| Member | |
| Louise Saldanha (Chair) | saldanhal@douglascollege.ca |
| Hazel Fairbairn (Secretary Treasurer) | fairbairnh@douglascollege.ca |
| Kayvon Sarfehjooy | |
| Ivanna Cikes | |
| Jakub Burkowicz | |
| Ashley Lichte | |
| Jasmine Nicholsfigueiredo | |
| Janet Ochola | |
| Sarah Paynter | |
| Charmaine Perkins | |
| Peter Sinclair | |
| Erin Smith | |
| Edrie Sobstyl | |
| Kim Trainor | |
| Melanie Young |
Anti-Racism Action Committee (ARAC) TOR (PDF)
Solidarity Statement with Palestine
Nov. 17, 2023
We express our sincere solidarity to the people of Gaza as well as all our faculty colleagues, staff, and students with ties to Palestine. The suffering and escalating violence in Gaza is unconscionable and must stop.
On October 7th, Hamas attacked Israeli civilian populations, killing over 1,200 Israelis while also taking hostages. Since that day, and as of the time of writing, over 11,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli Defense Forces. Further, Israel has blockaded food, water, medicine, electricity, and fuel while bombing civilian infrastructure, including schools and hospitals. This dire situation has been described by Jewish Voice for Peace as a genocide.
The DCFA recognizes and grieves Israeli and Palestinian lives that have been lost in this latest cycle of conflict We also recognize that the maintenance of a 75-year occupation involving illegal settlements and an apartheid settler colonial state have disproportionately affected the indigenous Palestinian population, with over 100,000 Palestinians displaced from Gaza since 2010 alone, and with political prisoners being held in Israel.
We are concerned the unfolding genocide will exacerbate anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. We denounce hate groups seeking to capitalize on the loss of Palestinian and Israeli lives.
We call on all involved parties to achieve an immediate ceasefire, de-escalation of the conflict, passage for humanitarian aid, and release of hostages and political prisoners.
In solidarity,
ARAC (Anti-Racist Action Committee) Sources:
Jewish Voice for Peace. 2023. “As repression grows, so does solidarity.” https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2023/11/13/repression-and-solidarity/
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. 2020. “Overview | 2010-2019: A decade in numbers.” https://www.ochaopt.org/page/publications1#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20a%20total%20of,the%20p ast%20decade%20to%203%2C624
Black Lives Matter Support Statement
We, the DCFA Anti-Racism Action Committee, would like to extend our solidarity with the global Black Lives Matter Movement, and to support the general BIPOC communities.
We understand and recognize that this past summer, a spark was ignited which catapulted into the largest recorded Civil Rights movement in world history. Years of abuse, oppression, genocide, and mistreatment of Black and Indigenous peoples in the US, Canada, and around the world had taken its gruesome toll, and the murder of George Floyd was the final straw. We realize that this is not just an American problem, but it is most definitely a Canadian problem, as well as a global problem – let us not forget Regis Korchinski-Paquet, D’Andre Campbell, Sean Thompson, Abdirahman Abdi, and many more Black and Indigenous Canadian victims of police violence.
Since this movement began, many educational institutions, businesses, and organizations have come forward with their statements of solidarity, showing support for the Black Lives Matter Movement. We, the DCFA Anti-Racism Action Committee, acknowledge that we have a responsibility as members of the Douglas College community, to voice our own support for the Black Lives Matter movement, and as a newly formed committee, think it is important that this be our first action.
In times of great inequality and oppression, silence is complicity.
This is especially the case when coming from a position of great privilege. As an Educational Institution, entrusted with the education of our communities, Douglas College must be a leader in social movements. We call on the Douglas College community to publicly stand against police brutality and discrimination towards the Black and Indigenous communities. To stand against the current hate crimes that are happening towards the East Asian Community, as well as all forms of discrimination and bigotry towards the South Asian, Muslim, and Latinx communities, and any forms of racism that may exist in any way, shape, or form.
In addition, the DCFA Anti-Racism Action Committee calls upon the Douglas College administration to publicly announce their support for the Black Lives Matter movement, to pledge to be allies to everyone who is a part of the BIPOC community, and to promise to proactively support the change of policies and practices that perpetuate racism within Douglas College and the broader community.