TORONTO — A downtown Toronto church has cancelled a youth scholarship event hosted by a Palestinian group that was condemned as “the open glorification of terrorists and murderers.”
The Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Scholarship launch party was cancelled after complaints from members of the Jewish community and a decision by the directors of Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church that the event was “inconsistent with church policy.”
Originally scheduled for July 13, the launch party was to feature spoken word, music and food “to celebrate the artistic and cultural contributions of Palestinians in the diaspora,” organizers said in promotional material, and showcase winners of an annual scholarship contest. Written works from the scholarship contest were published in an online anthology entitled We Feel a Country in Our Bones.
The event was organized by the Toronto chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement, which describes itself as “a transnational, independent, grassroots movement of young Palestinians in Palestine and exiled worldwide as a result of the on-going Zionist colonization and occupation of our homeland.”
Its mission statement includes motivating young people to take an active role “in our national struggle for the liberation of our homeland and people.”
The scholarship program, open to Palestinians in the United States and Canada, is in the name of a polarizing figure.
Ghassan Kanafani, who the PYM calls a “heroic novelist,” was a noted Palestinian writer but is better known to the wider world for his involvement in the Lod airport massacre near Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1972, during which 26 civilians were killed, including a Canadian, and 80 people injured.
Kanafani was the spokesperson of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) at the time, which claimed responsibility for the attack. A photo, taken prior to the attack, showed Kanafani with one of the three men who opened fire with assault rifles and tossed grenades at passengers, visitors and airport staff.
Kanafani was later killed by a targeted car bomb, allegedly in retaliation.
Public Safety Canada lists the PFLP as a terrorist entity.
B’nai Brith Canada, a Jewish advocacy group, was unsettled by the event and launched a public petition on Friday asking Canadians to sign a letter of condemnation and urging the church to cancel its plans to host the event.
“We will not tolerate the open glorification of terrorists and murderers, particularly in a place of worship,” the letter said. “Churches should be places of peace, not places where violence and/or terror are glorified.”
On Monday, Colin Phillips, vice-chairman of the board of directors for Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church, confirmed to the National Post that the PYM’s booking of the church’s facilities has been cancelled.
“Hundreds of groups rent rooms at (the church) for one-time events over the course of a year. This request was handled as per our processes for such bookings,” said Phillips.
“I’m not sure why the Palestinian Youth Movement contacted us. The event was initially determined to be in line with the congregation’s foci of the arts and peacemaking in the Middle East. However, Trinity-St. Paul’s and the United Church of Canada condemn violence. The board cancelled the booking when it was clear that hosting it would be inconsistent with church policy.”
Michael Mostyn, chief executive officer of B’nai Brith Canada, was pleased with the church’s response.
“We are relieved that the church eventually came to the correct decision, to help prevent the shameful glorification of a terrorist,” he said in a written statement.
“That being said, this story is not over. We will continue to investigate how a youth scholarship named after a notorious terrorist is permitted to function in Canada and the United States, and take all possible steps to thwart it.”
A request for information and comment from the PYM was not responded to prior to deadline. The event was still advertised by the group’s Facebook page late Monday.
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