National Organizers from all over Canada came together this summer to take action after the recent atrocities that happened in Palestine, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Israel.
This opportunity provided me with the ability to network with activists from all over the country
Ryaa Awad, AI Canada Youth member
Israel has a deplorable record of unlawfully killing and injuring thousands of Palestinians, displacing tens of thousands and destroying homes, businesses, and infrastructure. These violations include war crimes and crimes against humanity that go unpunished. The National Organizers decided to take action by starting a letter-writing campaign urging the Canadian federal government to publicly denounce Israel’s human rights violations against Palestine. Some of our asks were to:
- Condemn Israel’s assault on Palestinians and publicly condemn its crimes against humanity
- Stop Canadian arms sales to Israel and support a comprehensive arms embargo on all parties
- Call on the Israel government to stop violating human rights of Palestinians, including the forced expulsion of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and home demolitions in East Jerusalem and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
- Call on all parties to end other human rights and humanitarian law violations
We were looking to get thousands of signed letters sent to us so that we can print them and hand-deliver them to Parliament. In a short time our team was able to obtain over 5000 signatures from people around Canada after countless hours of protesting, promoting, emailing, and inviting people to sign the letter. Early October, we organized a photo op on Parliament Hill, with paper doves representing the fight for Palestinian liberation. All letters have now been delivered to the Prime Minister’s office.
“Having created over 50 origami paper doves for this art installation and political demonstration, I hope to see more youth use the intersection of art and activism to promote peace, justice, and security for Palestinians.”
Rachel Lim, AI Canada National Organizer
We are very grateful for Amnesty International Canada’s ongoing help and support throughout the initiative. This is only the beginning for us; we are committed to keep fighting until Palestinians have their basic human rights respected. You can follow us on our very active social media page: @freepalestine.online.
Submitted by Hajar Abdessamie, AI Canada National Organizer
