Palestinian Canadians mark a sombre Eid this year amid fear for safety of relatives,
Palestinian Canadians worried for their families amid violence in Mideast
Muslim families observing Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, usually celebrate the occasion by donning new clothes, feasting together and calling their loved ones near and far to wish them a happy Eid.
But this year, Eid for Palestinian families, already limited by COVID-19, has been a sombre occasion.
On Thursday, Ahmad Jadallah, a 44-year-old Milton father of four of Palestinian origin, spent his Eid morning incessantly refreshing his news feed, desperate for any new information on the violence that has erupted in the region many of his relatives call home.
“My extended family is between Jerusalem,” which has seen violence and unrest in recent days, and the West Bank cities of Nablus and Ramallah, Jadallah said. Jadallah also has friends in the Gaza Strip, a region hit by airstrikes this week that left many dead, including children. “They were crying on the phone,” Jadallah said of his friends, whom he managed to connect with Wednesday. “They said they have no safe spot in Gaza, and they don’t know where to go.”
It’s a fear that Jadallah and others said they feel all the way from their safe homes in Canada — a fear so poignant that makes celebrating Eid feel inapt.
“I can’t pick up the phone and say ‘Happy Eid,’ ” said Amin ElMaoued, the president of Palestine House in Mississauga. “We are not happy. We are not OK.
“This Eid is different,” he said, speaking in Arabic.
The violence has escalated to levels not seen since 2014, with Palestinian and Israeli civilians among the dead. As of Thursday evening, 103 Palestinians had been killed, including 27 children. In Israel, six civilians and one soldier were killed in Tel Aviv, Ashkelon and Lod, according to the BBC. Some of the violence erupted at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.
The deaths hit close to home for Canada’s rapidly growing diaspora communities. At least 44,000 Canadians claimed Palestinian ancestry in the 2016 census.
For El-Maoued of Palestine House, the violence is only a reminder of the distance he’s endured for years away from his friends and family in Palestinian regions and surrounding refugee camps. Most of his family has lived since 1948 in Ain al-Helweh camp, the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
Normally bridging the distance with messages and calls, Palestinian Canadians like Safaa Alnabelseya, 25, of Ottawa, have tried to connect with family in Gaza in recent days. On Eid morning, Alnabelseya finally video-chatted with her aunt, who lives in Nuseirat camp in the middle of Gaza, by Facebook Messenger.
“You could hear the bombs in the background, it was absolutely terrifying,” Alnabelseya said. Still, her aunt greeted her with a smile to wish her niece and family a happy Eid. Alnabelseya wished for her safety.
“Seeing her so happy to see us gives us comfort, but we can hear the danger that’s kilometres away from them, and at any minute anything could happen,” she said.
As Alnabelseya expected, the situation has since changed rapidly. Her aunt’s family, including their two young children, were ordered to evacuate the refugee camp later in the day due to an incoming airstrike, shortly before the Israeli army announced it had begun an air and ground attack on Gaza.
“I feel a constant heaviness, a lump in my throat,” she said when she got the update.
Eid has been a more intimate celebration this year due to COVID, but Alnabelseya said she’s partly thankful, as it allows for a reflection on the plight of families in the Middle East.
The enduring distance from family has been difficult, but Alnabelseya and others said they’ve been focused on amplifying their voices. Calls from the community are growing, asking Ottawa to work with allies toward ending the violence. A protest in Toronto led by Palestine House was held Monday. Another by the Palestinian Youth Movement is scheduled Saturday at Nathan Phillips Square, with an adjacent protest planned the same day in Ottawa.