Posted by:
Nightingale
(
)
Date: November 30, 2022 01:24PM
From a CTV News article:
“In her past life Aziza Abu Sirdana has only known war, conflict, fear and isolation.
“If you are born in Gaza you don't know what life is,” she told CTV National News.
“The 22-year-old Palestinian refugee fled to Canada after she learned about her father and grandfather's plans to hunt her down and kill her.
“She arrived in Canada on March 24, 2022 full of hope for a new start in life. Her struggles only continued on Canadian soil [including being at risk from sex traffickers].
“CTV National News first sat down with Abu Sirdana at the beginning of November, after she stabbed herself in the stomach with a knife just below the ribcage while in a meeting with federal government officials with Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). She said she took the dangerous step in a desperate plea to find safe housing.
“[A woman who reached out to help said] she just wanted “to give Aziza a safe place to live, in our Canada, the Canada my daughter lives in. I want Aziza to achieve her dreams.”
“Abu Sirdana is quick to share that she’s Muslim, and the family who’ve welcomed her as one of their own is Jewish. An unthinkable act of kindness amid the conflict back home is now a reality here on this side of the world.
“Abu Sirdana said she previously couldn’t “imagine that there’s a Jewish family, that would say ‘welcome’ (and open their doors to a Muslim from Gaza) but this is Canada. This is life in Canada.
“Here in this country you have all these people from different places all living together. You can walk where you want, speak to who you want, be friends with who you want,” she said.”
https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/palestinian-refugee-s-desperate-plea-for-housing-in-canada-prompts-jewish-family-to-open-their-door-1.6172864We can only hope that everybody has the opportunity to experience the best of what Canada can offer (including those born right here).
It’s a work in progress.
Issues around religious and national identity abound, as we know.
In this regard I think too of ex-Mormons, in particular BICs, because the religion often promotes in its adherents the reflex to reject family members who don't knuckle down and Follow the Prophet in the expected ways. No room for freedom of choice. The path is set. Individuality is undesirable.
Rejecting the religion of one's birth can carry a heavy price, with family estrangement or worse, as we see often in the news. Love is not enough, obviously, at least for all too many people.
Some are fortunate to be able to just walk away. Others, not so much.
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2022 05:34PM by Nightingale.