There is so much coming out of Gaza, Palestine, and Palestinian Peoples right now and the lesser amount of attention on the West Bank are examples of how Palestinians have been and continue to be oppressed, repressed, suppressed.

And still, there is so much coming out.

Yes, there is death, destruction, colonial violence, at scales and levels that for many are unimaginable. For many, maybe not so far off what they already knew. Untested weapons of war are obliterating blood lines, infrastructure, culture, memories, archives, records, ways of living, life.

And still, there is so much coming out.

Understandings and courses of actions have evolved rapidly since October, 7, 2023 and we would like to touch back into what Palestinians have been and continue to ask for us to do as a grounding point, a point where we can return to and reorient whenever a reminder is needed about the aims and goals of this work. While there are many, here are a few for right now:

1. Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS), a non-violent movement aimed at ending international support for Israel’s oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, three main goals remind us of what we are fighting for:
   1. Ending Israel’s occupation and colonization of all Arab lands and dismantling the Wall
      1. Israel currently occupies the Golan Heights in Syria and has previously occupied the Sinai desert (Egypt) and Southern Lebanon, attempting to capture Beirut multiple times 
   2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality
   3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties (stipulated in UN Resolution 194)

2. Mansour Shouman, a Palestinian Canadian journalist in Gaza has, in his steadfastness, urged us to learn more about three main things:
   1. What is Zionism
   2. The History of the last 150 years of the occupation of Palestine
   3. What is Islam

3. Bisan Owda, a Palestinian storyteller, filmmaker, activist, and journalist (“Hello my name is Bisan from Gaza and I’m still alive”) has shared with us many things and two in particular that sticks is her request for us to (a) keep going and (b) enjoy our life. She has not only said this but is showing us how to do it.

4. Refaat Al-Areer, a Palestinian writer, poet, professor, and activist from Gaza has asked us to keep Palestinian stories alive, to never forget, to remember the names, and to spread the many seeds of Palestine to bring love and hope to all.

All of this and still, there is so much coming out.

Concurrent genocides, atrocities, war, and violence in different parts of the world are many and include but are not limited to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Kashmir, Ukraine, Syria, Armenia. As settlers on stolen land, it is essential that we understand the violence in Palestine to be rooted in a zionist, settler-colonial project of land theft, resource extraction, and erasure of those indigenous to Palestine, the Palestinians. Now is the time to get curious about why that sounds familiar. While there are differences between the Palestinian struggle for liberation and Indigenous and Black struggles for liberation and freedom on Turtle Island, they are connected by a thread of settler-colonial violence.

Canada’s “centrepiece of colonial policy”, the 1867 Indian Act has been studied and used as a blueprint by South Africa, Hitler’s Nazi Germany, and the illegal occupying entity of Israel to design and implement systems of apartheid. Lester B. Pearson chaired the UN Committee that recommended the 1947 Palestinian partition plan that played a large role in the ongoing Nakba. Stephen Harper serenaded Netanyahu in 2014 (Hey Jude) and has invested over $350M into a tech start up in Tel Aviv that partners with the IDF. Justin Trudeau’s Feb 14 joint statement with Australia and New Zealand (also part of the colonial commonwealth) referred to Israel as Canada’s ‘friend’.  Canadian military exports to Israel have been rising since the mid 90s while Mélanie Joly, the Minister of Foreign Affairs blatantly misleads the public about it. A year’s worth, more than $28.5M of weapons and components of lethal weapons were exported to Israel between Oct 7 and December 2023 matching Canada’s highest years on record in over 30 years thus failing to reduce risk of violating commitments to international humanitarian law.

All of this and still, there is so much coming out.

There has been a shift. Can you feel it? Mass, decentralized efforts that follow the lead of Indigenous, Black, Brown, and People’s of Colour. Our kin are telling us, showing us what to do. Learn more about the BDS movement, learn more about Zionism, the History of the last 150 years of the occupation of Palestine, and Islam. Question everything. Learn more about Land Back, Decolonization, Abolition, Radical Liberating Love, Mutual Aid and lean into whatever comes up when you hear the words Settler-Colonialism and White Supremacy. The work starts where there is discomfort.

I think there is a longing, a deep need for care and compassion. The work is for us to think about what it means to decolonize our hearts, our minds, and our souls so that we can begin to trust in ourselves and our communities. What might it mean to start to dream about ways to live differently that, after enough repetition, seedlings of possibility trickle from the clouds into the ground made fertile by many hands. No longer a far off dream, we become willing to resist and work in ways that nurture the spiritual growth of ourselves and others.