Canada: Cold Country, Warm Hearts

Like many Arabs living in Canada, I was overwhelmed with an indescribable feeling of joy, and pain, as the Syrian refugees started landing in the country.
As happy as I was to see them arrive safely, knowing they’ll now needn’t worry about their survival, and that they’ll finally be able to re-experience a safe and terror-free life, just like the one they used to have a few years ago before all this craziness took place, I have to admit that deep inside me, watching my brothers and sisters in this condition, scattered around the globe, seeking refuge continents away from their home, was not easy, at all.
All what came to my mind was Syria; this beautiful country, with its inveterate history and its rich culture… all the good times that I – like thousand others- have spent there on vacation. Syria was synonym to safety, fun, happiness and everything great. Now with terrorism tearing it apart, I really couldn’t help but feel sincerely sorry for their hearts that are aching and burdened with a huge question mark you can see on the face of almost every refugee: ‘What happened to us? what’s next?’
The only thing that helped ease the pain a bit was witnessing the beautiful reactions of Canadians as they welcomed refugees with arms wide open. Starting with the government and the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, to the children who were holding toys and blankets awaiting their “new friends”.
The amount of donations and volunteers dedicating their time to help refugees was pretty impressive, and to see Canada sheltering people despite their religious beliefs, not asking them to give up their religious identity, but on the contrary embracing their beliefs, was just terrific, Canada sent a clear and strong message to the whole world: ‘a human being, is a human being, regardless of what they believe, regardless of where they come from, or what language they speak’.
This message certainly made all Canadians proud of their country and government, I know I am.

Of all Canadian gestures to welcome refugees, I must say that these two touched me the most:

Ottawa children choir singing an Arabic Muslim song to welcome refugees:

2. Quebec senior women meet up to make tuques for refugees.

Let’s remember that those who made it here, or elsewhere as a matter of fact, are only the lucky ones, and that many others are still suffering with no way out.
As heartbreaking as this may be, let’s hope that Syria will once again be a safe home for its lovely people, and that the world will, one day, be a happier place, free of all kinds of terrorism.

Category: Arab Societies, Canada, Charity & Human Aid, Media, International | 2 Comments

November 12 2015

On Becoming a Canadian Citizen

As many of you already know, we landed in Canada a few years ago. I remember the very first steps I took in Toronto Pearson International Airport. They were shaky, unsteady steps, driven by curiosity, worry, excitement and a mixture of ambition and fear.

Before coming here, we heard lots of mixed reviews of the country and its lifestyle. So we decided to learn from the experiences of others, without letting these experiences shape our own expectations or decisions. In short, we decided to live our own adventure with all its details, all its twists and turns, being prepared for the best as well as the worst case scenarios.

In Canada, and no matter where you’re coming from, you’ll suffer from what I like to call: ‘The Canada Shock’. Everywhere you go, you’ll experience this “we’re all different and the same” sensation.
Canada is where you hear a 100 languages you don’t speak, feel like a complete stranger, then out of nowhere, and like music to your tired ears, someone passes you by, and you hear your mother tongue … you smile, they smile back at you (most of the time) and all of a sudden, you feel you’re home.
Canada is where you feel overwhelmed by the vast majority that is nothing like you; everyone looks different than you do, everyone dresses different than you do, but then you take a closer look and realize they’re, in fact, all like you: they reflect the mixed feelings inside them just as well as you do, they shop for clothes exactly where you do, and they all come from a different place on the map, like you, they struggle to build a new life, like you, and worry about mostly the same things you worry about… you feel at ease, you feel you’re all the same, you feel at home.
Canada is where people eat things like Poutine, Nanaimo Bar, and Maple-glazed everything 😀 , and then you crave hummus & falafel, a hot shawarma, or a steamy biryani, sushi, souvlaki, burgers, steaks, pad thai, or any weird thing you desire, and you’ll mostly find it… and feel at home.

In Canada you can be one of two groups of people. Those who insist on spotting the differences, letting them get in their way, and those who insist on spotting the similarities, overcoming the differences and going their own way. As long as you belong to the second group, you’ll lead a happy peaceful and successful life in Canada. Canada is not a perfect country, but it’s a very unique one.
I’m glad we didn’t let anything influence our journey. It was for sure a bit rough in the beginning, like many immigrants I guess, but with time we learned that you just can’t compare life in Canada to anywhere else in the world. It is indeed, a very unique place, like nowhere else. It has its own system, its own beauty, its own difficulties, and you can’t just get along if you keep comparing it to other places you’ve been, whether those places were better or worse in your own opinion.

This is my first blog post as an officially Canadian citizen, and if there’s anything I love about this country it’s the fact that becoming a Canadian citizen does not require you to hide your origins or forget your roots. And although some people are embarrassed of their origins and do “forget” where they come from, many Canadians don’t. They celebrate where they’re from, revive their cultures, and embrace their roots while beautifully assimilating to their new society. And this makes Canada the wonderful, one of a kind place it is. And this is what I’m gonna pass to my two boys Adam and Arkan: be proud of every drop of blood running through your veins, celebrate who you are, belong to here and there, love here and there, be loyal to here and there.
You might confuse your longing and nostalgia with the feeling of not belonging, you might feel lost and torn at times, but with time you’ll learn how blessed you are, how unique you are, and will learn to appreciate your life, enjoy your life, and love your life.

As for me, today I’m a proud Palestinian (by blood), proud Jordanian (by nationality), proud Tunisian (by experience) and a proud Canadian (by nationality too). And although I’ve been to many other places I loved so much and felt at home, but I feel these four countries have shaped who I am today the most, and hope to always represent a good example of all of them. As for being Canadian, well, so far I’m very proud of the outcome of the last elections, and can’t wait for the next elections to practice my right to vote 🙂 … and now, off to the kitchen where a very delicious maple pecan pie awaits me. 😀

Category: Canada, Just Personal | 6 Comments

September 11 2015

Bullying Parents into Accepting Ontario’s Updated Sex-Ed Curriculum

Latest update with regards to Ontario’s “new & improved” sex-ed curriculum is that the government will allow schools to force sex-ed on kids, according to Ontario’s Minister of Education that is.
Parents opposing the updated sex-ed took this as a stab in the back, after being promised to have the option of withdrawing their children from the sex-ed lessons. We were hoping that we’ll all agree to disagree and there will be some middle ground that will leave every one happy. Now not only don’t we have the right to say no, but we have a great chance of being forced to have our children learn what we’re opposing. Wynne’s reflecting the very “liberal” views of her party, and showing the world that parents’ rights, if they happen to disagree with her, are not applicable… so much for the “inclusion” she’s trying to force on our children, and a very strong lesson in “anti-bullying” and “accepting differences”!

This announcement came at the same time the news of the Polish government backing down on the explicit sex-ed as a response to the massive parent protests went viral, having people around the world admire and respect the Polish government for listening to its citizens and caring about what they think and how they feel more than anything else.

And since parents against the new curriculum are being called all kinds of things, I believe I need to make a few things straight here:

Parents opposing the new sex-ed curriculum are very well educated, open minded & responsible, and have in fact read the whole curriculum, not just the manipulative parental guides to it.
Religion is not the only reason for the objection, many atheists and non-religious parents are saying no to the new sex-ed. It’s a matter of principle and morals.
Many Parents are not aware that sex-ed is already part of the old curriculum, and that homosexuality, disease control, contraceptives and much more are already being taught. So we’re not against awareness as long as age-appropriate, we’re against irresponsible, unnecessary explicit and age-inappropriate sex-ed which is the case in the updated sex-ed.
Aside from the fact that the whole ‘consultation prior implementation’ process was a huge scam, (I for one was here since 2010, and neither I, nor any single person I know was consulted), Parents are speaking up and taking a firm stand to show their objection through protests, rallies, strikes, polls, speeches, social media involvement, since 2010 until today; but Wynne doesn’t seem to be interested and continues to ignore, claiming that those are just a “minority”.
Claims of the new curriculum being based on scientific & psychological studies shattered when experts exposed its dangers and flaws (an interesting video about sex-ed in general is available here. And you can find the videos specifically discussing Ontario’s updated sex-ed on this website, just scroll down you’ll find a video of 3 parts).

This is a great website that wraps up all what I’m trying to share here, and provides videos & PDFs relevant to the subject.

I did share my point of view on the matter earlier, explaining why I was against the updated sex-ed curriculum, and I’m still against it. I still believe, that apart from the responsible, age-appropriate sex-ed, which children were receiving, it’s a very personal matter whether you want to expose your children to more or less awareness and sexual knowledge. I still believe a unified program that doesn’t respect diversity nor accommodates religious, cultural, or social values is a huge mistake. If this means calling me an unfit parent, then I proudly am.

Category: Books, Canada, Media, International | 2 Comments

September 1 2015

Claiming Back Childhood

I’m in love with this ad by GoRVing.ca , it touches me as a parent, because I believe, today’s children lack the one basic thing that should label them as children: their own space.
Parents, myself included, are failing horribly at giving our children the amount of freedom we were given by our parents when we were their age. We’re overprotective, too scared, very worried and paranoid that we have them under constant surveillance. It’s like we keep them in one huge transparent bubble, we allow them to look through it, go crazy in it, as long as we’re sure they wont burst out of it, not “so soon” at least.

To be fair to parents, I completely understand where this paranoia comes from, we’re living in an insane horrible world; what I don’t understand though is: how did we reach this point? and why, despite all efforts, why are things getting only worse?

I am trying, really really hard, to give my boys their own space, their own time, some freedom here and there, but I do know, that I need to do much more to let them experience real wild childhood, the one their dad and mom enjoyed when they were kids.

Category: Canada, General, Just Personal | 2 Comments

March 1 2015

Why I’m Against Ontario’s Updated Sex-Ed Curriculum

Yes, I am…

I know many people are just like me, and that many more are not, well, every person is entitled to their own opinion, I completely understand that, but seems like thousands of people don’t, and they want you to either convince yourself they’re right and give in to their own opinions, OR you give in even if you still disagree.

While I have no problem with many sections of the updated curriculum, I do strongly oppose teaching my children at school certain sexual topics like homosexuality, as well as oral, anal and intimate details of sexual intercourse.
Yes, I do, and it’s not because I think their curiosity doesn’t start at younger ages, or because I want to keep them in a bubble thinking they wont learn about that one way or the other, but because I want to be the one to discuss these things with them in the way I believe is best for them, and in a way that fits their mentality and age-group, and is within our family’s social and religious values given that we live in an extremely diverse society where everyone has their own opinions when it comes to sex-ed; What’s wrong with that?

1. Objectivity
A lot of people tried to convince me that the updated curriculum is not that big a deal, asking me to look at it “objectively”, so I read it again and again, I tried to be as objective as possible, but no, you can’t look at it objectively, simply because sex is personal, it is a very sensitive and intimate issue, and it should not, in my opinion, be discussed by individuals who will be trained to teach thousands of children -belonging to different religious and cultural backgrounds- in a unified way, giving them all the same message and with little or no respect to what they might be taught at home by their parents.

Category: Canada | 7 Comments

October 30 2012

Sandy Testing Canadian Spirit

We’ve been hearing about Sandy, aka ‘Frankenstorm’ for a while; warnings, tips on how to keep safe and survive the worst…etc. But the awesomeness of Canada is the fact that people didn’t really process the magnitude of what could’ve been a horrible natural catastrophe until last evening, before the unwanted guest arrived that is, due to many reasons. One reason is that people here are used to rough weather conditions, even immigrants who landed a few years ago no longer freak out when they see/hear the term: “severe- weather- alert”. Another reason would be the fact that some people don’t know the first thing about hurricanes, tornadoes, or such deadly beasts of nature; their ignorance serves them well as it automatically switches off any fear or even alertness buttons in their brains and this means they either don’t give a damn what would happen, or they were so excited and looking forward to witnessing their 1st deadly storm ever . I can assure you though, that most people belonging to either group changed their minds once they saw what happened in the US, and panicked even more when they heard about the 1st death case caused by Sandy in Toronto as a woman was killed by flying debris. And that’s when most of GTA neighborhoods started to turn into ghost-towns. But before that, I believe most people were just turning the whole thing into a shopping spree: 1st aid kits, flashlights, candles, matches, water bottles, blankets, sleeping bags, duct tape… some even bought tents (I’m guessing they belong to the 2nd group I was talking about).

One of the funniest things I heard yesterday afternoon was one of my neighbors explaining ‘Sandy’ to her kids and saying: “so, what I’m trying to say is, this is when all your crappy glow-in-the-dark stuff comes in handy”.

From our side of the building you can see Toronto city -usually clearly- so when we heard about the power cuts and saw the lights go off we started to freak out a bit I must admit, especially when we learned from TV & Twitter that sirens were constantly sounding in downtown Toronto to urge people to seek shelter as Sandy actually arrived. That’s when I also learned that among all this madness some people were actually complaining about home delivery services stopping “until further notice”.

Back to our building, in it you could easily tell who’s a new-comer and who isn’t, simply by looking through your window. When you see family members sticking their hands & faces onto the cold window glass trying to capture it all live in action you know they’re new-comers, the longer they stay still in this position, the newer to the country they are, because those who are here for a while know better than being so close to what could be a direct cause of death.
Another sign to distinguish new-comers from the rest is that they tend to turn disaster-times into little gatherings/house-parties. Table full of yummy finger-foods, snacks, tea/coffee/pop and everyone is watching live-news and making long-distance calls exaggerating things to make their relatives & loved ones worried sick and think they’re brave heroes facing THE STORM 🙂

Kids were hoping Sandy would be more fierce and would stay longer to have the day off of course. They were all let down when they woke up to what turned out to be a beautiful morning… Passing by a few scattered street & restaurant signs on the way to the school bus stop they were all giving their parents the “puppy-face” look in a last attempt to try to skip school: “but the storm knocked the signs down to the ground, we no longer know the right direction, it’s not safe” they’d say, and before they get the parents’ reaction they’d point to a broken sign on the sidewalk and shout: “check this out, cooooooool”.

Anyway nice weather didn’t last for long; it turned a bit crazy at noon, colder than the morning, more wet, so darn foggy. Now things are getting back to normal I guess. So no need to worry about us, in case you did in the first place!

With all this madness going on, one can’t but respect the Canadian spirit and positivity. On the streets people are all happy Sandy didn’t mess much with Canada, they’re trying to clean up after the storm with smiles on their faces. On Twitter some are tweeting how happy they are the tree didn’t fall on their car/ house instead of focusing on the chaos it left behind.

I leave you with some photos of the super storm as it passed by Southern Ontario.

Category: Canada, General | 1 Comment

September 4 2012

Adam, a First Grader

Today is Adam’s first day at school, or the “big kids’ school” as he refers to it.
As I write this, Adam’s probably learning new stuff, making new friends -or enemies- eating his lunch, or peaking at someone else’s lunch with envy -or disgust- but most importantly he’s experiencing being a 1st grader in a whole new school with a new teacher (whom I’m hoping he’d love) surrounded with new faces.
Dropping him off I couldn’t help comparing 1st grade students here in Canada, with those back in the Arab world. Back there 1st graders usually look so helpless, so lost, so innocent, so naive, so incredibly young and tiny; here, on the other hand, 1st graders have a very unique mixture of innocence and maturity. They’re like tiny little rebels who still seek your attention, they still want your pampering, they still want your hugs and kisses, but they want to act all independent at the same time. They don’t want you to hold their hands, they don’t want you to unzip their raincoats, they don’t want you to hold their umbrellas, they don’t want you to keep giving them tips and reminders of good behavior, they just want to go through this lovely growing-up-process independently. And with the exception of a couple little ones crying here and there, you’d be really impressed at how excited kids actually are to start their school year in Canada. Unlike half the way around the world where I still remember how hard the 1st day of school was, in fact some students got so anxious and tensed they threw up… I believe the reason is the approach of education and the learning process. While teachers in Canada try to make kids get attached to school, love learning, encouraging them to be creative and have fun with learning, Arab kids always face the discomfort resulting from the pressure of learning by heart, memorizing, the tons of homework, the heavy backpacks, and the limitation of creativity. In short, I believe, in my own personal opinion, that kids here pass from one grade to the other to gain more knowledge, their goal is to learn and know, whereas in the Arab world, I believe they gain knowledge just to pass, and that’s of course generally speaking, and does not mean that kids here are smarter, I’m just saying that the approach of education here is more appealing to kids that they enjoy learning, look forward to open a book and it’s up to them to be good or bad at it without the pressure of exams, unlike in the Arab world, where the whole process is more stressful for both kids and their parents.

In the end of the day, whether here or there, I have come to one conclusion: the older they (children) get, the more you worry; I’ve been told this over and over, but it was only today that it really hit me how true that is.
I wish all students, no matter where on this planet, no matter what grade they’re in, an awesome school year.

Category: Arab Societies, Canada, Just Personal | Comments Off

July 20 2012

بداية رمضانية موفّقة

انتابتني البارحة أحاسيس متضاربة فور إعلان أنّ بداية شهر رمضان المبارك ستكون اليوم، فرحت، تشوّقت ولكن خفت كثيرا من التعب والعطش والجوع، فالصيام سيكون هذه السنة 18 ساعة في كندا. المهم تناولت السحور، وبعد صلاة الفجر بفترة تمكنت من النوم، وبعد بضع ساعات أيقظنا المنبه لبدء يوم جديد. قلت لنفسي: ما أجمل رمضان، وما أجمل رائحة البن…هممم… بن؟؟؟ نظرت إلى نفسي لأكتشف أنّي واقفة في منتصف المطبخ أستمتع بغلي فنجان قهوتي الصباحي المُعتاد. وكانت هذه بدايتي “الموفقة” مع رمضان.

ولمن يتساءل عن أحوالي الآن في هذه اللحظة بالذات، فأنا صامدة مع أنّي “فرطت” من الجوع، نعم الجوع لا العطش، عكس توقّعاتي، وأشتهي كل أكلات العالم، كل هذا وباقي من الزمن حوالي الخمس ساعات… هذا بالنسبة لإفطاري أنا وعائلتي، فكان الله بعون كل فقير محتاج وجائع تمُر عليه أيام وليالي يشتهي كسرة خبز ولا يعلم أين ومتى سيُسَد جوعه أو يُروى ظمؤه. فعلا أنك رائع يا شهر رمضان

Category: Canada, Just Personal, Posts in Arabic, Religion | Comments Off

June 26 2012

Spotting, Hunting and Catching the “Fishzilla” & Its Smuggler in Canada

I watched a special report on one of the Canadian TV channels about something called: Snakehead fish, aka Frankenfish, or the ‘Fishzilla’, as National Geographic referred to it. The monster fish was spotted earlier in May in Burnaby Central Park by locals, and the never-ending hunting attempts to rid the pond of it started immediately.

Click here to view the embedded video.

To be honest, I’ve never heard of it before until that day, and I was curious to know more, so I kept watching; turns out this fish is considered a highly invasive predator, a threat to the ecosystem, and would basically eat anything that fits in its mouth. So it feeds on frogs and other fish and would even eat small mammals.

“Snakeheads are considered highly invasive, can grow to a metre in length and have rows of pointy teeth. They are reported to have wiped out native fish stocks in parts of the U.S. The snakefish is said toeat frogs, birds and even small pets….. The fish also has a primitive lung system that allows it to stay out of water for extended periods and move between bodies of water.” CBC News
“They can reproduce multiple times per year…They can double their population size within 15 months.” CBC News

The fish was caught by biologists around two weeks ago, after they partially drained a pond in Burnaby’s Central Park, in British Columbia, following previous unsuccessful attempts.
Terry Lake, Minister of Environment, vowed to change provincial regulations by the fall to ban its live importation.

Apparently another similar incident occurred back in 2004, resulting in draining another lake completely and not partially, which literally cost billions of dollars, besides the death of so many aquatic species: ”It’s a potentially costly problem jurisdictions south of the border have already dealt with; a lake in Maryland had to be drained and re-stocked because of a snakehead infestation in 2004. Two years earlier, another pond had to be poisoned to eradicate the fish.” CTV News
So instead of wasting all that time, money, and effort chasing the fish, and instead of putting the whole ecosystem at risk, I do believe it’s indeed about time the importation of live snakehead fish be prohibited in all of Canada. The good news is, the man who’s believed to be behind the presence of this invasive species in Canadian waters is found, he’s a Toronto pet dealer and was busted selling the Fishzilla to an undercover U.S Fish & Wildlife Service Agent. The 49-year-old man is now facing federal felony charges in the U.S. and Canada. He was arrested and charged in Canada and given an August court date. Officials are working to transport the smuggler back to the states to face his charges. He is currently not in Canadian custody.

Category: Canada | Comments Off

September 8 2011

Toronto Palestine Film Festival 2011

Ok ladies and gents, mark your calendars and get ready for the Toronto Palestine Film Festival (TPFF), it’s going to take place between Sept.30- Oct.7, 2011. The festival program for 2011 is now live!

The TPFF is a non-profit organization which started back in 2008 as a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of Al-Nakba. Dedicated to bringing vibrant Palestinian cinema to GTA audiences, TPFF promotes the richness of Palestinian Arab culture through cinema, music, and other forms of visual arts. The festival offers a diverse array of stories, memories, genres and themes. 24 films will be screened, of which 11 are Canadian premieres, 9 are North American premieres and 3 are Toronto premieres.

For more info. on the TPFF: their latest news & events, as well as the ticket prices, check out their website: TPFF.