Independent Jewish Voices

Israel-Palestine: What has caused the crisis and how can we bring an end to it?

IJV — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 23:54:54 +0000

To the uninitiated, the crisis in Israel-Palestine seems unbelievably complicated and impossibly difficult to solve. What's required to understand it is a glance back at some history.

Atlantic Jewish Council doesn't speak for all Jewish Haligonians on Pinkwashing

IJV — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 13:39:31 +0000

The Atlantic Jewish Council (AJC) took over Halifax Pride's Annual General Meeting the evening of October 5, packing it with over 200 people, an action that one Palestinian activist likened to "an occupation."

Halifax Pride is a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered and Queer (LGBTQ+) association whose main activity is organizing that city's Pride Week every July. The AJC is the mainstream body that claims to represent Halifax's 1,500 Jews.

Independent Jewish Voices responds to questionable Postmedia editorial

IJV — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 19:00:38 +0000

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Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), and by association, Canada's progressive movement, has come under libelous attack by the Vancouver Sun, owned by the Canadian Postmedia giant.

Banning Arabs from public pools isn't racism?

IJV — Wed, 03 Aug 2016 20:26:54 +0000

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Support for the Black Students' Network at McGill after defamatory attacks for endorsing BDS

IJV — Thu, 24 Mar 2016 13:47:52 +0000

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Justin Trudeau: Don't buy into Israeli exceptionalism

IJV — Wed, 09 Mar 2016 20:05:00 +0000

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To the Right Honourable Justin Trudeau:

"How is this night different from all other nights?"

Ten signs you might be getting slandered by accusations of anti-Semitism

IJV — Fri, 11 Dec 2015 18:33:15 +0000

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No honour or hope in Hasbara

IJV — Mon, 09 Nov 2015 17:42:02 +0000

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In response to "Independent Jewish Voices and Mine" by Rena Silver, Hasbara fellow at York University.

Netanyahu's casual absolution of Hitler was no accident

IJV — Wed, 28 Oct 2015 19:30:55 +0000

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The whole world has reacted with disbelief, if not ridicule, to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu's suggestion that the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, and not Hitler, was the instigator of the Holocaust.

The Jewish establishment's silence on Conservative fearmongering is appalling

IJV — Thu, 08 Oct 2015 20:24:28 +0000

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My grandfather came to Canada from the old country -- Poland -- during the First World War, and for the next 35 years he dressed like a typical Orthodox Jew of his day. He wore a yarmulke and a long black coat in all seasons and had a large white beard. He refused to change his facial hair and his clothing to suit Canadian tastes.

United Church stands up for justice, reaffirms its call to end Israeli occupation

IJV — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 18:17:55 +0000

The United Church of Canada’s General Council, which meets every two years, sets policy for the Church. In the course of its 2014 meeting, held in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, the Council voted to strengthen the Church's opposition to Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land.

Zionists to BDS movement: 'Shut your mouth!'

IJV — Mon, 27 Jul 2015 14:51:19 +0000

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I've been involved in the BDS movement since the 1970s, although it was not called that back then. From the 1960s onward, groups opposing the racist system of apartheid in South Africa were involved in educating Canadians as well as providing material and moral support for those struggling to end this system.

Open letter to Kathleen Wynne regarding her proposed trip to Israel

IJV — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 13:41:18 +0000

Dear Kathleen,

I apologize for referring to you so informally, but that's how I knew you back in the '90s when we both sat on the Parent Advisory Council of the Toronto Board of Education, some years before you entered the political arena. What I remember most about you from that time was that -- although we certainly didn't agree on everything -- you were always an excellent negotiator, helping our committee move to consensus despite our differences. And you always showed empathy for diverse points of view.

The inhumanity of the Gaza blockade and the need to end it now

IJV — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 18:50:31 +0000

UPDATE, June 29: Early Monday morning local time, the four ships in the Freedom Flotilla II were intercepted by Israel defence forces in international waters. According to the IDF, everyone on board has been detained. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition has as of yet been unable to contact its allies on board. Canadian Kevin Neish and former chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation, Bob Lovelace, are among those on board the flotilla.

Debunking Hasbara: Why Israel wants recognition as a 'Jewish state'

IJV — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 16:06:20 +0000

This blog post in Independent Jewish Voices' rabble.ca blog series "Debunking Hasbara" interrogates the public relations (Hasbara) claim that Israel must be recognized as a "Jewish state" in order for peace to be reached with its neighbours.

It seems like it's been around forever, but believe it or not the demand by Israel to be recognized as a "Jewish state" is only eight-years old. Indeed, it is merely the latest of a long string of ploys to make a just peace between Israel and its Arab neighbours impossible. Practically every time that its neighbours have launched a peace initiative, Israel, feeling threatened thereby, has constructed a way to up the ante so as to frustrate the project.

Canada Park: The Haunted Grounds of Our Common Past

IJV — Fri, 05 Jun 2015 12:44:43 +0000

The Nakba (catastrophe) recalls the traumatic episode of 1947-1949 when Israel’s paramilitary forces expelled more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homeland. Two decades later, during the Six-Day War, another brutal expulsion occurred. As part of this expulsion, the villages of Imwas, Beit Nuba, and Yalo (situated in the Latrun salient) were razed to the ground. Under the terror of explosive fire, the villagers fled for their lives, having been forcibly evicted within a moment’s notice. June 7, 2015 marks 48 years since that merciless assault.

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Anti-Semitism smear against Israel's critics should warrant no rebuttal

IJV — Wed, 06 May 2015 13:28:14 +0000

This is the third blog post in IJV's rabble.ca blog series "Debunking Hasbara". Terry Greenberg argues that those who employ the illogical smear of the the label "anti-Semitism" against Israel's critics are either fools or scoundrels. Their dirty trick should not warrant a rebuttal.

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Janice Stein: Please distance yourself from the Jewish National Fund

IJV — Mon, 04 May 2015 13:46:38 +0000

In a week from today, Dr. Janice Stein -- the Belzberg Professor of Conflict Management in the Department of Political Science and the founding director of the Munk School for Global Affairs at the University of Toronto -- will be speaking at an event put on by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) of Toronto. Independent Jewish Voices sent a letter to Dr. Stein on April 13, informing her of the discriminatory nature of the JNF, and urging her to distance herself from the organization. Below is the letter. We have not received any response from Dr. Stein, or any indication that the event has been cancelled. We encourage you to send Dr. Stein your own letter at j.stein@utoronto.ca.

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The double-tongued discourse of Hasbara

IJV — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 15:56:54 +0000

This blog post is the second in the IJV Rabble blog series "Debunking Hasbara".

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Harper government threat to criminalize criticism of Israel generates strong opposition

IJV — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 14:39:32 +0000

In recent years, Israel and its allies have become increasingly concerned about the growing international movement to expose and sanction Israel’s behaviour. Their chosen response appears to be one designed to intimidate and suppress this opposition through the threat or actual use of legal punishments. Nowhere has Israel's call for help in this outrageous endeavor been more enthusiastically embraced than in the government of Stephen Harper, which is an unquestioning ally of the widely reviled Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party.

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Debunking Hasbara: “Singling out Israel is a form of anti-Semitism”

IJV — Mon, 13 Apr 2015 16:07:36 +0000

In its attempts to silence and discredit those who support the rights of Palestinians, Israel and its apologists around the world depend on a set of Hasbara—otherwise known as propaganda— talking points, that aim to invert reality. In order to turn reality on its head, they must repeat these talking points ad nauseam; using well-resourced lobby groups, they pressure politicians and media to accept their spurious claims about the Palestine solidarity movement—especially the tactic of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS).

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Open letter to CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs calling for public discussion of BDS

IJV — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 15:33:56 +0000

Independent Jewish Voices – Canada (IJV) has reached out to Shimon Fogel, CEO of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, offering to engage with him in a public session on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Mr. Fogel had proposed the idea of a public session himself, but he has yet to respond to our overtures. Meanwhile, Mr. Fogel has been lobbying our MPs to support the allegation that BDS represents the "new face of anti-Semitism." Please sign IJV’s petition to Mr. Fogel calling on him to engage in an open and public discussion of the issue. Below is our open letter to Mr. Fogel.

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We should all support boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel

IJV — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 12:08:54 +0000

Last week my husband and I went to a meeting of the student union at UBC to display the Independent Jewish Voices - Vancouver banner in support of the impending vote calling on the university to endorse boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Apartheid Israel. As we were entering the student union building, I spotted a sign on the lawn that said "It's about hate, vote no to the BDS referendum."

I smiled. If this is the key argument left to the pro-Zionist side, we’ve already won.

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Pro-Israel campus activists acting as agents of state propaganda and intimidation

IJV — Fri, 06 Feb 2015 19:19:44 +0000

In May 2006, I went to Israel for the first time on a subsidized trip called Hasbara Fellowships. Having been raised with a traditional Jewish upbringing, I was very excited to go to Israel and experience the reality behind all of the hype I had been exposed to since kindergarten. The "Birthright" trips had filled up for that summer, so I was encouraged by my local chapter of Hillel at Queen's University to attend a different subsidized trip. I was enticed by the prospect of extending the trip and having the opportunity to travel throughout the region. My best friend agreed to come with me, so I made the decision to go.

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IJV congratulates Palestinians on application to join the ICC and condemns Canada’s position

IJV — Fri, 02 Jan 2015 21:32:44 +0000

Independent Jewish Voices – Canada (IJV) congratulates the Palestinian people for Palestine’s submission to the United Nations to join the International Criminal Court. This initiative will hopefully bring accountability for Israel’s criminal behaviour, and a modicum of justice for the Palestinians. We are deeply disappointed in the first press release of 2015 from Canada’s Foreign Minister John Baird, who condemned this peaceful and lawful initiative as “dangerous.”

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Critical Jews must challenge the Hasbara machine on campus

IJV — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 17:13:22 +0000

At the beginning of the current school year, the student union at Ryerson University invited IJV to have a table during the University’s orientation week. It was a beautiful fall day and the atmosphere was carnival-like, boasting healthy food stands, and organizational tables beckoning students to widen their horizons by engaging with a variety of environmental and social justice advocates. I secured the IJV banner to our table and sat down next to Ronnie Yaron, an IJV member who had volunteered to help out.

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Young Jews are fed up with censorship of critical voices

IJV — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 15:31:23 +0000

Over the weekend of October 11-13 over 300 young Jews, as well as some Palestinians, convened at Harvard for the inaugural conference of ‘Open Hillel’. Open Hillel is a movement of Jewish students on campuses across the United States to demand that Hillels (campus Jewish organizations) refrain from preventing critical discussion of Palestinian rights from happening amongst Jewish students and the rest of the campus community.

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Canadian Holocaust survivor reacts to Elie Wiesel and other apologists for Israel's crimes

IJV — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 20:10:20 +0000

On August 1, 2014, Elie Wiesel, a writer, Holocaust survivor and outspoken supporter of Zionist policy, took out an ad in the New York Times and several other newspapers defending Israel’s attack on Gaza. In response, a subsequent ad appeared in the New York Times—signed by over 300 Holocaust survivors and their descendants—criticizing Weisel’s statement.

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I am Jewish and I support the people of Gaza

IJV — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 13:46:06 +0000

At two recent demos here in Vancouver, my husband and I each held up a sign that said "I am Jewish and I support the people of Gaza." The first time my husband held it up, within minutes a Palestinian asked to take a picture of the two of them with the sign. We were both quite taken aback. Since then we have been thanked many times for carrying our signs. I now always respond with the same comment: "Don't thank me, I'm human and we’re all in this together."

I was born just after the Second World War ended, and as a young child hearing about the death camps, I asked the innocent question, how could so many die like that and no one stopped it? Of course, I'm now a lot older and wiser, and now know the answer.

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Open Letter to the Liberal Party of Canada on Gaza Massacre

IJV — Mon, 28 Jul 2014 15:02:17 +0000

Dear Liberal Party of Canada,

Whatever one thinks of the Israel/Palestine "conflict" or Hamas or whether Israel is a democracy, we have one simple question: when will you speak out against Israel’s indiscriminate killing of hundreds of civilians, including over 200 children?

The Liberal Party statement is so detached from the reality of what is taking place in Gaza right now that we have to wonder whether perhaps the second half of the statement got lost somewhere.

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