SUNNY WEATHER BROUGHT FAMILIES TO PICNIC ON THE LAWN
Day 20 of the student protest on Tabaret Lawn was marked by a community protest, an appearance from Joel Harden and a teach-in about Palestinian artifacts.
Around 3 p.m., a rally of community members and students walked around and through campus while being marshaled by police officers.
After the rally, the lawn filled with families and community members who set up picnic blankets in the sunny weather. Among attendees were MPP for Ottawa-Centre Joel Harden, University of Ottawa Student Union (UOSU) Board of Directors for Social Sciences James Adair, and UOSU francophone affairs commissioner Daphnee Veilleux-Michaud. Veilleux-Michaud has been a consistent presence at the protest, notably taking on nightly marshalling shifts.
A teach-in about Palestinian history through its artifacts was led by Dr. Ahmed Ahmed, a pediatrician and associate professor at the U of O. In his lecture, he discussed the beginnings of Zionism and the“one-state solution of Palestine”. Addressing the idea that pro-Palestinian protests are antisemitic, Ahmed said “We don’t discriminate against people for religion … I defend Jewish Palestinians [the] same way I defend myself.”
He also expressed his lack of faith in international agencies like the UN. “The security council will never take any actions against Israel”.
The teach-in ended with artifacts being passed around, including Palestinian coins, bills and stamps that pre-date the establishment of Israel. Ahmed also showed attendees a 1947 Jewish immigrant’s Palestinian passport and a 1925 Certificate of Naturalization for another Jewish immigrant. Ahmed used these artifacts to demonstrate that the “Palestinian government accepted the Jews who immigrated as full citizens” and that “the establishment of Israel didn’t come as a natural solution to the Holocaust,” but that “[Jewish people] were already rooted in Palestine before 1948.”
The teach-in was followed by the Asr prayer and a fireside chat, which ended the day’s events.
Photo: Bridget Coady/Fulcrum 
Photo: Bridget Coady/Fulcrum 
Photo: Bridget Coady/Fulcrum 
Photo: Bridget Coady/Fulcrum 
Photo: Bridget Coady/Fulcrum 
Photo: Bridget Coady/Fulcrum 
Photo: Bridget Coady/Fulcrum 
Photo: Kavi Vidya Achar/Fulcrum 
Photo: Kavi Vidya Achar/Fulcrum 
Photo: Kavi Vidya Achar/Fulcrum 
Photo: Kavi Vidya Achar/Fulcrum 
Photo: Kavi Vidya Achar/Fulcrum 
Photo: Kavi Vidya Achar/Fulcrum
Author
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