We Deserve Life: Honoring Our Martyrs
Palestinian Youth Movement
November 12-18, 2023
This week the Palestinian Youth Movement in Toronto is collaborating with the Whippersnapper Gallery (594 Dundas Street West) to showcase a powerful installation to honour over 11,200 Palestinians massacred by Israel and call for an immediate ceasefire. “We Deserve Life: Honouring our Martyrs” which features three [ ] foot long scrolls of over 7,000 names will be available to the public between November 12 - 18 from 12 - 6pm, and can be viewed by passersby on Dundas Street West. On November 12, from 5-7 pm, the gallery will be open for indoor public viewing.
Since October 7, Israeli aggression on Gaza has escalated into a mass genocide of Palestinians, with over 11,200 Palestinians massacred by Israel; 27,000 injured; 1,500 under the rubble and over 2,000 missing. As the number of Palestinians murdered rises, the Canadian government refuses to call for a ceasefire: despite over 71% of Canadians endorsing an immediate ceasefire.
“This installation is a means to reflect on the immense human loss of this genocide - one which the Canadian government is funding and enabling. It is a call on all Canadians to take action as each day without a ceasefire is a day that hundreds of Palestinian lives are taken.”
- Rawan Nabil, PYM
The installation - which displays the names of over 7,000 Palestinians killed, and has pictures and stories of over 50 Palestinian martyrs - aims to bring attention to Israel’s genocide, and honor the lives taken. It affirms that Palestinian martyrs are not just numbers: each martyr is a person who lived a full life and was loved by many. It aims to counter the consistent dehumanization of Palestinians at the hands of Canadian politicians and mainstream media. All the Palestinians who have been murdered by Israel had families, aspirations and had no crime other than being born Palestinian in Gaza.
“Martyr is an Arabic word used to refer to those who are killed for a cause or principle: in the case of Palestine, for the cause of Palestinian freedom and liberation. We use this word in defiance of ongoing attempts in Canada to demonize its use and dehumanize the Palestinians murdered by Israel.”
- Rawan Nabil, PYM
Press Inquiries: Rawan Nabil - +1 416 839 6383
