palestinian surrender, a Palestinian Versailles”. This forum looks at Said’s legacy in the context of the ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people.
Moderator: Joanne Naiman
Main Speaker: David Barsamian
Panelists: Hanna Kawas, Adel Iskandar, Sana Janjua
David Barsamian is an investigative journalist, broadcaster and author. He is the founder and director of Alternative Radio, which is in its 33rd year. He has interviewed and written books with Noam Chomsky, Eqbal Ahmad, Howard Zinn, Tariq Ali, Richard Wolff, Arundhati Roy and Edward Said. His latest with Noam Chomsky is Global Discontents. His book with Edward Said, Culture & Resistance, which had been out of print is just reissued with a new introduction by David. He is a winner of the Media Education Award, the ACLU’s Upton Sinclair Award for independent journalism, and the Cultural Freedom Fellowship from the Lannan Foundation. The Institute for Alternative Journalism named him one of its Top Ten Media Heroes. He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center. He has collaborated with the world-renowned Kronos Quartet in events in New York, London, and Vienna. He was deported from India in 2011 because of his work on human rights abuses in Kashmir. He reports on people’s struggles across North America and the rest of the world.
David Barsamian will speak on Edward Said and the Middle East.
Adel Iskandar is an Assistant Professor of Global Communication at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver/Burnaby, Canada. He is the author, co-author, and editor of several works including “Egypt In Flux: Essays on an Unfinished Revolution” (AUCP/OUP); “Al-Jazeera: The Story of the Network that is Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern Journalism” (Basic Books); “Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation” (University of California Press); “Mediating the Arab Uprisings” (Tadween Publishing); and “Media Evolution on the Eve of the Arab Spring” (Palgrave Macmillan). Iskandar’s work deals with media, identity and politics; and he has lectured extensively on these topics at universities worldwide. Iskandar’s engaged participatory research includes supporting knowledge production through scholarly digital publishing such as “Jadaliyya” and academic podcasting such as “Status.”
Adel Iskandar will speak on Said’s critique of Orientalism and Nativism and his positioning as a secular humanist in exile.
Hanna Kawas is a Palestinian born in Bethlehem, Palestine. He is a writer and activist and has spent all of his adult life working for Palestinian national and human rights, as well as supporting liberation movements all over the world. Hanna is the chairperson of Canada Palestine Association, which was established in 1980, and is also the co-host of Voice of Palestine. He is currently active with BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish that has launched multiple campaigns.
Hanna Kawas will speak on the current situation of the Palestinians.
Sana Janjua writes poems. She is going to read three poems: one from Neruda’s Isla Negra, one from Darwish, and one from Faiz. All three speak to the experience of exile, memory of violence, and the condition of the refugees drawing connection to the global crisis of internally displaced peoples, and forced migration(s) across borders.
Joanne Naiman is Professor Emerita of Sociology at Ryerson University in Toronto. She has been involved over the years in a variety of activist organizations, including the anti-apartheid movement as well as support for public education in Ontario. Since moving to Vancouver in 2008 she has been an active member of Independent Jewish Voices.
Organized by South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy (SANSAD), Canada Palestine Association, Independent Jewish Voices, and Committee of Progressive Pakistani Canadians (CPPC) with support from Dr. Hari Sharma Foundation and the Institute for the Humanities, Simon Fraser University.
(Photo of 1975 Vancouver protest against Moshe Dayan)
In 1976, the late Shafik al-Hout sat in the living room of a house in Vancouver, Canada with local supporters and passionately tried to mobilize them to be active for Palestine. Give the Palestinian people whatever you can, he said, “even if its just your smile”. Shafik was known for his eloquent speaking and this comment was part truth, part sarcasm and part tragedy.
Al-Hout was in Vancouver as the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization PLO delegation to the UN Habitat Conference that year. His keynote speech to a public meeting, where he was joined on the stage by Mahmoud Darweesh and indigenous poet Lee Maracle, was one of the most moving presentations by a Palestinian guest speaker in Vancouver in 45 years. (Of course, the PLO of 1976 actually symbolized the spirit of what its name meant – Palestine and Liberation!)
The fact that Al-Hout even made it to Vancouver at all was an achievement. The Canadian government of the day had the previous year refused to allow a PLO delegation to attend another UN Conference in Toronto (forcing the relocation of the conference). And the year after, even the Vancouver City Council unsuccessfully made moves (which were later reversed) to have the Habitat Conference cancelled. Once the reality of the conference proceeding became evident, a wide swath of federal Canadian politicians and officials as well as the Israeli ambassador to Canada, rushed to declare that the Conference must be “non political” and not become an “anti-Israel forum”.
In one aspect, regarding the breadth of public support for the Palestinian cause, things have definitely improved. However, this broader support has till now often been more diluted and less principled that what constituted Palestinian solidarity in 1976. There is no longer the same strong leadership by the Palestinian Canadian community to drive the solidarity work as before, a reflection of the serious divisions in the Palestinian movement in general as well as the constant psychological pounding in the West on “terrorism” that imbues all levels of life for Arabs, Palestinians and Moslems in Canada. Groups that were presenting language skill programs have had their funding rescinded and been viciously smeared because the government did not approve of their politics. The heavy-handed moves by Canadian Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney in 2009-2012 against the Canadian Arab Federation, Palestine House and others highlight some of the more blatant examples of creating a climate of censorship with harsh penalties for those who do not tow the government line.
This absence of leadership by Palestinians themselves in work done in their names has been exploited by many liberal (some of them well-meaning) forces who place themselves as the arbiters on what is acceptable, where compromise is necessary and especially what principles, if any, may constitute a red line.
Palestinian activists sadly note that ideas and positions they have been promoting for years that were constantly rebuffed, suddenly become more acceptable when they are espoused by a Western progressive, or even better by a celebrity or a Jewish progressive.
This is not to say that there haven’t been extremely positive developments, like the statement last month by Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) in the U.S. that “unequivocally opposed Zionism”.
Or Gideon Levy’s new article in the Israeli paper Haaretz stating that “Its Leftism or Zionism…you can’t have both”.
Zionism was coined on the model of the European settler colonialist movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and shared the same basis of racism, supremacy and disregard for the indigenous peoples. And Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, wrote in his book The Jewish State in 1896: “We should there form a portion of the rampart of Europe against Asia, an outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism.”
Since its founding 120 years ago, Zionism has always claimed that it represents all Jews and that Israel is the “Jewish homeland”. The recent Israeli “Nation-State” law is the clear manifestation of this ideology, although the world for the past seventy years was duped (many willingly) with the Israeli slogan of being “the only democracy in the M.E.”. The new law is also meant to redefine anti-Semitism by claiming that since Israel represents the Jews, any criticism, repudiation or hatred of Israeli brutal, racist and genocidal policies must therefore be treated as anti-Semitism.
This recent questioning of the roots and trajectory of Zionism is welcome, long overdue and hopefully signals the beginning of a growing trend. We look forward to the day when other progressive Jewish groups, in Canada and elsewhere, follow the lead of Jewish Voice for Peace on this issue and publicly acknowledge, as JVP did, that Zionism is counter to the ideals of “justice, equality and freedom for all people.”
Perhaps then progressive Palestinian groups will no longer be vilified for taking a clear anti-Zionist position, for stating that they, as the direct victims of Zionism, have an inalienable right to denounce their oppressor and his ideology. Perhaps then Palestinian groups will no longer be labelled as extremist, or as divisive, or as marginalizing themselves, when they call on their supporters to also oppose the ideology that has driven their nation and people to dispossession and turned their lives into a living hell under apartheid, occupation or in exile.
And perhaps then, Palestinian groups will not be expected to show gratitude for “just a smile” or the empty gestures of opportunist politicians or the crumbs of charity. Palestinians will, however, always remember and be grateful for the genuine allies who have been practicing solid and effective international solidarity and support.
(By Marion Kawas) This article was published in Palestine Chronicle
On January 15 2019, Canadian PM Justin Trudeau further embellished his “trash talk” on BDS by responding to a questioner at a town hall meeting with announcing he will “continue to condemn the BDS movement”. The prime minister also repeated the claim that BDS is “anti-Semitic” and alleged that Jewish students are fearful and targeted on campuses “because of their religion” due to BDS-linked intimidation. Trudeau is now fully exposed to all, especially those who might have been previously swayed by his slick image and marketing; the lines are clear, if you support Palestinian rights, you can no longer pretend that Trudeau is anything but a continuation of the Stephen Harper legacy.
He does not represent the majority of people in Canada on BDS or Palestine, or on any indigenous issues for that matter. A national survey done almost two years ago in Canada as to how people felt about boycotts found that seventy-eight percent of Canadians said they believe the Palestinians’ call for a boycott is “reasonable”. The disconnect by Trudeau and his government on this issue is intentional and politically motivated. His collaboration with the Zionist lobby is well-documented but let’s suffice by saying that none other than Gilan Erdan, the Israeli BDS-busting cabinet minister, personally congratulated Trudeau on his most recent condemnations of BDS.
Against this backdrop you might think that BDS activism in Canada would suffer a setback. Not so! In the last 3 months, activists in Vancouver and across the country have been engaged in a campaign against 3 different ballet companies, as well as several levels of government, that were involved in the CanaDanse Festival in Israel. The initiators of the campaign, BDS Vancouver, were truly inspired by the immediate and overwhelming public reaction and the sense of outrage at the involvement of Ballet BC (and the other participants/sponsors) in this art-washing of Israeli war crimes. It clearly showed that people both within Canada (and globally as the campaign spread) are more than ready to embrace BDS and have strong feelings about why Israeli government policies require sanctions from all sectors of society, both institutional and civic.
The first focal point of the campaign was the petition to Ballet BC, which has now gotten more than 10,300 signatures. However, the campaign went far beyond just the petition and emphasized gathering support from activist groups across Canada as well as from within Israel itself (Boycott from Within). It also included leafletting Ballet BC performances, and extensive outreach through social media and other avenues.
Ballet BC, Batsheva and the Israeli Consulate: What is this all about??
Why did Ballet BC make this first ever trip to perform in Israel? Why now, with all the horrific things happening on the ground? Was it just part of the increasing moves by the Israeli government to emphasize cultural ties to whitewash its image?
Curiously, Ballet BC lists 11 choreographers for its 2018-19 season, and 4 of those 11 are Israeli, with 3 of them citing strong ties with the Israeli Batsheva dance company on their public profiles. Batsheva has a long history of flaunting the BDS call, and is often touted as a cultural ambassador for Israel. Activists were also shocked to find that the Israeli consulate in Canada back in May 2017 was a sponsor for one of Ballet BC’s performances by Ohad Naharin, probably the best known of the 4 mentioned choreographers. They had hoped that Naharin, who recently stepped down as Artistic Director at Batsheva after 30 years, might seize this moment and this change of company to act upon his professed support for Palestinians. They were disappointed.
As they were disappointed by the Georgia Straight, Vancouver’s leading “progressive” newspaper and also one of Ballet BC’s most ardent media supporters. Despite many attempts to contact Georgia Straight with press releases and other information, the paper never covered the campaign calling out Ballet BC for performing in Israel. In contrast, one of the 2 corporate media sponsors of Ballet BC, City (CityNews), ran an extensive article early in the campaign presenting both the activists’ demands and Ballet BC’s response. Given the Georgia Straight’s history as an “anti-establishment alternative to Vancouver’s conservative daily newspapers”, and some good coverage in the past of Palestinian events, activists were baffled (and still are) as to why this story was so “off bounds”.
Despite the herculean efforts of the Israeli government to tarnish and smear the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement as “racist and divisive”, even “terrorist”, BDS campaigns continue to increase in popularity with an expanding breadth of support. And the Ballet BC campaign is just one example of that. The more the Israeli government rants about BDS, the more it seems to grow in strength. 2018 was a pivotal year in exposing the brutality of the Israeli government towards Palestinians, especially in the Great Return March, and we may have reached a watershed moment for BDS that can only intensify.
Check out our new video documenting 20 years of Vancouver activists coming… Read more
Check out our new video documenting 20 years of Vancouver activists coming out to protest the Jewish National Fund and its pivotal role in dispossessing the Palestinian people.
