Montreal, December 11, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is raising significant concerns about the contradictory recommendations in a pair of reports from Parliament’s Justice and Human Rights Committee (JUST) that seemingly acknowledge anti-Palestinian racism (APR) while simultaneously suppressing pro-Palestine speech and activism. On December 10, 2024, the JUST Committee issued two reports, on tackling Islamophobia and Antisemitism, with 34 recommendations between them for the Canadian government. CJPME notes that while the former report recommends acknowledging discrimination against Palestinians, the latter defines Palestinian perspectives as antisemitic and urges universities to crack down on pro-Palestine activism, including democratic expression through principled boycotts of Israel. Continue reading

Montreal, December 5, 2024 — The Anti-Racism program of the CJPME Foundation (ARPCF) and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) today released a joint report on anti-Palestinian racism (APR) in Canada, documenting 988 incidents of APR in 2023—a staggering near-doubling from 506 incidents reported in 2022. In an alarming find, the study revealed that APR surged proportionately eightfold following October 7, 2023, coinciding with the launch of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Continue reading

Montreal, December 5, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) commends the landmark report issued today by Amnesty International which finds that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In its 300-page report, Amnesty arrived at the grave conclusion that Israel has committed multiple acts of genocide with the specific intent of destroying the Palestinian people in Gaza. CJPME urges the Canadian Government to publicly acknowledge that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and to do everything possible to bring it to an end, including a two-way arms embargo and sanctions on Israeli leaders. Continue reading

Montreal, November 29, 2024 — On this International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) considers the Trudeau government to have been completely negligent in terms of supporting the lives, livelihoods, and rights of the Palestinian people. CJPME has long urged the Canadian government to take immediate action to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza and annexation in the West Bank, which are aimed at destroying the Palestinian people. CJPME calls on Prime Minister Trudeau to give his full support to international efforts to hold Israel accountable, including through the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and to impose a suite of sanctions aimed at bringing an immediate end to Israel’s criminal acts. Continue reading

Montreal, November 21, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) today against Israeli leaders for crimes against humanity in Gaza, and calls on the Canadian government to enforce them. The warrants were issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes against humanity and war crimes, including the war crime of starvation as a weapon of warfare. Given the gravity of the alleged crimes and considering Canada’s legal obligations as a signatory to the Rome Statute, CJPME urges Canada to make a public statement in support of the decision of the ICC and cooperate in the arrest and prosecution of Netanyahu and Gallant. Continue reading

Montreal, November 20, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes Canada’s vote at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to condemn Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT), reversing its shameful 13-year-old practice of siding with Israel on the motion. Canada voted in the UNGA’s Fourth Committee for the draft resolution to condemn Israel’s settlement policy after voting against it every year since 2011. It passed 152 to 9. Despite this positive step, CJPME believes that Canada’s gradual change in its approach towards Palestinian human rights at the UNGA is not enough to hold Israel accountable for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Continue reading

Montreal, November 19, 2024 - CJPME has joined more than 40 civil-society organizations have signed on to a powerful open letter to the Canadian government calling for urgent changes to the Temporary Residence Visa for Gazans with extended family in Canada. Continue reading

Montreal, November 18, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) strongly condemns the media-fueled outrage surrounding the inclusion of the Arabic song Haza Salam during a Remembrance Day ceremony at Sir Robert Borden High School in Ottawa. CJPME is deeply concerned by the media's role in amplifying unfounded backlash against the song, as well as its failure to report on a potential hate crime that followed this sensationalist coverage. CJPME believes that by stirring up an unfounded and polarized response to the song, Canadian media has perpetuated anti-Palestinian racism.    Continue reading

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. Continue reading

Montreal, October 31, 2024 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) warns that the pro-censorship ‘IHRA handbook’ released today by Canadian Heritage will have a chilling effect on pro-Palestine speech and activism and demands it to be withdrawn immediately. Civil society, human rights groups, and faculty associations broadly oppose the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism (known as “IHRA”) because it purposefully conflates criticism of Israeli policy with antisemitism and is frequently deployed by supporters of Israel to unfairly shut down Palestinians perspectives. CJPME warns that this seemingly innocuous handbook will result in public institutions persecuting people who criticize systemic racism within Israel, rather than fighting discrimination. Continue reading