From Palestine to Turtle Island: The Disconnect Over Stolen Land

On May 4th, Montrealers and activists gathered at St-Jax Church, in Downtown Montreal, for a special event hosted and organized by Hochelaga Pour La Palestine. Around seventy people were in attendance.

The event, titled From the Pine Tree to the Olive Trees: the Fight for Land Back centred the voices of Ellen Gabriel, an Indigenous human rights activist, Osama Iliwat, an activist and the founder of Visit Palestine, and Sami Awad, an activist and the founder of Holy Land Trust. Both Iliwat and Awad joined the panel from Palestine, while Gabriel attended in person.

Gabriel, Iliwat and Awad all discussed their understanding of Land Back and what it means in the context of both Turtle Island and Palestine. While the definition of the Land Back movement is debated, it usually focuses on the Indigenous sovereignty of Indigenous peoples' rightful land and self-determination.

In light of Land Back, the panelists emphasized the erasure, assimilation and cleansing of both populations and discussed approaches on how to respond to occupation. 

"I think this is part of what it means to be Indigenous, that there is such deep trust in who we are, and what we belong to, that as a family we will never see revenge and retaliation for what happened to us. This is not the way that we move, this is not the way that we behave. But also [...] we will never ignore, and we will never run away. We will fight and resist, through non-violence and seeking peace and reconciliation with those who did this to us. [...] We will not allow allow it to be an easy expulsion of our land," said Sami Awad, when asked about his activism journey in fighting for his land. 

Later in the discussion, Gabriel emphasized the need to unlearn false ideologies taught through colonial perspectives. She and the other panellists applauded the students' movements happening in support of Palestine across the globe. She mentioned that a lot of re-education was needed, especially for younger generations, and that Indigenous people need to be in charge of the curriculum, as current curriculums demonize Indigenous communities and falsify history.