09/14/2025
As kids return to school across Canada, the surviving children in Gaza are losing another year of education to forced starvation, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.
At least 18000 children have been killed by Israel since Oct 2023 - an average of a classroom of children killed every day. Every life taken was someone’s everything. As the system continues to dehumanize and ignore Palestinians, we remember them as an act of resistance.
To honour the children of Palestine, we’re asking the community to send in artwork, poetry or messages to display at the outdoor vigil at Oscar & Leach.
* Now until Oct 31
* All ages welcome
* Max size 8.5x11 paper (so that it can be laminated)
* Submit to Flowers for Palestine at 510 Ninth St E
Below is an excerpt from students in BC that puts into words our feelings ❤️ :
“Our hearts are heavy as we approach another yet another new school year with Israel’s continued genocide on Palestinians on our minds. We join the rest of the student movement and world in demanding liberation for the Palestinian people, and the freedom of all people under occupation, including those on Turtle Island, Congo, Sudan, and countless others.
The tides are turning. Burnaby pledged as the first city in Canada to be a part of Apartheid Free Communities. News coverage and public opinion is starting to shift. We will continue to mobilize and show up … until the day that we can confidently tell our grandchildren that we did something about the humanitarian crises and atrocities that we see livestreamed on our phones.
We are not asking for people to be hopeless. We chalk our futures onto the pavement because we are creating the spaces that we want to be in: powerful spaces that foster deep listening, learning, and the protection of human rights for everyone. As you enter the school for a new year, along with whatever emotions - joy, excitement, nervousness - please keep some tenderness for those around you, whether that’s one metre or thousands of kilometers away, and whether that’s people that you like or that you dislike - especially those you dislike. Allow this tenderness to grow and move you towards action.”