Tree as Weapon: Canada Park

Canada as a “peace-keeping” nation is a myth that is so entwined in the world of fiction I do not have the energy or room here to barely pick at it's knot. Not only has this government been complicit in this conflict, but also politically and financially supportive from the beginning (as they are and have been in many other conflicts and disasters worldwide - let alone within the country from its very birth).

One such example is seen in Israel, on a hilltop where three villages were previously nestled. One of these villages was called Imwas, and is known widely to be the village where, in the Christian tradition, Jesus reappeared to the disciples after he rose from the dead and walked with them to break bread before re-disappearing (called Emmaus in the New Testament) [Zochrot].

Another one of Israel's methods to take over the land was to plant forests over dispossessed and demolished villages where citizens were forced out of during the years of conflict (initially 1948-1967, but the demolitions, land-grab, and settlement building are rampant now more than ever). The tree was and is used as a weapon and strategy for land grab as former villages are literally flattened and planted into national parks, or the forests are planted on land reserved for future development. Israel confiscated and attempted to get rid of many Palestinian villages by literally erasing their existence with green life.

Canada Park was built with roughly $15 million given to support the State of Israel's mission in the Holy Land. The financial backing paid for the demolition of the village and the trees planted in its place. The only relic remaining at the park is right near the entrance: a mockery was made of the lives that were taken, as their cemetery is the only thing remaining of their existence, as if the park paid tribute to the still living by keeping a graveyard to show that they are seen as dead to Israel. Canada has been accused of being complicit in Ethnic Cleansing [Article Link].

The Sabra (cactus), the old method for building fences in Palestine, resists despite the attempts to get rid of them. They thrive, with the life-blood of the people who lived along-side them still flowing in their flowers and tough leaves.

Palestine is not erased.

As we walk around former Imwas, we mourn what the Sabra still stands for...

Oh Canada...