Int’l Day of Solidarity with the Palestinians

Reception is fully booked. Thanks for your support.

Join us at a reception… Read more

Reception is fully booked. Thanks for your support.

Join us at a reception to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People and honour Robert Lovelace, indigenous activist, lecturer and twice a Freedom Flotilla to Gaza sailor.
When: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, 1 pm
Where: Tamam’s Restaurant, 2616 E. Hastings, Vancouver
Admission: $10 – $15 sliding scale (all proceeds will go to Tamam Defense Fund). The reception will include a light lunch.
Lets mark the over 40 years of active solidarity in Vancouver between the indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and Palestine.
Hosted by BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish, Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver and Seriously Free Speech Committee.

STOLEN LAND: First Nations & Palestinians at the Frontline of Resistance

With: ROBERT LOVELACE, Dima Alansari and Glen Coulthard

Friday, November… Read more

With: ROBERT LOVELACE, Dima Alansari and Glen Coulthard

Friday, November 27 @ 7pm

SFU Downtown, Room 1700
515 West Hastings, Unceded Coast Salish Territories

For more information: info@seriouslyfreespeech.ca

STOLEN LAND : STOLEN VOICES
Canada and Israel are both built on land and resources stolen by European settlers; both are still sustained by the ongoing repression of indigenous peoples. The indigenous peoples of Canada and Palestine are on the front lines resisting the destruction of the land by militarism and industrial extraction. In the mainstream media and the halls of power, indigenous activists’ voices and stories have been silenced – they are treated as terrorists or historical curiosities. This evening will explore the commonalities of indigenous struggles for land and freedom in Canada and in Palestine as well as connections to the global fight for a decolonized world.

ROBERT LOVELACE is a lecturer at Queen’s University’s Dept. of Global Development Studies. An activist in anti-colonial struggles, he spent 3 ½ months in jail as a political prisoner for defending the Ardoch homeland from uranium exploration. A former chief of the Anoch Algonquin First Nation, Robert sailed twice on the Freedom Flotilla attempting to break the blockade of Gaza.

DIMA ALANSARI is a Palestinian-Kuwaiti filmmaker and performer based in Vancouver. She co-wrote and performed in “Return Home,” a play about the intersecting journeys of an Anishinaabe woman from Quebec living under the legacy of colonization, and a Palestinian woman born in exile, living in diaspora. She is currently the creative director of Salish Sea Productions, a media and production collective creating socially relevant works on themes of social justice, Immigrant, Indigenous and intercultural issues, women, youth & environment.

GLEN COULTHARD (Yellowknives Dene) is an assistant professor in the First Nations Studies Program and Political Science Department at UBC. His recent book “Red Skin, White Masks” exposes the politics of Canada’s ongoing colonialism.

Organised by the Seriously Free Speech Committee • seriouslyfreespeech.ca

Sponsored by Canada Palestine Association/BDS Vancouver, Canadian Boat to Gaza, Independent Jewish Voices – Vancouver, South Asian Network for Secularism and Democracy, UBC Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights

Endorsed by Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign, North West Indigenous Council, Streams of Justice, United Network for a Just Peace in Palestine and Israel.

UBC Campus meeting With Robert Lovelace
Queens University Lecturer & former Anoch Algonquin Chief
Friday, November 27 @ 1pm
Room 098, Henry Angus Building
2053 Main Mall, Unceded & Occupied Musqueam Territory

Rally in Solidarity with Palestine!!

Friday, Oct. 23, 1 pm
Vancouver Central Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St.… Read more

Friday, Oct. 23, 1 pm
Vancouver Central Public Library, 350 W. Georgia St.
Join us on Friday for a rally outside the Vancouver Public Library (Robson St. side) to express our solidarity with the Palestinian people, especially the youth that are challenging the current status quo. They are saying: Enough of Occupation, Enough of Collaboration, Enough of Apartheid. There have been massive rallies and protests around the world and in cities in Canada – lets show Vancouver is part of the global wave of actions in support of the Palestinian struggle.
“The ongoing, youth-led Palestinian uprising is a response to Israel’s intensifying ethnic cleansing and oppression of Palestinians, especially in occupied Jerusalem. In recent months, Israel has sped up its theft of Palestinian land and demolition of Palestinians homes, stepped up its racist attacks on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, tightened the siege on Gaza and implemented new racist measures against Palestinian citizens of Israel.”
“Join an international Wave of Action in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle. Stand with the Palestinian struggle…..take action, and develop Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions efforts.” (Statement from BDS Movement, Palestine)

Organized by Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver and BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish Territories. Endorsed by Alliance for People’s Health, International League of Peoples Struggle, Samidoun
For more info, contact info@cpavancouver.org

Free Palestine!! Boycott Israel!! The Struggle Continues!!

Report on the Rally

Oct. 23, Vancouver, Canada
A lunchtime rally in downtown Vancouver with Palestinian flags fluttering in the wind and spirited chants attracted a diverse crowd. Hundreds of leaflets were distributed to passersby highlighting the brutal and excessive force being used by the Israeli military and settlers. Solidarity messages were given by Independent Jewish Voices-Vancouver, Frente Hugo Chavez, Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights and Vancouver Solidarity for Ayotzinapa (Mexico).

For a short clip of the chants and intro to the speakers, see:

For a more detailed report on the speeches at the rally, see Barabari TV report:

For an excerpt of an interview before the rally with Hanna Kawas and for more pictures and videos, check out the Facebook event page.
Thanks to all the supporters who came out and to all the people that contributed in documenting and recording the event.
Viva viva, Palestina! Free Palestine!
BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish Territories and Canada Palestine Association-Vancouver.

Muffling the Palestinian Narrative in Canada

By Marion Kawas

The Canadian election campaign has another 2 months to go… Read more

By Marion Kawas

The Canadian election campaign has another 2 months to go and it has already become too much to bear. Palestinian activists are either bullied and targeted by our known adversaries or betrayed by our “friends” and told we’re not even allowed to raise our voices. The blatant pro-Israel stands of the current Conservative government are well-known, but the pervasive and bludgeoning reach of the Zionist lobby seems to have reached new heights (or lows). All three major federal parties in Canada need to be sent a loud and clear message that Palestinians and their supporters will not be censored and Palestinian rights are not expendable.
In the last week, the latest round of brouhaha was instigated by the New Democratic Party NDP leadership with the purge of some candidates mildly sympathetic to Palestinian rights. The resulting dissent has put them in damage control mode, especially since many supporters of the Palestinian people have also historically been involved in some way with the NDP which paints itself as the “party of change”. Several people were even deleted from various FaceBook groups (including Rabble) for refusing to drop the challenges on this issue. But the issues of censorship and the need to hear the Palestinian voice have refused to go away. On August 20, the Ontario Civil Liberties Association issued a strongly-worded letter defending the freedom of speech of two of the ex-candidates and noting that what one of them said was common parlance in Israel’s mainstream media. The letter went on to state – “The NDP’s stance in barring any criticism of Israel is undemocratic and wrong. Morgan Wheeldon and Jerry Natanine were not breaking confidence with a democratically-determined party policy platform, or engaged in any such mutiny. They have uttered words critical of Israel, in contexts of democratic discourse.”
Of course Palestine is not the only issue in this election, and Palestinian and Arab Canadians (contrary to some perceptions) are just like everyone else – parents, workers, seniors, disabled etc. with a myriad of concerns . But for supporters of Palestinian rights, the dilemma here is huge. The Zionist lobby are allowed to be “one issue” and have unlimited resources and time to check candidates’ social media accounts for the last 6 years, making any support for Palestine a “red line” issue. Is there no brave voice in the NDP leadership willing to speak out and say this is unacceptable? Sadly, so far, no!
And to ask Palestinian-Canadians and their supporters to vote for a party that is clearly complicit in the trampling of human rights, with the faint hope that after the election things will improve, simply will not cut it. Especially not with the current NDP leader, Thomas Mulcair, who proudly pronounced himself an “ardent supporter of Israel”, even before being elected party leader. Palestinians will not be silenced and after 67 years of dispossession, they no longer believe in hollow promises. So if the NDP leadership wants to own up and say they’ve thrown the Palestinians under the bus as have the other major Canadian political parties, then please be honest and do so. And engage in that debate as to why Palestinian rights (and any discussion of them) are expendable and be judged accordingly.
Does criticizing the NDP (or considering voting for another party, say the Greens) mean you’re supporting Stephen Harper or you don’t want change? Of course not! And frankly, it is arrogant and insulting to everyone’s intelligence to use such fear-mongering tactics. Many pro-Palestinian activists and their organizations have historically supported the NDP at one time or another, but for how long do we join the march to the bottom line no matter the cost, even if it means silence on critical issues? The progressive community expected more from the NDP so this is indeed a bitter pill to swallow.

Expanded version of this article at Mondoweiss.net

24 Hour Fast and Day of Action in Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners, Vancouver

24 Hour Fast and Day of Action in Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners… Read more

24 Hour Fast and Day of Action in Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners
Fasting: 9pm Monday August 17 to 9pm Tuesday August 18
Leafleting: Join us between 12pm and 5pm on Tuesday, August 18 at Broadway Skytrain Station
Facebook Event

Responding to the urgent call of Palestinian prisoners for support in the face of an escalation of violence and repression by the Occupation and the Israeli Prison Authority, solidarity activists in Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories will be engaging in a 24 hour fast and day of action.

There are currently 5750 Palestinian prisoners in the Occupation Jails, including 401 administrative detainees, 25 women and 164 children. All of these Palestinians are jailed for resisting the occupation!

Participate in the Fast! Pledge to fast from 9pm Monday August 17 to 9pm Tuesday August 18 and collect donations for Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network from family and friends. Contact aiyanas.ormond@gmail.com if you want to join the fast.

Pledge a faster or make a donation! You can make a donation directly to Samidoun or make a cash donation to a faster. All funds will be used for educational and advocacy work in solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners.

Join us between 12pm and 5pm on Tuesday, August 18 at Broadway Skytrain Station to help raise consciousness of the situation of Palestinian prisoners by leafleting, gathering signatures and talking to the public. This will include gathering support for the recently launched BDS Vancouver campaign for boycott and divestment from security firm G4$.

Organized by: Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network with Canada Palestine Association, BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories, and Alliance for People’s Health