Location
Palestinian Voices
Issam Al-Yamani, Activist
Toronto is a vibrant centre for Canadian-Palestinian life yet to many fellow citizens they are invisible. Palestine Voices is a new series of personal talks programmed by and hosted at Beit Zatoun. Guest speakers are individuals who live in GTA and self-identity as Palestinian. They may be born in Palestine, or Israel or Canada or elsewhere in the Diaspora. They may speak Arabic or not.
What they have is a voice and they want to share it. The struggle experienced by Palestinians in the west is they feel they have no voice or platform as Palestinians to tell their story or perspective. Palestinian Voices addresses and thereby exposes the false and loaded question - where are the Palestinians and what do they want?
Speakers relate how being a Palestinian has marked their life - for good or bad. How has it contributed to who they are and how they relate to society or their larger community. How has their experience attached them (or not) to their heritage. How have they chosen to express their Palestinian reality. What is their aspiration and hopes for the future - personal and for Palestine.
About the Speaker
Issam Al-Yamani, is a Palestinian activist and currently serves as the Executive Director of Palestine House in Mississauga. He is on the Coordinating Committee as well as a member of CAIA (Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid). Issam was born and raised in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. There, he joined one of the many Palestinian organizations. He worked for a few years in United Arab Emirates before immigrating to Canada in 1985 becoming a permanent resident. Due to past political affiliations he has had a 20-year battle with Canadian immigration authorities and remains under a deportation order.
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Need to know:
- Doors open at 6:45
- $5 donation (suggested minimum)
- Accessible on demand via portable ramp; washrooms not accessible
- Please avoid using strong-scented products due to sensitivities
Tasty refreshments (non-alcoholic) and snacks with Zatoun oliveoil+za'atar dipping.
