An Open Letter by an Indigenous Person

To the Executive of the Canadian Arab Federation:

I am writing to express my disappointment with your decision to distance CAF from the statements regarding 'Canada Day' made by Omar Shaban, your (former) Vice-President for the west. I am an indigenous activist based in Vancouver. I am also actively involved in the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign, as the struggle for Palestine is of immense importance to me.

Last year I personally contacted CAF to get an endorsement for the ‘Walk for Palestine’ event in Vancouver, where we commemorated the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba, the ‘catastrophe’ for Palestinians that was marked by the birth of Israel in 1948 and the displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians from their lands and homes. I was happy that CAF readily endorsed this event, as I’m sure it has done for numerous events and initiatives for Palestine over the years.

On the other hand, this past week marked ‘Canada Day,’ which, for me and many indigenous people living in Canada, should be seen as a day to commemorate our own ‘catastrophe’ - that is, the forced theft and occupation of our territories, the break-up of our societies and traditional forms of governance, and a systematic policy of genocide that continues to this day. This history, this ‘heritage,’ forms the true foundations of Canadian society, and for indigenous people who have struggled for generations with living under Canadian colonialism, July 1st is not a day to celebrate.

This is the main reason I am disappointed with the July 1st press release posted on your website, as it seems there is a large contradiction where you identify with the struggle of the occupied in the context of Palestine, but in the context of ‘Canada’ are identifying with the heritage of the occupier. As someone who feels and understands the connection between our struggles as indigenous people here and that of the Palestinian people, it is disheartening to see an organization like CAF act in such a way as to deny this connection.

Another reason I am disappointed by your decision to distance yourselves from Omar Shaban’s statements concerning Canada is that, as I’m sure you are aware, a number of indigenous organizations and individuals have been targeted by the Canadian government in recent years through the scope of the ‘war on terror,’ as have organizations and individuals within Arab and other communities with roots in the so-called 'muslim world', including the very open attacks that the Canadian Arab Federation has been recently enduring.

Two years ago, when the Canadian Department of National Defense released the initial draft of its new 'counter-terrorism' field manual, it explicitly listed ‘indigenous warrior societies’ as a group that the Canadian armed forces will be expected to deal with as ‘terrorists.’ This treatment of people active in our communities has been at work since the beginning of the 'war on terror', including the more prominent example of the harassment the now-disbanded West Coast warriors faced from the RCMP’s INSET squad (see http://auto_sol.tao.ca/node/1475 for more information on this).

I bring this up because I think it would benefit both of our communities to stand united against the racist attacks that we are up against at the hands of the Canadian government. I am personally appalled at the hateful campaign being waged against CAF and the cutting of funds for your ESL program, and I am not the only indigenous person that CAF should see as a potential ally whenever you are facing such a hateful campaign as this. However, the decision to distance CAF from Omar Shaban’s comments and ignore what ‘Canada Day’ really means to indigenous people in Canada can only serve to fuel division, which in the end will make both of our communities weaker at a time when we truly need strength.

It appears that CAF is already familiar with some of the major issues facing indigenous people in Canada. According to a joint statement from your website that CAF signed its name to in April 2009 addressed to the Durban Review Conference Preparatory Committee, “Aboriginal peoples continue to struggle against extreme poverty, social exclusion and violation of their human, environmental and land rights.” In the spirit of attaining a deeper understanding of why, as indigenous people, we are forced to endure these conditions as a result of Canadian colonialism, I urge you to reconsider your stance towards Omar Shaban’s comments and what the ‘Canadian Heritage’ truly stands for. Colonialism and racism are never something to celebrate.

In Solidarity and Ni-Kso-Ko-Wa (all my relations),

Mike Krebs