🍉 VanGran4Pal Community Newsletter
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**Neighbours and Friends, **
We come to you this week grieving the people who were killed in Israel’s attack on Nasser Hospital. This attack killed five more journalists, who dedicated their lives to sharing the truth. These journalists’ deaths are only a fraction of the list of journalists and media workers murdered by Israel since October 7th, now numbering in the hundreds, and are not even the most recent, with a sixth journalist being killed later the same day by Israeli forces.
Israel’s commitment to silencing witnesses of their genocide of Palestinians is obvious to anyone who is paying attention. Every journalist who has died so far has died fighting to be heard. We promise to continue to tell these stories, as loudly and as widely as possible, to do our part in continuing this fight. We encourage you to do the same.
This week we are also celebrating some good news from the good fight. As a result of dedicated organizing by our neighbours in Burnaby and Apartheid Free Communities (learn more and join the movement by clicking here), Burnaby City Council has officially passed a motion to sign the Apartheid Free Communities Pledge and to write a letter to the federal government advocating for an immediate two-way arms embargo on Israel, as well as a transformation of the Temporary Residence Visa program for Gazans.
This is a huge win, and a testament to the concrete power of organizing. Though it is easy to feel powerless in the face of atrocity, let this be a reminder that our actions can and do make a difference, especially when we stand together.
Scroll down for action updates and a bumper events edition - mark your calendars as there is much to do and attend over the next fortnight. Learn more about Canada’s failing Temporary Residence Visa program and how it’s affecting our own community at the end of this newsletter in our Community Spotlight section.
Action Updates
Keep contacting Taleeb!
Lots of members of our community have been diligently contacting Taleeb through all his channels and we aren’t letting up any time soon. If you haven’t already, please join in! Taleeb’s job is to represent the interests of his constituents in the House of Commons - if you’re in his riding, let him know that you demand a full arms embargo and that he is not adequately representing your community. It is so important. Every call, email and message counts!
VanGran4Pal have mobilized a mass phone zap, making it super easy to collectively pressure our MP, Taleeb Noormohamed, to demand a full arms embargo on Israel. No more empty words. We need real action.
We’re asking you to keep calling Minister Noormohamed to demand that our representative take a clear stand. We’re calling on you to take part by making at least one phone call to Minister Noormohamed’s office - and ideally, signing up for as many days as you can over the coming weeks. The more sustained the pressure, the harder we are to ignore.
📞 Call: 604-717-1140
✅ We’ve created an easy-to-follow call script
📝 Use the signup sheet to choose a time that works for you
📞 The more voices, the more pressure. Every call counts
👉 **Call script: **https://tinyurl.com/2juj4cun
👉 Signup sheet: https://tinyurl.com/h9fffeme
Let’s show up for Gaza. Let’s make it impossible to ignore our calls.
Canada Soccer must call on FIFA to remove israel from 2026 World Cup
Canada Soccer has introduced CanadaRED, an “enhanced way for fans, supporters, and donors to connect with Canada Soccer” and demonstrate “Canadian pride”. It is also the exclusive platform to get tickets for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
But there is nothing to be proud of when FIFA continues to give Israel a free pass.
We call for a boycott of the World Cup games in Canada unless Canada Soccer calls on FIFA and the UEFA to give Israel a Red Card, and kick out apartheid!
As Canada prepares to host the World Cup, along with the USA and Mexico, activities are ramping up to hire staff, prepare facilities in Toronto and Vancouver, and market the event. It is a stain on Canada Soccer to host the 2026 World Cup without calling on FIFA and UEFA to sanction Israel’s membership, regardless of whether Israel is a qualifier to the games.
Canada Soccer needs to call on FIFA and the UEFA to take immediate action to remove Israel.
We call on Canada Soccer to:
Publicly demand that FIFA and UEFA suspend the IFA.
Refuse to host the 2026 World Cup in good faith while Israel continues to enjoy impunity.
Click here to sign the petition!
National Week of Action: Demand the CRA stop subsidizing genocide!
Mark your calendars - more info to follow!
Canadian taxpayers continue to subsidize tax breaks for war crimes and genocide, even as a UN report confirms half a million Palestinians experiencing manmade famine in Gaza. With indication that Gaza has reached Phase-5 status, the UN-backed global hunger monitor has officially declared famine in Gaza City saying “514,000 people - nearly a quarter of Palestinians in Gaza - are experiencing famine” and warning the number will rise to 641,000 by the end of September. Tell CRA that enough is enough--that these charities using our tax dollars to support war crimes and genocide need to end.
Last year there were actions at about 20 of the 50 CRA offices across the country. The CRA revoked charity status for the JNF and Ne'eman Foundation, but that is not enough! Canada continues to turn a blind eye to charities being used as front to finance an illegal occupation and genocide in Palestine.
Actions are registered in Vancouver: follow @alawdavancouver for updates and to join. If you live elsewhere and want to plan an action, please click here.
Upcoming Events: Bumper Edition!
Scotiabank Protest | Today, Thurs Aug 28
📅 Thursday August 28, 2025 @ 4pm PT
📍 Location: 650 W. Georgia
From @cpavancouver: Join us again on August 28, 4 pm at 650 W. Georgia to tell ScotiaBank to stop investing in genocide and Palestinian death.
ScotiaBank’s global asset fund (1832 Asset Management) declared in its latest SEC filing that it still holds 700,100 shares of Elbit Systems valued at $US314 million (as of June 30, 2025).
More info at https://cpavancouver.org/2025/05/scotiabank-reinvests-genocide/
Tatreez Workshop | Tonight, Thurs Aug 28
🗓️** Thursday, August 28**
**🕣 6-8PM **
📍 Vines Den
Led by Rawan Hassan, Tatreez is a traditional form of Palestinian embroidery characterized by intricate geometric patterns and vibrant colours, often used to adorn traditional garments and serving as a cultural symbol and expression of Palestinian identity.
Participants will learn about the history and basics of tatreez, including cross-stitch and symbols like the cypress tree and star. Learners will have the opportunity to practice embroidery with personalized guidance throughout. All supplies included.
Rawan Hassan is an interdisciplinary visual artist based on the unceded and unsurrendered land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Her works explored the complex relationship between preserving and evolving Palestinian textile traditions, such as tatreez (embroidery). She does so through studying and making said traditions through a diasporic lens. She also simultaneously explores materials that embody the questions of what was and what could possibly be. She hopes that her practice might open up the conversation on Palestinian identity, grief, resilience, resistance against erasure, ongoing occupation, colonization, and possible forms of Palestinian futurism.
Image credit: https://www.artsassembly.ca/rawan-hassan
Registration:
All Freedom School events are free and by donation. Registration is recommended but not required for this event.
Explore all events in the series at https://events.humanitix.com/host/freedom-school-a-people-s-university
Dabke Flashmob for Palestine | Fri Aug 29
📅 Firday August 29th @ 6PM
📍 Location: Olympic Cauldron
From @canadabkeh: 📣 JOIN US – DABKE FLASHMOB FOR PALESTINE 🇵🇸
We’re turning the streets into a space of resistance through movement, unity, and culture.
🗓️ August 29, 2025 – 6:00 PM
📍 Olympic Cauldron Canada Place Vancouver Bc, Canada 🇨🇦
Hosted by @Canadabkeh & our community friends: @freepalestinebc @freepalestinetricitiesbc @alawdavancouver @dancersforpalestineyvr @crescentjusticecollective @apartheid.free.communities.bc
This isn’t a show — it’s a collective action.
🖤 Wear black + a mask
👣 Learn the basic Dabke steps
🪧 Bring a poster
🎥 Be ready to be part of something powerful
📱 Share this in your chats & stories
Let’s reclaim space and raise our voices — through rhythm, resistance, and community.
Please register through the free eventbright link HERE, so that we can have an idea on the number of attendees!
** Closing Ceremony Driving In Palestine | Sat August 30**
📆 Saturday, August 30th
⏰ 6 PM
📍 Vines Den, 825 East Hastings Street
From @drivinginpalestine: Come join us August 30th at Vines Den to celebrate the closing of Palestinian Canadian artist, @rehabnazzal’s exhibition “Driving in Palestine,” along with the Freedom School and auction running in conjunction with the exhibition.
We will be showcasing “Out of the Ashes, Gaza Rises” virtual museum for the first time. It is a collection of art pieces created by Gazan based artists whom some of them were martyred, others displaced, their studios were bombed. Their actual art pieces were damaged. Thanks to @palmuseum in Birzeit, who shared the folder with us so we could honour these artists and their work with the means we have access to. Palestinian poetry will be read throughout the slideshow. Background music is by a contemporary Palestinian musician who generously granted us permission to use two of his music pieces for this project, to amplify the story of Gaza.
During the closing ceremony, we will also be concluding the auction which was put together to raise funds for Amani, one of the children featured in Rehab’s documentary “Vibrations in Gaza”. Her father was recently martyred, and her family is in need of financial support.
The funds raised from the auction will be going towards supporting her and her family.
We will enjoy a traditional dish from Gaza “Fukkaeieh” made by the amazing @tamamfinepalestiniancuisine . As cuisine is Tamam’s act of resistance, she is spreading awareness about the dish, and about the forced starvation in Gaza through her amazing cooking. If you plan to attend, please RSVP HERE so we make sure there’s enough food for everyone!
The struggle of Palestine is interconnected with many struggles around the world. We are honoured to host Fiona, a friend and activist from the Filipino community to share a song about hope in the midst of war. We are also honoured to conclude the event with a special performance by Colectivo Yollotl! You don’t want to miss out on their solidarity performance!!
** Thrift 4 Gaza | Sat August 30th**
📆 Saturday, August 30th
⏰ 11am-4pm
📍 Trinity Grace Church, 803 E 16th
From @crescentjusticecollective: Via @yvr_thrift4gaza Ready for an end of season wardrobe reset? Looking to support Palestinian families? We are thrilled to announce our first thrift event Saturday, August 30 at Trinity Grace Church! Proceeds will go to @branchesofhope4gaza mutual aid fund and distributed among six families in Gaza. Tell your friends! 🇵🇸🍉
An Evening with Mosab Abu Toha | Sept 4th
📅 Sept 4th
🕘 6:00pm
📍 Room 1400, Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street Vancouver
2025 Jim Douglas Lecture: an evening with Mosab Abu Toha on September 4, 2025
Reception 6 pm; Talk starts at 7 pm
Appetizers and a cash bar; live music and book sales
SFU Publishing is extremely pleased to announce that Mosab Abu Toha, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and essayist, is the Jim Douglas Lecturer for 2025. Mosab’s searing, heart-wrenching poems and essays have given voice to the unimaginable suffering of the Palestinian people under the rubble of Gaza.
Mosab Abu Toha will be appearing at the event via Zoom.
Toha's talk and presentation of his poetry will be followed by a Q&A. Moderated by Stephen Collis, poet and Chair of SFU’s English department
Registration is required to attend either online or in person.
Stop, drop n roll | Sept 5th & 6th
📅 Sept 5th & 6th
🕘 5th @ 6:00pm, 6th from 11am
📍 5th @ Hastings Bowl, 6th @ Britannia Courts
From @stopdropandroll_van: Ten years of Stop, Drop N Roll!!!
Thanks for everyone that continues to support our growing community we have all grown to love.
This year SDR is fundraising for @gaza_skate_team Via @skate_pal we have raffles and a special collab I can’t wait to share.
After parties are going to be 🔥! Come hang with your favourite skaters. Hastings Bowl and Britannia Courts. LFG.
Health Report from Gaza | Sept 8th
📅 Monday, September 8th, 2025
🕘 Doors open at 6:30 PM | Event begins at 7:00 PM
📍 UBC Allard Hall (ALRD) - Franklin Lew Forum 1822 East Mall Vancouver (Room 101) & Virtual (zoom)
Join BC Physicians Against Genocide for a powerful and urgent seminar:
Hear from Dr. Deirdre Nunan, MD FRCSC (Orthopaedic Surgeon) and Professor Dr. Naomi Klein on the state of health care in Gaza.
Click here for more info and to register
Zoom event:Invisible Battles: Islamophobia, Newcomers, and the Work-Genocide Struggle | Sept 9th
📅 Sept 9th
**🕘 11 AM - 1230 PM **
📍 Live on Zoom
As part of our Voices of the Unseen: Stories of Struggle and Resilience in Multicultural Canada project, we invite you to join our upcoming community event, titled “Invisible Battles: Islamophobia, Newcomers, and the Work-Genocide Struggle.”
This virtual panel discussion will unpack the emotional, social, and systemic challenges raised in the Voices of the Unseen Project—from witnessing genocide from afar, to rebuilding as newcomers, to navigating visibility, safety, and identity amid Islamophobia. This conversation invites us to reflect on how people are coping, resisting, and building resilience while navigating multiple forms of grief and exclusion.
The event will run for about 90 minutes. We will begin with a panel discussion, where we will explore three core themes: the work-genocide balance, newcomer realities, and the experience of being visibly Muslim in BC. After that, we will open it up to audience Q&A, and then we will close with a few final reflections from our panelists.
This event is free to attend, but if you could make a small donation to support our work, that would be very much appreciated. You can donate here: https://spheresofinfluence.ca/donate/
Palestine and Disability Justice | Sept 12th
📅 Sept 12th
**🕘 6-8 PM **
📍 SFU Harbour Centre, Earl and Jennie Policy Room 7000
Join us for an evening of dialogue and solidarity exploring the intersections of disability justice and the struggle for Palestinian liberation (event currently full, please RSVP for waitlist). This important event will bring together scholars, organizers, and activists to reflect on justice, accessibility, and resistance across movements.
Bana, a Palestinian disability justice advocate, will speak to lived experience and organizing at the intersections of disability and liberation struggles.
Siling (Crips for Esims for Gaza) will highlight grassroots initiatives supporting Gaza and speak to the importance of global solidarity networks in the face of ongoing violence.
Lara Sheehi, a clinical psychologist and co-author of Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine, will bring a perspective from mental health and community-based healing under conditions of colonial violence.
Jasbir Puar, author of The Right to Maim and Professor at the University of British Columbia, will share critical insights from her influential work on disability, biopolitics, and state violence.
Sarah Jama, community organizer and former MPP for Hamilton Centre, will draw on her experience as a disability justice advocate and political leader committed to building accessible and inclusive movements for change.
This event is presented by the Disability Justice Network of British Columbia and the Center for Comparative Muslim Studies @ccms_sfu
Masks will be provided and strongly encouraged.
Space is wheelchair accessible.
Access requests can be made at info@djnbc.ca
Everyone who registers will receive an access needs form.
DRAW THE LINE | Sept 20th
📅 Sept 20th
**🕘 2 PM **
📍 March from VPL Georgia Street
From Draw The Line: On Sept 20, communities across the country are mobilizing.
We refuse to stand by while the government and Canada’s richest corporations hoard wealth, gut our public services, fuel climate collapse, attack migrants, exploit Indigenous lands, and prop up a genocide in Palestine.
They think that if they can overwhelm and divide us, we won’t fight back. But climate justice, migrant justice, economic justice, Indigenous rights, and anti-war movements are uniting to prove them wrong.
On Saturday, September 20th, we’re drawing the line— for People. For Peace. For the Planet.
From rallies to strikes, marches to gatherings, this September 20th, communities will mobilize across the country and demand that Prime Minister Carney and the Canadian government pick a side: injustice, violence, and climate destruction— or a just and safe future for all of us.
📍 In Vancouver, we meet at 2pm @ VPL (W Georgia and Homer) / Dilawri Square.
We will be marching to Science World Park for a community gathering.
We’re drawing the line — for people, for peace, for the planet. 🌍✊🏽
RSVP + join us 👉 drawtheline.world
Community Spotlight
**A Message from within our community **
From a member of our community and the newsletter team:
this is my friend Mohammed, knowing him has changed my life for the better in so many ways! he is a loyal friend, a wonderful husband and father, a kind and humble soul, in his professional life he supports refugees and refugee claimants. he brought his wife Hala to my life who has instantly become a dear friend too, she is creative and funny, and their baby is just the most precious. i love their little family so much and my dream is for them to reunite with their parents and siblings, who are currently surviving the genocide in Gaza. the government of Canada announced special immigration measures to evacuate families of Palestinian Canadians back in January 2024 but majority of the applications are being on hold because IRCC is asking to submit biometrics which is impossible since there is no such place to do so in Gaza. this program from the beginning is fundamentally dysfunctional and designed to fail, it’s deeply rooted in racism. 22 months into this genocide and 20 months since the announcement of this temporary resident visa program, Canada keeps stalling in its inaction. today Mohammed spoke at the press conference in front of the IRCC office calling on Canada to bring his and other Gazan families to safety. this is a matter of life and death, and everyone deserves safety and humanity. im sharing their story with the hope that it brings awareness to those of you who care ❤️
Please donate to Mohammeds’ GoFundMe here and his wife Hala’s GoFundMe here - everything helps. Please learn more about the IRCC’s racism and how it is impacting Palestinian Canadians. Demand better: sign the petition and join a sit in.
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With gratitude and in solidarity,
Your Neighbours
Van Gran 4 Palestine
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