Dr. Habib Khoury, 42, is a Palestinian Canadian practicing dentistry at Centrum Dental Care in Kanata. Last year, he came up with the idea of finding an innovative way to raise funds for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)’s Community Mental Health Program. The program supports Palestinians, particularly children, who are coping with mental health issues such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

When Marwan Abdalla began planning the first Palestinian Festival in Ottawa, there was one thing he was certain of, “We are having it at City Hall!” Fortunately, the city was receptive and the festival will be taking place in Marion Dewar Park, adjacent to City Hall, from August 29th to 31st. Mayor Jim Watson will even be opening the event with an inaugural speech.

Muslim Link caught up with 17 year old Palestinian spoken word poet Haneen Al-Hassoun aka Freedom Writer as she prepares to compete in this week’s Youth Can Slam National Youth Poetry Festival.

Canada’s most famous Palestinian resident, University of Toronto Professor Izzeldin Abuelaish, has been tirelessly working to demand an end to the current conflict that is costing the lives of so many civilians in Gaza, his homeland.

Dr. Abuelaish knows firsthand the crushing loss that these conflicts bring to ordinary Gazan families. When an Israeli missile crashed through his house his three daughters and niece were killed in Gaza in 2009. But Dr. Abuelaish vowed not to hate and wrote a memoir, ‘I Shall Not Hate’, calling for an end to the occupation and the hatred between Israelis and Palestinians that he saw as responsible for the death of his family members.

Did you see the Palestinian flag going down the street?

Rehab Nazzal recently returned to Ottawa to install her latest multimedia exhibition Invisible at the Karsh-Masson Gallery as part of the City of Ottawa's Public Art Program. She left Ottawa a few years ago to pursue her Masters of Fine Arts at Ryerson University in Documentary Media and is now pursuing a PhD in Fine Arts at the University of Western Ontario.

When news of Nelson Mandela passing spread, the world was shaken. From the people of South Africa who felt the direct impact of his actions, to those who benefited from his AIDS campaign; everyone was saddened.

For me, Mandela's death really hit home. As a Palestinian, I looked up to Mandela. I remember one night, years ago, doing a google search to find out who he was. I quickly learned that he was an anti-apartheid advocate and a hero to the South Africans. I soon stumbled on one of his quotes that I would never forget: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” 

In a groundbreaking event, on Sept. 19th Palestinian Authority Foreign Affairs Minister Riad Malki delivered a public speech at the University of Ottawa's  Huguette Labelle Hall.

In his speech entitled “Palestine: Current Challenges and Prospects for Peace” Minister Malki highlighted the lessons learned in the past 20 years since the Oslo Agreement was initiated, and how this interim peace offer has affected the Palestinian people and the overall political environment of this volatile region. Minister Malki expressed his sadness over the conflict that has affected the area for decades, stating how disheartening it is that such violence is being witnessed in a land where “people of every religion greet each other with ”˜Peace'”.

A group of activists took Ottawans by surprise on Saturday, Feb. 18, staging an Israeli military checkpoint in the heart of the city.

The “guerrilla-theatre” piece was intended to demonstrate the system of apartheid which oppresses Palestinians in their own territories, in the favour of Israeli residents.

Actors posing as Israeli soldiers set up a “roadblock” outside of Winterlude festival, and other participants stood in line, attempting to cross the checkpoint and enter.

Carleton University's Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) continued their Israeli Apartheid Week on Tuesday Feb. 6 with the showing of the acclaimed independent documentary, Budrus. The movie showed aspects of Palestinian nonviolent resistance, and was a part of SAIA's aim to dispel myths on the occupation of Palestine.

“Alongside the misconception that Palestinians resist the occupation by Israel with violence are the myths that women are less involved than men, and that young people in Palestine take a backseat when it comes to speaking out,” Dax D'Orazio, a SAIA member said.

“This film really breaks those myths, and we wanted to show that women and youth are really at the forefront of a lot of nonviolent protests that take place in Palestine, be it against the apartheid wall in the West Bank or in other areas,” he said.