Stop Deportation of Issam al-Yamani

Hello friends of Palestine in KW and area,

A lot going on right now, here in Canada.

1. This urgent action came in today from Canadian Friends of Sabeel. Mr ISSAM AL-YAMANI, a Palestinian-Canadian activist in Mississauga, is about to be deported. LETTERS NEEDED BY FRI AUG 4 if possible. At this link Action: Letters of support requested for Issam Al Yamani, facing deportation threat from Canada you will find more information and a sample letter. Issam has lived peacefully in Canada since 1985, and has no country to return to. Here is a letter I wrote today to Ministers Goodale and Hussen. Please act today.

   From: Eleanor Grant <eleanor7000@gmail.com>
   Date: Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 12:58 PM
   Subject: Stop Deportation of Issam al-Yamani
   To: Goodale.R@parl.gc.ca, Hussen.A@parl.gc.ca
   Cc: Clement.T@parl.gc.ca, Rempel.M@parl.gc.ca, Mulcair.T@parl.gc.ca, matthew.dube@parl.gc.ca, Kwan.J@parl.gc.ca, Virani.A@parl.gc.ca, Chagger.B@parl.gc.ca

   To the Honourable Ahmed Hussen and Ralph Goodale, Ministers of Immigration and Public Safety:

   Re the deportation order against Mr Issam al-Yamani

   Please grant Ministerial Relief from deportation to this man, who has lived peacefully in Canada for more than 30 years.

   And please review his case and reinstate his permanent resident status.

   I draw your attention to this informative letter from the Ontario Civil Liberties Association:

   http://ocla.ca/letter-canadas-record-regarding-the-civil-rights-of-mr-issam-al-yamani/

   In addition to the facts mentioned in the letter, I would add that the PFLP was not a banned group in Canada until 2003, long after Mr Al-Yamani ceased association with it; and that Mr Al-Yamani would become stateless if deported to Lebanon, where he was born a refugee.

   Mr Al-Yamani has no national home but Canada and he has been an exemplary Canadian resident and family man.

   I urge you to let him stay in Canada and to drop all threats against him.

   Yours Sincerely,

   Eleanor Grant
   Waterloo Ont

   cc Opposition critics Tony Clement, Michelle Rempel, Tom Mulcair, Matthew Dube, Jenny Kwan

   cc Arif Virani MP cc Bardish Chagger MP

   I made 2 small mistakes in the recipient list cc line:

   1. Instead of Arif Virani MP I meant to cc it to Omar Alghabra, who is Issam’s own MP.
   2. The address for Matt Dube (NDP critic for Public Safety) should be matthew.dube@parl.gc.ca .

   You will of course want to change Bardish Chagger to your MP if you don’t live in Waterloo.

2. You may also be interested to hear that Canadian-Israeli journalist DAVID SHEEN is facing a defamation lawsuit by an unsavoury Israeli general. David does exceptional work making known in the West the increasingly racist culture happening in Israel at present; I heard him speak at U Waterloo in 2015. Canadian Journalists for Free Expression is asking the Cdn govt to get involved:

   Defamation suit against Israeli-Canadian journalist David Sheen must be dismissed – CJFE | Canadian Journalists for Free Expression

   As yet they have not requested mass support.

3. If you’ve been following the case of HASSAN DIAB, the Lebanese-Canadian professor being detained in France on flimsy charges – his supporters are requesting financial support for his mounting legal costs:

   Justice for Hassan Diab | Bring Hassan Home!

   Click on How You Can Help.

4. Lastly, close to home in London Ont, an assortment of Islamophobic hate groups are getting a foothold. I heard today that a Christian Peacemaker Teams group in Kitchener has been asked to support a Speak Peace rally in London on Aug 26 at one of these hate events. To attend, some training in nonviolence is required – the training will take place in London on Aug 25 and 26. IF YOU THINK YOU WOULD LIKE TO TAKE PART IN THIS TRAINING AND THE RALLY, I will put you in touch with Esther of CPT in Kitchener.

Thank You for all you do to be a light in these times.

Eleanor Grant
on Twitter @eleanor70001