The Trump administration is considering branding Amnesty International as ‘anti-Semitic’ because of its repeated criticism of human rights abuses by Israel. One of the legal tools Trump uses is the so-called “IHRA” definition of anti-Semitism. But resistance to the IHRA definition is growing in the USA, in Canada and around the world. Read more…

The Ottawa Forum on Israel Palestine announces a newly expanded membership of its Advisory Council consisting of 22 Canadians with a wealth of experience and contacts in many sectors of Canadian society. Read more...

The federal government has named former Liberal justice minister Irwin Cotler to lead the government’s delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). For several years Cotler has been promoting the IHRA’s definition of “anti-Semitism” which many find problematic. Over a year ago, CTIP wrote to Mr. Cotler asking for some clarification of his interpretation of that definition. He has still not answered. Read more.

On November 19, Canada voted along with 163 countries in favour of a draft UN resolution affirming the Palestinian right to self determination. The vote was immediately denounced by prominent Jewish Canadian organizations including CIJA and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. But it was praised by several Canadian human rights groups What was its real significance? What does it mean in practice? Read more…

On Monday, November 23, OFIP will host Dr. Rashid Khalidi in a “virtual Canadian book launch” for his controversial new book re-examining the history of the Israel/Palestine conflict over the last 100 years. Khalidi argues that Israel’s basic “colonial” character has been mostly invisible to North Americans. He also thinks the Palestinian leadership has made some strategic mistakes based on their own myths about Israeli society. Read more…