Montreal, November 7, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) cautiously welcomes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s commitment to define anti-Palestinian racism (APR), as revealed in a new statement from Amira Elghawaby, Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia. According to that statement, “Trudeau has made a commitment on adopting a definition of anti-Palestinian racism to describe the bias and discrimination far too many Canadian Palestinians are experiencing.” CJPME has been critical of the government’s failure to include APR as part of Canada’s anti-racism strategy earlier this year, and is seeking clarity on how the new commitment will be put into practice.

“Amid alarming levels of anti-Palestinian discrimination and political persecution across the country, it is encouraging to hear that the Prime Minister may be finally beginning to take this seriously,” said Alex Paterson, Senior Director of Strategy & Parliamentary Affairs for CJPME. “However, we need to make sure that it is a strong definition which properly reflects how anti-Palestinian racism is inseparable from certain expressions of Israeli nationalism, including Nakba denial. Pro-Israel groups are already mobilizing to water down Canada’s efforts,” added Paterson.

CJPME is a proponent of the working description of anti-Palestinian racism as developed by the Arab-Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA) in its 2022 report titled “Anti-Palestinian Racism: Naming, Framing and Manifestations.” The ACLA describes APR as “a form of anti-Arab racism that silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives,” and identifies various forms of APR, including “denying the Nakba and justifying violence against Palestinians,” “failing to acknowledge Palestinians as an Indigenous people with a collective identity,” and “defaming Palestinians and their allies with slander such as being inherently antisemitic, a terrorist threat/sympathizer or opposed to democratic values.”

Unfortunately, CJPME notes that the term “anti-Palestinian racism” was missing from Canada’s renewed Anti-Racism Strategy, even though the document had identified Palestinians as a group facing “unprecedented levels” of hate. Ahead of the strategy’s publication, CJPME joined with the ACLA, the Canadian Muslim Public Affairs Council (CMPAC), and Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) in recommending that Canada should recognize anti-Palestinian racism in the updated Canadian Anti-Racism Strategy, and in other government anti-racism initiatives. More than 8,800 Canadians have emailed Minister Khera to demand that the government acknowledge and fully define anti-Palestinian racism.

CJPME appreciates the work of Special Envoy Elghawaby in advocating for this issue, as well as the consultation process led by Liberal MP Salma Zahid on the steps that Canada should take to define and fight anti-Palestinian racism. CJPME has participated in the latter process and looks forward to reviewing the upcoming report and recommendations.

While anti-Palestinian racism has gotten worse since October 7, 2023, APR is a problem that also long predates it; last year, CJPME issued a report on APR which exposed more than 500 examples in online written Canadian institutional content in 2022. CJPME reiterates that there is an urgent need for initiatives to address APR due to the skyrocketing rise in incidents in Canada. Some recent examples of APR include:

• The censure of Ontario MPP Sarah Jama by the Ontario legislature and her removal from the ONDP Caucus for speaking out in support of Palestinian rights;
• an arson attack on a London family in response to their lawn signs in support of Palestinian human rights;
• a mobile advertising truck in Toronto playing a video depicting Muslims and Palestinian flags while claiming that Canada is “under siege”;
• beheading threats received by the leader of the Canadian Palestinian Association of Manitoba;
• the decision of Crown Prosecutors to drop assault charges against a pro-Israel individual who tore off the hijab of a Muslim woman, suggesting that the victim had brought the attack upon herself by chanting for Palestinian freedom; and
• a covert foreign influence campaign by the Israeli government spreading anti-Palestinian and anti-Muslim messages.