As long as the reckless and inhumane bombardment of Gaza's civilians continues, we cannot rest.  Please express your solidarity with the Palestinians of Gaza and elsewhere this weekend at one of the many demonstrations across Canada (see below.)  Our efforts and "noise" have not gone unnoticed these past few weeks, whether demonstrating in the streets, writing to politicians, writing to the media, and other actions.  Thanks to everyone for their part in maintaining the pressure! 

In addition to the getting out into the streets, we encourage you to get involved and take action via the other opportunities below:

1. Sign up for our "Gaza Action Webinar" Monday night providing a "how to" for 1) writing to the media, 2) calling your MP, and 3) meeting with your MP. 
2. Call your MP using our tool which connects you automatically
3. Send an email of urgent concernt to you member of Parliament
4. Send a humanitarian donation to Gaza, with the CJPME Foundation's "Gaza Emergency Appeal"
5. Participate in our work to combat Canadian media bias
6. Communicate/record your concerns about the whole situation
7. Ramp up your knowledge of the situation

If you believe that CJPME's work is effective and useful, please consider donating to our work today.  Monthly donations are especially helpful, as they enable forward-looking strategy.  

1. DEMONSTRATIONS ACROSS CANADA

Here are the demonstrations that we are aware of for the weekend of Oct. 27-29.  Let's stand up and be counted!    

• Durham, ON, “Car ride for Palestine,” Saturday Oct 28
• Halifax, NB, “Truth Matters: Unmasking Misinformation Rally, Saturday Oct 28
• Montreal, QC, “Stop the Genocide in Gaza,” Saturday Oct 28
• Nanaimo, BC, “End the Genocide in Gaza,” Saturday Oct 28
• Ottawa, ON, “Emergency Protest Gaza,” Friday Oct 27
• Ottawa, ON, “Ottawa United for Gaza,” Sunday Oct 29 
• Saint John, NB, “Say No to Genocide,” Saturday Oct 28
• Toronto, ON, “Roar for Gaza Women and Children,” Saturday Oct 28
• Toronto, ON, “End the Genocide in Gaza,” Sunday Oct 29
• Vancouver, BC, “All Out for Palestine,” Saturday Oct 28
• Winnipeg, MB, “Save Palestine,” Saturday Oct 28

2. REPORT ON-LINE HATE

There has been a surge in overt anti-Palestinian, anti-Arab, and Islamophobic hate on-line over these past few weeks.  Use our new tool to upload screenshots of on-line hate that you have observed.  If possible, CJPME will use such incidents to hold haters - especially elected haters - accountable. 

3. STOP NAKBA 2.0

Be on record to show that you did all you could to stop Israel from committing another mass atrocity agains Palestinians.  Even if you’ve already sent our indifferent leaders emails in the past, send another!  Show them we will not be silent!  

4. Send humanitarian aid for Gaza

As we all know, Israel has ignored international law and is preventing food, water, fuel, medicines and other supplies from entering Gaza this past week.  Nevertheless, the CJPME Foundation has been communicating with its partners, and is in a position to pass aid to Gaza as soon as the territory is open again.  Please donate to its Gaza Emergency Appeal: the money will be used to provide 1) food aid, in the form of rations and vouchers, 2) fuel, and 3) medical supplies, in the form of medical consumables and medicines.  For Canadians, these gifts are tax deductible, and 100% of the gift gets to the field. 

5. Join our fight against media bias 

Earlier this week, we sent a 3-page statement highlighting the many ways the media is disserving Canadians, especially Palestinian-Canadians.  We highlight the many problems we have observed as they interview Palestinians and present the events.  Our task is to fight against the bias and expand the story.  CJPME, its reps and its statements have been quoted or cited by media in well over 100 media spots since Oct. 7, including CBC, CTV, Global News, TVA, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and the Canadian Press.  Many of our friends and allies have also been articulate with the media. Many media outlets have been forced to update and edit their coverage as a result of our media advocacy.  Since Saturday, we have contacted media about poor coverage in over 60 different instances. But we need your help!

• We need greater participation on our media alerts, so please sign up as a CJPME Media Responders if you can.
• And if you’re Palestinian and are willing to talk to the media about your experiences and feelings, please get in touch.  We’re constantly contacted by media who want to hear from Palestinians.
• Email or send us links to articles with poor journalistic coverage.  We’ll try to incorporate them into our media response if we can.
• Send us letters or articles that you’ve written that were never published.

6. Ramp up your ability to speak to the issues 

CJPME recently published some key talking points about the current crisis, with supporting principles. See our points 1) on Hamas’ recent violence, 2) on Israel’s recent violence, 3) on Canada’s response, and 4) on the ongoing conflict. But there’s more:

• Stay up-to-date with what’s happening in Canada related to the crisis on our “Crisis Tracker” Webpage
• Check out the nine press statements that we’ve published since October 7. Among other things, we challenge Canadian leaders to call for a ceasefire, end their double-standard, and define their endgame with respect to Israel.  Share these thoughts and recommendations with friends and co-workers.

7. Share your frustration and anger

Last week, hundreds of our supporters shared their anger and frustration with us.  We are reviewing the feedback, and hope to present much of it to media and politicians as a reflection of how upset and anxious many Canadians are.  It's not too late to participate.  We need to help the media and politicians understand how Palestinians and their allies are struggling in the current climate.

• Please use this form to write a few sentences about your frustration, anger, or worries, whether about the escalating violence in Gaza or the response in Canada. Use the form’s checkbox to control permission over how the feedback may be used.
• Protect yourself emotionally.  Take a break from the news if you’re feeling overwhelmed or overly frustrated.  Don’t get pulled into political discussions with friends or co-workers unless you’ve decided ahead of time that you’re comfortable and ready.