Below are key calendar dates in February related to Canada and the Middle East, especially Palestinian activism and resistance. Please email [email protected] if you would like to suggest other anniversaries or dates for our "On this day" commemorations.

February 22, 2016: Parliament votes to condemn Canadians who boycott Israel

On this day in 2016, Canada’s parliament unfairly targeted Canadians who stand up for Palestinian rights by voting (229-51) to condemn the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and its supporters. BDS is a non-violent movement launched by Palestinian civil society organizations in 2005 to put pressure on the Israeli government to end its human rights violations. Canadian civil society organizations including the United Church of Canada, the Canadian Union for Public Employees (CUPE) and the Canadian Labour Congress strongly criticized the motion, saying that “any attempt to criminalize, condemn, intimidate or silence peaceful and nonviolent actions of individuals and groups that support or sympathize with the BDS movement, should be rejected.”

February 25, 1994: Israeli settlers massacre 29 Palestinians in Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque

On this day in 1994, during dawn prayer in the holy month of Ramadan, a group of armed Israeli settlers entered the Ibrahimi Mosque in occupied Hebron and opened fire on hundreds of Palestinian worshippers, killing 29 people. Among the settlers was Baruch Goldstein, an American-Israeli from the far-right Kach movement, who became a hero to Israel’s far-right. The massacre continued later the same day when Israeli forces shot at attendees of the victims’ funeral, killing 31 more Palestinians, and raising the total death toll to 60.