Sara Alsherif (@sarahalsherif.bsky.social)

'Bureaucratic genocide': Palestinian Canadians urge Ottawa to evacuate their families from Gaza <article data-history-node-id="429016" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/bureaucratic-genocide-palestinian-canadians-urge-ottawa-evacuate-their" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/bureaucratic-genocide-palestinian-canadians-urge-ottawa-evacuate-their" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">'Bureaucratic genocide': Palestinian Canadians urge Ottawa to evacuate their families from Gaza</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Omar has paid a whopping $120,000 out of his pocket to facilitate the evacuation of some of his family members from Gaza into Egypt.</p> <p>He described much of the payment as a "bribe" to an Egyptian travel company - a scandal that Middle East Eye <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt-firm-palestinians-fleeing-war-gaza" target="_blank">investigated</a> last year.</p> <p>Such a story is not at all unique for Palestinians in the diaspora desperately waiting to be reunited with their loved ones, or at the very least see them to safety in a third country. </p> <p>Omar, the founder of the online community <a href="https://www.instagram.com/gazancanadians/" target="_blank">Gazan Canadians</a>, who asked that his last name be withheld, has so far managed to bring one of his seven sisters to Canada, along with her husband and children. But another, who is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, remains in Egypt along with his mother.</p> <p>His father and brother are still in the enclave, surviving in a tent. </p> <h3>Read more: <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bureaucratic-genocide-palestinian-canadians-urge-ottawa-evacuate-their-families-gaza">Palestinian Canadians urge Ottawa to evacuate their families from Gaza</a></h3> <figure role="group" class="media-block"> <div class="group-inner"> <div alt="Omar, a Palestinian Canadian from Gaza, speaks to reporters alongside fellow citizens also waiting to evacuate their loved ones, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on 22 September 2025 (screengrab/CPAC)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d931a23e-92e2-413d-b284-f518b6d51712" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"> <img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/images-story/Screenshot%202025-09-22%20at%202.16.39%E2%80%AFPM.png" width="2080" height="1326" alt="Omar, a Palestinian Canadian from Gaza, speaks to reporters alongside fellow citizens also waiting to evacuate their loved ones, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on 22 September 2025 (screengrab/CPAC)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"> </div> <figcaption>Omar, a Palestinian Canadian from Gaza, speaks to reporters alongside fellow citizens also waiting to evacuate their loved ones, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on 22 September 2025 (screengrab/CPAC)</figcaption> </div> </figure> <p><span style="background: url("https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png") rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"><img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"></span></p> </div> </div> </article> https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/bureaucratic-genocide-palestinian-canadians-urge-ottawa-evacuate-their