Room Magazine stands against the occupation of Palestine and condemns the ongoing apartheid and genocide perpetuated by Israel. Israel has illegally occupied Palestine since 1948.
Following Hamas’s October 7 attack that tragically killed 1300+ Israelis, the Israeli government has responded with relentless bombing and collective punishment, which is a war crime.
At the time of writing this letter, no ceasefire has been announced, and the Canadian government has refused to demand an end to this violence despite calls from the public.
At this very moment, over two million Palestinians are trapped in Gaza with no food, water, medical supplies, or electricity. UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani has stated that a “staggering” 4,200 people have been killed, over one million have been displaced in 10 days, and “there are daily indications of violations of the laws of war and international human rights law.”
We grieve the violence and the loss of life, and fear what is yet to come. We hold space for the Palestinian community, who face ongoing and incomprehensible violence in their struggle for liberation and right to exist in their homelands. We hold space for the Jewish community, whose grief has been co-opted to excuse ethnic cleansing, even as many Jewish organizations and communities stand against the genocide. We fear for growing anti-Palestinian and Islamophobic sentiment and antisemitism both in Canada and abroad, and those who would use this as a reason to divide our communities.
And amidst this grief, we must act.
Call on governments to demand a free Palestine
Canada: Stop arming Israel, via World Beyond War ⎯ Send an urgent message to demand Canada stop arming Israel’s genocidal violence to your Member of Parliament, the Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Defense. This is an already-filled template and it takes barely a minute to add your name.
Canada: Suspend arms transfers, via Oxfam ⎯ Send a letter to Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Joly, urging her to suspend arms transfers. This is an already-filled template and it takes barely a minute to add your name.
US: Write to Congress to stop genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, via Jewish Voice for Peace
Canada: Re-evaluate the IRCC program for Gaza, via House of Commons⎯ Call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to ease the requirements required of Palestinian refugees and to lift the arbitrary 5000-application cap *Edit: As of Sept 30, this petition has been closed
Canada: demand Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) divest from Israel, via House of Commons⎯ Call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to divest from and review portfolios for companies violating international law, and develop a transparent process to vet companies for such violations *Edit: As of Sept 30, this petition has been closed
Canada: demand Canada recognize and combat Anti-Palestinian racism, via House of Commons⎯ Call upon the House of Commons in Parliament assembled to include Anti-Palestinian racism in the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights and add the Nakba to public school curricula *Edit: As of Sept 30, this petition has been closed
Canada: Investigate all Canadian charities providing funds to illegal Israeli settlement activity and/or the Israeli military, via House of Commons⎯ Call upon the Minister of National Revenue to investigate taxpayer-subsidized charitable donations, which “may well be Canada’s most important contribution to Palestinian dispossession”
Canada: Demand the government do more to strengthen its call for ceasefire, via House of Commons ⎯ call upon the Government of Canada to strengthen its call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Palestine-Israel conflict for the express purpose of delivering aid to the people of Palestine who are at the very brink of mass starvation and famine. *Edit: As of May 18, this petition has been closed
Canada: Remove the 1000-applicant immigration cap for Palestinians seeking refuge, via House of Commons⎯ Call upon the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to remove the discriminatory 1000-applicant cap, address discriminatory application requirements, and more *Edit: As of May 6, this petition has been closed
Action Sheet for an Immediate Ceasefire, via LeadNow — Demand the Canadian government use their power on the international stage to advocate for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine.
Canada: Gaza on the Brink: Call upon the Canadian Government for Ceasefire now, via Independent Jewish Voices Canada — Send a letter to PM Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly, demanding that they take action now. This is an already-filled template and it takes barely a minute to add your name.
Urgent Action Needed to Secure an Immediate Ceasefire & Humanitarian Corridor in Gaza, via Islamic Relief Canada, Action for Humanity, and Union Of Medical Care And Relief Organizations. *Edit: As of April 2024, this petition has been closed
Canada: Demand an immediate arms embargo on Israel, via House of Commons ⎯ Call upon the House of Commons in Parliament to impose a two-way embargo on arms between Canada and Israel, investigate whether Canadian weapons or weapons components have been used against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories, review all military and security cooperation between Canada and Israel; and close loopholes that allow the unregulated and unreported transfer of military goods to Israel through the United States. *Edit: As of April 2024, this petition has been closed
Canada: reinstate reinstate Canada’s UNRWA funding, via House of Commons ⎯ Call upon the House of Commons in Parliament to up to our obligations under the Genocide Convention and prevent the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip from “deteriorating further before the Court renders its final judgment,” by reinstating UNRWA funding, and urging other nations to do the same *Edit: As of 13 May, 2024, this petition has been closed
Canada: Petition to the Prime Minister, via House of Commons ⎯ Call upon the House of Commons in Parliament to require the Prime Minister to take the necessary measures to call for a ceasefire, among other measures. *Edit: As of 13 Dec, this petition has been closed
Canada: Tell Trudeau, push for end to bloodshed in Gaza, via Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East ⎯ This form sends an email to Prime Minister Trudeau, your local MP, and the leaders of the NDP, Convervatives and Greens. *Edit: As of 13 Dec, this petition has been closed
Donating to support Palestine
E-sims for Gaza, an initiative to ensure Palestinians can remain in contact with loved ones and the outside world as electricity is cut off.
Donate to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, an organization delivering life-saving medical relief and humanitarian aid on the ground.
Donate to the Gaza Emergency Appeal by Islamic Relief Canada, which has been on the ground, operating in Palestine since 1997.
Donate to Doctors Without Borders, an organization that provides lifesaving medical care.
Donate to the Center for Arab American Philantrophy’s Disaster Relief Fund, which provides medical aid, distributes hygiene kits and food, and more.
A List: Where To Give Money and Take Action To Support Palestinians Right Now, via Autostraddle.
Donate to the Toronto Community Justice Fund, via endorsed by the Palestinian Youth Movement – Toronto Chapter, fundraising to support costs stemming from the criminalization of protest, civil disobedience, and direct action activities in solidarity with Palestine.
Writers in support of Palestine
A Letter from 18 Writers, via The Nation ⎯ Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, Toni Morrison and other luminaries call to resist Israel’s undeclared political aim: the liquidation of the Palestinian state.
An Open Letter from Participants in the Palestine Festival of Literature, via the New York Review ⎯ Writers call for the international community to commit to ending the catastrophe unfolding in Gaza and to finally pursuing a comprehensive and just political solution in Palestine.
Statement in Solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza, via For Harriet ⎯ Feminist writers and thinkers such as Alice Walker and Angela Davis “call upon all people of conscience to stand with Palestine.”
Oberlin College Commencement Speech by Audre Lorde, May 29, 1989 ⎯ Audre Lorde states, “Encouraging your congresspeople to press for a peaceful solution in the Middle East, and for recognition of the rights of the Palestinian people, is not altruism, it is survival.”
Fighting disinformation
Educating yourself on how disinformation runs rampant in images related to Israel-Gaza war, via Hyperallergic — pertaining to atrocities have gone viral before fact-checkers could identify them as old footage and even video game clips.
How to avoid sharing bad information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, via MIT Tech Review ⎯ Although this was written about the spread of misinformation during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the advice about analyzing and debunking content still proves relevant.
Palestinian Voices
Room’s Featuring Palestinian Voices series
“The Palestine Double Standard” (previously: “Why Must Palestinians Audition for Your Empathy?”) by Hala N Alyan, via The New York Times
“A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation” by Fady Joudah, via Literary Hub
“To be Palestinian is to constantly have basic facts of your existence denied” by Saeed Teebi, via Globe and Mail
“Denying Motherhood in Gaza” by Lama Ghosheh, via Institute for Palestine Studies’ Palestine Square
“I Grant You Refuge” by Hiba Abu Nada, translated by Huda Fakhreddine, via Protean Magazine
Resources
Operation Olive Branch, a spreadsheet (and soon-to-be website) about calls for mutual aid, actions to take for Palestine, solidarity projects, resources, and more.
Freedom Within Reach: A Palestine Action Toolkit, Palestinian Feminist Collective
20 Arab Films Spotlighting Palestinian Stories & Struggles, Scene Now
Visualizing Palestine, which offers graphics and images that contextualize and explain the crisis
‘Unprovoked Narratives,’ an online film program via the Palestine Film Institute that showcases the beauty, struggle, and survival of Gaza and its people.
Resources from the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, including how to take action
We Had Dreams, a platform that uplifts the hopes, dreams, and fears of Palestinians in Gaza, available in multiple languages
Passages Through Genocide, a compilation of collected, translated, and published texts from Palestinian writers confronting the genocide in Gaza
Break up with your bank pledge by World Beyond War, including information on Canadian funding genocide and ethical alternatives
Resources and readings for those interested in creating a Palestine Book Club
Reading lists
A reading list on Palestinian refusal, via Briarpatch Magazine
Articles from Palestine Square, via Institute of Palestine Studies, which features news, analysis, narrative, perspectives, and arts and culture pieces on Palestinian affairs.
Letters from Gaza, via Protean Magazine in partnership with the Institute for Palestine Studies
Solidarity With Palestine – A Radical Black Feminist Mandate: A Reading List, via Black Women Radicals
Free Palestine: A Verso Reading List, via Verso Books
Free e-books for a free Palestine, via Haymarket Books
Dispatches from We Are Not Numbers (WANN), a youth-led Palestinian nonprofit project in the Gaza Strip that tells the stories behind the numbers of Palestinians in the news
As a Jewish Anti-Zionist, Here’s What I’ve Been Reading This Week, via Autostraddle
Sign: Statements of support
Writers in solidarity with Palestine ⎯ a Google form
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Header photo: In the fields of Deir Ballout. Photo by Daoud Abdallah, courtesy of Palestinian Assembly for Photography and Exploration.
