11 Apr 2025 7 min read

🍉 VanGran4Pal Community Newsletter

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**Neighbours and Friends, **

We come to you this week fresh off some unseasonable good news for progressives in Vancouver. Pro-Palestine candidates Sean Orr (COPE) and Lucy Maloney (OneCity) swept the municipal city council byelection in a landslide last weekend). Voter turnout was up 40% from the last byelection in 2017 which in combination with staffing cuts led to wait times of up to four hours at some polling stations. Community members shared water and snacks with fellow voters still waiting to have their say, offered rides to polling stations with shorter lines, and when all else failed offered words of encouragement. All of which adds up to the undeniable fact that Vancouverites are sick of Ken Sim’s regressive bullshit, and ready to join forces in doing something about it.

This leaves us cautiously optimistic about the upcoming federal election. And we want to take this time to remind everyone that good news should leave us fired up – never complacent. If we want to continue to see positive change we need to stay engaged, stay fighting, stay in community. These battles are hard won, and there is so, so much more work to do.

This week in the newsletter we have information and resources you can use to let candidates know that Palestine is a make-or-break issue for you in the upcoming federal election. After more than a year of near-silence and continued support from Liberals for Isreal’s genocide, it is crucial to let power know that the status quo will not receive our votes.

No one put it better than The Maple in their newsletter this week, so we’ll lead into this week’s updates with a quote from them:

“There is literally no better time for you to demand their support for policies that matter to you, because they are relying on your support in order to win. You — along with millions of other voters — hold the democratic power to get concessions out of political leaders. You absolutely can and should use that power. That is one of the most basic tenets of a democracy.”

Action Updates

Make Palestine a debate question!

Despite the escalating genocide, Canada's political leaders remain largely silent.

The Leaders’ Debates will be held on April 16 and 17 in Montreal.

We need to ensure that the federal leaders are directly asked about Canada’s complicity in Israel’s ongoing crimes.

Send a direct message to debate moderators demanding they ask about

Palestine: https://win.newmode.net/cjpme/debate

April 15: Put Palestine on Every Corner campaign

by Vote Palestine

It’s time to make Palestine unignorable! This election, we’re putting Palestine on the ballot. As the federal leaders’ debates kick off we’re taking action to flood every corner with one clear message: **STOP THE GENOCIDE. END CANADIAN COMPLICITY. **

JOIN THE ACTION - APRIL 15:

Sign the pledge at Votepalestine.ca/pledge

Invite 3 friends to do the same

**Put up posters **in high-visibility locations

**Distribute flyers **at busy intersections and transit hubs

Forward the pledge to everyone in your contacts

Flood social media with #VotePalestine #StoptheGenocide #ArmsEmbargoNow

Talk to candidates directly about the Palestine Platform

NO CANDIDATE in Vancouver Granville gets a free pass. If the debate stay silent, our voices and our community won’t.

Upcoming Events

**ALL OUT FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS | April 19 **

🗓 Date: Sat April 19th

⏰ Time: 3pm

📍Location: Olympic Cauldron

April 17 is Palestinian Prisoners' day, a day when the people of Palestine call upon the world to commemorate and uplift their people, apprehended by the Zionist entity and the cowardly, comprador Palestinian Authority; many of these prisoners are leaders in Palestinian society and in the righteous resistance.

We heed their call to uplift the prisoners. In this rally and march, we will highlight political prisoners worldwide, including in the Filipines and right here in Turtle Island.

**ALL OUT FOR THE PRISONERS! **

FLOOD THE STREETS UNTIL THEY ARE LIBERATED!

Tatreez Workshop | April 13

🗓 Date: Sun April 13th

**⏰ Time: 4-7pm **

📍Location: In metro vancouver, exact location to be shared with registrants

Together we'll learn the techniques and meanings behind this intricate craft, rich in colour and texture, as you create your own embroidered symbol of Palestinian resilience and connection to the land. No experience is needed —come to stitch, share stories, and engage in community. Lubna will guide you through the process, while sharing the cultural significance of the design.

Each participant will also receive a white sack filled with Palestinian Za'atar as a gift - and the sack will become the canvas for attaching the Tatreez design when it's completed at the end of the evening.

Children of Gaza Memory Quilts | April 17 - 20

🗓 Date: April 17th - 20th

**⏰ Time: 3pm-7pm **

📍Location: 144 East 6th Ave, Vancouver, BC

CHILDREN OF GAZA memory quilts - each stitched square tells the story of a child. A child who was killed in Palestine. A child who will never take their first steps. A child who will not grow up to pursue their dreams. A beloved child violently taken from their family. The quilts remind us that children everywhere - no matter where they are from - share the same hopes, joys, and innocence. These children were just like yours or mine. No child should be a target.

**The Long Arc Of Fascism: **

An Action-Oriented Teach-In | April 18 - 19

🗓 Date: April 19th

⏰ Time: 9:00 am - 6:30 pm

📍 Location: 312 Main

**The event is at capacity but you can join the waitist: **https://tinyurl.com/LAOFTeachIn

A Teach-In about How We Got Here - and How We Get Out. From colonial genocides to climate apartheid, time for action & understanding is now.

All-day on Saturday, April 19th - The Long Arc Of Fascism: How We Got Here - and How We Get Out. A community teach-in about the wreckage of history and still possible futures. Hosted by Naomi Klein of UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice, Adel Iskandar of SFU’s Centre for Comparative Muslim Studies, and Sundance Chief Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation; includes many speakers.

The Encampments in VIFF | April 25 - May 1

🗓 Date: April 25th - May 1st

⏰ Time: Varies

📍 Location: VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

**Tickets: **https://viff.org/whats-on/the-encampments/

Few documentaries are more timely than this fast-tracked account of the Gaza protests at Columbia which inspired a wave of support across North American campuses. At the centre of this story is grad student activist Mahmoud Kahlil, who hit the headlines just last month after he was detained by ICE and who is (at time of writing) fighting a deportation order. Another prominent character in the film, Grant Miner, who is Jewish, was recently expelled by Columbia. (One of the film’s most important elements is how it shows the active role taken by many Jewish allies of Palestinians.) At a time when the right to free speech is policed with such rigour, The Encampments provides a vital opportunity to hear what the protestors have to say about Israel, Palestine, and financial accountability.

Unseen Palestine - April 11th

** 🗓 Date: April 13th**

⏰ Time: 2:25 pm

**📍 Location: Landmark Cinemas Surrey, Guildford **

**Tickets: **https://www.goelevent.com/sundarprize/e/Unseen-Palestine

Through personal narratives, artistic expression, and community-driven stories, Unseen Palestine presents a deeply humanistic perspective on Palestinian life, history, and culture. This screening block highlights the resilience of a people often reduced to headlines, offering a window into their everyday struggles, hopes, and resistance.

Mawtini (My Home) – A young Palestinian woman and an Indigenous Canadian elder unite to start a guerrilla garden, fighting against bureaucratic barriers to reclaim land and nurture community resilience.

The Poem We Sang – An intimate and lyrical exploration of love and longing, this experimental documentary weaves archival recordings, poetry, and personal memories to reflect on forced migration, loss of home, and the healing power of storytelling.

This Is Who We Are – Skateboarding is a universal language of freedom. This documentary sheds light on the growing skateboarding community in Palestine, where young skaters carve out spaces of joy and resistance amidst ongoing occupation, challenging stereotypes through their passion and resilience. This powerful collection of films offers a rarely seen perspective on Palestinian identity, reclaiming stories often overlooked by mainstream narratives.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring filmmakers and activists sharing insights on representation, displacement, and cultural survival.

Donation Campaign of the Week

Among the Rubble Collective is a grassroots Palestinian-North American led collective serving people in Gaza through mutual aid and individual family fundraisers. Started in January 2024, they have served dozens of families by boosting individual fundraisers through social media, started a general fund to distribute to families they prioritize due to need. They're also now working with an amazing team on the ground in Gaza who are organizing water trucks and the distribution of hot meals, blankets and shoes in North Gaza.

Here are the two links to their fundraisers:

This is for the general funds to different families: https://gogetfunding.com/noors-among-the-rubble-collective-general-funds-distribution/

This is for the ongoing mutual aid projects in Central Gaza: https://chuffed.org/project/113685-do-something-good-today

You can also see their projects featured on their Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/amongtherubblecollective/

Contribute to the Newsletter

Do you have something you would like to share with your neighbours? We welcome submissions of all kinds — stories, poems, art, and event info. Simply reply to this email to send in your contribution.

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With gratitude and in solidarity,

Your Neighbours

Van Gran 4 Palestine

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