FILE PHOTO
July 16, 2024 - 7:00 PM
An Okanagan peace and justice organization is hosting a kite festival in solidarity with Palestine this Friday.
The Okanagan Chapter of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East is inviting people to fly a kite in Kelowna as part of the global kite festival on Friday, July 19, according to a release from the group.
Burin, a community in the West Bank, has held a kite festival every year since 2008 and is doing so again this year as an act of resistance in the face of extreme violence and destruction. The community has invited people around the world to fly kites in solidarity.
“Imagine the joy of standing on the soil your family has farmed for hundreds of years, holding the string of a kite as it soars in the air above you harnessing the wind, completely free,” Burin’s festival organizer Ghassan Najjar said in the release.
READ MORE: Pro-Palestine activists still protesting at UBCO
One of the event’s organizers Debbie Hubbard said there are a lot of community members who are still actively working to support Palestinians, but events like this help keep others aware and engaged.
“It's always good to gather in a community and to know that we're supporting the communities both in the West Bank and Gaza and in East Jerusalem that are under occupation,” she said. “This has come as a request from a particular community in the West Bank which has been, for many years, under huge military occupation and settler violence and harassment.”
She said it’s important to keep in mind the historic scope of the conflict rather than engage sporadically when high profile events like the attack in October occur.
“October 7th was a symptom and that we need to stay engaged in this. So, that's why we host events like this that enable us to continue to connect with the community,” she said.
Kelowna’s event is at the Central Okanagan United Church on Bernard Avenue from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Participants can bring a kite or make one at the event. There will be watermelon, music and a short film in addition to flying kites.
Click here to find out more about Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East.
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