I will celebrate “Canada Day” when the natives do

dawn — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:17:05 +0000

July 1, 2009

This statement is in response to all the speculations and assumptions made about me in the media regarding a position that I took in a personal message on facebook. My facebook status did read “F*** Canada Day”, and it was followed by a few other comments in response to some of the questions that people posted. Some consider that taking this position is disgraceful and shameful but I tend to disagree.

First of all, my statement clearly did not reflect CAF’s position; it was
my own personal opinion.

Secondly, I said “F*** Canada Day” and I regret the dark history that this country has. On our silent government's behalf, I apologize to the
indigenous people for this, and sincerely wish it had not happened to you.

I apologize to the indigenous people of Canada because their feelings are not taken into consideration at “Canada Day” celebrations. I apologize to them because they had to be slaughtered, killed, massacred, diseased and dispossessed to establish Canada. And I apologize to the indigenous people because they continue to live in reserves under miserable and dire conditions that no so-called “Canadian” would accept to live under.

I also apologize for being a citizen of a country that followed George
Bush’s orders and went to Afghanistan. I apologize for being a citizen of
a country that imposed sanctions on the Palestinian people because they followed Canada’s own advice and elected a new government democratically.

I apologize because it was Canada’s own Lester Pearson that masterminded the notorious Partition Plan of Palestine, and it was Canada’s own Paul Martin who compared Canada’s values with Israel’s values, and it was Canada’s own Michael Ignatieff who legitimized Israel’s onslaught on Gaza in Dec 08/Jan 09.

I did not resign from CAF because “it was felt that [I] had to correct
that” and that “[I] decided that the best thing for [me] to do was to
resign"

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Omar Shaban

I will celebrate “Canada Day” when the natives do