Last week, Speaker of the Ontario Legislative Assembly Ted Arnott banned the wearing of keffiyehs in legislative buildings, claiming it is an overt “political statement.” Banning the keffiyeh is discriminatory and racist towards Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. Not only does the keffiyeh ban violate Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms but it is a form of anti-Palestinian racism. By banning the keffiyeh, the Ontario Legislature is suppressing and censoring Palestinians and their allies. The Ontario Legislative Assembly MUST reverse this racist ban immediately.

Over the last 6 months, Palestinians and their allies in Canada have been under attack by right-wing and pro-Israel groups for standing up for Palestinian human rights and against Israel’s genocidal campaign in Gaza. More concerning is that this anti-Palestinian rhetoric is being mirrored by elected officials and civil servants across the country. Canada has an anti-Palestinian racism problem and it’s time to stand up and say that enough is enough. Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy is due to be rereleased this spring, and it must finally address this problem. Palestinians cannot wait any longer for the government to acknowledge the systemic racism against Palestinians in Canada.

Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to prevent genocide by ending its restrictions on aid into Gaza. For months, UN experts have warned of the risk of imminent famine in Gaza, as Israel deliberately uses starvation as a weapon of war against Palestinians. For the past six months, little to no food, clean water or fuel has entered Gaza, leading to high levels of hunger and malnutrition. People are starving to death. While Canada has pledged financial aid, expressed support for airdropping aid, and supports a “humanitarian sea corridor,” none of these measures address the central problem: Israel’s blockade. More than 2 million people in Gaza are at risk, as starvations and famine are spreading. Canada must put meaningful pressure on Israel to end its siege and allow the entry of aid into Gaza.

On March 18, Parliament will finally be voting on an important motion in support of Palestine. This the first opportunity since Oct. 7 that MPs will be asked to vote individually on questions related to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, so this is extremely significant.   The motion, introduced by the NDP, includes important proposals on how to respond to Israel’s current genocidal war on Gaza and the catastrophic humanitarian crisis that has ensued. These include an immediate ceasefire, an arms embargo, the resumption of aid funding for UNRWA, and more – items that CJPME and others have advocated for months. Please join CJPME in demanding that all MPs vote in support of the NDP motion on March 18.

Israel’s actions in Gaza show a pattern of war crimes and point to a “genocide in the making,” according to UN experts. Despite this, an unknown number of Canadians have chosen to travel to Israel and voluntarily participate in Israel’s military offensive. The participation of Canadians in the IDF raises the serious likelihood that they are involved in crimes against humanity, war crimes, and even acts of genocide. Canada is legally obliged to investigate and prosecute Canadians who commit war crimes overseas. Canada must launch an investigation into Canadians serving or volunteering with the IDF for possible complicity in war crimes.

Canada has ignored repeated warnings from UN experts and the World Court on the risk of Israel committing genocide in Gaza, and Canada’s response to developments have even worsened the crisis. In particular, Ministers Joly, Hussen, and Miller have each mismanaged their ministerial portfolio: Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly has resisted calls for a ceasefire, refused to condemn Israel’s violence against Palestinians and ignored the World Courts finding of a “plausible” genocide in Gaza. Thankfully, Minister of International Development Ahmed Hussen has restored UNRWA funding.  We now expect him to work within cabinet to call for pressuring Israel to allow funding to enter Gaza despite the life-threatening conditions faced by Gaza's civilian population Minister of Immigration Marc Miller delayed a program of temporary visas for Gaza relatives of Canadians, and ultimately delivered a racist program with limited spots, and unreasonable application requirements for people in a war zone. We cannot accept this to be Canada’s legacy amid the genocide unfolding before our eyes in Gaza. If these Ministers are not able to step up in this moment of extreme crisis and redress these errors, they should step aside.

In a shamefully cruel decision last Friday, Canada suspended funding to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees following unproven Israeli claims about a few of its employees. Earlier that day, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s actions in Gaza are potentially genocidal, so Canada’s decision to defund UNRWA is tantamount to an act of collective punishment against a population facing genocide. 2 million people in Gaza depend on UNRWA as a humanitarian lifeline, as Israel’s siege is manufacturing conditions of famine and disease. Canada must immediately reverse its decision on UNRWA cuts to ensure that the population of Gaza continues to receive humanitarian aid.

South Africa is taking Israel to the World Court! South Africa has taken the principled step of invoking the UN’s Genocide Convention which enables the Court to impose “provisional measures,” including an end to Israel’s military operations against Gaza. Many other countries have expressed support for South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, and as a signatory to the Genocide Convention, Canada has an obligation to oppose genocide too. This may be the world’s best chance of ending Israel’s murderous carnage in Gaza. 

A recent CBC news article revealed that pro-Israel doctors planned to use their influence to manipulate the professional placement of medical students. The article showed screenshots where members of a private Facebook group discuss plans to pressure medical residency program (CaRMS) administrators to penalize students who had signed a petition calling for an end to Israel’s bombing of Gaza hospitals.  This interference with the “objective and transparent” Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) process is an appalling breach of ethics, and should trigger an immediate investigation into the CaRMS process and targeting of medical students advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza. (See below for more info). We call on the CaRMS administration to implement important remedial measures, including: Conducting an investigation into allegations of physicians and CaRMS selection committee members attempting to introduce bias into the CaRMS process, Ensuring that faculty involved with the Facebook group posts are identified and excluded from the CaRMS interview process and selection decisions, Statements from CaRMS, Faculties of Medicine and program directors across the country to reassure applicants and the public that the residency matching process is fair and free from organized political targeting.

On October 12th, just minutes before the launch of the program Building the Foundations of Anti-Oppressive Healthcare, the University of Toronto School of Medicine (TFOM) made the decision to cancel the program as long as social justice educator, Rania El Mugammar, was involved. Citing vague concerns about “antisemitism” on El Mugammar’s Twitter platform – without reference to any specific Tweet – the TFOM leadership abandoned its complaint process and effectively cancelled the anti-oppression program because of its Black, Muslim, female facilitator. While the TFOM leadership never identified the problem it had with any specific Tweet, El Mugammar had simply Tweeted views in support of Palestine liberation, and in overt criticism of Israel as an apartheid state. (See below for more info). Simply put, in mind-boggling hypocrisy, TFOM de facto cancelled an anti-oppression program citing vague disagreement with the personal views of its Black, Muslim, female facilitator. Dr. Nanky Rai, a faculty member and co-facilitator of the program was similarly targeted for her Palestine advocacy in 2022.