In Support of Palestine – Accounts, Background and Media (2023 Update)

MENA dedicates this page to share resources and humanitarian funds for the ongoing resistance movement against occupied Palestinian territory in Gaza and the West Bank. This is an updated version of our regular resource page in light of the events of October 2023. The situation is very fluid and we will do our best to maintain this page with updated links to educate ourselves and gain a wider perspective of the struggles where we can.

We hope the following links will help some of our family in the Middle Eastern and North African diaspora orient themselves around the important discussions happening in this very tense moment, and pray with those who are losing their lives for simply existing in their own homes.

UPDATE: A close friend of MENA is matching donations made to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund and Medical Aid for Palestine (see below). Please send receipts of donations to info@menafilmfestival.com and make sure to hide all personal identifying information (PII) and we will respond with a receipt of the matching donation for transparency.

Social media accounts

• Ongoing Nakba 2023 Solidarity Resources via topalestinefilmfestival
• Voices of the Diaspora via designbydeda
• Voices of Gaza by salamsudduf
• List of accounts to follow via @sbeih.jpg
• Accounts to follow via @savesheikhjarrahnow
• Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) enables Canadians of all backgrounds to promote justice, development and peace in the Middle East and Canada.
• Mohammed El Kurd, Palestinian poet and activist from the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood.
• Eye on Palestine, independent news outlet sharing witness footage providing coverage on the ground.‍
• Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is an international network of organizers and activists working to build solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom.
• The Palestinian Institute for Public Diplomacy (Rabet) – an independent NGO based in Palestine.
• Canada Palestine Association is a B.C.-based activist organization devoted to Palestine solidarity in the province and Canada.

Donations

• The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (eligible for matching, see 'Update' above) provides free medical care for sick and injured children who could not be treated in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
• Medical Aid for Palestinian Emergency Appeal (eligible for matching, see 'Update' above) has been providing emergency essential service to Gaza and the Occupied West Bank and is currently in critical need of resources and aid.
• Gaza Mutual Aid (and backup). 

Direct Actions

• Take Action for Palestine SCRIPTS & CONTACTS for reaching Canadian representatives.
• Palestine Digital Action Toolkit by the Palestine Feminist Collective.
• Calendar of events and actions around the world by Samidounnetwork.
• Help stop hate and incitement – Call to action by CJPME and visualizing_palestine.

Background

• A digital library of over 1700 books on Palestine/Israel in digital form (mostly pdf and epub) via Najib Srour.
• Free critical theory, history, fiction etc texts on Palestine via izdiharafyouni.
• Free Palestine! A Reading list from Haymarket Books (also see their selection of free ebooks from the list).
• Myths and facts about Israel's settlment of Palestine - via The Slow Factory.
• Human Rights Watch report on Israeli "Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution".
• Conversations they told us not to have about navigating social justice conversations regarding anti-Palestinian colonialism via On Canada Project.
• Decolonize Palestine a collection of resources for organizers and anyone who wants to learn more about Palestine.
• Demands of Sheikh Jarrah community against ethnic cleansing.
• Short history of Sheikh Jarrah dispossesion vis Eye on Palestine.

Petitions

• Send a letter to PM Trudeau and Foreign Affairs Minister Joly calling for a ceasefire in Gaza (in French).
• Ceasefire Now by pan-Canadian labour, faith, Arab, Jewish, and civil society organizations.
• Email your Canadian Federal, Provincial and Municipal reps (templates and emails).
• Pledge by Artists & Academics in Canada in Support for Palestine to refuse funding and opportunities from institutions linked to Israel.
• Rabet's petition to Stop Israel’s forced displacement of Palestinians from East Jerusalem.

Films, writing and other media

• Palestinian Voices: Free films about Palestine throughout November 2023 via @arabfilmmedia.
• List of Eight films to provide information and context on the situation currently unfolding in Palestine via @arabfilmmedia.
• Unprovoked Narratives, a series of films celebrating the beauty of Gaza, its people, its struggle and its survival via @reelpalestine.
• ‍Free Films for a Free Palestine - Beginning Tuesday, May 18, Another Gaze's streaming platform makes an ongoing roster of films by Palestinian women available for free.
• Retrospective and Talkback (Free on Eventive) of Palestinian director Elia Suleiman ouvre from May 21 to 30, with films touching on the occupation and daily life in Gaza, including 2002 Cannes Jury Award winning Divine Intervention.
  Gaza (Rent on Vimeo) – 2019 documentary showing daily life behind the walls of Gaza and screened at the 2019 MENA Film Festival.
• Until The Last Drop: One Land, Two Realities (Free on YouTube)- 2020 documentary about land rights and settler colonialism in Palestinian land through farmlan access to water.
• Inverted Syntax Editors' Letter to the Community with background and action resources.