Name: ‘Razing Palestine’: Vancouver Launch
Start: 2025-11-20T18:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-11-20T19:30:00-05:00
Location: Upstart & Crow Studio

Description

Join us on Thursday, November 20 at 6pm as we commemorate two years of escalating violence in Gaza, and the histories of resilience through ongoing genocide.

While many institutions have chosen silence, countless people around the world — including here in Canada — have refused to look away. Those who spoke about the carnage were punished by censure, sanction, smearing and worse. Across the country, journalists were muzzled, academics were stifled, doctors were fired, activists were arrested, and artists were banned.

Razing Palestine: Punishing Solidarity and Dissent in Canada, edited by Leila Marshy, gathers testimonies from these journalists, healthcare workers, academics, artists, and activists who have suffered the cost of solidarity. Their stories affirm the importance of collective resistance against colonial violence and how we might ensure that the call for a free Palestine continues to be heard.

This event is free, but please RSVP here to reserve your spot.

About Upstart & Crow: Upstart & Crow is a not-for-profit creative studio and literary incubator that champions writers, readers and stories, and the role they play in shaping our lives. We develop original programs, support artists and revel in creative projects focused on Literature In Translation / Climate Solutions / Poetry / Civic Dialogue / Community & Skills Building … all with the aim of elevating the role of literature and storytelling in our lives. Find us on Granville Island, Gibsons and online at upstartandcrow.com.

Accessibility: The main studio of our shop is accessible for folks with mobility aids. There is a washroom on the main floor available for attendees.

Questions: hello[at]upstartandcrow.com.

Razing Palestine: Punishing Solidarity and Dissent in Canada

“This anthology is subversive in the most positive sense of the world. It seeks to provide an unequivocal and evidence-based response to the enforced silence around what millions of people the world over recognize as the most urgent moral issue of our time: the unspeakable suffering imposed on the people of Gaza.” — Gabor Maté

View Book

Leila Marshy

Leila Marshy is the author of The Philistine (LLP, 2018) and My Thievery of the People (Baraka Books, 2025), and edited the forthcoming anthology Razing Palestine: Punishing Solidarity and Dissent in Canada (Baraka Books, 2025). Daughter of a Palestinian refugee, Marshy lived in Cairo during the First Intifada and worked for the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Mental Health Association. She has been a community and political organizer, including founding a dialogue group with the Hasidic community in her local neighbourhood, helping elect the first Hasidic woman to public office in the world. Marshy is Editor at Baraka Books and lives in Montreal.

Sean Tucker

Sean Tucker is a professor (part-time) in the faculty of business administration at the University of Regina and a sessional lecturer at the UBC School of Population and Public Health. His primary areas of teaching and research are 1) worker health and safety and 2) leadership. He is a member of Faculty 4 Palestine at UBC and the University of Regina.

Libby Davies

Libby Davies has been a social activist for 45-plus years and began as a community organizer in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in 1972. She was elected to Vancouver City Council for five consecutive terms, 1982-93. As the Member of Parliament for Vancouver East for six consecutive terms, 1997-2015, she became the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) House Leader, (2003-11) and Deputy Leader of the party (2007-15). Libby has been an outspoken advocate for human rights, housing, peace, and social justice throughout her political life. She is currently the co-host of the “Off The Hill” live political panel with rabble.ca. Davies was named to the Order of Canada in 2016, and received the City of Vancouver Civic Merit Award in November 2018. Libby was appointed to the board of governors of Vancouver Community College in 2018. She is also a board member of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME).