🍉 VanGran4Pal holding space for collective grief
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**Neighbours and Friends, **
It’s been a heart-wrenching few weeks as we’ve watched Israeli airstrikes continue in aggression while starvation continues to set in. These strikes continue despite a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the International Court of Justice calling for unimpeded access to humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, our very own MP, Taleeb Noormohamed, has revealed himself as the architect of the contamination of key demands made within the NDP’s motion on Palestine on March 18th. This included removing clear language that Canada recognize a Palestinian state and stop all trade in military goods and technology with Israel. Read more about how Taleeb and the Liberals watered down the NDP’s motion here.
“But, with less than a week before the vote, three sources said, B.C. Liberal MP Taleeb Noormohamed asked Alberta NDP MP Heather McPherson to consider making amendments.” - Marieke Walsh, Globe and Mail
Regardless, our work continues. Over 50 of your neighbours are now engaged in daily organizing with door-to-door canvassing, organizing events, personalized onboarding experiences for new organizers, and building a new strategy for how we will hold Taleeb accountable to Palestinian solidarity in the next election!
We hope to see you organizing in the coming weeks or at an upcoming event!
Upcoming Events
Holding Space for Collective Grief
Sunday, April 14 at 1 PM
Kitsilano Neighbourhood (Location available after registration)
Join us for an informal community circle of organizers, neighbours, & parents to hold space for collective grief during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. This gathering is intended for the local Palestinian community and human rights activists devoting themselves for the liberation of Palestine.
Registration is free and required. Click here to register.
Tea and light refreshments will be served. Child activities on site for those who wish to bring their little ones. The space is wheelchair accessible, and there are gender-neutral washrooms on site. Masks are required and will be available.
Community Spotlight
Contributed by Shruthi Budnar
**Mehendi/Henna/Madarangi - (noun) Plant-based dye used for decorative body art predominantly practiced in parts of West Asia, North Africa and South Asia. **
During my childhood summers I engaged in leisurely bonding sessions with the girls and women in my grandma’s home. My aunt would tenderly hold my tiny, outstretched palm in her left hand while her right hand meticulously drew patterns by squeezing a cone of wet mehendi paste. This was also a time of swapping stories - funny anecdotes, salacious gossip and playful banter that forged my core memories.
In 1948, the UN was called in to mediate a border conflict at the border of India, China and a newly formed Pakistan. Since then the Jammu-Kashmir region has been subjected to a relentless military occupation by the state of India. The people of Kashmir never got a say in the matter. The concurrent sister struggles of Kashmir and Palestine are poignant reminders of the ongoing impacts of British colonization and Western imperialism.
In this piece, I was motivated to entwine the resistance struggles for Indigenous sovereignty by tracing henna designs in the shape of watermelon. As an uninvited guest to Turtle Island, I would also like to recognize my own complicity in the ongoing harms of imperialism, global capitalism and colonization.
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With gratitude and in solidarity,
Your Neighbours
Van Gran 4 Palestine
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