Anniversary of the Sinjar Massacre

Last week, OFWI’s President Majed El Shafie attended a reception at the Ontario Legislature to commemorate the ISIS-led massacre against Yazidis on Mount Sinjar in Iraq. The event marked the second anniversary of the genocide in Northern Iraq, and featured participants from both the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and the Conservative Party of Canada. OFWI was honoured to have our work recognized by the presenters as an example of how Canadians can help and how necessary that help is.

In a press conference prior to the reception, The Hon. Peter Kent, MP Dean Allison, MP Michelle Rempel, and MPP Gila Martow called on the Canadian government to do more to help save innocent Yazidi lives in the region. The government finally recognized the genocide against the Yazidis, but has still not taken action to save lives and prevent further losses. These elected officials all agreed: much more needs to be done.

Following the press conference members of the Yazidi community gathered in a solemn reception to reflect on the struggle at hand and to discuss next steps as a group. Majed El Shafie led the gathering in a moment of silence for those who lost their lives that day at Sinjar.

As we all reflect on the anniversary of this terrible tragedy, we must remember that we can all do more to help Yazidi refugees. OFWI has encouraged all of our supporters to write their MPs, Ministers, and Prime Minister Trudeau to let them know that you demand action from the Canadian government to save these vulnerable people.

If you can’t write your elected officials, then please consider donating generously to support OFWI’s ongoing efforts to rescue Yazidi refugees from war-torn Iraq and Syria.

We will continue to fight for the most vulnerable minorities in Iraq and Syria while pressuring the Government of Canada to implement our joint OFWI-ORAT proposal to resettle 400 women and girls who escaped ISIS’ slavery to Canada as refugees.

Majed El Shafie's Speech on the 17th Anniversary of the Persecution of Falun Gong

17 years ago, the persecution started for the Falun Gong. 17 years ago, your government showed that it can finish the Falun gong. It can end them, it can kill them, it can persecute them, it can collect their organs and get away with it. And once and for all, history will forget the Falun Gong, will forget the teaching and will forget their beliefs.

That happened 17 years ago. 17 years later, they are wrong. 17 years later, you can’t stop their beliefs, you can’t stop their community. 17 years later, they are not less, they are more. 17 years later they are not just inside of China, they are also outside of China. 17 years later, a government is hiding behind these walls. We are not the ones in prison, you are the ones in prison because we are the ones who are free.

Behind your blinded windows, you can take our pictures, behind your blinded walls you can take our pictures and you can send it to Beijing but I can tell you for a fact we’re not scared.
 
None of us are hiding our faces, none of us hiding behind a tree. We are here and we will be here until the end, because it doesn’t matter how many weapons you have. It doesn’t matter how much army you have. We have our free will, freedom is bulletproof.

You can kill as much of us, you can harvest organs from all of us but our heart will keep beating with the truth. You can kill our bodies but you cannot touch our souls. It’s not only about your government, it’s not only about your Communist regime, it’s about us as Canadians, it’s about Falun Gong.

I will fight for the Falun Gong community; I will fight for the Falun Gong beliefs until the last day of my life because if we stop fighting for each other, we lose our humanity. It’s not only about you, it’s also about our Canadian government. It’s also about the West, it’s also about the American government. We have to know that the almighty power is not more powerful than our values and our belief in human rights. Canada and Canadians have to stand strong and firm against the Chinese government and for human rights. 

It was a shameful moment, the day that I saw my Canadian foreign affair minister standing in a press conference beside the Chinese foreign affair minister, and the Chinese foreign affair minister attacked a Canadian journalist when they asked a question about human rights. And yet the minister is defending him, and doesn't respond back and doesn't protect his own Canadian journalist on Canadian soil. I can tell you, you can silence our government, you can silence our foreign affairs minister, you can take Trudeau to China, you can make a national deal, but you will never silence the people of Canada. 

So in the end, I want to tell you that 17 years from now, this meeting will not be here. 17 years from now, and maybe even earlier, this meeting will happen in Beijing, will happen in your capital, count on it. Thank you.

Majed El Shafie Renews His Call to Bring Rescued Yazidi Sex Slaves to Canada

 

Rev. Majed El Shafie Renews His Call to Bring Rescued Yazidi Sex Slaves to Canada

OFWI’s plan to resettle 400 former Yazidi sex slaves to Canada was presented to the House of Commons Immigration Committee

OTTAWA – Rev. Majed El Shafie presented OFWI’s plan to resettle 400 Yazidi sex slaves and their families to Canada while testifying to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration today. He renewed his call for Canada to act immediately to rescue this vulnerable community.

In testimony to the committee, Rev. El Shafie said:

“If we have the ability to help relocate 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada, then we have the ability to relocate the 400 former Yazidi sex slaves too.”

“Part of the problem is that Canada does not have the policy process in place to help internally displaced people. We can’t leave the most vulnerable minorities behind simply because we want to be politically correct. Germany has successfully resettled 1,100 Yazidi refugees. They are the leaders on this issue. Canada can and must do more to help.”

In June, Canada finally followed the EU, UK, US, and UN’s lead in recognizing that Yazidis have been the victims of genocide at the hands of ISIS. The summer sitting of the Immigration Committee was initiated in response to the clear need for Canada to do more to relocate minority groups and vulnerable populations in need of immediate assistance.

OFWI will continue to pressure the government to live up to Canadian values and to ensure that these vulnerable girls and women are saved. We cannot wait any longer - the time to act is now.

Link to OFWI’s proposal to resettle 400 Yazidi sex slaves and their families to Canada

Link to OFWI’s report submitted to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration

Link to @OFWI’s live tweets of Majed El Shafie’s testimony before the Immigration Committee

Canada Can and Must do More to Help Yazidis and Other Minorities Facing Genocide in Iraq & Syria

Implementing OFWI’s proposal to resettle 400 Yazidi girls and women used as ISIS sex slaves to be at the heart of Rev. El Shafie’s testimony to the Immigration Committee on July 20th. OTTAWA – Rev. Majed El Shafie will present OFWI’s plan for Canada to resettle 400 Yazidi sex slaves and their families while testifying to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration on July 20.

OFWI welcomes the Committee’s study of “Immigration Measures for the Protection of Vulnerable Groups” and hopes this will serve as a catalyst for tangible action to help vulnerable minorities in Iraq and Syria following the government’s reluctance to recognize the ongoing genocide of Yazidis.

As hearings get underway this week, Rev. El Shafie said:

“In June Canada followed the EU, UK, US, and UN’s lead in finally recognizing the genocide Yazidis are facing in Iraq and Syria. Now Canada must demonstrate leadership by implementing OFWI’s proposal to resettle 400 girls and women used as former ISIS sex slaves to as refugees to Canada.”

 “OFWI’s proposal helps the most vulnerable victims in the region who are being systemically targeted by ISIS and unable to escape. I hope our government will give action to Canadian values and resettle these victims saved from ISIS’ slavery and brutality.”

OFWI’s efforts in Iraq & Syria in response to ISIS’ brutality builds on its legacy of advancing the rights of persecuted religious minorities around the world. Over the past two years, OWFI has successfully help rescue over 300 Yazidi sex slaves from ISIS territory.

Appendix:

1. Proposal to resettle 400 Yazidi sex slaves and their families to Canada
2. Report submitted to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration
3. Media release and notice of media availability

Thoughts and prayers are not enough

This article appeared on TheTorontoSun.com

It is time to build a bridge

By Rev. Majed El Shafie, President & Founder, One Free World International

I have not stopped thinking about the 49 innocent victims whose lives were savagely cut short in Sunday morning’s terrorist attack in Orlando. I have not stopped thinking about the dozens of people from the LGBTQ community who are receiving the medical care they need and will hopefully recover from this horrendous attack. I have said prayers for the victims and their families. But thoughts and prayers are not enough.

As a Christian and a Reverend, my heart aches for the families and friends who have lost loved ones. A man motivated by homophobic hatred committed this attack as he professed allegiance to ISIS and its radical Islamist ideology. In carrying out the largest terrorist attack on North American soil since 9/11, we must renew our commitment to battling the radical Islamist ideology that wages war in Iraq and Syria. We must battle the evil that has struck closer to home from Ottawa to Orlando, Paris and Brussels.

The attacker targeted the patrons of Pulse nightclub because they were different. As a former refugee who faced persecution for converting to Christianity and being different, I am too familiar with the barbaric lengths those motivated by hate will take against those they view as different.

During this time of sorrow and suffering, now is the time for people of faith to unite with our LGBTQ brothers and sisters in love. As a Reverend, for years I have witnessed the perception that LGBTQ people cannot be loved by people in religious communities. While there may be disagreements on certain issues, that does not mean we cannot love each other. In response to these tragic events, people of faith need to reach out to the LGBTQ community and let their brothers and sisters know they are loved. In the aftermath of this tragic loss of precious human life, this cannot be swept under the rug. No one deserves to die to because of who they love, the colour of their skin, or what they believe.

We must come together in defence of each other and our shared values. We must come together and build a bridges between people of faiths and our LGBTQ communities. People of faith need to find the courage to reaffirm our ability to love one another and strengthen our sense of community. The victims of the Orlando attack were targeted for the same reason ISIS targets Christians, Yazidis, and other minorities in Iraq and Syria in their aim of carrying out genocide. We are all different in the eyes of the enemy and must confront it together.

We will rely on the strength of our values: the recognition of the dignity of each human life, honesty, respect for human rights, and a determination in ensuring we can all live safely in pursuing our hopes and dreams. We must defend these shared values. And this must start by building new bridges to unite.

Our political and religious leaders need to be forthcoming in condemning this hatred and having the courage to identify its roots. Christians, Jews, Muslims, and people of other faiths need to speak out to condemn this violence and seize an opportunity to end the historical tension the LGBTQ community has felt for too long, and begin to fight for each other. For if we do not fight for each other, we lose our humanity. After you’ve had some thoughts and said your prayers, it is time to pick up the phone.