Panel on Palestine Organizing

Join us on March 27th for a panel on local Palestine organizing. As the Zionist entity continues to bomb Gaza and launch violent incursions into the West Bank, and with the United Nations Security Council approving a plan for US occupation of the Gaza strip, it is more important than ever that we build unity and collective power to struggle against complicity here in the imperial core.

In this discussion with local organizers, we will reflect on coalition building, how the movement has changed in the past few years, and how Palestinian liberation is tied to other movements, ultimately moving towards a clearer, more realistic idea of what genuine “re-building” could look like.

This discussion will be moderated by Stefan Christoff.

Stefan Christoff is a media maker, community activist and artist living in Montréal. Stefan hosts the radio program Free City Radio, broadcasting weekly on nine community stations in Canada and shared globally as a podcast (Spotify + Apple Podcasts). Stefan makes music with many people globally, including Anarchist Mountains, Aidan Baker, Adriana Camancho, Aidan Girt, Lori Goldston, Nicolás Jaar, Sessa and Nour Sokhon. Stefan is on the board of the Immigrant Workers Centre in the Côte-des-Neiges district of Montreal, contributes organizationally to Cinema Politica, is a regular contributor to Radio AlHara in Palestine and coordinates support for the Sounds of Places residency at The Wonder Cabinet in Palestine. Stefan is also a street artist and works with the Social Justice Centre and is currently a graduate student in history at Concordia University in Montreal.

Panelists:

Figs (she/her) is a Palestinian-Lebanese community organizer, activist who’s an involuntary settler in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal.
Since the early 2000s, she’s been involved in different forms of BIPOC solidarity, most of it for Palestine.
To her, every action is a step closer to living in a free Palestine.
When it’s time, she wants to be buried under an olive tree there.

Manuel Tapial is a Spanish-Canadian activist, coordinator, and social movements researcher based in Montreal.
With over two decades of experience in grassroots organizing and international solidarity work, he has coordinated transnational advocacy initiatives focused on refugee rights, humanitarian access, and international justice — including the Spanish campaign Rumbo a Gaza and, more recently, the Canadian delegation to the 2025 Global March to Gaza.
In Canada, he works with community-based organizations such as Palestine Vivra, contributing to public advocacy, political education, and movement-building efforts that connect local struggles — from housing justice to migrant rights — with broader international campaigns.
His research and organizing focus on the dynamics of popular movements, sovereignty, and civil resistance in contexts of displacement and conflict.

Samar Alkhdour originally hailed from Gaza, Palestine. In 2016, she earned the Fulbright scholarship to study International Development at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, USA, focusing her studies on Women, Gender and Sexuality. She worked in Gaza as interpreter/translator for eight years in the field of human rights. Samar tirelessly worked to bring her 13-year-old daughter Jana to Canada. Tragically, just two weeks before the Canadian government informed her that Jana was finally eligible to enter the country in January 2024, Jana was murdered by the IOF. Devastated by her loss, Samar channeled her grief into activism, organizing a daily sit-in outside the office of Marc Miller, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. Her actions sparked broader protests against Canada’s complicity in the occupation of Palestine, expanding to target other political figures, businesses and academic institutions that support or benefit from the oppression of the Palestinian people. Samar was subjected to unlawful arrests, detention, and police brutality in the past year just for being a voice for justice, not only honoring the memory of Jana but also shining a spotlight on the complicity of those perpetuating the suffering of her people and other peoples.

Tara Al-Alami is a Palestinian writer and organiser from occupied Jerusalem and occupied Yafa. She is a member of the Palestinian Feminist Collective (PFC).

Amy Darwish is a Tiohtià:ke/Montreal-based community organizer, involved in housing, migrant justice and Palestine solidarity struggles. Over the past decade, she has been a member of Tadamon, the Israeli Apartheid Week organizing committee and more recently, Papineau for Palestine.

Location

SSMU Ballroom
3480 rue McTavish, room 301
6-8:30pm
Doors at 5:30pm, panel begins at 6pm. We will have a short break at 7pm.

Accessibility:

The SSMU Building is wheelchair accessible. There are gender-neutral bathrooms on the second and fourth floor.