As we celebrate the sixty-first anniversary of the creation of our state, Palestinians commemorate their Catastrophe, al-Nakba in Arabic. After all these years, it is time for us to recognize what has happened, and continues to happen in our name, and by our hands.

Our national denial of the events of 1948, of the dispossession of at least 418 Palestinian villages, is at the root of our so-called conflict.  Many historians have uncovered what has actually happened, though the Israeli state and its educational system refuse to change the denial narrative. 

History, as is Art History, is sprinkled with great leaders who have fast-tracked the course of developments. They more often than not were individuals who have brought to the day an unmatched ingenuity, imagination, and drive. Their influence is often accounted for only in retrospect through the eyes of the follower, the student, or the descendant.

"Do you know why they're protesting?!" yells a business man in a perfectly ironed suit. His screaming is just barely audible over the chanting and yelling of the demonstrators and police.

"They are protesting CANSEC!" I explain.

"What's CANSEC?" he asks, as I prepare for my now memorized rebuttal: "CANSEC is Canada's largest arms fair.

Benjamin Powless of the Mohawk Nation is a delegate representing youth at innumerable UN conferences, and a dedicated Native rights advocate. Turning a remarkable personal journey into a source of strength, he fights devotedly for what he believes.

The son of Native rights activists, Powless was raised in an environment that encouraged returning to aboriginal roots.

Once the catastrophe hit it was a long time before people started to understand what was really going on. By then, the world had abandoned the already marginalized communities, leaving them to fend for themselves while being largely displaced and devoid of rights.

Walking through the still devastated neighbourhoods, the poverty is simply striking. Abandoned, barely standing homes are interspersed with a few renovated ones here and there.