“Indigenous peoples have long called on the Catholic Church to show leadership in the Truth and Reconciliation process. The news that Pope Francis will visit Canada is met with a myriad of emotions by the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The hurch’s role in the genocide perpetrated against Indigenous peoples still affects families and communities today.
While Indigenous peoples deserve an unequivocal apology from the Catholic Church, immediate action is urgently needed to ensure healing from crimes committed against Inuit, First Nations and Metis, at the hands of the churches.
Canadian activists detained by Israel last month while taking part in an aid flotilla trying to reach Gaza say Canada isn’t doing enough to call out treatment by Israeli officials that Ottawa has called appalling.
While Israel has rejected claims of abuse, flotilla participant Ehab Lotayef said Wednesday Israeli officials beat him on the chest and ribs, put him in uncomfortable positions for long periods and slashed his hand when he tried to help a fellow detainee.
“We felt that we were let down by Canada before anybody else, to be honest, because the Canadian government knew all that was happening,” Lotayef told a news conference on Parliament Hill.
“When we needed them was when we were being tortured — and the whole world knew that that was happening.”
Activist flotillas have tried repeatedly to reach the Gaza Strip to draw attention to tight restrictions on humanitarian supplies for Palestinians. Israel has intercepted these boats, often in international waters.
Lotayef was one of 12 Canadians among 420 flotilla activists detained by Israeli authorities last month. Their detention gained international notoriety when Israel’s Public Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir posted a video of himself taunting the detained activists.
