Independent Jewish Voices Canada

Israel held its most recent elections last month (the country's 4th elections in 2 years). The dust is still settling, but what is becoming clear is that Netanyahu will likely remain as Prime Minister (despite his ongoing criminal trial for bribery & corruption charges), and we're also likely to see a swing towards an even more ethno-nationalist far-right government in the Knesset. To help shed some light on the situation, Independent Jewish Voices Toronto member Sydney Nestel has written a fabulous in-depth analysis of the election results and what they could mean for the path forward. #IsraeliElections

Facebook, the people of Gaza need to talk and you’re not letting them. The writers at We Are Not Numbers, along with so many other Palestinians, are trying to share their experiences with Zionist violence so we can all organize together for a more just world. Social media platforms should help us make these kinds of connections not shut them down. If Facebook adds Zionist to its hate speech policy, it will only build more walls that keep us apart. Tell them NOT to make ...this policy change by emailing Facebook executives at facebookweneedtotalk.org/email. #FacebookWeNeedToTalk

It’s time to speak out about racism against Palestinians as the status quo, said Michael Ratner Justice Fellow Amira Mattar in a statement. We’re demanding that the federal government hold Florida state to account because we must put an end to the erasure, dismissal, and intentional distortion of Palestinian voices.

Deir Yassin is a Palestinian village situated on a hilltop, a short distance from the west of Jerusalem. If you try to find it on a map today, you will be disappointed, as the village has been completely razed to the ground. In its place, in 1951, the newly-created State of Israel built a psychiatric health centre, making use of some of the village’s buildings that remained intact. But Deir Yassin is more than a village; its story encompasses the entire Palestinian tragedy.

Since 1982, B'nai Brith Canada has published an annual "Audit of Antisemitic Incidents" which the organization claims to be an authoritative document on antisemitism in Canada. The authors use the deeply flawed and widely rejected International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition to identify antisemitic incidents. And the IHRA definition purposefully conflates antisemitism with criticism of Israel and Zionism. As such, B’nai Brith was able to proclaim in its 20...19 report: Canadian Jews Most Targeted Group for Third Year in a Row. Sheryl Nestel of Independent Jewish Voices Toronto just published a detailed analysis B'nai Brith's audit, and found that their interpretation of the state of antisemitism in Canada is misleading at best, perhaps deliberately so. As Jews in Canada, we know that antisemitism is a serious issue and needs to be fought. But shedding light on B’nai Brith’s highly spurious reporting is important because we also know that antisemitism is being weaponized by pro-Israel groups in order to silence Palestinians and their allies. Click here to read the full report: https://www.ijvcanada.org//Sheryl-Nestel_Use-and-Misuse-of

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau put out a pretty incoherent statement for Israel's independence day today. So to help clarify what he truly meant, we added our own subtitles. PM Justin Trudeau a fait une déclaration assez incohérente pour la fête de l'indépendance d'Israël aujourd'hui. Alors pour aider à clarifier ce qu'il voulait vraiment dire, nous avons ajouté nos propres sous-titres. #YomHaatzmaut #Nakba

The misleading IHRA antisemitism definition comes with a list of 11 examples. One of their so-called examples of antisemitism includes "claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour". For the next 11 days, we will be posting examples of how the state of Israel is indeed a racist endeavour. Here is example #3. Source: https://imeu.org/article/plan-dalet... #NoIHRA #11examples #IsraelIsARacistEndeavour

Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is deeply troubled by today’s announcement from the Prime Minister’s Office that Irwin Cotler has been appointed as Canada’s Special Envoy on Preserving Holocaust Remembrance and Combatting Antisemitism. Cotler, who previously served as Canada’s justice minister and attorney general, will soon lead the Government of Canada’s delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). In appointing Irwin Cotler to this positio...n, the Canadian government further aligns itself with the highly controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism, which is being weaponized to portray supporters of Palestinian human rights as antisemitic, and to shield Israel from legitimate criticism. Unfortunately, the IHRA definition already has a long track record of suppressing Palestinian voices and Palestinian human rights advocates around the world. Read our full press release here: https://www.ijvcanada.org/cotler-press-release/ #NoIHRA #cdnpoli

Jews have a long and proud tradition of fighting for justice, and IJV is continuing in this tradition by building solidarity in our communities with the Palestinian people. And we are proud to have amazing people like Judy Rebick (founder of rabble.ca) doing the work with us! Sign up to support or become a member of Independent Jewish Voices today: https://www.ijvcanada.org/join-ijv/ #SolidarityInUncertainTimes

Irwin Cotler has long been one of the world's leading proponents of the "new antisemitism" discourse, which paints supporters of Palestinian human rights as antisemitic. His appointment today to this position is troubling. #cdnpoli

"Sous la plume de Zeiger, Gabriel Sohier Chaput s’en prenait régulièrement à la population juive des États-Unis. En 2018, il aurait tenu des propos antisémites sur le site du Daily Stormer : foutez le camp de notre pays, juifs , les universités juives détruisent l’Amérique et les juifs sont en train de perdre le contrôle sur leurs serviteurs à la peau foncée . À partir de son appartement du quartier Rosemont, Gabriel Sohier Chaput serait ainsi devenu l’un des néonazis les plus influents des États-Unis sur le web. Le Montréalais aurait également sévi sur le forum de discussion d’extrême droite IronMarch." #NoPasaran