By Ingy Ashraf,
Canadian bloggers and activists have accused the Canadian Immigration Ministry of committing “cultural and ethnic genocide” and deliberately uprooting citizens of Palestinian descent.
Activist Blair said that her grandmother, who was born about 90 years ago in the driven away Palestinian village of Al-Bassa, Israeli settlements were built on it, found that she was no longer allowed to list Palestine as her country of birth or country of origin when she tried to renew her passport.
Some have described this as “Canadian collusion with the global Zionist system to uproot the historical roots of Palestine and impose the narrative of ‘Israel’,” and that there was no state on the occupied land but only a mandate, and that they have taken control of their property.
In response, Canada said that citizens born before May 14, 1948, can still list Palestine as their place of birth on their passports.
Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller defended the decision, writing on his X account: “I would like to correct recent claims circulating on social media regarding the choice of Palestine as a country of birth on the Canadian passport application form. There have been no recent changes to the list of countries available on the Canadian passport application form.”
He added: “If an applicant was born before May 14, 1948 and requests Palestine as their country of birth, they can do so by going to the existing drop-down menu on the application and clicking on “Other” followed by entering Palestine. This can also be done manually, as has always been the case.”
However, activists refute what the Canadian minister says, showing screenshots of the steps that show the opposite of what the minister said.
