Tag Archives: arms embargo

CKMS News -2024-11-15- Cambridge manufacturer to be protested in Canada-wide day of action targeting war plane supply chain

CKMS News -2024-11-14- Cambridge manufacturer to be protested in Canada-wide day of action targeting war plane supply chain.

dan kellar
Cambridge, ON – On November 16th, a “F-35 day-of-action” will be held across the country, to highlight Canadian complicity in the ongoing violence in Palestine and Lebanon by the Israeli military, and to demand a full two-way arms embargo involving Israel. 

Arms Embargo Now, the network organizing the protests have focused on the supply chain for the F-35 war plane, which is tied to the death of thousands of civilians and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure including shelters, schools, and hospitals. In Waterloo Region at least 6 manufacturing facilities are linked to the F-35, including local protest target, the PCC Aerostructures’ Centra plant in Cambridge.

While federal liberals have put a stop to some weapons exports. CKMS News asked Liberal MPs in Cambridge Valerie Bradford and Brian May for comment but did not receive any response. CKMS News’ requests to PCC Aerostructures’ Centra for comment also went unanswered.

This show features an interview with Aamina Parkar, an organiser with the grassroots group Neighbours for Palestine Waterloo Region. Parkar discusses the day-of-action and other tactics that are being used to pressure the Canadian government.

CKMS News -2024-09-19- Documentary screening “one in a stream” of local Palestinian solidarity events.

CKMS News – 2024-09-19- Documentary screening “one in a stream” of local Palestinian solidarity events.

dan kellar
Kitchener, ON –
In the evening on September 19th, the Waterloo Region Friends of Palestine are hosting a screening of the documentary film
Where Olive Trees Weep, which is described as offering “a window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice.”

The film’s website continues   “We follow, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. We also witness Dr. Gabor Maté offer trauma-healing work to a group of women who were tortured in Israeli prisons”. 

Before the screening, CKMS News spoke with Robert Massoud of Waterloo Region Friends for Palestine. Massoud spoke about the new documentary, the ongoing Palestinian solidarity actions from several local organizations, how injustice in Palestine is decades old, and how Canada is still “active and complicit in arming Israel” after a year of “genocidal” violence.

CKMS News – 2024-09-17 – Grassroots group hosting the “People’s Conference for Palestinian Solidarity” at the University of Guelph

CKMS News -2024-09-17- Grassroots group hosting the People’s Conference for Palestinian Solidarity at the University of Guelph

dan kellar
Guelph, ON – 
While Palestinian solidarity encampments at universities across the country have been dismantled, strategizing to keep up the pressure hasn’t stopped. The grassroots organization Guelph 4 Palestine is hosting the People’s Conference for Palestinian Solidarity at the University of Guelph on September 21st and 22nd.   The conference’s website says participants “will engage in meaningful conversations, learn and share lessons and resources, and continue to propel efforts to support a free Palestine”. 

Representatives from several Palestinian solidarity student encampments will share their experiences along with health care workers, labour organizers, Independent Jewish Voices, and others. Organizers from the “Gaza House” encampment which was set up at the University of Waterloo will be presenting.
The event will feature workshops and speakers, discussion and resource sharing spaces and programming for kids.  Registration is available online or in person at the event.

This show features an interview with Shabina Lafleur-Gangji of Guelph 4 Palestine.

CKMS News -2024-07-26- From celebration to commemoration, KW’s Palestinian festival shifts focus to solidarity

2024-07-26- From celebration to commemoration, KW’s Palestinian festival shifts focus to solidarity.

dan kellar
Kitchener, ON –
Due to the “urgent” situation in Gaza, organizers of this year’s
Palestine Festival in Kitchener have made the theme “Solidarity: the World Stands with Palestine”, shifting the focus from one of celebration to commemoration.  

CKMS News spoke with Suhaila Salah, a co-founder of Sporas Scattered, who along with the local chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement is organizing the 3rd annual Palestine festival with the name  Palestinian Solidarity Day.  While speaking about the shift in the festivals’ theme Salah explained, “It is not a day of mourning, it is a day to come together. We are going to commemorate.” she added,  “We still want to celebrate life”.

The Palestinian festival will take place on Sunday July 28th in the public square at Kitchener city hall from 1-9pm and features what organizers call a “packed schedule of entertainment, activities, education, and trivia games” with all donations going to support relief efforts in Gaza.

A statement CKMS News received from Global Affairs Canada about accountability for the violence Israel is inflicting in Palestine is also included in this piece.

CKMS News -2024-05-14- Gaza solidarity encampment launched at the University of Waterloo

CKMS News -2024-05-14- Gaza Solidarity Encampment Launched At the University of Waterloo

by: dan kellar

Waterloo – Dozens of people converged at the University of Waterloo’s main campus on Monday morning to launch a Gaza solidarity encampment. The group’s “OccupyUWaterloo” Instagram page calls the encampment “Gaza House”

The group says the university is complicit in the current siege on Palestinians by the Israeli military, which has resulted in over 35,000 people dead, tens of thousands more injured or missing, and the majority destruction of Gazan infrastructure, including all universities and hospitals. The group is calling for divestment from weapons manufacturers and institutions which support the occupation of Palestine, and “an end to UW’s financial and academic ties to the genocidal and apartheid state of Israel.”

These demands share similarities from the demands from encampments set up at over a dozen other universities in Canada.

This show features an interview with Gaza House encampment spokesperson Nick Joseph. Also included is the statement UW provided, and Waterloo mayor Dorothy McCabe reacting to the encampment.