Since the Nakba on May 15, 1948, countless Palestinians have been permanently displaced from their country due to the establishment of the state of Israel on Palestinian land. Since the escalation of the conflict in October 2023, 36,171 Palestinians have been killed as of May 29, 2024 due to the genocide in Gaza, with approximately 1.7 million people being internally displaced (Source).

On February 28, the Centre for Human Rights Research held a virtual panel on Solidarities and Connections with Palestine through a Zoom webinar. The panel sought to identify and develop connections between Treaty 1 and Palestine and we were honoured to host Winnipeg Centre MP Leah Gazan, Independent Jewish Voices Harold Shuster, University of Ottawa’s Alex Neve, and University of Toronto’s Youcef Soufi. Ethel Tungohan also joined the conversation. This conversation reminded us that is a crucial time for individuals, communities, and institutions to stand firmly for human rights — including the rights of people to live free of the human rights violations and international crime that have marked decades of occupation and violence in Israel and Palestine. Our latest podcast is drawn from the conversations from this webinar.

Artwork: “Wāpikwanīya (Flowers)” by Carly Morrisseau

Resources:

Reflections: Encampments and Human Rights - Centre for Human Rights Research

UN Office for the Coordination of Human Rights Affairs - Updates on Gaza

Alex Neve - U of O encampment is legitimate protest

Independent Jewish Voices Canada - Website

Together Against Apartheid - Website

Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba - Instagram