E- Arabica Newsletter

2009 NCCAR Parliamentary Internship

For eleven years NCCAR has organized an internship with Parliamentarians for young university students of Arab Canadian heritage from across Canada, aiming at introducing to and informing them about our Canadian political process. Please check our website for more information: in English and French . The application/selection process for our Parliamentary Internship Program is taking place now. If you are interested in applying for an internship or contributing to funding this program, please send an email to internship@nccar.ca

Activities

• On April 12, 2009, Board Director Samah Sabawi published God Forsaken , a poem about the Palestinian people's plight. This poem has been translated into Hebrew, Arabic and Italian, with more translations on the way.
• On April 9 th , 2009, NCCAR released the results of a recently conducted quantitative, comparative analysis of news coverage of Israeli and Palestinian issues by key Canadian English-language newspapers: The Globe and Mail and National Post (national newspapers) as well as Canada's largest circulation paper, the Toronto Star (a city newspaper). NCCAR asked the following questions:

a. Are key Canadian papers omitting news about Israeli and Palestinian issues that are essential to a factual understanding of critical ongoing events in the region?
b. If so, to what extent do these news omissions occur? Do these news omissions relate to particular categories of news? Are there differences among key Canadian papers with respect to these news omissions?

The release in both English and in French is on our website: www.nccar.ca

• On April 8, 2009, Embassy Magazine published an article “ Muslim, Arab Groups Blast Kenney for Perceived Bias.” NCCAR President Bahija Réghaï is quoted: "I think it's remarkable that they all meet with lots of other organizations, but when they take strong positions on the Middle East, the Liberals and Conservatives, they take these positions without consulting one of the [National Canada-Arab] organizations," Ms. Reghai said, adding that government policy is being made "in a vacuum." "Even if you want to take that policy, at least listen to the other view. At the moment they are only listening to one side, it's not inclusive. We may not agree on everything, but we can inform."

• NCCAR marked “Jerusalem, 2009 Arab Cultural Capital” on April 6, 2009, in the company of distinguished Jerusalemite guests, H.E. (Theodosios) Atallah Hanna, Archbishop of Sevastia for the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and Dr. Ekrema Sabri, Chief of the Higher Islamic Council in Jerusalem, Former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine and Imam of Al-Aqsa Mosque . Also in attendance were religious leaders of all faiths, ambassadors and other foreign representatives as well as community leaders. Dr. Sabri and Archbishop Hanna reminded the audience of the importance of Jerusalem to the three Abrahamic faiths and the situation of Palestinians. Highlights of the speeches will be posted on NCCAR's website in the coming days
• On April 2, 2009, Board Director Samah Sabawi was part of a panel at an event organized in Ottawa by the Ottawa Peace Assembly, when  banned British Member of Parliament and guest speaker George Galloway' speech was broadcast. 
• On Apr. 2, 2009, the National Post published a letter by Board Director Rula Odeh protesting about the wholesale demonizing of people from the Arab world while not holding Israel accountable to international law in an editorial: Hold Israel accountable .
• On March 24, 2009, NCCAR President Bahija Réghaï and Samer Roumani, Vice-President (Fundraising and Outreach) attended a reception co-hosted by the National Press Club and H.E. Mouldi Sakri, Ambassador of Tunisia, on the anniversary of the Tunisian constitution.

Be Engaged

· What percentage of major Middle East news stories are reported in Canadian media? 50%? 15%? 5%? You “feel” that the media misreports, but to what extent? You are cordially invited to attend a free, online webinar presentation on the media analysis by board member, Rula Odeh. You can participate from the comfort of your home! Register for a session now by clicking a date below : 

Mon, Apr 20, 2009 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM EDT

Mon, Apr 27, 2009 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM EDT

Mon, May 4, 2009 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM EDT

· Contacting your Member of Parliament (MP) is an effective way to take action and to be heard.  If you have any trouble finding your MP or need help, use this link and enter your postal code.

· If you would like to see more of the great work NCCAR is doing to build ties between Canadians and people from the Arab World, we encourage you to continue your moral and financial support of NCCAR. Please renew / start your membership or make a donation online (tax receipt automatically sent to you via e-mail). Please click on the links below for an easy, fast and secure way to support NCCAR.

Thank you for taking 10 minutes right now to provide your much-needed contribution. http://www.canadahelps.org/CharityProfilePage.aspx?CharityID=24154

Instructions on how to donate

The National Council on Canada-Arab Relations (NCCAR, www.nccar.ca ) is charitable organization whose mission is to build ties between Canadians and the people of the Arab world in order to develop stronger relations and cooperation between them as well as an appreciation of their common values.