Letter to YRDSB: Urging to Reject Adoption of IHRA
Montreal, September 12th, 2022 - Below is a letter to the YRDSB Board of Trustees urging them to reject the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. On September 13, the YRDSB Board voted overwhelmingly to postpone the vote indefinitely.
Click here to download the PDF version.
Letter to Public Safety Minister: Don’t Conflate Human Rights Work with “Violent Extremism”
Montreal, August 4, 2022 - Below is a letter to Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino urging him to reject a recommendation in the Standing Committee report on "Ideologically Motivated Violent Extremism" which seems to target legitimate human rights work and Palestine activism. Click here to download PDF version of the letter.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 24, 2022: CJPME is pleased that the government has decided not to endorse the report's Recommendation 20. Following the publication of the above letter, CJPME and Independent Jewish Voices Canada met with Parliamentary Secretary Pam Damoff to discuss our concerns. CJPME later received a letter from Public Safety which noted our concerns over the "potential impacts of this recommendation on legitimate criticism of the State of Israel," and said that "the considerations you raised regarding the possible effects of fully accepting this recommendation were taken into account." Along those lines, the government's response to the report only "takes note" of Recommendation 20, declining to express agreement with it or take further action.
Read moreMontreal Mayoral Candidates answer questions from CJPME on discrimination, human rights, and more
Montreal, November 4, 2021 — CJPME is pleased to provide its metro Montreal supporters with an overview of key issues in advance of this weekend’s Montreal municipal elections. Montreal mayoral candidates answered questions from CJPME on IHRA and free speech on Palestine, religious discrimination, anti-Arab racism, human rights, and more.
Read moreNew CJPME Settlement with Rebel Media in Lawsuit
Montreal, October 21, 2021 – CJPME is pleased to announce that its small claims court lawsuit with Ezra Levant and Rebel Media News Network Ltd. has been settled. Launched in early 2021, CJPME’s suit was based on Rebel Media’s failure to promptly comply with the terms of a previous settlement between the two parties, reached in February 2020.
Read moreCJPME Opposes Quebec's Anti-Democratic Adoption of IHRA
Montreal, June 11, 2021 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) opposes Quebec's unilateral adoption of the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism, which conflates antisemitism with criticism of Israel and therefore poses a threat to free speech on issues related to Israel's human rights abuses. On June 9, the Quebec government announced that it was unilaterally adopting IHRA. This decision was taken without public input or debate, just days after a motion in the National Assembly to endorse IHRA was blocked by Québec solidaire.
Read moreAnnamie Paul Must Abandon Toxic Anti-Palestine Politics Before It Destroys the Green Party
Montreal, June 10, 2021 — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is calling on Green Party of Canada (GPC) leader Annamie Paul to abandon her toxic, anti-Palestine approach to politics before it destroys the party, following the departure of MP Jenica Atwin. Atwin’s decision to leave the GPC comes in the wake of vile attacks against her by Annamie Paul’s senior advisor and spokesperson, who slandered Atwin as antisemitic and vowed to “defeat” her in retaliation for appropriate criticism of Israeli apartheid. Despite Annamie Paul’s insistence that this incident had nothing to do with Atwin leaving, a statement from the GPC caucus confirmed that it “created the conditions that led to this crisis.”
Read moreHuman Rights Groups Applaud Québec Solidaire for Rejecting the Controversial IHRA Antisemitism Definition
Montreal, June 4, 2021 - Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), the Canada Palestine Foundation of Quebec (CPFQ) and Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) congratulate Québec Solidaire for rejecting a non-binding motion in Quebec’s National Assembly this morning which would have adopted language from the dangerously-flawed and widely-rejected International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Working Definition of Antisemitism. In rejecting this motion, Québec Solidaire is the only party in the National Assembly to have taken a firm position both against antisemitism and against the silencing of Palestinian voices.
Read moreCJPME Statement on Anti-Palestinian Violence in Toronto
May 18, 2021 - Below is CJPME's statement on anti-Palestinian violence in Toronto. A false story was distributed by pro-Israel groups, the press, and condemned by journalists, depicting a peaceful Palestinian protest as hateful, while portraying a hate group member as a victim. CJPME calls on officials to apologize to the pro-Palestinian community for their false and demeaning statements.
Download a PDF version of the statement here.
Read moreCJPME: Statistics Canada Should not Promote Problematic Lobby Group Study of Antisemitism
Montreal, April 6, 2021 — CJPME is highly concerned by a Statistics Canada publication on hate crimes in Canada which referenced claims from a non-rigorous “audit” on antisemitism by the lobby group B’nai Brith Canada. CJPME is concerned that the inclusion of B’nai Brith’s claims in a Statistics Canada publication not only gives undeserved credibility to a flawed methodology, but also inadvertently perpetuates the false notion that protesting Israel’s human rights abuses is equivalent to hate crimes and antisemitic violence.
Read moreCJPME to Facebook and Twitter: Don't Adopt IHRA
This week, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) sent letters to two social media companies, Facebook and Twitter, urging them to reject calls to adopt the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism, which conflates criticism of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism.
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