Palestine Debrief

 Anyone who has spent time arguing about Israel and Palestine on the internet knows that there is a lot of misinformation out there, which aims to obscure the reality of Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism. In this episode, Tom and Michael are joined by Rawan and Fathi, the creators of the fantastic resource website “Decolonize Palestine,” to talk about fighting the social media war, what de...

In this episode, Tom and Michael discuss some of the recent outrageous claims, assertions, campaigns and complaints of pro-Israel lobby group B'nai Brith Canada.  We start with a ridiculous announcement suggesting that the Canadian government is falling over itself to fund “antisemitic NGOs” at home and abroad.  Next, we turn to a story where they are literally trying to police the Facebook l...

In the first few hours of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many media commentators expressed disbelief that war could emerge again in Europe. War, these commentators seemed to suggest, was something that only happened in "impoverished and remote populations" in places "like Iraq" or "areas in North Africa." But the media's bias against the Middle East – especia...

There was a major BDS victory in February when the University of Toronto Students’ Association, one of the largest student unions in the country, passed a motion in support of divesting from companies that are complicit in the Israeli occupation. Tom and Michael are joined by Moe Alqasem of the Palestinian Youth Movement to discuss the vote and what it says about the state of the solidarity moveme...

Canada’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week has been prompt, forceful, and wide-ranging.  But there are obvious similarities between Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and Israel’s aggression against the Palestinians, raising questions about the consistency of Canada’s foreign policy.  In this episode, Tom and Michael examine Canada’s response to Russia’s invasion and explore the...

In 2019, the NDP removed Rana Zaman as a federal election candidate over her tweets defending Palestinians during the 2018 Gaza March of Return. Although Rana took responsibility for the comments she made, and although she was approved to run for the Greens in 2021, she continues to face attempts to ostracize her from the public conversation. Rana joins the conversation today to talk about her exp...

Even before Amnesty published its report on Israeli Apartheid, Canada’s pro-Israel groups were dismissing it as antisemitic. But what are they saying now? Yesterday, CJPME ‘infiltrated’ CIJA’s “Has Amnesty International Lost its Way?” webinar to hear whether Amnesty’s report had caused any serious reflection among Israel’s supporters. Unfortunately,  the session was an echo chamber of denial and d...

Many Canadians contemplate running for political office one day. But what if supporting Palestinian human rights automatically disqualifies you from running for a political party? Newmarket education advocate Shameela Shakeel thought she’d be a great fit as a nominee for the Liberal Party in Ontario’s May election. But despite her long-time community activism for public education and her deep root...

Earlier this week, Amnesty International published a landmark study concluding that Israel maintains an apartheid regime of oppression and domination over the Palestinian people as a whole. To dive further into this report, Michael and Tom are joined by Nihad Ben Salah of Amnistie internationale canada francophone, who shares with us insight into the motivations behind this report, and what it wil...

In a well-research new report published today, Amnesty International has concluded that Israel maintains an “apartheid” regime of oppression and domination over the Palestinian people as a whole. Tom and Michael discuss their initial reactions to the report, and consider how Canada might respond. Links from this podcast: CJPME campaign: email politicians to act! Report by Amnesty International Who...

The past year has seen a series of incidents which highlight the Toronto District School Board’s compulsion to muzzle Palestinian perspectives.  In this episode, Tom, Michael and long-time TDSB equity veteran Tim McCaskell explore several shocking instances of anti-Palestinian racism – from the 1980s to present day.  What is the TDSB’s decades-long history of silencing Palestinian voices, what is...

Muslim Awareness Week (MAW) is a yearly week of solidarity and exchange where people are invited to learn about the achievements, contributions, aspirations and concerns of Quebecers of Muslim faith.  This year’s MAW marks the five-year anniversary of the tragic shooting on January 29, 2017 in a Quebec City mosque which left six Muslim-Canadians dead, and the first commemoration since the federal...

Desmond Tutu dedicated much of his life to the abolition of Apartheid in South Africa, but he was also a consistent campaigner against injustice everywhere, including in Palestine. Following his passing in December, Western leaders celebrated Tutu’s life, but largely ignored this aspect of his legacy.  Rev. Robert Assaly of Canadian Friends of Sabeel joins the conversation today as we talk about D...

While Palestinians, solidarity activists, and academics have been accurately describing Israel as an “Apartheid” state for many years, the number of prominent organizations and public figures willing to use this terminology increased dramatically in 2021. Will this trend continue in 2022? And what is Apartheid, anyway? Links from this podcast: Who is talking about Israeli Apartheid? (CJPME resourc...

2021 was a busy year for people involved in Palestine solidarity work in Canada and around the world. Tom and Michael discuss their picks for the worst and best moments of the past year, from Israel’s war on Gaza, to Canadian politicians calling for sanctions on Israel, and the growing popularity of the “Apartheid” word.  Subscribe to this podcast, and donate to CJPME to support the work that we d...

One year ago, Canada announced that it was purchasing a drone from Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems. Since then, more than 12,000 Canadians have spoken out against the contract, but the government has not responded to their concerns. In this episode, Tom and Michael discuss the campaign to Stop the Elbit Drone purchase. Why does Canada want this drone, and how does this purchase contribute to...

Why is it so hard to talk about Palestine in federal politics? In this episode, Tom and Michael are joined by former NDP Deputy-Leader Libby Davies, who was a trailblazer in speaking out for Palestinian rights during her 18 years as a member of Parliament. We first ask Davies how, based in Vancouver, she initially developed a concern for Palestinian human rights. We’ll then learn from Davies about...

As this year’s round of voting at the United Nations comes to a close, Michael and Tom critique Canada’s voting on resolutions related to Palestinian human rights. They also discuss recent bizarre comments by Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly regarding Canada’s UN voting, funding for Palestine refugees, and Israel’s attacks on human rights defenders in Palestine. Why is Canada so dedicated to...

In a major win for academic freedom on Palestine last month, the Canadian Association of University Teachers voted unanimously to oppose the IHRA definition of antisemitism and to defend the right to criticize Israel. In this episode, Tom and Michael are joined by Mark Ayyash to learn about how this important vote unfolded.  We’ll also talk about why IHRA is increasingly understood as a threat to...

In this episode, we recap the alarming series of events that occurred after TDSB educator Javier Davila shared anti-oppression resources about Palestinians with other educators in the Toronto school system. The saga began in May of this year, when the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians sparked mass demonstrations in Canada, and ended this week with TDSB trustees voting to reject a report...

In this bonus episode, Michael and Tom provide an update to our previous episode on the Green Party and Annamie Paul. Who is interim party leader Amita Kuttner, and where do they stand on Palestinian human rights? And what did we learn from a recent public interview of Annamie Paul’s former senior advisor Noah Zatzman?  Some listeners may remember: Zatzman sparked a Green Party controversy in June...

For years, Canada’s political parties have talked about their support for a “two state solution” in Palestine-Israel, but without doing anything to address the urgent realities on the ground. In the meantime, many people believe that Israel’s actions have effectively killed any possibility of a Palestinian state. Is the two state solution dead, and if so, how should Canada respond? In this episode...

Our recent Webinar on BDS and the Labour Movement in Canada gave an eye-opening perspective on how labour activists are helping to create greater awareness within the labour movement on Palestinian human rights.  After a brief intro, we cut to the Webinar to hear Michael and his two guests, Katherine Nastovski and Hassan Husseini talk about efforts to pass BDS resolutions in different labour organ...

Tom and Michael talk about the six Palestinian human rights organizations that were criminalized by Israel in October. Many in the international community have criticized the Israeli government for falsely designating these groups as “terrorists,” but Canada’s response has been quiet. What makes these six organizations so threatening to Israel’s leadership?  How might Israel’s “terror” designation...

Tom and Michael talk about the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) controversial definition of antisemitism. Many critics say that IHRA unfairly conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. How broadly has the IHRA definition been adopted in Canada, and what are some of the legitimate concerns about its adoption? What are the implications of IHRA for the Palestinian solidarit...