A Critical Look at Colonization Canada, Palestine and Israel

Recording from our March 28th panel discussion on Colonization at the University of Calgary.

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The word "settler" carries a benign implication. However the settlements in the Occupied Territories are hardly benign. And in the histories of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, those of us who are non-Indigenous must acknowledge a history of genocide on these lands, of the near wholesale destruction of the lives and cultures of the peoples indigenous to these lands.

"A Critical Look at Colonization: Canada, Palestine and Israel" brings together people to discuss, compare and contrast the stories of Palestinians and Indigenous peoples.

The event will be moderated by Saima Jamal, Program Director with the Calgary Islamic Chamber. Panelists will have 10 minutes each to make their presentations. A moderated Q & A will follow. There is no admission fee.

Moderator: Saima Jamal, Program Director, Calgary Islamic Chamber
Panelists: Anthony Hall, Professor of Globalization Studies
Hadeel Qazzazz, Program Director at Pro-Poor Integrity in Integrity Action, William Singer, Member, Blood Tribe/Kainai of the Blackfoot Confederacy, and Miriam Meir, Peace Activist and Idle No More ally/supporter.

Bios of speakers are provided below:

Anthony Hall is a professor of Globalization Studies at the University of Lethbridge. Prior to this, he was a professor in the Department of Native Studies. Anthony has written a book called Earth into Property describing the disastrous effects of capitalism on Indigenous peoples.

Hadeel Qazzaz is Program Director at Integrity Action. Born in the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Hadeel is a specialist in gender and development studies. Qazzaz has contributed to the first Palestinian human development report, the Palestine national poverty report, the Palestine time-use survey, and reports on the right to education.

William Singer, Api'soomaahka (Running Coyote), is a full-blooded member of the Blood Tribe/Kainai of the Blackfoot Confederacy and an artist, historian/researcher, entrepreneur, communications consultant, activist and musician. He is an advocate for First Nations rights and is currently one of the organizers for the Idle No More Blood Tribe chapter and is also a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM).

Miriam Meir is a peace activist and supporter/ally of the grassroots Indigenous rights movement that is known as Idle No More. She is a trained nurse who, though currently a resident of Calgary, has worked as a humanitarian worker with Palestinian children and young people in Israel who were from the Occupied Territories. Among other humanitarian efforts, she was a coordinator of "Operation Solomon", a rescue airlift operation that brought Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Summaries of the talks for the March 28 panel discussion

Anthony Hall will talk about the obstacles he has experienced in efforts to call attention to the parallels linking the ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples in Canada and Israel-Palestine. He will say how these parallels and similarities need to be carefully considered, especially since Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent speech to the Israeli Knesset.

Hadeel Qazzaz will talk about systematic discrimination and how individuals and groups become victims of systems even if their awareness changes. She will be discussing examples of systematic discrimination in the Palestinian context.

William Singer, as a First Nations person of this land, will focus on his experience of colonization through residential school, religion, racism and the environment. Having witnessed loss of culture and language through forced assimilation, the Blackfoot worldview continues through technology and progress of this country.

Miriam Meir's talk will mostly focus on the effects of colonization on Palestinian children and First Nations' children and will conclude with some positive statements.