Give The Anti-Palestinian Rhetoric A Rest
This article was originally published on August 31, 2017 on Rabble.ca.
Whatever its other failings, the Liberal government should be praised for its recent decision to contribute $25 million to help millions of Palestinian refugees scattered throughout the Middle East. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees is the recipient of the government's magnanimous gift. Canada's contribution will make up about 1.5 percent of UNRWA's overall budget: of which 54 percent is spent on education, 17 percent on health care, and 9 percent on relief and social services.
A no brainer you might think: no one could possibly oppose such a humanitarian gesture. Wrong!
Read moreDubious Prognosis for Canadian aid to Palestine
This article was originally published on Nov. 16, 2016 on the Huffington Post.
Until I looked more closely at Governor General David Johnston’s recent trip to the Middle East, I was totally oblivious to the fact that Canada funds programs to help Palestinian women. Long concerned about the plight of women in the Middle East, I was thrilled to learn that Canada funds a CARE International program to increase Palestinian women’s access to the labour force.
Admittedly, I wasn’t fully aware of the plight Palestinian women workers until recently, as this topic doesn’t get much attention in academia or Western mainstream media. What I learned was sobering.
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