Don’t be intimidated by what initially appears to be a very strong movement against you.
DR. MILES HOWE
PROFESSOR OF CRITICAL CRIMINOLOGY AT BROCK UNIVERSITY
PRESSURE TO DIVEST
TAMER ABURAMADAN · LOCAL PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST
SFU as a community really has found its place over a number of decades and to represent that organization worldwide is really easy for us, and we’re really proud to be able to do that
ROBERT MACNEIL · PRESIDENT OF THE SFU PIPE BAND SOCIETY
17 hours after the lockout, CN and CPKC called for Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to enforce binding arbitration, taking away the union’s opportunity to bargain and risking an uneven settlement.
CANADIAN RAILWAY STRIKE
FUZZY MENACES
Greed for money and power only deepens systemic injustice experienced, which is why making support for the genocide financially unsustainable the only real solution to erradicating it.
How a beloved Palestinian restaurant planted its roots in Vancouver
Fine Palestinian cuisine and the people behind it
TAM NGUYEN · STAFF WRITER
On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, I strolled around the vibrant neighbourhood of Hastings-Sunrise while on my way to meet Tamam and Sobhi Al-Zobaidi, co-owners of Tamam: Fine Palestinian Cuisine. Squeezed among tax offices and banks was the restaurant and its big, yet simple yellow sign. The spacious interior was decorated with acrylic artworks painted by Mrs. AlZobaidi and Palestinian flags on the wall.
Mrs. Al-Zobaidi welcomed me with a hot anise teapot. On the stove behind us, a cook prepared a boiling pot for rice, cabbage, and a quintessential Palestinian dish: mujaddarah. It was such a pleasure to sit down with both of them and talk about who they are and how their restaurant gives back to the Palestinian community here in Vancouver.
Formerly a visual artist, Mrs. Al-Zobaidi, whom the restaurant is named after, worked in a kids theater back in Palestine. Regarding her magnificent acrylic artworks on the wall, specifically the triptych artwork consisting of “Noontime in Jerusalem” (2019), “Friday in Jerusalem” (2021), and “Full Moon Over Jerusalem” (2023), the self-taught painter noted that her artistry “started developing a taste” after lots of practice.
With training experience in culinary arts at Vancouver Community College, Mrs. Al-Zobaidi cooks with fresh ingredients in reasonable amounts to avoid wasting resources. “People eat food fresh everyday,” she said, also noting that it’s a way of feeling “like you’re eating at home, too.”
To Mrs. Al-Zobaidi, food brings a great sense of community, as it is a “celebration of gathering people together.” The restaurant has a diverse menu, including dishes like chicken kebab and grape leaves, though they specialize in mujaddarah and freekeh. “These are very Palestinian dishes,” Mr. Al-Zobaidi shared.
The conversation turned to Mr. Al-Zobaidi. He completed his master’s degree in film at NYU back in the ‘90s and has been writing and publishing articles about Palestinian culture in both Arabic and English since then. His experience of working and living in various NYC neighborhoods, from Brooklyn to Greenwich Village, made him feel as though “the whole city was like an art gallery.”
Mr. and Mrs. Al-Zobaidi’s story of founding the restaurant started when they arrived here in Vancouver and “noticed how absent” Palestinian culture was in the Lower Mainland. “No art, no food, no fashion, no literature, nothing,” Mr. Al-Zobaidi shared. This is what drove them to open Tamam. Ever since the restaurant opened, they learned that “food is really powerful, a vehicle that carries and transmits culture.”
For Mr. Al-Zobaidi, food is more powerful than even film and art. Not because of the complex nature, but because “people eat, and they love the food.
“There’s no discussion, no hesitancy, no suspicion,” he said of people trying new cuisines. “They like the food, then they open up to you. They open up to the story of your food, and your food starts to tell the story. This is how food connects.”
Looking around the place, I could see Mrs. Al-Zobaidi decorating the restaurant with cozy lights and wooden furniture to create an atmosphere where it feels like the restaurant is “delivering the culture” to diners, as she puts it. She noted how this medley of cultural goodness is combined “so you can see what is Palestine, what is Palestinian food, what is the cuisine, and what it is coming from.”
In light of the genocide still ongoing in Palestinian occupied territories, Tamam aims to raise $100,000 in aid to send to the
Palestinian community. They have been hosting multiple lunch fundraisers on Sundays, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., where they serve mujaddarah by donation. Up to the present, they have reached $95,000 and are planning to host another fundraising event at the end of September this year.
When the UBC encampment was still up and running, Tamam restaurant joined the Meal Train team where they cooked for the whole encampment every Wednesday. The UBC encampment sent their deepest appreciation to Tamam for the nourishment they provided with care and love.
“It wasn’t just giving food for us,” Mr. Al-Zobaidi shared. “It was a mutual support, because we felt not only were we supporting the students, but we felt supported by the students.”
In this way, Tamam’s “food becomes like a love letter” — one that delivers the true message of community.
The underappreciated visual poetry of Satyajit Ray
YILDIZ SUBUK STAFF WRITER
“What interests me is density, how much can you tell, how telling can you make your images.” — Satyajit Ray
Satyajit Ray was a Bengali filmmaker, composer, and writer from Calcutta (now known as Kolkata, India). During the early 1950s, Ray was an advertiser interested in telling stories that mattered to him. He had no funding for a film, so he managed to borrow a 16mm camera, gather a crew of amateur actors, and began filming in a village near Calcutta, called Boral. The village was rich with nature, from large fields with the occasional train passing in the background, to illustrious forests and serene ponds, all of which evoke an emotionally-dense reaction just through the images. This film would eventually be released as Pather Panchali in 1955, his first feature and the first installment of The Apu Trilogy.
A bildungsroman (which translates to “novel of education/formation” in German) isn’t just a comingof-age story, but often depicts the psychological changes, and the influence of society on character during different transitional periods of their lives. According to film critic Terrence Rafferty, The Apu Trilogy is akin to a bildungsroman. It shows the formative years of a young boy living in a village, near the beginning of an industrial era in India, and his transition into adulthood, which extends to fatherhood.
The trilogy begins with the film Pather Panchali , which tracks Apu’s adolescence. A young boy caught up in various adventures, Apu is filled with a burning childlike curiosity. He is deeply shaped by the women in his life (mother, grandmother, and sister). Through the perspective of this curious boy, the audience is exposed to village life in India, filled with hardships and struggles, but also a community with complex bonds and multidimensional love between family members.
In the second film, Aparajito , Apu is now a teenager, eager to unlock his potential as an academic. His family has moved to the village, and Apu has slowly
realized the world is full of loss, and requires a sense of reconciliation and growing spirituality to keep moving forward. Aparajito continues Apu’s story by showing the same boy grown up and transformed by the trauma he faced in the previous film. With Apur Sansar , the third film, Apu is now a grown man who grapples with career choices, love, and fatherhood. Each film shows Apu at a transformative state in his life. A sense of home and existential meaning shifts during each installment of the trilogy, as we see Apu experience heartbreak and loss, but find ways to push forward.
This trilogy explores the complexity of what seems to be a simple story of a working class man. Ray’s films feel wholly unique, not just due to their locations and images, but the approach as well. Visually poetic, each film is composed of almost an overwhelming amount of beautiful shots, capturing characters in different atmospheres and locations. Ray had no access to studios, or even a proper film crew, so he made do with what he had at his disposal. He asked individuals he came across to act in his film. Instead of relying on artificial lighting, he used natural light to his advantage by shooting in interiors that allowed sunlight to a certain extent, or shooting in different parts of the day in different weather conditions. These strategies resulted in atmospherically rich shots, invoking the beauty of natural landscapes.
Ray’s approach has had such a tremendous effect on numerous filmmakers, from Wes Anderson to Martin Scorcese. Despite his brilliance, his films were not seen by a large Indian audience at the time, due to them being in Bengali (a language not spoken commonly by many Indians at the time).
But, in retrospect, his films have stood against the test of time, as Ray received an honorary academy award in 1992 for his work as a filmmaker. With The Apu Trilogy, we are shown shots that tell a story, a portrayal of everyday life, with no words needed for explanations. They’re made by a filmmaker whose approach proves that a film’s timelessness can be found in more than just a large budget and studio.
PHOTO: TAM NGUYEN/ THE PEAK ILLUSTRATION: ANGELINA TRAN / THE PEAK
ILLUSTRATION: Den Kinanti / The Peak
Hidden Gems
Vancouver’s best spots to get your matcha fix
This unique line of signature drinks sets cowdog coffee apart from any other café in Metro Vancouver. Switch up your usual matcha latte order and try their sweet strawberry matcha latte or fun and fizzy passionfruit matcha tonic. Say “hello” to the always-friendly owners, make some friends in the inevitable order line (it moves quickly), take a seat to admire their beautiful florals, and treat yourself to a cowdog matcha drink. (P.S. they don’t charge extra for oat milk!)
SFU alum debuts Naked City
Don’t let their name fool you because although their coffee is amazing, their matcha drinks are something special. Nestled in Vancouver’s West End, this authentic, family-run Japanese eatery serves up delicious curry rice, omurice, and, of course, matcha drinks galore! The rich quality and subtle sweetness of their matcha drinks makes them one of the best in town. 93 Coffee’s matcha game is truly hard to beat.
Next time you visit Granville Island, make sure to stop by Oidé Coffee a couple blocks away. Their matcha powder, imported directly from Kyoto, Japan, is whisked to perfection, creating a vibrant green latte. Oidé has managed to eliminate any bitterness from the matcha, bringing out its rich, umami taste. It’s no wonder their matcha has been crowned “the best in town” by many. Did I mention the baristas are latte art experts? So snap a pic, take a sip, and enjoy Oidé.
I can no longer gatekeep my favourite, go-to Coquitlam café. Their smooth, lime-green matcha lattes are clearly made with care. Pair this classic drink with a freshly baked scone or a grilled chicken sandwich. Craving the matcha without the latte? Grab a scoop of their creamy green tea gelato. With optimal seating, power outlets a-plenty, and life-size teddy bears, Creekside Coffee Factory is the perfect place for a fall study session paired with some great matcha.
They spoke about their inspiration for their first play
YASMIN HASSAN · STAFF WRITER
What makes the urban landscapes so unique in every city and dwelling around the world and in Vancouver? This is one of many questions that director and producer Pamela Subia prods at in her play, Naked City. The Peak had the pleasure of chatting with Subia about her play, and how it was influenced by her experiences adjusting to a new city.
An SFU alumni who graduated with a degree in engineering, Subia “always wanted to be an artist but didn’t have time.” After finishing school in 2022 and finding a full-time job, Subia was finally able to delve into the wonders of art, as she always wanted. Naked City is Subia’s first play. Having coincidentally contributed to The Peak during her time at SFU, she took interest in the arts by attending events and surrounding herself with people from arts backgrounds, like the MFA program, and joining clubs. “SFU really helped me have the resources to become more than just an engineer,” Subia said. “Kind of like seeing how I could be more than just my degree.”
Coming from Ecuador and arriving in Vancouver at 18 years old, Subia that in Latin America, people are “super close and a little intrusive in each other’s lives.
“There’s a little more distance,” Subia said of Vancouver. “People are more reserved, there’s a little bit more asking before everything.”
Subia’s play explores how the dynamics of cities change effortlessly, as if the people affect the city and the city affects the people. “People idolize cities.” She added, “When you’re in France, people talk about people from Paris. When you’re
in Spain, people talk about people from Madrid. And my country, people talk about people from Quito and people from Guayaquil. So there’s kind of this idea of how people are in certain cities.
“In Vancouver, I feel like there’s a me that I am when I am in Vancouver. And then there’s like, how I become when I enter a new city,” Subia added. “What is the source? Who created that identity for every city, and why are we doing that?”
In Vancouver, I feel like there’s a me that I am when I am in Vancouver. And then there’s like, how I become when I enter a new city.
was just: dining hall to my room, then hanging out with my friends.” Because she didn't leave campus, Vancouver “didn’t exist” to her.
“You meet this new group of people and it’s now interesting, and then you feel lonely and then it’s not interesting anymore,” noted Subia when relishing her self exploration of the city. Although she was enchanted by the surrounding nature we have here in the Coast Salish territories, when Subia began engaging in the social scene of the city like going to “events, going to gigs, going to theatre,” she tried something she was missing out on.
The play all started when a friend of Subia’s told her that the Fringe Festival was a lottery, which prompted Subia to put her name in the ballot.
The play is a medley of all sorts of literal and metaphorical ideas. Influences from the likes of Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams and the Ecuadorian tradition of los años viejos — masked dolls that are burned at midnight every year to celebrate the new year — and so much more. Though I could’ve dissected more about the influences and themes, Subia was careful not to spoil too much of the play, and for good reason! It’s one thing to read the inside scoop, but something entirely different when actually witnessing the play in all of its glory.
When she first came to the Lower Mainland, Subia tended to stay on Burnaby Mountain while living in residence. “It
Check out Naked City at Performance Works from September 5 to 15.
ALEX ILETO PEAK ASSOCIATE
PHOTOS: AMRIT KAMAAL / THE PEAK
PHOTO: KATELYN CONNOR / THE PEAK
PAMELA SUBIA · DIRECTOR AND PRODUCER
BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY
September 9–15
Aries
March 21–April 19
Honey, congrats on hitting 1 million views on a TikTok lipsyncing about how “demure and mindful” you are for wearing an Aritzia pantsuit to get coffee. With your newfound clout, it’s written in the stars that you should book a one-way ticket to LA and join the Creator Rewards Program. It’s practically written in the stars that you’ll become the next Charli D’Amelio (just make sure you can stomach escargot).
Cancer June 21–July 22
“Makeup blindness” is taking over, and now strangers on the Internet are giving you unsolicited advice. Sure, your makeup routine consists of using your winter concealer that’s three shades lighter than your skin instead of foundation. But, that has nothing to do with blind people and everything to do with the fact that you can’t afford new makeup. You can totally still market this look, though. Call it “the summer I discovered concealer.” The stars predict we found SFU’s next it girl in the making.
Libra September 23–October 22
You spent your summer trying to write the perfect One Direction fanfiction on Wattpad to secure a book-to-film adaptation like The Idea of You. Unfortunately, your work gave off Colleen Hoover energy instead (the bad prose part, not the romanticizing abuse part). Keep writing, though; the stars see your fanfics being used unironically for The Peak’s humour section.
Capricorn
December 22–January 19
Your wallet is a heck of a lot lighter from the amount of spending you did this summer, disguising it as “saving.” Sure, you got a fresh wardrobe from all the summer “sales,” but make sure you set some money aside school-wise. Your tablet is on its last legs right now, and the stars don’t exactly see it lasting one last semester.
Taurus
April 20–May 20
Your summer consisted of so many camping trips that you consider yourself one with nature at this point. Sure, your bragging about your self-proclaimed “relationship with mother nature” and your monthly Instagram screen time being an hour during an icebreaker comes off as pretentious, but that’s OK! According to the stars, you are the ideal candidate for dealing with the future raccoon takeover.
Leo July 23–August 22
You’re very determined, and you’ll do anything to achieve your goals, especially if it includes dedicating hours of your life to lining up the day before the grand opening of some mediocre American fast-food chain. Maybe it’s written in the stars that you’ll use this perseverance to get a job or not have to cram your midterms this semester.
Scorpio October 23–November 21
You were the definition of Summertime Sadness this season. You had multiple situationships trying to find the “electric feeling” Lana Del Rey described. The stars got your back though, when all else fails, you’ll be roaming the campus hand-in-hand with your ex again for a while.
Aquarius
January 20–February 18
I don’t care that you quit your job, put the scissors down. You wanted those Sabrina Carpenter bangs for the summer but came out looking like Emma Roberts instead. Your curtain bangs look like closed window blinds but no worries! The stars see you rocking those curtain bangs when they finally reach your chin for the fall semester of 2026.
Gemini
May 21–June 20
You thought, “I’ll get it this summer,” but did you? Every summer, you promise you’ll finally get your driver’s licence, or at least your learner’s permit. But to this day, the only cards in your wallet are your U-Pass, an expired credit card (you forgot where the new one is), and a gift card to the SFU Bookstore (so Brat). Bestie, you’ll lock in eventually. The stars say that you will get your licence
Virgo
August 23–September 22
You didn’t go out much, spent the summer binging shows on Netflix, Crave, and even Tubi. Even if your summer feels ruined, your semester won’t be! The stars show you re-watching your recorded lectures like a hawk; just do a split screen with a gameplay video or Grey’s Anatomy
Sagittarius
November 22–December 21
You pride yourself on being the selfproclaimed mean girl of the group, so it’s totally not annoying for your friends to apologise for your out of pocket behaviour at PNE Playland because someone bumped into you. It’s OK, the heat got to you! The stars show when winter hits, your friends won’t need to excuse your outbursts.
Pisces February 19–March 20
You somehow managed to skip every lecture in your summer semester to the point where you don’t even know what the professor looks like. We can fix that though, the stars show you coming on campus to capture that Gilmore Girls aesthetic with your latte and the Canvas login screen open.
PEAK MEMBERSHIP
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Your contribution also helps provide jobs and experience for other SFU students, maintain an archive of SFU history through the eyes of students, maintain The Peak’s website, and support student journalism across Canada.
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