We are at about 68 signs across Gabriola now, from that first email back on April 14th.
Jen recommended I watch a talk Norman Finkelstein gave at UMass back in September 2025, his first university appearance since October 7th 2023. He spent most of it laying out what has been done to the people of Gaza, the siege, the famine, half the population children, the 28,000 children he says are now dead. But it was the way he ended that stayed with me, and it's why I'm writing to you this morning.
He talked about the young people in the 1960s who went into little towns in the American South to register Black voters. The mayor was Klan. The chief of police was Klan. The judge was Klan. And these young people, no older than the students sitting in front of him, went from door to door, knocking, asking people to sign up and to come down and vote. Some of them did not come back. He said it took stupendous, inspiring courage, and that it was their future they were fighting for. Now, he told the students, it is yours.
Door to door. Knocking. Asking. That is the whole campaign, right here on Gabriola. I knock, I ask, I bring a sign. It is the oldest form of organizing there is and it still works, one conversation at a time.
Finkelstein said the most minimal moral commandment is to not be inclusive of child killers, that to look away and carry on as normal is to desecrate the memory of those children. A STOP GENOCIDE sign on your lawn is the opposite of looking away. It speaks. It says someone on this road sees Gaza and is not staying silent.
I will admit something. My father tells me I am waving at windmills. Some days I wonder. Four people turned me down in a row at the door last week, so I came home and thought hard about what I was doing wrong, and I changed my pitch. Then I think of those kids in Mississippi knocking on doors with far more to lose than I will ever risk, and I get back to it.
The next milestone is 100 signs. When we hit 100, that is a real story, the kind the Sounder or Nanaimo News Bulletin might run, and that is how this reaches people who have never heard of us. If any of you would be willing to write to the Sounder, now is the time. A letter from a resident lands differently than anything I could send them myself.
So here is my ask, the same one Finkelstein left those students with, scaled down to our small island. If you have a sign, think of one person, a neighbour, a friend, anyone on Gabriola you believe might say yes, and ask them yourself. Not a forward, not a post. A knock on a door. That is how we get from 68 to 100, and beyond.
If you don't have a sign yet and want one, reply to this email with your address. I'll bring it to your door. Free if you need it to be. I deliver anywhere on Gabriola.
It turns out Finkelstein is coming here. He speaks at the Anvil Theatre in New Westminster on Sunday July 12th at 4pm, alongside Dr. Farhan Chak, with a Q&A. Tickets run $65 to $125 and the evening doubles as a fundraiser for humanitarian relief.
Jen suggested getting a group together to go over and hear him. It is a fair trek off island, the better part of one or two days, but it would be something to do it together. If that interests you, reply and let me know, and I will follow up with anyone who wants in. Tickets here, and they may go fast: ticketsnw.ticketpro.ca
If you would like to watch the talk that got me thinking, it is here, worth the two hours if you have them: youtube.com/watch?v=zFoHXuhq9mU
As of today we have approximately 68 signs up across Gabriola, from the first email on April 14th. The campaign is growing and I want to ask three things of you.
This email is just to those who have a sign up on their property or thinking about it.
Before I get to the requests, someone wrote on X that "The world is now divided between those who oppose the deliberate massacre of children and those who support it." You are on the right side and in the right place. Now we need to make others aware of what we are trying to say.
I have been hampered the last couple of weeks by a medical issue and some logistical setbacks, so I have not been getting out much. Which is why I need your help.
1. Reply and let me know if you are comfortable having your email address visible to others in this group, the same way mine is. If you prefer to remain blind copied, that is completely fine, no explanation needed. If you have already written to me about this, no need to write again, I have your preference noted. This would let all of us communicate ideas and thoughts directly with each other.
2. I sent an email called "Email landing test" from my MailerLite account to this same list. Can you tell me where it landed, primary inbox, promotions or spam? If it didn't land in your primary inbox please move it there and tell your email software to always do so. It helps enormously.
3. I can't get to 250 signs alone. Think of one person, a neighbour, a friend, anyone on Gabriola you think might say yes, and ask them directly. Not a forward, not a post. A personal ask. That's how this grows.
My father tells me I am waving at windmills. I don't believe that. You were brave enough to put a sign on your property and publicly state your point of view. Now I'm asking you to tell one person. When we get to 100 signs that might be a Sounder story. If anyone wants to write to them before then, please do so.
I watched an interview with a man in Gaza and the host asked him: what can we in the west do? Speak, speak up for us, don't let us suffer and die in silence, the man said.
That's what this sign does. It speaks. No explanation necessary. It says you are not looking away.
One sign on your property is all it takes.
Being silent is becoming less of an option.
If you want a sign, reply with your address. I'll bring it to your door. Free if you need it to be.
We reached 50 signs yesterday. I want to thank everyone for putting up a sign, for standing up, for speaking out and making this a real community effort.
In the last couple of weeks we have added Nigel and Alison, Jennifer and Stuart, Jewel and Margo, Katherine, Bill and Diane, George, Jerry, Tim, Tamara, Andy, Claudia, Jason, Cathy, Diane, Steve, Daryl, Michelle and daughters, Jen, Wayne, Sharon, Dodge and Lina, Penelope, Rob and Sam. Did I miss anyone?
Welcome to the Gabriola STOP GENOCIDE community campaign effort!
Our first family portrait showing support for the campaign. Steve, Daryl, Michelle and daughters. There are now 7 signs in a row on Wild Cherry Terrace with one pending. Everyone else's picture is on the website in the "Gabriola Community" section along with the map at gabriolastandsup.ca
Eight signs have been stolen so far and one was recovered that was tossed into the bushes. All 4 on North Road and 2 on Bertha were taken the night of May 12th. Two on North Road were replaced. The effort to cover Gabriola with STOP GENOCIDE signs has met with some resistance, I'm learning as I go what works, what doesn't, and how to respond to people's hesitancy.
Someone told me a STOP GENOCIDE sign is a political statement, not a moral one. I've been thinking about that. Genocide is a political failure, but asking people to stop killing innocent children isn't left or right. It's just human. The sign isn't asking anyone to endorse a party or a candidate. It's asking for the killing to stop.
Some people say they don't put up signs and aren't about to start now. Fair enough.
Some people support the cause but don't want their views publicly known. I understand that too. On a small island where everyone knows everyone, visible dissent has a social cost. You might upset a neighbour, a landlord, a colleague. You might get your sign stolen. The reasons people say no are real.
But that's exactly why the people who say yes matter so much. Every sign that goes up makes it a little easier for the next person to say yes. A neighbourhood with six signs on one road is a different conversation than one with none. You're not just putting up a sign, you're giving your neighbours permission to do the same.
Since the last email, signs have gone up on Barrett Road, Daggoo Place, Mander Drive, Blueback Drive, Queequeg Turnabout, Wild Cherry Terrace, Islands View Drive, and more. The campaign is no longer just North and South Road, it's spreading across Gabriola.
Please forward this email and website to anyone who might be interested and especially if they might be willing to put up a lawn sign.
A lawn sign on your property is a visible, public statement that you are not looking away. One sign on your property is all it takes.
Clifford Guest owns 5 acres on the corner of North Road and Bertha. He has consented to putting up 6 signs: 4 on North Road and 2 on Bertha. Thank you, Clifford!
Look at where we are now. Imagine those pins covering Gabriola. Imagine a sea of signs. That's at least a news story, maybe more. Optimism is not naive.
The new signs with the new design have arrived. If you'd like one, reply to this email or fill in the form on the website.
The last STOP GENOCIDE email was reported as spam by a very sleep-deprived computer tech guy. That shut down my Brevo account and I had to switch providers. If you'd rather not receive these updates, please use the unsubscribe link below. It's much simpler. Thank you.
Motivated and inspired by the Pope's Easter Sunday address on April 5th, 2026, when he stood before the world and asked its leaders to lay down their weapons and stop the killing. Here is an update on the Gabriola Island community effort to STOP GENOCIDE. The goal was 50 signs when we started on April 14th. We have over 20 now and will easily find another 30 people to stand up on Gabriola, so I have ordered 200 polybag signs. These only cost $5 each including shipping so I can easily give them away, cost is no longer a barrier.
This is a long term community effort. The goal is all of Canada standing up, one community at a time, in waves. But it all starts here, on Gabriola, with us. We can lead the way, not only for Canada but for the world. One person with a lawn sign is an opinion. A neighbourhood like we have now on South Road is a conversation starter. Flags, I've started calling them flags, planted across most of Gabriola are more than a news story. It's a community conscience. The more flags, the more conversations. The more conversations, the closer we come together.
Made the first video a few days ago, please watch, like and share:
YouTube: youtube.com/shorts/6feP342a7mw
TikTok: tiktok.com/@respectlistenlove
I want to apologize to Brian for my last email where I misrepresented him as "Ryan." Brian is a star for being the first flag on Taylor Road.
Shri and her son Alexander are first on Malaspina Drive.
Russel deserves special recognition for putting up the most visible flag, on North Road right next to the Taylor Bay Road intersection. Hopefully soon on Taylor Bay Road itself. THANK YOU RUSSEL.
The website has a new "Why Gabriola?" section, inspired by Russel's input. All suggestions, ideas, artwork, and anything that will help the cause are welcome.
Tamara wrote last week after seeing the sign that she would love to "support the cause." We could be at the start of inspiring a generation of young people to stop the killing that the world has allowed to continue. That's why those flags need to keep going up and those conversations need to start happening.
Something is happening on South Road.
There are now six Stop Genocide signs in a cluster on South Road alone. Yesterday Ryan became the first on Taylor Road.
These are your neighbours. Connie and Paul. Ryan. Stevie B. Taylor. Brian. Ellen. Devon. Paula. Regular Gabriolans who decided to say something. My dad put up the first sign last summer. I followed. Mine was stolen twice. I put it back up both times.
The Pope stood before the world on Easter Sunday and asked its leaders to lay down their weapons and stop the killing. I'm asking my neighbours to do the same, just put up a sign.
If you want one, reply to this email with your address. I'll bring it to your door. Free if you need it to be. I deliver anywhere on Gabriola.
If this landed in Promotions or Spam, please move it to Primary, thank you!