CJPME Factsheet 238, created December 2023: This revised and updated factsheet explains why the Palestine solidarity movement in Canada has been calling for boycott of Indigo Books & Music Inc., since 2006. It outlines how the founder and CEO of Indigo Heather Reisman co-founded the HESEG Foundation for Lone Soldiers, which encourages foreigners to join the Israeli army and continue their studies in Israel. The factsheet also explores additional ties between HESEG and the Israeli military.

CJPME has released the results of a Canada-wide survey probing the knowledge and familiarity of Canadians on issues related to Palestine and Israel.

• Part 1 (Released September 6, 2023): Survey: Canadians view Israel as apartheid, not a vibrant democracy, or in .pdf format.

The survey was conducted by EKOS Research Associates from August 2-10, 2023, with a random sample of 1,089 Canadian adults aged 18 and over. The margin of error associated with the sample is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. 

Note that all charts are public domain - free of copyright restrictions.

Overview

CJPME has released the first results of a Canada-wide survey probing the knowledge and familiarity of Canadians on issues related to Palestine and Israel. Conducted by a professional polling firm, Part 1 of the poll results provides important insights into what average Canadians think about the democratic character of Israel, given the competing claims describing it as a democracy versus the view that Israel is practicing apartheid.

Part 1 of the survey results, released September 6, 2023, can be found below and at the following link (PDF):

• Survey: Canadians view Israel as apartheid, not a vibrant democracy

The survey was conducted by EKOS Research Associates from August 2-10, 2023, with a random sample of 1,089 Canadian adults aged 18 and over. The margin of error associated with the sample is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The raw data from the EKOS poll can be found via the following two links. The first file below contains the "residuals" (i.e. the results including the "no response" and "do not know" answers); the second file contains the stats with the "residuals" removed:

• EKOS Survey Data - including residuals
• EKOS Survey Data - excluding residuals

Note that all charts presented on this page are public domain - free of copyright restrictions.

Click here to go back to the main Survey 2023 page.

Executive Summary

A recent survey finds that when Canadians are presented with possible descriptions of Israel, the most popular opinion is that Israel is “a state with segregation similar to apartheid.” Only a small minority view Israel as a “vibrant democracy.” The findings provide a profound challenge to Canada’s representation of itself and its warm bilateral relationship with Israel, which is premised on the claim that Canada and Israel share “democratic values.”

EKOS Research Associates (https://www.ekos.com/) conducted the national online survey of 1,089 Canadians between August 2–10, 2023 on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME, http://cjpme.org). The margin of error associated with the sample is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Political leaders and journalists tend to refer to Israel as a democracy, ignoring the terrible repression faced by Palestinians under Israeli control in the occupied Palestinian territories, the discrimination faced by Palestinian citizens of Israel, and the suppression of the rights of Palestinian refugees. In contrast, CJPME has long considered that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians should be understood as apartheid. In recent years, CJPME’s view has been corroborated by an emerging consensus within the human rights community. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Israeli human rights groups, and UN experts have all published reports concluding that Israel’s overall framework of laws and practices amount to apartheid, a crime under international law. This survey sought to find out which view of Israeli society was shared by Canadians.

Of all the respondents who participated in the survey question, the largest number (27%) agree with the view that Israel is “a state with segregation similar to apartheid,” while the smallest group (8%) view Israel as a “vibrant democracy.” In the middle, 14% view Israel as a “state with restricted minority rights” and 22% view Israel as “a flawed democracy.”   

Excluding those who responded “I don’t know,” the largest number of Canadians who provided an answer said that they view Israel as apartheid (38%), which is more than three times as many Canadians who said they view Israel as a vibrant democracy (11%). Breaking these results down further, one sees that:

• Almost half (48%) of Canadians aged 18–34 view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid.
  
  
• A significant majority (64%) of NDP supporters view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid, as do a majority (53%) of BQ supporters. Meanwhile, 33% of Liberal supporters view Israel in this way.
  
  
• 0% of NDP, BQ, or GPC supporters view Israel as a vibrant democracy, while one-quarter (27%) of CPC supporters and a small minority (8%) of Liberal supporters view Israel as a vibrant democracy.

Comparing these survey results to polling data from the US, the findings indicate that Canadians are more likely than Americans to describe Israel as “apartheid” and less likely to describe Israel as a “vibrant democracy.”

Despite the efforts of Israel’s supporters to dismiss criticism of Israeli “apartheid” as inaccurate, fringe, or extreme, these findings suggest that this is the first choice for how Canadians describe Israel. On the contrary, it is those who see Israel as a vibrant democracy who hold the fringe position – even if this minority view often drives Canadian policy and media coverage.

CJPME urges that – to align with Canadian public opinion and the international human rights consensus – the Canadian government must acknowledge the credible reports of apartheid provided by human rights organizations and revise its bilateral agreements with Israel to ensure that these are not contributing to crimes of apartheid against Palestinians.

Similarly, CJPME urges journalists and news editors to cite the reports on apartheid from human rights organizations as necessary context when reporting on events in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. CJPME also asks that these same groups cease referring to Israel as a “democracy” as a matter of accepted fact in their reporting and analysis.

1.        Survey Introduction

1.1.    Scope of Part 1 Release of Survey Findings

This report constitutes the first release of results from an August 2023 survey probing the knowledge and familiarity of Canadians on issues related to Palestine and Israel. The results presented in this report constitute about 20% of the complete survey’s findings. In the coming months, the remainder of the survey findings will be released.

1.2.  Survey Methodology

EKOS Research Associates (EKOS),[1] an experienced public opinion research firm, was hired to conduct an online poll to better understand Canadians’ knowledge of issues related to Palestine and Israel. Between August 2–10, 2023, a random sample of 1,089 Canadian adults from EKOS’ online panel, Probit, aged 18 and over, completed the online survey. The survey was made available to all respondents in either English or French. The margin of error associated with the sample is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error increases when the results are sub-divided.

EKOS statistically weighted all the data by age, gender, education, and region to ensure the sample’s composition reflects that of the actual population of Canada, based on 2021 census data. It is important to note that survey results were also cross-tabulated by these same demographic categories. Readers interested in the detailed breakdowns by demographic cross-section may consult the detailed survey results found at https://www.cjpme.org/survey2023.

The survey results in this report are reported with residuals (“don’t know” and “no response”) both included and excluded, where noted. The full data set, both with and without residuals can be found at https://www.cjpme.org/survey2023.    

2.     Canadians view Israel in terms of apartheid, not a vibrant democracy

2.1.  Apartheid as a Description of Israel

Over the past several years, there has been a growing consensus in the human rights community that Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians amounts to “apartheid.” Apartheid is an Afrikaans word which was initially used to describe the former system of racial segregation in South Africa. It has since been defined as a “crime against humanity” under international law and is alleged to be found where regimes commit “inhuman acts” with the intent to maintain an “institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group.”[2]

In February 2022, Amnesty International published a landmark report concluding that “Israel has established and maintained an institutionalized regime of oppression and domination of the Palestinian population for the benefit of Jewish Israelis – a system of apartheid – wherever it has exercised control over Palestinians’ lives since 1948.”[3] Similar conclusions of “apartheid” have been published in reports by Human Rights Watch,[4] Israel’s largest human rights organization B’Tselem,[5] and the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.[6]  While there has been a notable recent shift in mainstream organizations and figures willing to use this language,[7] Palestinians have been using the analysis of apartheid for decades to describe their experiences of oppression.

While a small number of Canadian Members of Parliament have acknowledged these findings of apartheid, including the leadership of the NDP and GPC,[8] the Trudeau government has dismissed them out of hand. Following the publication of Amnesty’s report, Canada issued a statement saying that it “rejects the view that Israel’s actions constitute apartheid”[9] but did not provide any explanation for this position. According to internal documents obtained under the Access to Information Act, Global Affairs Canada (GAC) officials did not identify any specific issue or criticism with Amnesty’s report that would justify rejecting its findings. Regardless, GAC officials bluntly concluded that the report “will not alter Canada’s engagement with Israel.”[10]

Instead of acknowledging the grave conclusions from human rights organizations on Israelis apartheid, Canadian officials continue to refer to Israel as a democracy. For example, as recently as April, 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau referred to a “shared commitment to democratic values” between Israel and Canada.[11] At times, this sentiment has been expressed enthusiastically: Prime Minister Stephen Harper described Israel as a “vibrant democracy” in a speech to the Israeli Knesset in 2014,[12] a term that has also been used by Irwin Cotler, Canada’s Special Envoy on combatting antisemitism,[13] and which has been evoked in Parliament by both Liberal and Conservative members.[14] The language of “vibrant democracy” is also promoted by Canadian pro-Israel organizations[15] and by the Israeli government itself.[16]

Journalistic coverage of this issue has also been subpar, with news reports very rarely citing the apartheid reports from the human rights sector and routinely describing Israel’s “democracy” as a matter of accepted fact. As a case in point, the media framing in ongoing coverage of Israel’s judicial overhaul depicts the proposed legislative changes as a potential threat to Israel’s democratic character, but takes as given the assumption that Israel can be considered a democracy in the first place.[17]

Nevertheless, other observers are increasingly realizing that such framing is inadequate. An open letter signed by more than 2,000 scholars in Israel, Europe, and North America has forcefully argued that "there cannot be democracy for Jews in Israel as long as Palestinians live under a regime of apartheid.”[18]

Israel’s supporters, for their part, have attempted to shut down any discussion of the issue entirely, by arguing that the accusation of “apartheid” is extreme, fringe, and potentially even antisemitic. Ahead of the publication of Amnesty’s report, for example, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) called the report “an antisemitic diatribe.”[19] However, there are previous indications that Canadians do not find such arguments credible. An EKOS poll in 2020 found that 69% of Canadians don’t believe that comparing Israeli policy to South African apartheid is antisemitic.[20] To CJPME’s knowledge, no other survey has evaluated the opinion of Canadians on the question of apartheid in the context of Israel.

A broader discussion of the concept of democracy, and its relationship to apartheid in Israel, is beyond the scope of this report.[21]

2.2.      Survey Question

This survey sought to find out what average Canadians think about the democratic character of Israel, given the competing claims describing it as a democracy versus the emerging view that Israel is practicing apartheid. It also sought to determine the popular impression of the apartheid label given the lack of attention that these findings have been given by most Canadian institutions, on top of the attempts by political actors to dismiss or suppress them.

Notably, this survey was conducted in the summer of 2023, amid Israel’s “democracy protests” against Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul agenda, which was widely interpreted in media reports as a possible threat to Israeli democracy. During this same period, Israel’s supporters in Canada have tried to portray the popularity of these anti-government protests as evidence of the vitality of Israeli democracy.[22] The prominence of these discourses across Canadian media may have influenced the perspective of respondents.

In order to compare our results with recent US polling data, the survey used a question identical to one used by a University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll which was conducted by Ipsos from March 26 to April 5, 2023, which had 1,203 respondents (margin of error 3.2%).[23] The specific wording of the original question and polling options were unchanged in order to allow for a direct comparison of results.

Canadians were asked the following question:

You may have been following recent developments in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. In your opinion which of the following is closer to describing the way Israel looks to you:

• A vibrant democracy
• A flawed democracy
• A state with restricted minority rights
• A state with segregation similar to apartheid

2.3.      Detailed Survey Findings

2.3.1.        Survey findings with residuals (“I don’t know” and no response) included

The survey results reveal that Canadians are over three times more likely to view Israel as “a state with segregation similar to apartheid” than to view Israel as a “vibrant democracy.” Following the respondents who said “I don’t know” (29%), the most popular answer was “a state with segregation similar to apartheid” (27%), which was the only answer chosen by over a quarter of Canadians. The next most popular answer was “a flawed democracy” (22%), followed by “a state with restricted minority rights” (14%). Only 8% of Canadians said they view Israel as a “vibrant democracy.”

Combining related categories together, one can see that there are more Canadians who described Israel as a state either with apartheid or with restricted minority rights (41% combined) than there are Canadians who described Israel as a democracy, either vibrant or flawed (30% combined).

This is a trend that crosses party lines. Among supporters of every political party except for the CPC, apartheid was the top choice to describe Israel.

• Among NDP supporters, almost half (49%) view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid, with 16% who view it as a state with restricted minority rights and 12% who view it as a flawed democracy. 0% of NDP supporters said that Israel was a vibrant democracy.
  
  
• Among BQ supporters, 42% view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid, compared to 22% who view it as a state with restricted minority rights and 16% who view it as a flawed democracy. 0% of BQ supporters said that Israel was a vibrant democracy.
  
  
• Among GPC supporters, one third (33%) view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid, compared to 15% who view it as a state with restricted minority rights and 27% who view it as a flawed democracy. 0% of GPC supporters said that Israel was a vibrant democracy.
  
  
• Among Liberal supporters, over one quarter (26%) view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid, compared to 20% who view it as a state with restricted minority rights and 25% who view it as a flawed democracy. 6% of Liberal supporters said that Israel was a vibrant democracy.
  
  
• CPC supporters were the sole exception to this trend, with only 8% who said Israel was a state with segregation similar to apartheid, compared to 10% who view it as a state with restricted minority rights and 32% who view it as a flawed democracy. 19% of CPC supporters said that Israel was a vibrant democracy.

2.3.2.     Survey findings with residuals (“I don’t know” and no response) excluded

Excluding residuals (“I don’t know”) to focus on those respondents who have formed an opinion, one sees that a significant percentage of Canadian respondents (38%) view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid. The next most popular responses were “a flawed democracy” (31%), “a state with restricted minority rights” (20%), and “a vibrant democracy” (11%).

By combining related categories, one sees that most Canadians do not view Israel as a democracy. A majority (58%) of Canadians view Israel either as a state with apartheid or with restricted minority rights. Less than half (42%) of Canadians said that they view Israel as a democracy, either vibrant or flawed.

If one continues to exclude residuals (“I don’t know”):

• By age, almost half (48%) of Canadians between 18–-34 view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid. This number declines somewhat among successively higher age groups while remaining a significant response; apartheid was the top choice chosen by 44% of those 34-44 and 39% of those 45–54. It was also the second choice of those 55–64 (29%) and those over 65 (27%), which had put “flawed democracy” in top place.
  
  
• By political party, a significant majority (64%) of NDP supporters view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid, as did a majority (53%) of BQ supporters and a plurality (44%) of GPC supporters. Liberal supporters were split between apartheid and a flawed democracy, both of which were at a third (33%), while only 12% of CPC supporters chose apartheid.
  
  
• As an outlier group, 27% of CPC supporters said that Israel was a vibrant democracy, compared to 8% of Liberal supporters. 0% of NDP, BQ, or GPC supporters described Israel as a vibrant democracy.

2.3.3.      Comparing survey results to the United States

One can also compare the findings to the results of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll which asked Americans an identical question earlier this year.[24]

Looking at the US results, it is notable that a much larger number of Americans chose “I don’t know” (56%). Of the remaining respondents, 13% of Americans said they viewed Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid, 7% said a state with restricted minority rights, and 13% said a flawed democracy. 9% of Americans said that Israel was a vibrant democracy.

Excluding those who said “I don’t know,” however, nearly one third (31%) of Americans who provided an opinion said that they view Israel as a state with segregation similar to apartheid, while 16% view Israel as a state with restricted minority rights, and 31% view Israel as a flawed democracy. 22% said that Israel was a vibrant democracy. Among Democratic Party supporters, 44% said that Israel was a state with apartheid, and only 6% said it was a vibrant democracy. Comparatively, 41% of Republican supporters said that Israel was a vibrant democracy, but 20% said it was apartheid.

Therefore, comparing the respondents in the two countries presents some interesting findings. Canadians are more likely than Americans to say that they view Israel as apartheid (38% to 31%), and less likely to say that Israel is a vibrant democracy (11% to 22%).[25] In both countries, the percentage of respondents who said that Israel was a “flawed democracy” is roughly the same, at just under a quarter (30% to 31%). In both countries, there is significant support for the “apartheid” view within centre-left political parties; in Canada, 33% of Liberal and 64% of NDP supporters view Israel in terms of apartheid, compared to 44% of Democrats in the US.

3.     Discussion and Recommendations

There is a growing recognition in the international community that Israel’s practices amount to apartheid. These survey results show that a significant percentage of Canadians also hold this view, and that they are over three times more likely to view Israel in terms of apartheid than as a vibrant democracy.

Of those who provided an opinion, less than half of Canadians said that they view Israel as a democracy, either vibrant or flawed. This is a significant departure from the way that Israel is usually discussed by Canadian politicians and news media.

This acceptance of the “apartheid” term is higher than one might expect given the tendency of Canadian politicians and news media to dismiss, ignore, or suppress this view. This indicates that political leaders and the media are out of touch with the perspective of average Canadians. It also suggests that this number could be higher if the findings of the human rights community were more widely discussed and given the attention they deserve.

While no historical polling data exists on this question, it seems likely that this opinion has become increasingly popular in recent years given the mainstream adoption of the term by human rights groups. It may also be due to changing attitudes around Israel’s ongoing use of brutal armed force against Palestinians in Gaza, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and pre-1967 Israel itself. It is entirely possible that such attitudes could sharpen with time, as nearly half of Canadians between the ages of 18–34 view Israel in this way.[26]  

Despite the efforts of Israel’s supporters to dismiss the apartheid term as fringe or extreme, these survey results show that is the first choice for how Canadians describe Israel. It is those who see Israel as a vibrant democracy who hold the fringe position. Ultimately, when Canadian political leaders and media ignore credible analyses asserting that Israel practices apartheid, they demonstrate that they are out of touch with the largest segment of the public.

Until now, Canadian policymakers have chosen to ignore or dismiss the growing consensus that Israel’s practices against the Palestinians amount to apartheid. With a significant percentage of Canadians viewing Israel in terms of apartheid, however, parties ignore this reality at their own risk, both in the viability of their party platforms and at the ballot box. This is especially the case within political parties such as the NDP or the BQ, where it is already the majority view, but is also relevant for the LPC, whose policies are largely out of sync with its voter base.  

CJPME recommends that Canadian institutions, from parties to news media, should re-examine their approach towards Israel and the Palestinians so that they 1) are more in-tune with the realities on the ground in Palestine-Israel, 2) are more informed by the credible reports of Israeli apartheid from human rights organizations, and 3) are more reflective of public attitudes and concerns on the question of Palestine-Israel.   

To that end, CJPME recommends that the Canadian government should:

1. Acknowledge the rigorous analysis of human rights organizations on the ground, and publicly condemn the Israeli government for its crimes of apartheid. Some of the key reports on this topic include:
   • United Nations Human Rights Council, “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territory Occupied Since 1967, Michael Lynk” (August 2022)[27]
   • Amnesty International, “Israel’s Apartheid Against Palestinians: Cruel System of Domination and Crime against Humanity” (February 2022)[28]
   • Human Rights Watch, “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution” “(April 2021)[29]
   • B’Tselem, “A Regime of Jewish Supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is Apartheid” (January 2021)[30]
   • Yesh Din, “The Occupation of the West Bank and the Crime of Apartheid: Legal Opinion” (June 2020)[31]
   • Al-Haq et al., “Joint Parallel Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination” (November 2019)[32]
     
     
2. Support the re-establishment of the United Nations Special Committee against Apartheid. This committee, which was active from 1962 to 1994, was established by the UN to combat apartheid in South Africa and South West Africa (Namibia). In recent years there has been a push for the committee to be reconstituted so that it may investigate the crime of apartheid wherever it may be found, including in Israel. Among the countries spearheading this proposal are post-apartheid South Africa and Namibia, who have labeled Israel an apartheid state.[33]
   
   
3. Review and revise all bilateral agreements and activities with Israel to ensure that these are not contributing to maintaining its system of apartheid. Agreements requiring review would include:
   1. The Canada–Israel Free Trade Agreement (CIFTA), which encourages trade with Israel and provides free trade benefits to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.[34] CIFTA should be suspended until Israel ends its apartheid practices against the Palestinians. Beyond this, Canada should prohibit all trade with businesses and entities involved in Israeli settlements.
   2. The Canada–Israel Agreement on Bilateral Cooperation in Industrial Research and Development (CIIRDF), which facilitates partnerships between Canadian and Israeli businesses in the area of industrial research and development (R&D).[35] At a minimum, CIIRDF should be revised to ensure that Canada does not contribute to the development of industry or technologies used by the Israeli military or otherwise complicit in the occupation of Palestinian territory.
   3. The Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership MOU, which outlines various forms of defence and security cooperation, including in the procurement of military goods.[36] Canada must suspend military trade and end all forms of defence and security cooperation with Israel until complies with international law.
      
      
4.  Stop attempting to block initiatives by Palestinians to seek justice and relief at the international level.
   1. Canada should drop its opposition to an investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into alleged war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.[37]
   2. Canada should drop its opposition to the pending advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) into the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation, settlement activity, and annexation of Palestinian territories.[38]
   3. Canada must end its practice of routinely voting against any UNGA resolution which it perceives to be critical of Israel, and start voting in support of all resolutions which uphold the human rights and well-being of Palestinians.[39]

CJPME recommends that journalists and news editors should:

1. Cite the reports on apartheid from human rights organizations more consistently as necessary context when reporting on events in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.
2. Cease referring to Israel as a “democracy” as a matter of accepted fact in their reporting and analysis. At a minimum, this should consistently be described as a contested view – with time and space provided to such alternative views.
3. Change reporting practices so that framing of news coverage better reflects the context of apartheid and the oppression of one group over another, rather than depicting events as a conflict between two equal parties, or as short-term tit-for-tat reprisals one against the other.

  
NOTES

[1] EKOS is a full-service consulting practice, founded in 1980, which has evolved to become one of the leading suppliers of evaluation and public opinion research for the Canadian government. EKOS specializes in market research, public opinion research, strategic communications advice, program evaluation and performance measurement, and human resources and organizational research.

[2] Rome Statute, Article 7(2)(h). For further discussion, see CJPME’s Factsheet No. 229, “Israel’s System of Apartheid,” August 2022, https://www.cjpme.org/fs_229

[3] Amnesty International, “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity,” February 1, 2022, p. 33, https://amnesty.ca/human-rights-news/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity/

[4] Human Rights Watch, “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution,” April 27, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution

[5] B’Tselem, “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid,” January 12, 2019, https://www.btselem.org/publications/fulltext/202101_this_is_apartheid

[6] United Nations, “Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territory is ‘apartheid’: UN rights expert,” March 25, 2022, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114702

[7] For an updated list of notable organizations and figures who have recently adopted, or expressed openness towards, the terminology of Israeli apartheid, see CJPME’s resource, “Who is talking about Israeli Apartheid?”, https://www.cjpme.org/apartheid_list

[8] See CJPME, “Who is talking about Israeli apartheid?”, https://www.cjpme.org/apartheid_list 

[9] CBC, “Claims that Israel is imposing 'apartheid' on Palestinians put new pressure on Trudeau Liberals,” May 4, 2022, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/israel-palestinian-apartheid-1.6436138

[10] CJPME, “Revealed: Canada’s Rejection Of Amnesty’s Apartheid Report Not Based On Specific Evidence, According To ATIP Request,” November 21, 2022, https://www.cjpme.org/pr_2022_11_21_amnesty_atip

[11] Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, “Statement by the Prime Minister on Israel Independence Day,” April 26, 2023, https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/statements/2023/04/26/statement-prime-minister-israel-independence-day

[12] CBC News, “Stephen Harper’s speech to the Israeli Knesset,” January 20, 2014, https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/stephen-harper-s-speech-to-the-israeli-knesset-1.2503902

[13] Irwin Cotler (@IrwinCotler) on Twitter, “As the Jewish homeland, and a vibrant democracy guaranteeing equality to all its citizens, Israel has a unique and important role to play in the global struggle against this oldest of hatreds. 2/4”, April 11, 2022, https://twitter.com/IrwinCotler/status/1513659205529518085

[14] https://openparliament.ca/search/?q=%22vibrant%20democracy%22%20and%20israel

[15] For example, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) states that “CIJA believes that Israel is a vibrant democracy that must manage its own internal affairs.” Frequently Asked Questions: “Is CIJA a Zionist organization?”, last accessed August 2023, https://www.cija.ca/is_cija_a_zionist_organization

[16] Times of Israel, “Netanyahu: ‘I’d like to calm our friends — Israel will remain a vibrant democracy’,” February 19, 2023, https://www.timesofisrael.com/head-of-knesset-law-panel-us-envoy-would-stutter-if-pressed-on-overhaul-criticism/

[17] For an example of how this assumption even makes it into critical perspectives, see the op-ed by Gwynn Dyer, “Israel – The End of Democracy?”, as published in the Hill Times, July 27, 2023, https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2023/07/27/israel-the-end-of-democracy/393720/

[18] Open letter, “The Elephant in the Room,” last accessed August 23, 2023, https://sites.google.com/view/israel-elephant-in-the-room/home?pli=1

[19] Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), “Canadian Jewish Groups Denounce Amnesty International’s Call to Dismantle Jewish State,” January 31, 2022, https://www.cija.ca/canadian_jewish_groups_denounce_amnesty_internationals_call_to_dismantle_jewish_state

[20] “Survey: Canadians Reject Branding Criticism of Israel as Antisemitic,” Conducted by EKOS Research Associates and co-sponsored by CJPME, Independent Jewish Voices Canada, and the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine-Israel, October 7, 2020, https://www.cjpme.org/survey2020_r3

[21] For example, see B’Tselem, “Not a ‘vibrant democracy.’ This is apartheid,” 2022, https://www.btselem.org/publications/202210_not_a_vibrant_democracy_this_is_apartheid; Noura Erakat and John Reynolds, “Understanding Apartheid,” Jewish Currents, 2022, https://jewishcurrents.org/understanding-apartheid; Ilan Pappe (ed.), Israel and South Africa: The Many Faces of Apartheid (London: Zed Books, 2015); Oren Yiftachel, Ethnocracy: Land and Identity Politics in Israel/Palestine (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006); Jon Soske and Sean Jacobs (eds.), Apartheid Israel: The Politics of an Analogy (Chicago: Haymarket Books, 2015); CJPME Factsheet No. 229, “Israel’s System of Apartheid,” August 2022, https://www.cjpme.org/fs_229.

[22] For example, see Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (@cijainfo) on Twitter, “Democracy in action. Hundreds of thousands gathered in #TelAviv for the 17th week in a row to protest the government’s proposed judicial overhaul. This comes days after 200,000 attended a protest in #Jerusalem in favour of the reform. No matter your opinion, #Israel shines as a beacon of democracy in the Middle East,” April 30, 2023, https://twitter.com/CIJAinfo/status/1652638180300947459.

[23] University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, “American Public Attitudes on Israel/Palestine,” conducted with Ipsos from March 26-April 5, 2023 (1,203 respondents and margin of error 3.2%). See Shibley Telhami, “Is Israel a democracy? Here’s what Americans think,” Brookings, April 25, 2023, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/is-israel-a-democracy-heres-what-americans-think/

[24] University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, “American Public Attitudes on Israel/Palestine,” conducted with Ipsos from March 26-April 5, 2023 (1,203 respondents and margin of error 3.2%). See Shibley Telhami, “Is Israel a democracy? Here’s what Americans think,” Brookings, April 25, 2023, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/is-israel-a-democracy-heres-what-americans-think/

[25] Excluding residuals (“I don’t know” and no response).

[26] Excluding residuals (“I don’t know” and no response).

[27] United Nations, “Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territory is ‘apartheid’: UN rights expert,” March 25, 2022, https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/03/1114702

[28] Amnesty International, “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel system of domination and crime against humanity,” February 1, 2022, https://amnesty.ca/human-rights-news/israels-apartheid-against-palestinians-a-cruel-system-of-domination-and-a-crime-against-humanity/

[29] Human Rights Watch, “A Threshold Crossed: Israeli Authorities and the Crimes of Apartheid and Persecution,” April 27, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/report/2021/04/27/threshold-crossed/israeli-authorities-and-crimes-apartheid-and-persecution

[30] B’Tselem, “A regime of Jewish supremacy from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea: This is apartheid,” January 12, 2019, https://www.btselem.org/publications/fulltext/202101_this_is_apartheid

[31] Yesh Din, “The Occupation of the West Bank and the Crime of Apartheid: Legal Opinion,” June 9, 2020, https://www.yesh-din.org/en/the-occupation-of-the-west-bank-and-the-crime-of-apartheid-legal-opinion/

[32] Al-Haq, BADIL, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, Addameer, the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem (CCPRJ), the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), and Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network (HIC-HLRN),“ Joint Parallel Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,” submitted November 10, 2019, https://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/16183.html

[33] Rabbie Serumula, “WATCH: SA and Namibia’s representatives at the UN HRC stand firm on labelling policies of the Israeli regime against the Palestinian people as apartheid,” Independent Online (IOL), March 29, 2022, https://www.iol.co.za/saturday-star/news/watch-sa-and-namibias-representatives-at-the-un-hrc-stand-firm-on-labelling-policies-of-the-israeli-regime-against-the-palestinian-people-as-apartheid-9a225047-4cfb-412d-814b-298f6c2b01b0

[34]  Stefan Christoff and Stuart Trew, “Canada must cancel its free trade deal with Israel,” The Monitor (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives), March 22, 2023, https://monitormag.ca/articles/canada-must-cancel-its-free-trade-deal-with-israel/; Amnesty International Canada, “Open letter urges Canada to recognize the human rights implications of CIFTA on the Palestinian people,” March 21, 2019, https://amnesty.ca/blog/israel-palestine-settlement-goods/.

[35] Government of Canada, “Agreement on Bilateral Cooperation in Industrial Research and Development Between the Government of Canada and the Government of the State of Israel,” July 2011, https://www.treaty-accord.gc.ca/text-texte.aspx?id=105299

[36] Government of Canada, “Canada-Israel Strategic Partnership,” last modified September 2022, https://www.international.gc.ca/country-pays/israel/strategic_partnership-partenariat_strategique.aspx?lang=eng

[37] Canada has repeatedly sent letters to the ICC intended to discourage the Court from proceeding with an investigation. See CJPME’s Factsheet No. 228, “ICC Investigation of war crimes in Palestine,” July 2022, https://www.cjpme.org/fs_228

[38] In July 2023, Canada sent a letter to the ICJ formally asking the court to “decline the request” from the UN General Assembly to render an advisory opinion. CJPME, “Canada’s request for ICJ to drop advisory opinion on Israeli annexation is outrageous,” August 15, 2023, https://www.cjpme.org/pr_2023_08_15_icj_letter

[39] CJPME, “Revealed: Canada’s pro-Israel voting record at the UN contradicts its own values and interests, according to GAC officials,” September 7, 2022, https://www.cjpme.org/pr_2022_09_07_pro_israel_voting

Montreal, September 6, 2023 — “Apartheid” is the most popular choice for how Canadians say that they view Israel, according to a new survey of Canadian public opinion conducted by EKOS Research Associates and sponsored by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME). Similarly, the survey found that only a small minority of Canadians view Israel as a “vibrant democracy.” CJPME believes that these findings pose a disturbing challenge to Canada’s warm relationship with Israel, which is premised on the claim that Canada and Israel share “democratic values.”

Montreal, October 17, 2022 - CJPME sent a letter to Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Youth, with concerns about the possibility that Canada Heritage may force third-party grantees to sign an attestation form in support of IHRA in order to receive government funding. This poses a serious threat to free expression and may amount to a violation of charter rights. Read the full letter below, or click here to download a PDF version.

Montreal, September 8, 2021  — This week, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) issued its “Vote 2021 Elections Guide,” evaluating the record and promises of the five largest federal parties on Palestine-Israel and other Middle East issues. The guide evaluates the parties on ten different Middle East issues according to a number of different criteria, including 1) their support for international law; 2) their consistent application of international law; 3) their eschewal of armed violence; 4) their humanitarian concern; 5) their support for representative governance; and 6) their sense of urgency in responding to crises.

Montreal, June 30, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is urging Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau to use his trip to the Middle East this week to press Israel on the impending mass expulsions of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan. Garneau will be visiting Israel and the occupied West Bank within the next few days to “advance Canada’s support towards the goal of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region and a 2-state solution.” CJPME notes that Garneau’s visit will take place as 175 Palestinian families in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan are under threat of being expelled from their homes to be replaced with Israeli settlers.

Montreal, March 24, 2021  — Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is encouraging all Members of Parliament to vote today for Private Member’s Bill C-231, “An Act to amend the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Act (investments),” which is currently at the second reading stage. If C-231 were to be adopted, CJPME expects that these new rules guiding investment would empower Canada’s Pension Plan to withhold investments from companies operating in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), which are contrary to international law and violate Palestinian human rights.

Montreal, June 16, 2020  — As Canada’s candidacy for a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) comes to a vote tomorrow, a new survey conducted by EKOS Research Associates reveals that Canadians want more from their government on foreign policy. The survey found that three out of four Canadians want their government to oppose Israel’s annexation of large parts of the West Bank, while almost half support the use of sanctions. It further shows that Canadians support increasing international contributions in several specific areas where Canada lags behind its competitors, including peacekeeping, combatting climate change, and support for Palestinian human rights.

To be sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and the other leaders of Canada's political parties:

Yesterday, the Trump administration reversed decades of longstanding American foreign policy by suggesting that Israeli colonies are legal. This is offensive, wrong, and will cost Palestinians their fundamental freedoms and right to self-determination.

We as Canadians need to express our strongest opposition.

To the Government of Canada:

WHEREAS Trump's decree ignores international law and decades of UN resolutions, 

WHEREAS Trump's decree undermines all Middle East peace efforts and jeopardizes Palestinian self-determination,

WHEREAS official Canadian foreign policy recognizes Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention,

THEREFORE, we, the undersigned petition you to immediately reject Trump's decree and condemn Israel's ongoing colonial ambitions in Palestinian territory!: