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Ontario’s Holodomor Bill on its way

New Ontario Logo From the Toronto Star:

Levac (L–Brant), Klees (PC–Newmarket-Aurora) and DiNovo (NDP–Parkdale-High Park) come from three different parties, so their collaboration was as novel as it was uplifting. Together, they had drafted the province’s first-ever tri-sponsored private members’ bill. And it had just passed third reading to establish the fourth Saturday in November each year as Holodomor Memorial Day.

The memorial day, Levac said, will provide an opportunity to reflect on and to educate the public about crimes against humanity that occurred in Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 under the Stalin regime, when as many as 10 million people perished in a man-made famine and genocide.

In winning passage of the bill, there was, Levac said, a compelling human imperative at play – an obligation to "speak of the unspeakable."

There was no better bill than this to have produced such historic collaboration, DiNovo has said.

"A very ugly silence has been broken," she said. Voices have been raised around the world now in Ontario to say "This happened."

All the bill needs now is the Royal Assent to make it a law. You can view the bill here.

How was your Palm Sunday?

 

"Palm Sunday In Ternopil”

From Wikipedia:

Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast which always falls on the Sunday before Easter Sunday. The feast commemorates an event mentioned by all four Canonical Gospels Mark 11:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Luke 19:28-44, and John 12:12-19: the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem in the days before his Passion.

…

In the …Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Ukrainian Catholic Church, and Ruthenian Catholic Church, the custom developed of using pussy willow instead of palm fronds because the latter are not readily available that far north. There is no canonical requirement as to what kind of branches must be used, so some Orthodox believers use olive branches. Whatever the kind, these branches are blessed and distributed together with candles either during the All-Night Vigil on the Eve of the Feast (Saturday night), or before the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning. The Great Entrance of the Divine Liturgy commemorates the "Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem", and so the meaningfulness of this moment is punctuated on Palm Sunday as everyone stands holding their branches and lit candles. The faithful take these branches and candles home with them after the service, and keep them in their icon corner as an evloghia (blesing).

It is custom for people to ‘tap’ each other with their pussy willows and say:

Лоза б’Ñ”,
Я не б’ÑŽ,
від нині за тиждень,
буде Великдень

The willow is hitting,
I’m not hitting,
one week from today,
it will be Easter

(Thanks Brama)

It’s all about the Pysanka

While traditionally Ukrainians celebrate Easter next week according to the Julian calendar, some in North America are celebrating it today – xриcтoc вocкpec!

The most notable art piece highlighted during Easter time is the Ukrainian Easter Egg called the ‘pysanka’ , and here’s how they’re made:

If you’re interested in making them, LearnPysanky is a great site. Too much work?  Don’t worry you can always buy a decorated wrap for your egg 😉

People are still making pysanky the traditional way, or using more modern techniques. You can also view some of Edmonton’s best pysanky in 3D.

Here are some news outlets that have covered the pysanka:

Ukrainian Congress Committee secretary gunned down in Binghamton massacre (Updated)

From the Toronto Star:

BINGHAMTON, N.Y.–A gunman barricaded the back door of a community centre with his car and then opened fire on a room full of immigrants taking a citizenship class yesterday, killing 13 people before apparently committing suicide.

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The attack came just after 10 a.m. at the American Civic Association, an organization that helps immigrants settle in the United States.

Police Chief Joseph Zikuski said the gunman parked his car against the back door, "making sure nobody could escape," then stormed through the front, shooting two receptionists, apparently without a word.

The suspect, believed to be Vietnamese immigrant Jiverly Voong, 42, then entered a room just off the reception area and fired on a citizenship class.

Part-time caseworker Maria Zobniw was supposed to have the day off, but the call came from the immigrant assistance center that extra help was needed, and off she went:

Continue reading Ukrainian Congress Committee secretary gunned down in Binghamton massacre (Updated)

Ukrainian news round-up – April 2, 2009

Top news stories about Ukrainians, Ukraine and beyond!

Politics

  • Ukraine’s parliament has called presidential elections for October 25, 2009, but the president said he would challenge that date to mid-January giving him a full five-year term. The uncertainty stems from the fact that Mr Yushchenko was elected in January 2005, three months after mass protests at the fraudulent victory of a pro-Moscow candidate, Viktor Yanukovych, in the original October vote. The race is likely to be heated amid an economic meltdown, one of the worst in Europe, exacerbated by constant political turmoil. Both Tymoshenko and Yanukovych, whose parties voted to approve the election date, are eager to hold the vote sooner that Yushchenko wants it. The economic crisis has been quickly eroding Tymoshenko’s popularity and Yanukovych is eager to capitalize on the public’s discontent with the authorities.
  • Party of Regions members blocked parliament’s doors with chairs and swarmed the podium, stalling a vote on crisis measures necessary for a crucial International Monetary Fund loan. The main opposition Party of Regions prevented the parliament session from starting because it says the government does not have a comprehensive anti-crisis program. Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko says it does and accuses the opposition of seeking to sabotage her work like "Somali pirates."

Continue reading Ukrainian news round-up – April 2, 2009