Open Letter on Islamophobia to Canada and Quebec’s Political and Civil Leaders, from the Canadian Muslim Forum and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. January 27, 2021. In a few days, Canadians will mark the fourth anniversary of the tragic Quebec City mosque massacre.  On January 29, 2017, a young man influenced by online hatred and racism entered the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City and opened fire on Muslim-Canadian worshippers.  When he was done, six Canadians were dead, and 19 more injured.  Continue reading

Montreal, January 20, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) released today its submission to the University of Toronto’s External Review process, which is investigating allegations of inappropriate conduct in the University of Toronto’s hiring process for the directorship position of its International Human Rights Program (IHRP). In its submission, CJPME criticizes the UofT’s alleged revocation of a job offer to Dr. Valentina Azarova based on her scholarship on Israel’s occupation. CJPME’s submission also explores this incident in the context of broader campaigns to shut down critical scholarship on Israel-Palestine. Continue reading

Montreal, January 14, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is outraged by vague criticisms made by the Bloc Québécois (BQ) against new Transport Minister Omar Alghabra which amount to anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia. As reported by the Canadian Press, BQ leader Yves-François Blanchet said on Wednesday that “questions arise” from Mr. Alghabra’s former role as president of the Canadian Arab Federation (CAF). Blanchet reportedly suggested that Alghabra was associated with "the political Islamic movement," but declined to accuse Alghabra of any specific wrongdoing. The CAF is a secular organization. CJPME considers such vague aspersions to be racist and Islamophobic against Alghabra, a Syrian-Canadian and Muslim. Continue reading

Montreal, January 12, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) applauds Israel’s largest and preeminent human rights organization B’Tselem for its declaration that Israel must be properly understood as an “apartheid” regime. In a groundbreaking new position paper, B’Tselem describes Israeli apartheid as “a regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.” As B’Tselem executive director Hagai El-Ad wrote in an accompanying opinion piece, "There is not a single square inch in the territory Israel controls where a Palestinian and a Jew are equal." Continue reading

The following is a joint letter which was sent to NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh on January 6, 2021. The statement commends NDP MPs Charlie Angus and Leah Gazan for their statements criticizing Israel's discriminatory vaccine program and standing up for Palestinian human rights. It further requests that Singh adds his voice and stands against Israel's racist administration of vaccines. For CJPME's previous statement on this matter, click here.  Continue reading

Montreal, January 5, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) condemns the grossly unfair attacks against Members of Parliament Charlie Angus and Leah Gazan for sharing principled and factual criticism about Israel’s discriminatory COVID-19 vaccination program. Both NDP MPs are facing false accusations of antisemitism after they shared an article from the UK newspaper The Guardian, which was titled “Palestinians excluded from Israeli Covid vaccine rollout as jabs go to settlers.” Continue reading

Montreal, December 23, 2020  — As the United Nations General Assembly draws to a close, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) notes with regret that Canada has continued to marginalize itself by repeatedly voting with a tiny minority of UN member states against Palestinian human rights. Out of the 12 resolutions about Palestinian human rights that have come to a vote this year, Canada has voted against 10 of them, and abstained on another. Continue reading

Montreal, December 21, 2020  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) welcomes today’s announcement by the Canadian government that it will be renewing its funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the UN agency that provides services to 5.7 million Palestine refugees. However, CJPME notes that Canada’s assistance falls far short of what is needed, considering the scale of the challenges facing Palestinian refugees today. Continue reading

Montreal, December 7, 2020  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and the Coalition of Canadian Palestinian Organizations (CCPO) are urging the Canadian government to vote in support of an upcoming resolution on the status of Jerusalem at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). The resolution rejects Israel’s unilateral annexation of Jerusalem, and calls for the concerns of both Palestinians and Israelis to be considered when negotiating the final status of Jerusalem. The resolution is expected to be considered by the plenary later this week, alongside the final votes on a series of related annual resolutions. Continue reading

Copied below is a letter from CJPME to Stephen Lecce, Ontario's Minister of Education, on December 3, 2020. In the letter, CJPME criticizes the Minister's decision to ban a video blog from Ontario schools due to its Palestinian perspective, which the Minister falsely characterized as "anti-Israel and antisemitic."  CJPME warns that this amounts to the censorship of Palestinian voices and experiences. Click here to read a PDF version of the letter.  Continue reading