A Cry for Home speaking tour in Canada

This fall, the MCC Canadian Advocacy Network, is excited to be hosting an A Cry for Home speaking tour in 4 provinces from October 24 to November 7, 2018. Detailed event information will be forthcoming by the provincial offices over the next month. MCC has invited two young adults from Palestine and Israel to share  reflections of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territory from both sides of the wall. Events will take place in Southern Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba.

Sahar Vardi is a Jerusalem based activist. She publicly refused her military service and was imprisoned in 2008. Since then she has been active with Israeli anti-militarist groups such as New Profile and today works as the Israel Program Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee based in Jerusalem. Today most of her work focuses on the militarization of Israeli society, both around issues of conscription, as well as Israel's military industry and export. Much of her activism is in Jerusalem in Palestinian-led struggles against house demolitions, child arrests and discrimination of East Jerusalem.

Tarek Al-Zoughbi is a Christian Palestinian American, who was raised in the little town of Bethlehem. He received a B.A. in Economics and Peace Studies from Manchester University, Indiana and returned to Bethlehem, where he currently works as the project and youth Coordinator at Wi'am: The Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center.  Aside from working on an M.A. in International Cooperation and Development at Bethlehem University, Tarek also serves on the Executive Board of the National Coalition of Christian Organizations in Palestine and is currently the coalition's treasurer. He is active in civil society, part of 3 choirs, and had the privilege of being part of the World Council of Churches ‘12 Face of Hope Campaign’. You can read more about Tarek and Wi'am's work on www.alaslah.org or on the organization's ​​Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/wiamcenter/.

Stay tuned for more event information on the MCC website here. If you would like to see local events, please select your province at the top of the website page. We encourage you to come out to the events, if they are passing by your community!

Migration policy happenings in the Ottawa Office

As we approach the one-year mark leading to the next Canadian federal election, it is clear that the theme of migration is going to continue to feature quite prominently in policy debates. This includes Canada’s role on the world stage and practices within Canada, impacting MCC Ottawa’s work as well.

At the end of August, the Ottawa Office hosted MCC United Nations colleagues Kati Garrison and Abby Hershberger, who have been tracking the development of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). The rolling out of the GCM has been a grueling, yet landmark process, bringing together officials and civil society from 200 countries. Kati and Abby met with three MP offices, encouraging Canadian officials to show leadership in the implementation of this crucial global compact.

In the spring of 2018, MCC Ottawa joined a campaign as part of a coalition with Citizens for Public Justice, the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue and World Renew, for the Canadian Government to exempt refugees from burdensome travel loans. This included a letter to the Minister of Immigration and a public petition. This fall, MCC also joined CPJ and others to deliver the petition of over 1,800 signatures to various MPs, including NDP MP Jenny Kwan who has committed to present the petition to the government.

Staff Update

From September 19-20, Policy Analyst, Bekah Sears attended CCIC’s 2018 Annual Conference, Is Canada Back? Delivering on Good Intentions, in Ottawa. Highlights included a conversation on Canada’s role in global migration policy and practices; and opportunities for development practitioners to connect with Canadian academics.

From September 21-22, Director Anna Vogt attended MCC Canada’s AGM in Winnipeg, which focused on MCC’s work on migration, balancing MCC Canada's resettlement work with the need to also address the root causes of forced migration.