Launch of the Raoul Wallenberg Citation for Moral Courage in the Face of Anti-Semitism

STAND UP & SPEAKING OUT AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM - An Invitation to Hear Hon. David Kilgour and Honour Rev. Majed El Shafie, Inaugural National recipient of the Raoul Wallenberg Citation, March 21, 8:30 PM Sen. David Smith and David Sweet, MP, invite you to the national launch of the Raoul Wallenberg Citation for Moral Courage in the Face of Anti-Semitism, a newly minted medallion which honours an individual or group who speaks out against Anti-Semitism in the world and defends religious freedom.

The first National honouree, Rev. Majed El Shafie, Founder of One Free World International, will receive the citation at an event on Parliament Hill on Monday, March 21st. We hope you will join us to honour the work of One Free World International and its founder and stand against the spread of Anti-Semitism and religious intolerance. Rabbi Reuven Bulka is our MC and classical violinist Ralitsa Tcholakova will perform.

We will gather with Parliamentarians, Diplomats and NGO Leaders in Room 256 S, The Banking and Commerce Room, just off the main Rotunda, Centre Block, Senate of Canada, March 21, 2016, 8:30 PM. Enter through the Senate entrance at the East end of the Centre Block. Key Note Speaker Hon. David Kilgour will give an update on the alarming spread of Anti-Semitism in the world, as well as its consequences for Canada, our Foreign Policy and Human Rights strategies within the global community.

Please plan to arrive a half hour early for the airport-style security check. This all party event is in preparation for our international launch at the United Nations in Manhattan.

Please RSVP by 9:00 PM Sunday March 20 to TheString@Rogers.Com; to be put on the advance RCMP security list.

A free bus will leave the main entrance to the Soloway JCC at 7:00 PM, sharp, for the event. To reserve a seat please call Co-Founder, Vera Gara, at 613 722-6422 or email her at vgara@rogers.com.

We hope you can join us on March 21st which is also, appropriately, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

Wallenberg Citation Initiative Ottawa, Canada

Review: YEZ!DAY a success

Last week you saw on One Free World International's social media accounts that Rev. El Shafie was going to be speaking at benefit concert to help Yazidis in Iraq. You can watch video from the below or read a guest post as Gary Rose recaps the special night:

I was not expecting a small venue benefit concert produced to raise awareness and donations to help the Yazidis to be a night to remember. Yet, what a night it was. Top notch performers, like Rosita Stone, Jason Davis, Rosa Cervantes and Juno and Polaris Prize winning Chris Birkett, sung with passion and soul in an intimate concert at the Free Times Cafe that kept the audience enraptured for four wonderful hours. The finale of this evening was a riveting performance by singer songwriter, Rabbi Chanan Gans.

It was hard not to be moved. With traditional Yazidi music and performers Khaled Abdulah, Andy and Alexandre Baravi, it was a night of music and song that was the perfect mix of ethnic, pop, folk, Spanish, and David Bowie, performed seamlessly as though all the performers came from the same musical family, jamming and playing their hearts out. Kudos to the organizer, Joyce Aldrich, the speakers, performers, and the audience, who came together to support an important cause, and also to the Free Times Café and their staff. What a night!

OFWI Calls for Action to Halt Genocide of Yazidis & Christians in Iraq

OFWI Meets with President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz during Europe Mission

OFWI completes European mission to Brussels, London, and Berlin to give voice to the victims of ongoing Yazidi and Christian genocide in Iraq.

BERLIN – European leaders must do more to halt the ongoing genocide of Yazidis, Christians and other minorities in Iraq and Syria. That was the message OFWI President Rev. Majed El Shafie and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Nadia Murad took to political leaders in Brussels, London and Berlin this week.

Rev. Majed El Shafie, Founder and President of One Free World International, himself a victim of physical torture on account of his religious beliefs, delivered an inspiring speech in the European Parliament after meeting President Martin Schulz, last Tuesday 23^rd February, 2016.

The event was hosted by Member of the European Parliament, Marian Harkin MEP (Ireland) in the scope of the Freedom of Religion or Belief Intergroup and with the support and collaboration of cross-party members; MEP Miltiadis Kyrkos (Greece), Lars Adaktusson (Sweden), and Lazslo Tokes (Hungary).

The European mission follows whistleblower reports revealed by OFWI and reported in the Toronto Star of a massacre committed in Anbar province by Shia militias after the territory was reclaimed under Iraqi sovereignty from ISIS.

Ms. Harkin MEP set the scene and explained how ‘More than 3,400 women, girls and children remain in captivity under ISIS… we have an obligation to do all we can to recognise these crimes, by member states and the UN’. She went on to explain the recent European Parliament resolution recognising an ongoing genocide by ISIS, and indicated that Mr. Adaktusson would follow-up on a resolution by writing a letter to President Tusk, HR/VP Mogherini and President Schulz, to act on the resolution.

To build upon the work being done both at a legislative and grassroots level, Rev. Majed El Shafie proposed 4 solutions:

1.   Humanitarian support (medical, sustenance)
2. Military security to protect minorities (green zones)
3. Maintain security in Europe at the same time as hosting refugees.
4. “We have to understand that we are fighting an ideology, not names… we must commit to educating the next generation.”

On the panel for the event we also heard from victim Nadia Murah Taha, who has given testimony at the UN Security Council and elsewhere. Nadia relives and shares her painful account of sexual slavery under ISIS.

She stated: ‘Yazidi’s were given two choices: convert or die. In Mosul, Daesh told us “we have come to wipe you out”. This happened because of our religious identity.’ She then turned to next steps: “This has gone on for 1.5 years, without effective reaction from the international community… My request to everyone is to terminate Daesh - they are a threat to the entire humanity. The International community is not moving, which breaks our hopes.”

Rev. Majed El Shafie referred to the painful testimony of torture and abuse shared by Yazidi victim Ms. Nadia Murad Taha and many others like Nadia and insisted that “this is isn’t about my story or Nadia’s story - it is about the people left behind, facing this persecution” He concluded by stating that “If we stop fighting for each other we as people have lost our humanity”.

Rev. Majed El Shafie also addressed a panel of MP’s and Lords in London February 24 with the support and patronage of Lord David Alton and the All Party Parliamentary Group Freedom Declared, on the legal basis of Genocide where OFWI was able to present a comprehensive report on the current state of play at a European and Global scale.

OFWI’s European Mission concluded with an event in the German Bundestag at an event hosted by Dr Johann Waderphul, Senior MP and rapporteur of the CDU/CSU for the Middle East region.