David Mivasair agrees with the messages of Al-Quds Day rally in Toronto

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David Mivasair

The annual Al-Quds Day rally was held in front of the American Consulate in Toronto on April 15, 2023.

Rabbi David Mivasair is a member of Independent Jewish Voices Canada and a long-time active member of the New Democratic Party (NDP). Resident of Hamilton, ON Mivasair worked at Vancouver’s Ahavat Olam progressive synagogue and First United Church homeless shelter.

Here is David Mivasair’s speech at Al-Quds Day rally:

Hello everyone. Thank you for having us here today with you. Besides being a retired Rabbi, I’m an active member of the organization called Independent Jewish Voices (IJV), which is across Canada. We have chapters in Halifax, Montreal, of course Toronto. I live in Hamilton. We have a chapter there. We have chapters all the way through Vancouver Victoria, over a thousand members really from coast to coast. I’m gonna be brief, because virtually everything that needs to be said has already been said. I’m gonna make up a kind of a pun on my last name. My name is David Mivasair. Mivasair comes from the same root in Semitic languages as bashir or bashara. So מבשר in Hebrew is a person who brings good news a personb who announces the good news. And so, today, I just want to call our attention to some signs that the tide may be changing. So Salman earlier, brother Salman, said right here that prime minister Trudeau actually spoke the words condemn what Israel is doing. The foreign minister foreign minister, Melanie Jolie, used the same word condemn what Israel is doing. I don’t remember hearing those words before. I noticed that uh a member of parliament Rob Oliphant tweeted out a very similar thing condemning what Israel is doing. Rob Oliphant is the Parliamentary secretary to the foreign minister in Canada. So, it’s possible that the tide may be turning. It’s not going to keep turning by itself. We need to keep pushing it. Just to look in a different direction. I was shocked that last week the CBC did a series on Palestine. That word itself used to be forbidden on the CBC literally forbidden. They weren’t allowed to say the word Palestine because they said Palestine doesn’t exist. But last week they did a series of interviews with actually Palestinians in Palestine. I don’t think that’s the greatest thing in the world. We need more of that. But it is a sign that the tide may be turning. So, I’m going to be brief. I could end it right there. I want to thank you all and congratulate you for coming out here today. The theme for today is about anti-Palestinian racism in Canada, and certainly standing up strong and tall and assertive and being in your identity, making it really clear to everyone who you are. If you’re a Palestinian that’s probably the best way to fight against anti-Palestinian racism. So, just from me I thank you and congratulate you for being here and thank you for including me.

The messages of Al-Quds Day rally in Toronto:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPoyzzbEpMc