Join the Chain Fast for Palestinian Family Reunification: Canada Must Evacuate Loved Ones from Gaza

• Make a selfie with a message (such as Fasting for Palestinian Family Reunification or “Fasting for Urgent Gaza Evacuation”) that you can share with us and on your social media;

• Write a letter and make a call to your MP and the appropriate government officials (samples below) demanding immediate evacuation of all remaining visa applicants from Gaza;

• Share on social media the story of one of the families hugely impacted by the negative impacts of this program (we will pair you with a family and provide pictures and text to share). We can also directly connect you with that particular family to stay in touch with them afterwards and continue advocating for their right to be free of the genocide and joined with their loved ones in Canada.

To pick a date to fast, please email a preferred date, your name and town/city to be shared on our website, to the Canadian Palestinian Family Reunification Project of the Rural Refugee Rights Network at tasc@web.ca

BACKGROUND
Each day of the chain fast will represent one of the 20 months that Canada’s None is Too Many Gaza temporary residence visa (TRV) program has been in effect, 20 months of deliberate institutional inaction and lethal obstacle creation, with hundreds of lives lost waiting on Canadian visas. The final week of the chain fast coincides with the return of MPs to Parliament.

Canada does have the capacity to evacuate visa applicants from Gaza. But it has only directly assisted in the evacuation of fewer than 2% of the 5,000 applicants, and in late July evacuated 11 Canadian citizens through the Kerem Shalom crossing. We engage in this fast to highlight the urgent need to evacuate the remaining 98% of applicants.

The punishingly slow pace of visa processing for Gazans – a paltry average of 2 applications completed per day, with a lethal waiting time for some of over a year – stands in stark contrast to the Canada–Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program. During CUAET’s first year, Canada welcomed 129,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and approved over half a million visas (an average of 1,400 applications per day), usually within a two-week turnaround. Canada waived security screening for those aged up to 17 and over 61, and dropped a required medical exam despite the Ukrainian population’s much higher risk of carrying tuberculosis, which Ottawa conceded “posed potential health risks to Canada.”

Similarly, Canada welcomed over 8,000 Israeli visa holders during 2024. Palestinian Canadians and refugee advocates point to such figures as clear proof of a painful, discriminatory double standard that fails to adequately respond to what Canadian officials acknowledge are “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza.

The Gaza TRV program eerily echoes one of the most shameful periods of Canadian history, the None is Too Many policies designed to keep Jews fleeing genocide out of Canada during the 1930s and 1940s. Almost 79 years after Canada turned away a boat packed with Jewish refugees (the St. Louis), then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued an apology, noting 254 St. Louis passengers were murdered upon their forced return to Europe, and declaring: “By issuing this apology, it is my sincere hope that we can shine a light on this painful chapter of our history and ensure that its lessons are never forgotten.”

Sadly, different lessons were learned by different people. For those in the government who historically and to this day wrongfully treat certain groups of people with suspicion, the lesson is that they can get away with racist exclusion as long as there is no public outrage. Hence, we have seen Public Safety Canada agencies like CBSA (Canadian Border Services Agency) and CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) treat every last Palestinian from Gaza as a potential risk instead of viewing them through the humanitarian lens of families escaping the worst horrors imaginable. That is why actions like the Chain Fast are so important: another reminder of the many people across this land who stand in solidarity with and recognize the humanity of these Palestinian families.

See available dates and sample letters/call template at https://rrrncanada.blogspot.com/…/chain-fast-for…