We invite you to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the tragedy of the Rabaa Massacre, by joining us on a special screening of the documentary, “Canadians of Rabaa”. This feature documentary is a culmination of years of hard work, and sacrifice.

The event will be a 1-hour screening, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with the director.

The event is free, but seats are limited.

Book your seats now!

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The Film:

“Canadians of Rabaa” follows filmmaker Mohamed Dawood as he embarks on a journey to find solace in storytelling, listening to witnesses who like him were traumatized by a military-led massacre in Egypt’s Rabaa square, in the summer of 2013.

On July 3, 2013, two and a half years after the Jan 25th revolution, the military, led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, staged a coup, removing the first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, after only one year in office. . The constitution was suspended and the parliament was dissolved, followed by a series of arrests of high-level members of the ruling party and of several high profile political figures sympathetic to the deposed president. A subsequent clampdown on the media resulted in the closure of news channels and television stations that questioned the state narrative or criticized the military’s actions.

Since the day of the military coup on July 3rd, protesters had steadily flocked to the Rabaa and Al-Nahda squares in Cairo, eventually setting up camp and creating a makeshift campsite, vowing not to leave until Morsi was reinstated.

On Wednesday, August 14 2013, the Egyptian police, backed by military support, violently attacked and dispersed the protest camps at Rabaa and Nahda squares, ending the six-week sit-in. By some estimates, nearly a hundred thousand Egyptians were at the camps protesting the military overthrow of Morsi. The Rabaa Massacre, as it was later called, became known for its cruelty and aggression, leaving over 1,000 civilian protestors dead, making it the worst massacre in Egypt’s modern history. Many Canadians were visiting family and friends in Egypt that summer and witnessed the massacre firsthand.