Last week, a Conservative-sponsored motion was launched in Canada’s parliament calling for the condemnation of organizations and individuals promoting the “Boycott Israel” (i.e. BDS) movement.  The vote is due to take place Monday, February 22, 2016.  Even if you see this alert after the 22^nd, please go ahead and email your MP, as he/she should still hear how you feel on this issue.

Montreal, February 19, 2015  — In light of ridiculous theatre in Canada’s parliament this week, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) openly launches a creative new campaign to deepen the “Boycott Israel” movement in Canada.  CJPME was specifically cited in the parliamentary motion targeting organizations supporting economic action against Israel, and CJPME has launched its new campaign in response.  CJPME’s campaign invites Canadians from across the country to sign up for a packet of free “Boycott Israel” sticky notes.  CJPME invites Canadians to go to local stores and post these on Israeli merchandise, thus warning potential buyers against buying products from Israel.  

CJPME Factsheet 196, published February, 2016: On Feb. 22, Parliament passed a motion to condemn Canadian groups and individuals who promote the BDS movement.  This factsheet addresses misconceptions about the BDS movement that were apparent during the Parliamentary debate.

CJPME is pleased to publish the first of a 15 part election series analyzing the positions of Canada’s political parties. CJPME hopes that, by revealing what parties have said and done on key Middle East issues, Canadians will be better informed voters in the upcoming elections. Our first analysis studies each party’s position on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to put economic pressure on Israel. 

Organizations that have endorsed BDS (updated June 13, 2015)

See CJPME's Boycott Centre for ways to be involved yourself.

Labour Unions

• Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) / Confederation of National Trade Unions (April 2015), 325,000 members, including
  • CSN-Construction
  • Fédération du commerce (FC)
  • Fédération des employées et employés de services publics (FEESP)
  • Fédération de l’industrie manufacturière (FIM)
  • Fédération nationale des communications (FNC)
  • Fédération nationale des enseignantes et enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ)
  • Fédération des professionèles (FP)
  • Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS)
  • Syndicat des agents correctionnels du Canada (UCCO–SACC–CSN)

• Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) / Quebec House of Labour (June 2009), 200,000 members, including
  • Fédération des professionnelles et professionnels de l’éducation du Québec (CSQ)
  • Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE)
  • Fédération du personnel de soutien scolaire (CSQ)
  • Fédération du personnel de l’enseignement privé (CSQ)
  • Fédération des enseignantes et enseignants de cégep (FEC-CSQ)
  • Fédération du personnel professionnel des collèges (CSQ)
  • Fédération du personnel de soutien de l’enseignement supérieur (FPSES)
  • Fédération des syndicats de la santé et des services sociaux (CSQ)
  • Fédération de la santé du Québec (FSQ)
  • Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance du Québec (FIPEQ)
  • Association des retraitées et retraités de l’éducation et des autres services publics du Québec (CSQ)

• Ontario branch of the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS-O) (August 2014), 300,000+ members

• Ontario branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE-ON) (May 2006), 240,000 members

• Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) / Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleuses des Postes (STTP) (April 2008), 51,000 members

• Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec (FNEEQ-CSN) / Quebec Teachers Union (June 2007), 34,000 members

• Association pour une Solidarité Syndicale Étudiante (ASSÉ) / Association for Student Union Solidarity (October 2007), 80,000 members

• Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain de la confédération des syndicats nationaux (CCMM-CSN) (May 2010)

• College and University Workers United (CUWU) (2009)

• UNIFOR, (August 2017)

Student Unions & Associations

• University of Regina Students’ Union (URSU) (February 2012), 14,000 students

• Carleton University Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) (March 2012), 3,600+ graduate students

• York University Graduate Students’ Association (YUGSA) (November 2012), 6,000+ graduate students

• University of Toronto Graduate Students’ Union (GSU) (December 2012), 15,000+ graduate students

• Concordia University Graduate Students Association (GSA) (January 2013), 7,000+ graduate students

• University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) (February 2013), 12,500+ undergraduate students

• Trent University Central Students Association (TCSA) (February 2013), 6,000 undergraduate and consecutive education students

• York Federation of Students (YFS) (March 2013), 53,000+ undergraduate students

• University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus Students’ Union (SCSU) (April 2013), 11,000 undergraduate students

• University of Windsor Students’ Alliance’s (UWSA) (February 2014), 14,000 undergraduate students

• Ryerson University Students’ Union (RSU) (April 2014), 28,000+ undergraduate and graduate students

• Concordia University Student Union (CSU) (December 2014), 35,000+ undergraduate students

• McMaster University Students Union (MSU) (March 2015), 20,000 undergraduate students

• York University Faculty of Environmental Studies academic boycott (November 2017), 53,000+ students

• King’s University College University of Western (March 2017), 3,500+ full time and part time students

• Alma Mater Society, University of British Columbia: BC Supreme Court Win (April 2016), 48,000+ students

• University of Ontario Institute of Technology and Durham College (March 2016)

• Dalhousie Student Union (April 2016), 18,500+ members

• The Canadian Federation of Students (November 2018)

NGOs, Churches, Charitable Organizations, and Student-run Groups

• Ligue des Droits et Libertés / Quebec Civil Liberties Union (2010)

• Fédération des femmes du Québec (FFQ) / Quebec Federation of Women (May 2010)

• Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME)

• Canadian Friends of Sabeel

• Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) / Voix juives indépendantes (VJI) Canada

• International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Canada

• Artistes pour la Paix (APLP) / Artists for Peace

• Alternatives (Canada) / Alternatives International

• Faculty for Palestine (F4P)

• Tadamon!

• Centre justice et foi / Revue Relations

• Public Interest Research Group (PIRGs)
  • Alberta Public Interest Research Group
  • Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group
  • OPIRG – Carleton
  • OPIRG – Guelph
  • OPIRG – Peterborough
  • OPIRG – Toronto
  • OPIRG – Ottawa
  • OPIRG – Waterloo
  • OPIRG – Windsor
  • Groupe de recherche d’intérêt public de l’UQAM (GRIP UQAM)
  • Quebec Public Interest Research Group at Concordia (QPIRG Concordia)
  • Quebec Public Interest Research Group at McGill (QPIRG McGill)

• Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR)
  • Concordia University
  • McGill University
  • University of Ottawa
  • University of Western Ontario
  • Queen’s University
  • McMaster University
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of Calgary

• Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Ryerson University

• Students for Palestinian Rights (SFPR), Waterloo University

• Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA)
  • Carleton University
  • University of Toronto
  • University of Toronto at Mississauga
  • York University

• Palestinian Solidarity Group (PSG), University of Windsor

• General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS), OttawaUniversity

• Coalition pour la Justice en Palestine-UQAM

• Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign (BIAC) – Vancouver

• Winnipeg Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (WCAIA)

• Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) – Toronto

• Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) – Victoria

• Victoria Friends of Cuba (VFoC)

• Justice for Palestinians – Calgary

• Coalition BDS - Québec

• Canada-Palestine Support Network (CanPalNet)

• United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine/Israel (UNJPPI)

• Palestinian and Jewish Unity / Palestiniens et Juifs Unis (PAJU)

• Canada Palestine Association

• Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace (CAJJP)

• CODEPINK

• Canada-Palestine Support Network (CanPalNet)

• Winnipeg Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (WCAIA)

• Global Compliance Research Project (GCRP)

• Nelson End the Occupation Now (NEON)

• National Campus and Community Radio Association of Canada (NCRA)

• Mid-Islanders for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (MIJPME)

• Socialist Action / Ligue pour l'Action Socialiste (SA/LAS)

• Youth for Socialist Action / Jeunesse pour l'Action Socialiste (YSA/JAS)

• Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (QuAIA)

• Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade (COAT)

• AQOCI (Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale)

• Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU)

• Front d’action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU)

• Entraide missionnaire

• Comité de solidarité Trois-Rivières

• Réseau uni pour la justice et la paix en Palestine et en Israël

• Forum musulman canadien

• Présence musulmane

• Perspectives palestiniennes

• Regroupement des Algériens et Algériennes du Québec

• Mennonite Church (July 2016)

Political Parties

• Québec solidaire (November 2009)

• Communist Party of Canada (July 2014)

• Green Party GPC (August 2016)

Other Organizations

The following organizations have not endorsed the precise terms of BDS per se, but nonetheless advocate some form of economic action to pressure Israel to respect international law and the human rights of Palestinians.

• United Church of Canada

In August 2012, the United Church’s General Council 41 adopted a policy urging the boycott of goods produced in Israeli settlements, among other strategies.

• Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers)

In 2009, the CFSC 1) encouraged the promotion of BDS among members, 2) asked the Federal government to proper label products from the “settlements,” and 3) encouraged members, individually and corporately, to boycott products from Israel’s “settlements.”

• The Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation (BCFF)

BBCF joined a Canadian Boycott network that focuses on boycotts of goods made by Israeli companies illegally in occupied Palestine, including SodaStream.

CJPME Political Blog, June 10, 2015: It’s time to take a reality check on the competing claims about the “boycott Israel” (BDS) movement in Canada.  For starters, let’s be clear on two things.  First, the Harper government doesn’t seem bent on jailing Canadian BDS activists anytime soon, and second, the BDS movement will never bring about the “destruction” of Israel.

Envoyez un courriel au premier ministre Harper: Plus tôt ce mois-ci, plusieurs Canadiens ont été scandalisés à la lecture d’un article de la CBC qui évoquait l’intention du gouvernement Harper de poursuivre les activistes qui boycottent Israël en recourant aux lois portant sur les « crimes haineux ». Le boycottage d’Israël n’a rien à voir avec la « haine ». Pareille disposition irait à l’encontre de la liberté d’expression et de la liberté individuelle des Canadiens. Utilisez le formulaire qui suit pour écrire à votre député(e) pour lui faire part de votre désapprobation à ce sujet.  

Email Prime Minister Harper: Many in Canada were horrified by the CBC article earlier this month which suggested that Canada’s Harper government may legally prosecute Boycott-Israel activists using “hate crime” laws.  The boycott of Israel has nothing to do with “hate,” and such action would violate Canadians’ fundamental rights of freedom of expression and individual liberty.  Using the form below, please write to your MP, and let him/her know of your opposition to such action by the government.  

Plus tôt ce mois-ci, plusieurs Canadiens ont été scandalisés à la lecture d’un article de la CBC qui évoquait l’intention du gouvernement Harper de poursuivre les activistes qui boycottent Israël en recourant aux lois portant sur les « crimes haineux ». Le boycottage d’Israël n’a rien à voir avec la « haine ». Pareille disposition irait à l’encontre de la liberté d’expression et de la liberté individuelle des Canadiens. Utilisez le formulaire qui suit pour écrire à votre député(e) pour lui faire part de votre désapprobation à ce sujet.