PROGRAMMING

Rana Abdulla

Rana Abdulla, is an award winning human rights activist (Manitoba 2014), community organizer and leader, known for carrying out many volunteer activities that affected the Palestinian community across Canada. A mother and grandmother, a Chartered Professional Accountant, specializes in taxation. She is married to Rafe, a retired science teacher, key player in reviving and establishing various community organizations including Arab Canadian Palestinian Association in Ottawa and the founder of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba (CPAM), a business developer and owner of Yafa Café in Winnipeg. Rana studied in various institutions: Thompson Rivers University, University of Ottawa, St-Lawrence College and Algonquin College. Rana is a prominent volunteer and wasted no time to set out to make the lives better for Arab immigrants in Canada and was named the "one woman army" by CTV, drawing media attention to her cause. Rana is a firm believer in human equality and human rights, tirelessly advocating for justice for her people to ensure that the Palestinian narrative is depicted accurately in the West. Many refugees to Canada have benefited from her care and support. Rana is a collector of Palestinian heritage dresses and her house in Winnipeg is almost a Folk Art Museum. For the last decade, Rana has engaged and advocated patiently with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to include the story of the Nakba, the catastrophic dispossession of the Palestinians from their land, in its exhibits and be a central focus to Palestinian human rights stories and to be named as such.

Edible Wild Herbs in Palestinian Cooking

Rana will present on the flavours of the Middle East to our group. Palestinian cooking uses a variety of edible wild herbs that grow in that region. She will open our senses to a new world of tastes and aromas.