[A-List] Synergy

[Omahkohkiaayo_ipoyi <omahkohkiaayo@xxxxxxxxx>]

CANADA PALESTINE ASSOCIATION

www.cpavancouver.org

February 23, 2006 Open letter to the Assembly of First Nations

We are saddened, hurt and shocked by the visit of a delegation of the
Assembly of First Nations (AFN) to Israel, as well as the following
statement attributed to AFN National Chief Phil Fontaine:

"Indigenous people in Canada have much in common with the people of Israel,
including a respect of the land and their languages. This mission is an
excellent opportunity for us to share our values and our traditional ways
of life, in the hope of building greater understanding, awareness and
respect for our similarities and differences, both at home and abroad".
http://www.afn.ca/article.asp

The victims of genocide at the hands of European settler colonialism cannot
and should not give cover for another form of settler colonialism that has
committed and continues to commit wholesale ethnic cleansing and genocide
against the Palestinian people and nation.In 1948, over four hundred
villages and towns were wiped off the Palestinian and world map and their
cemeteries desecrated; two thirds of the Palestinian people were uprooted
from their historic homeland and forced to live in reservations called
refugee camps for the past fifty-eight years, most outside of their
historic land. (See All That Remains By Prof. Walid Khalidi
http://palestineremembered.com/Acre/Palestine-Remembered/Story661.html)

Perhaps the chiefs, elders and leaders of the Assembly of First Nations
don't know the history of the Zionist movement. In fact, it was coined on
the model of the European settler colonialist movement that preceded it
four hundred years earlier and committed the genocide against the
indigenous peoples. The Zionist movement was also built on the South
Africa, Zimbabwe, Angola, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Algeria and other
European settler colonialist models of the same era - late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries.

Here is what the first Zionist Congress held in Basle, Switzerland (in
Europe) in 1897 listed as some of the aims of the movement:

Zionism strives to create for the Jewish people a homeland in Palestine
secured by public law. The congress contemplates the following means to the
attainment of this end:

The promotion on suitable lines of the colonization of Palestine by Jewish
agricultural and industrial workers. (our emphasis)

And Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, wrote in his book The
Jewish State in 1896:

He should there form a portion of the rampart of Europe against Asia, an
outpost of civilization as opposed to barbarism. (our emphasis)

So doesn't this logic sound familiar? We are sure that it is painfully
familiar to your ancestors and to your people who face racism on a daily
basis.

We are sorry that we do not have the means to take you on similar tours to
show you what is really happening in Palestine. Perhaps you should ask the
hundreds of international volunteers, including Canadians, who paid their
own way to go there and bear witness to the continuous Israeli brutality
against the indigenous people of Palestine (See
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/. We are sure your Israeli and Zionist
hosts will never take you to see the remains of the four hundred villages
that were systematically destroyed, nor will they show you the Apartheid
wall, the refugee camps, the tens of thousands of uprooted trees nor will
they tell you that over 95 per cent of the land that Israel sits on is
stolen land from the indigenous Palestinian population. If Chief Fontaine
thinks that Israel has respect for the land, he is either unaware or
complicit in covering up the massive Israeli injustice against the
indigenous people of Palestine.

We will be frank with you. In the name of the vanquished indigenous people,
you are being used to justify and cover up not only the Israeli atrocities
and war crimes committed against the Palestinian people but also Israeli
support for racism and oppression against the peoples of Africa, Asia,
central and south America.

This should not pass. The sooner you clarify your position, the sooner you
will salvage your name and credibility.Already messages on the Internet are
describing your collaboration with the Zionist organizations under the
title: friends of neocolonialism meet. We hope that you will not be
remembered as friends of European settler colonialists who committed
genocide against the Palestinian people and were motivated by conquest,
greed and superiority, the same evil motivations that enslaved the Native
people of the Americas.

It is an offence and a crime against our native brothers and sisters who
are still living and to those who perished in the process of colonization,
to associate with the crimes of the Israeli settler colonialist state that
is committing genocide against the native people of Palestine.

Since the year 2000, over eight hundred Palestinian Dudley Georges were
murdered every year at the hands of the neo-fascist regime in Israel.

Are these the people who you have much in common with and that you want to
build cultural comparisons with? Are these the people you want to share
your values and traditional ways of life with?

If so, you are complicit in their war crimes and you should not do it in
the name of the First Nations Peoples.

Indigenous peoples must never be a party to genocide against the
Palestinian people nor any other oppressed people facing occupation,
genocide and theft of their land and natural resources.

For further info, contact Hanna Kawas at info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx )

Endorsed by the following groups:

Al-Huda Muslim Society American Muslims of Puget Sound, Lynnwood, WA, USA
Arab Heritage Centre, Toronto, Ontario BADIL Resource Center for
Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights, Bethlehem, Palestine
www.badil.org  Coalition for Just Peace in Israel/Palestine,
http://www.coalitiontoronto.com/Committee to Defend Palestinian Human
Rights (Worcester, MA, USA) Dana and Qdisiyah Local Community Cooperative,
Dana, Tafila, Jordan International Solidarity Movement Northern California
(member of the Justice in Palestine Coalition International Solidarity
Movement (ISM)-Montreal International Solidarity Movement (ISM)-Vancouver
www.ism-vancouver.org International Women Peace Service, IWPS,
www.iwps.info Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign www.ipsc.ie/ Islamic
Ahlul Bayt Assembly of Canada Islamic Foundation of Toronto, Scarborough,
www.islamicfoundation.ca I-Witness Palestine, Southern California,
www.iwitnesspalestine.org Justice for Palestinians Committee, Danbury,
Connecticut, USA Justice in Palestine Coalition, San Francisco, CA
www.justiceinpalestine.net ?/span> Land Research Center, Palestine Middle
East Children's Alliance, Berkeley, Ca www.mecaforpeace.org Muslim Canadian
Congress New England Committee to Defend Palestine
http://www.onepalestine.org Niagara Coalition for Peace
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NC4P/ Niagara Palestinian Association
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/niag_pal_news/ No One is Illegal-Vancouver
http://noii-van.resist.ca/ November 16 Coalition (Hamilton, Ontario)
Palestine Community Centre www.palestinecommunitycentre.com Palestine
House, Toronto www.palestinehouse.com Palestine Right to Return Committee,
York university, Toronto www.yorku.ca/parc Palestine Solidarity Group
www.palsolidaritygrp.org Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)
www.pajumontreal.org Palestinian Centre for Rappochement between People,
Beit Sahour, Palestine (www.pcr.ps ) Salaam Vancouver Simon Fraser
University Palestinian Human Rights Committee (PHRC) Solidarity for
Palestinian Human Rights - McMaster University (Hamilton, ON) Solidarity
for Palestinian Human Rights, Concordia (SPHR) Solidarity for Palestinian
Human Rights, UBC Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights-Montreal The
Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights (BCPR) The Canadian Islamic
Congress www.canadianislamiccongress.com The Muslim Services, Toronto, a
member group of The Muslim Unity Network in Canada The Univiersity of
Waterloo Students for Palestinian Rights Toronto's Robin Hood Collective
Vancouver Island Network for Disarmament (VIND), Coombs, BC Women in Black
Los Angeles YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine Joint Advocacy Intuitive,
Jerusalem Endorsed by the following alternative media outlets:


Albilad newspaper, London, Ontario Aljalia Newspaper, Toronto, Ontario
Al-Shorouq Arabic Newspaper, BC Bulland Awaaz - Vancouver CO-OP Radio
DISCUSSION,?ancouver Co-Op Radio Goin' Coastal, your Indigenous
Revolutionary Radio Program 101.7 fm (CHLY) Information: Montreal Palestine
www.imopa.ca Mostly Water/Resist News Collective, http://news.resist.ca My
Two Beads Worth, Native News online http://mytwobeadsworth.com  No More
Silence Network, a coalition of Native and Non-Native groups and
Individuals calling attention to the murder and disappearances of 100s of
Native women, nomoresilence@xxxxxxxxxx , see www.missingnativewomen.org
Voice of Palestine, Vancouver www.voiceofpalestine.ca Wake Up with Co-op!,
Vancouver Coop Radio Endorsed by the following individuals (groups listed
for identification only):


Ali Mallah, Equity Vice president, CUPE Toronto District Council Ali Yassir
and B. Bechnak, Montreal Allan Brison, New Haven, CT Amber Ohara, No More
Silence Network Amir M. Maasoumi, Pr?ident of Centre de ressources sur la
non-violence Resources centre for non-violence) Angie Tibbs, St. John's, NL
Anis BALAFREJ,Association de solidarit?Maroc Palestine, Rabat, Morocco
Audrey Huntley, No More Silence Network Bobby Arbess, Jews for a Just
Peace-Victoria Bruce Katz, Co-President Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)
Montreal Calvin Woida, Vancouver, BC Carol Stone, Jews for a Just Peace,
Vancouver Charles Boylan, Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada (Vancouver
South) Chiinuuks (Ruth) Ogilvie, Member Goin' Coastal, your Indigenous
Revolutionary Radio Program, 101.7 fm CHLY Dave Bleakney, CUPW (Canadian
Union of Postal Workers) Dave Brophy, Friends of Grassy Narrows, Winnipeg
Denis Laplante, Vancouver Diana Ralph,?oronto, (Jewish member of the
Campaign to Stop Secret Trials in Canada) Donna Petersen, Marxist-Leninist
Party of Canada (Vancouver Kingsway) Dorinda Guadalupe Moreno, hitec aztec
communications, friends of dqu : elders of 4 colors 4 directions Dr.
Abdullah Shaban, Vancouver Dr. Abe Mouaket, P. Eng., Toronto. Dr. Farid
Ayad, Former President of the Canadian Arab Federation, Immediate former
President of the Canadian Arab Business Professionals Organization Dr.
Rafeh Hulays,?ice President - Canadian Arab Federation (West) Dr. Roxanne
Dunbar-Ortiz, Founding and former director, Indigenous World Association,
1985-2005 Eden Haythornthwaite,Community Alliance for Public Education
(CAPE), Duncan BC., Canada Edward C. Corrigan,Barrister & Solicitor,
London, Ontario Ehab Lotayef, Eng., Activist, writer and poet, Montreal
Elizabeth Block, Toronto, a member of Campaign to Stop Secret Trials and
Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation Elsie W Dean, Human Rights
for Women Elders, Burnaby, BC Family of Reem Abu-Sbaih, Ayman and Yousef
Helo, NYC Freda Guttman, International Solidarity Movement-Montreal
FreeXero?www.FREEXERO.com Gale Courey Toensing, Falls Village, CT George N.
Rishmawi - Palestinian Centre for Rappochement between People (www.pcr.ps )
Greg Felton, www.gregfelton.com Greta Berlin, Los Angeles, Volunteer,
International Solidarity Movement Hanny Hassan, London, ON Harry Berbrayer,
Duncan, B.C. Helen Michell, spokesperson for the Bear Clan families of
Maxan Lake Ibrahim Hayani, (Professor of Economics, Toronto) Ingmar Lee,
Freelance Writer and Forest Protection Activist www.ingmarlee.com ,
Pondicherry, India smail Ibrahim Nawwab, Saudi Arabia Ismail Zayid, Canada
Palestine Association, Halifax James M. Craven/Blackfoot Name:
Omahkohkiaayo i'poyi, Professor and Department Head, Economics; Chairman,
Business Division, Clark College, Vancouver, WA., Member, Blackfoot Nation
Jayce Salloum, Filmmaker, Vancouver Jeanne Svhiyeyi Aga Chadwick,
Publisher/Editor, My Two Beads Worth, Native News online
http://mytwobeadsworth.com Jeff Siddiqui, Associate Broker, Seattle, WA
Jessica Peart, Vancouver, Coast Salish Territory John and Betty Beeching,
Vancouver John Pranger, Vancouver, BC Johnny Roberts, St. Catharines,
Ontario Joseph Backus, Kingston, ON. Joseph Schechla, coordinator, Housing
and Land Rights Network, Habitat International Coalition, Giza, Egypt
www.hlrn.org www.hic-mena.org Judith Weisman Justine McCabe, International
Committee, Green Party of the US Karin Brothers, Toronto, Ont. Kathryn
Furlong, Vancouver, BC Khaled Mouammar, former CAF president, Toronto
khalid Khawaldeh, Dana, Tafila, Jordan Krista Johnston, No More Silence
Network Lamis Jamal Deek, Native of Palestine, Daughter of exilees,
Attorney with Al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition Larry Wartel,
Jews for a Just Peace, Victoria BC Lawrence Boxall, Jews for a Just Peace
Vancouver Lawrence ytzhak braithwaite, author, victoria, british columbia
Macdonald Stainsby, Vancouver Marc Azar, Montreal,Quebec Martin O'Brien,
Martley, Worcester, Worcs. UK Marty and Martha Roth, Jews for a Just Peace,
Vancouver Mary Hughes-Thompson, Los Angeles, Volunteer International
Solidarity Movement Meria, Producer/Host, "THE MERIA HELLER SHOW " Mira
Khazzam, Montreal, Quebec Mohamed Kamel, Freelance writer, Montreal
Mohammed Abu Assi, Montreal Mohammed Shokr, Muslim Unity Group Nathan
Stuckey Nazih Mroue, London, Ont. Nick Treanor, St.Catharines, Ontario
Nicolas A. Sayegh, Montreal Nizar Sakhnini, Mississauga, Ontario Noah
Lepawsky. ISM Volunteer, Vancouver Orion Carrier, Engineering Student,
Victoria, BC Peter Eglin, Professor of Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier
University Rebeka Tabobondung, Wasauksing First Nation Rezeq Faraj,
co-president of PAJU (Palestinian and Jewish Unity) Riaz Ahmed
Behra,?Vancouver, B.C. Robert Bibeau, PAJU Robert Massoud, Ont. Robyn
Bourgeois, No More Silence Network Ron Benner,?ondon, Ontario Samia A.
Halaby, born in Jerusalem and living in exile in New York Sandra Joy Jones,
Wilmington, De. Shawn Smith, Ottawa  Sid Shniad, Vancouver, British
Columbia Smadar Carmon, Israeli Jew, Toronto, Coalition for Just Peace in
Palestine and Israel Splitting the Sky, Indigenous activist Sue Goldstein,
Jewish Women's Committee to End the Occupation of Palestine Suliman Zabian,
London, ont. Tammie Tupechka Teresa Gagne, Vancouver, BC Tony Ali,
Vancouver Waldemar Belczowski, Independent Media Production Yahya Abdul
Raham, Montreal Muslim News Zainab Amadahy, Indigenous Activist

This email was cleaned by emailStripper, available for free from
http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com