Last week, we were pleased to see that the University of Windsor reached an agreement with the student-led encampment (the Palestine Liberation Zone), committing to act on many of the students’ demands. UWindsor acted on divestment when other universities turned to the police or the courts to forcibly shut down encampments. Now, pro-Israel groups and federal officials are trying to overturn this victory, pressuring the university and making legal threats. We need to make sure that UWindsor administrators stand their ground and resist the attacks.

We are excited to learn that the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) has just voted to include anti-Palestinian racism (APR) as part of its Combating Hate and Racism strategy! This means that the TDSB has committed to developing resources to inform students about APR, alongside other forms of discrimination including Islamophobia and antisemitism. This is a major victory resulting from the important advocacy from Toronto Palestinian and Jewish families. Acknowledging APR is critically important amid the skyrocketing incidents of violence and hate against Palestinians and their supporters. Unfortunately, pro-Israel organizations are opposed to any mention of APR and are strongly campaigning to have this decision reversed. We can’t allow political pressure from pro-Israel groups to erase Palestinian voices.

When Canada relaunched its federal Anti-Racism Strategy, it failed to mention the grave problem of anti-Palestinian racism. Making things worse, a Canadian public official tasked with countering racism has been spreading misinformation about pro-Palestine protests, harmfully and maliciously defaming Palestinian Canadians and their supporters. Far from fighting APR, the Canadian government is perpetuating it. Special Envoy Deborah Lyons was appointed by Justin Trudeau to fight antisemitism, but instead, she has been focused on attacking Palestinian Canadians and other critics of racist Israeli practices. This is unacceptable. She should be replaced with someone capable of fighting antisemitism without promoting anti-Palestinian racism.

Months after Parliament voted to stop sending arms to Israel, Canadians are still left in the dark about the arms trade. After approving a skyrocketing number of weapons exports in the first months of Israel’s genocidal war, Foreign Affairs Minister Joly refuses to provide the public information about these sales: how many weapons were sent to Israel, what were they, how were they used, and has Canada violated international law? Canadians deserve answers.

Student groups at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Victoria (UVic) have joined the global movement of student encampments in solidarity with Palestine. Like student activists across Canada, the student groups have demanded that UBC and UVic divest from companies that arm Israel and are complicit in the oppression, occupation and genocide of Palestinians. The demands also call on UBC and UVic to boycott Israeli academic institutions and publicly condemn the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. So far, UBC and UVic have refused to engage with the student protestors or their demands, and this must change!

On April 29, the student groups Palestinian Students Association and Integrity not Spite for Falastin (INSAF) at the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) began their encampment in solidarity with Palestinians. Like the coalition groups at McGill University, the student groups made three important demands, including “complete divestment from any and all corporations involved directly and indirectly in the surveillance, occupation, and murder of Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank.” Unfortunately, the Administration at uOttawa have made no efforts to take the demands of the student protestors seriously, expressing their manufactured concerns about health and safety. Despite meeting with the student protestors, their demands have gone unanswered and remain unacknowledged.

On May 2,the student group Occupy for Palestine started an encampment in solidarity with Palestine at the University of Toronto (UofT.) Similar to the student groups at McGill University and around the world, the students have called on the university to divest from all “direct and indirect investments that sustain Israeli apartheid, occupation and illegal settlement of Palestine.”  Unfortunately, the UofT has refused to take the concerns of the encampment protestors seriously and is threatening to disband the protest with manufactured concerns about “health and safety” and related items.

On Saturday, a coalition of student groups in solidarity with Palestine began a protest encampment on the McGill Campus. Among their demands, the students have called on the university to divest “from all complicit companies and cut all academic ties with Israeli institutions.” When the students refused to leave until their demands were met, McGill President Deep Saini threatened police intervention. The McGill Administration must listen to the students' demands and divest from Israeli institutions complicit in the oppression of the Palestinian people!

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.