Blogger accused the Canadian Ministry of Immigration of committing “cultural and ethnic genocide,” deliberately uprooting citizens of Palestinian origin.

Canadian activist “Blair” said that her grandmother, who was born about 90 years ago in the village of Al-Bassa, which was depopulated from the occupied Palestinian lands on which Israeli cities were built, found that when she tried to renew her passport, it was not allowed to write the country of birth or mother country as “Palestine” as it was before.

Some considered this “a Canadian collusion with the global Zionist regime to uproot the historical roots of Palestine and impose Israel’s narrative, that there was no state on the occupied land but merely a mandate, and that they took control of its properties.”

Activist and doctor Yi Bingji commented, “This is cultural genocide, as the Canadian government canceled their birth in the State of Palestine as an option in the passport renewal process. People are expected to accept being born stateless, this is racism against Palestinians.”

Former UN population rapporteur Lilani Farha condemned this measure, saying, “Depriving people born in Palestine of the right to put their place of birth on the Canadian passport is anti-Palestinian racism and this erasure must be corrected now.”

Activist Mai Badawi denounced Canada’s approach as contrary to humanitarian and democratic values, writing on X, “Whenever I think Canada can’t sink lower than this, they are still able to surprise me by sinking to an even lower level.”

Canada responded by saying that citizens born before May 14, 1948, can list Palestine as their place of birth on their passports.

Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Mark Miller wrote on his official account yesterday, Tuesday, “I would like to correct recent claims circulating on social media regarding choosing Palestine as the country of birth on the Canadian passport. There have been no recent changes to the list of countries available in the Canadian passport application form.”

He added, “If the applicant was born before May 14, 1948, and requests Palestine as their country of birth, they can do so by going to the list in the application and clicking on ‘Other field’ followed by entering ‘Palestine,’ which can also be done manually, as always.” However, activists demonstrated the removal of Palestine from the list by reviewing screenshots of the steps confirming the opposite of what the minister claimed.