Ramadan

Canada for Free Palestine

[CP24 @CP24]

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 6, including 2 children and an Al Jazeera cameraman https://t.co/GDjzKtm1BT

[Gaza Notifications @gazanotice]

🚨 Update: Three month old babay Mohammed Al-Khatib remains at risk of losing more of his limbs after an Israeli strike killed his mother while she was breastfeeding him in a tent for displaced families in Gaza.

His leg has already been amputated, and doctors now warn that his injured hand may also need amputation.

Time is running out. Mohammed urgently needs medical evacuation and specialized treatment abroad before it is too late.

[hasanabi @hasanthehun]

I GOT BANNED FROM THE UK FOR SAYING THIS VERBATIM BTW

[Ramadan @Abe8484]

@CTVNews Israel is a colonial outpost in the Arab world and must be abolished.

[CTV News @CTVNews]

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 6, including 2 children and an Al Jazeera cameraman https://t.co/eRpMxt1Dxw

[Gaza Notifications @gazanotice]

🚨The leg of 9 year old Omar was amputated in an Israeli strike on his home in Gaza this morning. His sister Zeina (4) and sister Lana (11) , along with their father, were killed. Their mother is in critical condition.

[Middle East Eye @MiddleEastEye]

On Thursday, The Oxford Union, the world's most prestigious debating society, hosted a debate with the motion: "Israel never truly wanted peace with Palestine".
The house won the debate, as tensions rose during the event.

[Gaza Notifications @gazanotice]

🚨BREAKING: 4 Palestinians, including a woman and two children, were killed while asleep after an Israeli airstrike targeted an apartment belonging to the Al-Safadi family on Al-Thalathini Street in Gaza City.

[Gaza Notifications @gazanotice]

🚨 BREAKING: An entire family of four was killed after an Israeli airstrike struck their home while they were asleep on Al-Thalathini Street in Gaza City.

The victims, from the Al-Safadi family, were a father, his wife, and their two daughters.

[Stuart Benson @LeftHandStu]

Was not expecting a Canadian Parliament connection in this one.

@MichelleRempel any idea how your name got involved in this?

[Nur Dogan @nurdogandiyorki]

A question for Minister Anita Anand at the University of Toronto, where she spoke at a private event today:

“Hey Minister, I am just curious what's it going to take for you to stop arming genocide, now we have reached a thousand days of Israel’s crimes!”

[Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East @CJPME]

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is set to launch its groundbreaking exhibit on the Nakba, which has been developed alongside the Palestinian Canadian community.

Unfortunately, the Museum is facing relentless attacks from the pro-Israel lobby, which is exerting major pressure on @MarcMillerVM to have the exhibition cancelled. Miller has so far declined to interfere with the Museum’s programming.

Join us in emailing Minister Miller and the CMHR to encourage him to stand firm in support of the Nakba exhibit, defend museum independence, and reject efforts to silence Palestinian histories.

https://t.co/VIVpMMSaxw

[Cherise Seucharan @cseucharan]

New from me: The TSDB cancelled a permit for an anti-Palestinian racism workshop due to ‘divisiveness,’ hours after receiving a petition alleging the event was ‘improper.’

https://t.co/fKJlm8KeoD

[Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East @CJPME]

The TDSB was scheduled to host a workshop on anti-Palestinian racism.

They cancelled the permit 1 day before the event was scheduled to occur, and only 2 hours after they received a pro-Israel petition complaining about the event.

This is exactly what anti-Palestinian racism looks like.

[Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 @mtgreenee]

This man is a murdering psychopath.

How about no mother, of any kind, should shed a tear.

[Mona Abuamara منى أبو عمارة StandWith🇵🇸 @MonaAbuamara]

I must admit I was completely unaware that I was participating in a “secret meeting.” Had I known, I certainly would not have publicly posted about my visit to Winnipeg, the more than twenty meetings I held over four days, or thanked the people I met, including Mrs. Isha Khan.
How careless of me.

But then again, creating an anti-Palestinian controversy where none exists seems to be a familiar practice of the National Post.

The irony of this entire story is that the supposedly "leaked" emails reveal absolutely nothing. They are not controversial, or even remotely surprising. They show exactly what one would expect. An ambassador proud to honour the extraordinary of her community. Meeting with members of the Palestinian Canadian community and the Canadian institutions to witness the progress of their efforts (spanning years before the “leaked secret meeting” even took place) and how close they are to seeing their history represented in the country they call theirs.

That is not foreign interference nor is it a political agenda. This is community engagement. It is precisely what cultural institutions, elected officials, diplomats, and community leaders do every day.

In other words, there is no story in the emails. The story had to be manufactured around them.

I agree that the museum's role is to serve Canadians and uphold the highest standards of historical integrity, inclusion, and public education. What is difficult to understand, however, is why Palestinian Canadians are suddenly portrayed as outsiders to that mission.

Nakba is not a foreign story to Canada. Tens of thousands of Palestinian Canadians carry this history as part of their family experience. They are Canadian citizens, taxpayers, educators, artists, professionals, and community leaders. Their history is part of the diverse fabric of Canadian society, just as the histories of countless other communities represented in Canadian institutions are part of Canada's collective story.

When Indigenous Canadians speak about residential schools, when Holocaust survivors share their experiences, when Rwandan Canadians speak of the Genocide of the Tutsis, or when other communities preserve memories of displacement, persecution, and injustice, no one suggests that these are examples of foreign interference. They are recognized as Canadians contributing their histories and experiences to the national conversation.

Palestinian Canadians deserve the same respect.
What appears to trouble some critics is not the involvement of an ambassador, nor the existence of community consultations. It is the fact that Palestinians are asserting their right to tell their own story.
That right should not be controversial in Canada or anywhere. It should be protected.

Human rights are not controversial. Historical facts are not controversial. Nakba is "controversial" only for those who seek to erase, deny, or marginalize the Palestinian narrative.

What these recurring attacks seek to accomplish is not the protection of neutrality, transparency, or historical integrity. Rather, they appear aimed at creating enough controversy and political pressure to undermine or derail the opening of an exhibition altogether and deny Palestinian Canadians the same space afforded to others. The right to tell their story in their own words, to commemorate their collective experience, and to participate in public discussions about their own history. The timing of these accusations makes that objective difficult to ignore.

The real question now is not why Palestinians speak about the Nakba. The real question is why some are so determined to prevent them from doing so.

If acknowledging the suffering, forcible displacement, and dispossession of Palestinians is considered political, then perhaps the problem is not the story being told, but the discomfort it creates for those who would prefer that story remain untold.

Enough normalizing the dehumanization of an entire nation!

أعترف بأنني لم أكن على علم إطلاقاً بأنني أشارك في «اجتماع سري». ولو كنت أعلم ذلك، لما قمت بالتأكيد بنشر تفاصيل زيارتي إلى وينيبيغ على الملأ، ولا الحديث عن أكثر من عشرين اجتماعاً عقدتها خلال أربعة أيام، ولا توجيه الشكر للأشخاص الذين التقيتهم، بمن فيهم السيدة عائشة خان.
يا له من إهمال مني.

لكن، مرة أخرى، يبدو أن اختلاق جدل معادٍ للفلسطينيين حيث لا يوجد أي جدل بات ممارسة مألوفة لدى صحيفة ناشيونال بوست.

المفارقة في هذه القصة أن رسائل البريد الإلكتروني التي قيل إنها «مسرّبة» لا تكشف أي شيء على الإطلاق. فهي ليست مثيرة للجدل، ولا تحمل أي مفاجأة من أي نوع. إنها تُظهر ببساطة ما يمكن لأي شخص أن يتوقعه: سفيرة فخورة بمجتمعها الاستثنائي، وتلتقي بأبناء الجالية الفلسطينية الكندية وبمؤسسات كندية للاطلاع على التقدم الذي حققوه عبر سنوات طويلة من العمل (وقبل وقت طويل من انعقاد «الاجتماع السري المسرّب»)، لبحث مدى اقترابهم من تحقيق حلم تمثيل تاريخهم في البلد الذي يعتبرونه وطنهم.

هذا ليس تدخلاً أجنبياً، ولا أجندة سياسية. هذا هو الانخراط المجتمعي. وهذا بالضبط ما تقوم به المؤسسات الثقافية والمسؤولون المنتخبون والدبلوماسيون ورؤساء الجاليات المحلية كل يوم.

وبعبارة أخرى، لا توجد قصة في تلك الرسائل الإلكترونية. لذلك كان لا بد من اختراع قصة حولها.

وأنا أتفق تماماً مع أن دور المتحف هو خدمة الكنديين والحفاظ على أعلى معايير النزاهة التاريخية والشمولية والتثقيف العام. لكن ما يصعب فهمه هو لماذا يُصوَّر الفلسطينيون الكنديون فجأة وكأنهم غرباء عن هذه الرسالة.

فالنكبة ليست قصة أجنبية بالنسبة إلى كندا. عشرات الآلاف من الفلسطينيين الكنديين يحملون هذه الذاكرة كجزء من تاريخ عائلاتهم وتجربتهم الشخصية. إنهم مواطنون كنديون، ودافعو ضرائب، وأكاديميون، وفنانون، ومهنيون، وقادة مجتمعيون. وتاريخهم جزء من النسيج المتنوع للمجتمع الكندي، تماماً كما أن تاريخ وتجارب العديد من المجتمعات الأخرى الممثلة في المؤسسات الكندية تشكل جزءاً من القصة الكندية الجامعة.

فعندما يتحدث السكان الأصليون في كندا عن المدارس الداخلية القسرية، أو يروي الناجون من الهولوكوست تجاربهم، أو يتحدث الكنديون من أصول رواندية عن الإبادة الجماعية ضد التوتسي، أو تحافظ مجتمعات أخرى على ذاكرة التهجير والاضطهاد والظلم، لا يدّعي أحد أن ذلك يشكل تدخلاً أجنبياً. بل يُنظر إليه باعتباره مساهمة كنديين يشاركون تجاربهم وتاريخهم في النقاش الوطني.
والفلسطينيون الكنديون يستحقون الاحترام نفسه.

ما يبدو أنه يزعج بعض المنتقدين ليس مشاركة سفيرة، ولا وجود مشاورات مجتمعية. ما يزعجهم هو أن الفلسطينيين يصرّون على حقهم في رواية قصتهم بأنفسهم.

وهذا حق لا ينبغي أن يكون موضع جدل في كندا أو في أي مكان آخر. بل يجب أن يكون حقاً مصاناً ومحميّاً.

حقوق الإنسان ليست موضع جدل. والحقائق التاريخية ليست موضع جدل. أما النكبة فلا تصبح «مثيرة للجدل» إلا بالنسبة لأولئك الذين يسعون إلى محو الرواية الفلسطينية أو إنكارها أو تهميشها.
إن ما تسعى إليه هذه الهجمات المتكررة ليس حماية الحياد أو الشفافية أو النزاهة التاريخية. بل يبدو أنها تهدف إلى خلق ما يكفي من الجدل والضغط السياسي لتقويض أو تعطيل افتتاح المعرض من الأساس، وحرمان الفلسطينيين الكنديين من المساحة نفسها التي تُمنح لغيرهم؛ أي الحق في سرد قصتهم بكلماتهم الخاصة، وإحياء ذكرى تجربتهم الجماعية، والمشاركة في النقاشات العامة حول تاريخهم. والتوقيت الذي تُثار فيه هذه الاتهامات يجعل من الصعب تجاهل هذا الهدف.

إن السؤال الحقيقي اليوم ليس: لماذا يتحدث الفلسطينيون عن النكبة؟ بل لماذا يصرّ البعض إلى هذا الحد على منعهم من الحديث عنها؟

فإذا كان الاعتراف بمعاناة الفلسطينيين وتهجيرهم وتجريدهم من ارضهم وممتلكاتهم يُعدّ موقفاً سياسياً، فربما لا تكمن المشكلة في القصة التي تُروى، بل في الانزعاج الذي تسببه لأولئك الذين يفضلون أن تبقى هذه القصة غير مروية.

كفى تطبيعا لنزع الإنسانية عن شعبٍ بأكمله.

[Dr Andreas Krieg @andreas_krieg]

"I think we need to give the Gulf states more credit. This is not simply Saudi, Qatari or Emirati money pumping billions into Washington and buying people. It is not like that.

If you are MAGA, if you believe in America First, the Gulf lobby’s narrative resonates. It says: we want stability, we want growth, we will put money into your economy, and we will allow your companies to come over and make money in the Gulf and the wider region.

The Gulf states are willing to underwrite American policies. After all, all the bases in the Gulf are paid for by the locals, by the Gulfies. They are not paid for by US taxpayers. The Gulf states are willing to buy American jets and weapons. They are injecting cash into American AI companies. They are willing to support American power where they can. They are net contributors to American power

By contrast, Israel is a net consumer of US power. It drains US power. It sucks money out of the US economy and from US taxpayers."

[Ramadan @Abe8484]

RT @joekent16jan19: For the MOU to hold and result in a lasting peace, we must restrict aid to Israel immediately & make it clear that we w…

[Rabbi David Mivasair @RabbiMivasair]

The @torontolibrary told me today they will not submit to Zionist pressure. The event is on.
To support the brilliant, valiant @sabreenaGS and the exceptionally ethical and effective @PennyAppealCa, please donate generously at https://t.co/Bh6bjVUXpt

[BreakThrough News @BTnewsroom]

BREAKING: United Auto Workers today passed a resolution at its convention, 321-287, to divest from Israeli bonds.

With nearly 400,000 members, UAW becomes the largest US union to officially divest from Israel.

The vote received support from a range of sectors, including a large number of Michigan auto delegates, in addition to legal services and higher education.

The original call for divestment came from a wildcat strike of 2,000 mainly Arab American workers at Chrysler’s Dodge Main in 1973. Amid the genocide in Gaza, pro-Palestinian labor groups and UAW locals renewed and intensified their campaign.

Speakers motivated for the resolution by citing the union’s legacy of divesting from South African apartheid in 1978.