#yegheritagefest

[sacredsocialjustice]

On Sunday, I had to flee Hawrelak Park right after the Palestine pavilion's exciting Dabke dance performance, because of a sudden downpour. I returned on Monday to witness another performance (and if you look closely, there's @rachelnotleyab dancing in the first photo), and had a chance to go inside the cultural tent. -- #yeg #HeritageFestival #yegheritagefest #Palestine #yegfestivals #yegevents #yegphotographer https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgw4AP8LgPd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sacredsocialjustice]

Ventured back to the Edmonton Heritage Festival and spent some time taking more pictures and videos of my new friends at the Oromo pavilion. I have been asked about who the Oromo people are. The short answer is that they are a nation from the Oromia region of Ethiopia and have faced human rights abuses at the hands of the Ethiopian government. The Oromo have their own language, religion, and system of social stratification. And extremely delicious food - I enjoyed my vegetarian platter with budenaa bread (similar to injera)! -- #yeg #HeritageFestival #Oromo #Oromia #yegheritagefest #yegfestivals #yegevents #yegphotographer https://www.instagram.com/p/CgvFYVNvvnn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sacredsocialjustice]

It's no secret that I have gotten more involved with my Jewish heritage in recent years, particularly since my mother's passing in 2019. I've been navigating several different congregations as a mostly secular, political leftist. I decided to visit the Israel pavilion at the Heritage Festival this past weekend to visit with friends and just check out what was happening. I enjoyed the folk dancing, food, and display about Jewish weddings. That said, there was one unfortunate moment I would like to share about. Shortly after I entered the cultural tent, one of the volunteers looked me up and down, and said he noticed I was wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt, and asked me if I knew that @rogerwaters was a major anti-Semite. I gave the person a bemused look and kept walking - and later told someone involved in organizing the pavilion what happened (who agreed with me that the comment was completely inappropriate). The Heritage Festival is supposed to be a non-political event, and pointing out the political leanings of someone who is part of a band on someone's t-shirt isn't going to win anyone to any cause. I am sure the volunteer also noticed that I was wearing a couple of necklaces with Stars of David on them. This leads me to state the reminder that the Jewish community is not a monolith, and no person or organization can claim to speak for all of us. Finally, this person's comment perpetuates the falsehood that criticism - even very vocal criticism - of the policies of the Israeli government is equal to anti-Semitism. When we conflate criticism of the nation-state of Israel with anti-Semitism, we detract from what anti-Semitism really is: hatred of the Jewish people. -- #yeg #yegheritagefest #yegfestivals #yegevents #yegphotographer #Israel #RogerWaters #PinkFloyd #edmonton #alberta #canada https://www.instagram.com/p/CgxiAt5Pa0x/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[sacredsocialjustice]

I've done some video work with the local Oromo community, so I was excited to see they have their own pavilion at the Heritage Festival for the first time this year. #yeg #heritagefestival #oromo #oromia #yegphotographer #yegfestivals #yegevents #yegheritagefest https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgsf49CvnED/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=