On June 8th, the Federal Government Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security issued a report on violent extremism in Canada. One of its 30 recommendations called for the government to “condemn” strong criticism of Israel on Canadian campuses. How criticism of Israel might be related to violent extremism was not clear. OFIP wrote an open letter to Mr. Carr asking for an explanation. His answer was less than satisfactory. Read more…
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High school students in Ottawa protested last May against a school board policy which officially “supports multiculturalism”, but won’t allow expressions of Palestinian identity in schools as “too political”. The Arab Canadian Lawyers’ Association calls this anti-Palestinian racism,“a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives“. Watch my interview with ACLA Chair Dania Majid….
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A pamphlet (excerpted above) was used to warn Ontario voters about the rising danger of anti-Semitism in Ontario. Along with the text there is a photo showing angry demonstrators holding a sign saying “Holocaust = Great lie”. But the photo is of a demonstration that took place in Iran… 16 years ago. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) is using the scare of a rebirth of anti-Semitism in Canada for another reason, to dampen the rising criticism of Israel. Read more…
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The Trudeau government slipped a little-noticed line item into the budget which, if passed this month, will have the effect of criminalizing the act of “denying, or diminishing the impact of the Holocaust”. What is behind the idea? Is there a upsurge in Holocaust denial recently, or is there another reason? Read more….
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Canada Talks Israel/Palestine 