Meric Gertler's Anti-Palestinian Racism and Genocide Denialism

 

There is a systemic problem of Anti-Palestinian Racism, manifesting most viciously in genocide denial, at the University of Toronto. This problem stems from the institution’s highest level of power: the office of University President Meric Gertler. On September 23, Gertler gave a speech at the “Conference on Historical and Contemporary Antisemitism,” in which he whitewashed Israeli crimes while dehumanizing Palestinians. In his address, Gertler laid the groundwork for suppressing pro-Palestine speech on campus, saying UofT will “clarify” its definition of antisemitism while suggesting pro-Palestine activists use the word “Zionist” as a substitute for “Jewish.”

We feel no need to defend ourselves from baseless accusations of antisemitism, which are deeply offensive to both our Palestinian and Jewish comrades, yet we do want to illustrate how Gertler’s speech exemplifies Anti-Palestinian Racism and genocide denialism.

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People demonstrating at a $1500-per-plate Liberal Party fundraiser

 

As actionists continue to disrupt the likes of PM Justin Trudeau pretending that he can go on business as usual, and while activists continue to amplify their demands - Lebanon is under attack. G@z@ and the West Bank are still being bombarded.

$1500 - that’s how much each guest at Trudeau’s fundraiser paid to get in. Not a single one showed any remorse or shame. Trudeau - again - had to utilize his militant arm (police) to shove actionists aside to he could shake hands and take selfies with the upper class.

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Prof’s Palestine Motions Target Of Alleged Hack And Legal Challenge

 

“It’s not only the suppression of pro-Palestinian speech; it’s the suppression of our academic freedom and our ability to stand in solidarity.”

First, a routine vote by members of a university faculty union was targeted by an apparent hack.

Then, the vote became the subject of a legal battle at the B.C. Supreme Court over the very purpose of a union.

It’s a lot of drama for two fairly standard motions that urged Simon Fraser University (SFU) to condemn Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s educational institutions and divest from weapons companies. But the protracted conflicts show just how high tensions have risen on Canadian campuses, and highlight the extent of the challenges faced by critics of Israel’s war on Gaza. 

“It’s not only the suppression of pro-Palestinian speech; it’s the suppression of our academic freedom and our ability to stand in solidarity” with Palestinians, whom many legal scholars believe are experiencing genocide, said Kendra Strauss, an SFU professor and labour studies program director who tabled one of the motions.

She said that the apparent hack and the legal challenge are part of a broader pattern at SFU where both staff and outside speakers have been silenced on the topic of Gaza.  (more...)

Prof’s Palestine Motions Target Of Alleged Hack And Legal Challenge

Toronto Directory: Reflecting On A Year of Genocide in Gaza

 

A year has passed by. A year since the heroic prison break by Gaza's resistance fighters that resulted in the destruction of the entire Gaza division of the Israeli army. A year since Israel used the humiliation of the morning of October 7, 2023 to put into action long-held plans to expel or exterminate the people of Gaza, and now, the West Bank and southern Lebanon.

It has been a year of protests, marches and direct actions that has shaken the political and security establishment of this appendage of the American empire. A year of shameless hypocrisy by nearly every major institution in the country employed in the defamation and vilification of the Palestinian solidarity movement, and sicced he severely bloated pigs in riot gear on protesters. Remember the Indigo 11 arrested in no-knock raids? What about the Spider-Man incident? Remember the Land Day march?  (more...)

Toronto Directory: Reflecting On A Year of Genocide in Gaza

South Africa condemns Israel for escalating military actions across the Middle East

 

South Africa has raised concerns about Israel's actions, emphasizing that the region's most vulnerable populations are bearing the brunt as chaos deepens in the Middle East. RT’s Noluvuyo Kunge reports.

ANALYSIS: After the U of T Encampment

 

The pro-Palestinian encampment at U of T ended in June, but the movement behind it continues on campus. A student organizer reflects on where things are at now, lessons learned and what’s next.

What is in store for the Palestinian solidarity movement at the University of Toronto (U of T) after the encampment?

Here I hope to offer a reflection on how we can use what was built through almost a year of organizing to move forward.

During the two months of the encampment, we held leverage and power that we wielded to try to gain our demands.

The university, scrambling to shut us down, filed an injunction request. This marked a clear shift in their attitude towards us, showing their readiness to sic Toronto police on students, faculty and staff peacefully protesting a genocide.

Since then, the university and the state have only escalated their authoritarian crackdowns on protests. During orientation week, terrified that students might set up another encampment, the university was crawling with both Toronto Police Services (TPS) and campus security.  (more...)

ANALYSIS: After the U of T Encampment

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Israel’s Secret Campaign to Combat Boycotts in Britain

 

Exclusive: Israeli officials lobbied the UK government to undermine peaceful pro-Palestine activism, leaked files show.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government waged a secret campaign to stop Britain boycotting trade with Israel, Declassified can reveal.

Leaked files show Israeli officials held a high-level “sensitive” meeting about the issue with Conservative politician Michael Gove when he was justice secretary in 2015.

The discussion focussed on how to combat the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which targets products made on illegally occupied Palestinian land.

It was part of a series of Israeli steps that included attempts to defund British charities and commission advice from powerhouse law firms.

The leaked emails and memos originate from a hack of the Israeli ministry of justice by a group called “Anonymous for Justice”. The dataset was subsequently published by Distributed Denial of Secrets.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal told Declassified: “The revelation that Israeli ministers secretly lobbied Michael Gove is deeply concerning both in confirming the willingness of UK governments to support Israel’s attempts to avoid accountability for its violations of international humanitarian law, and to subvert British democratic processes”.  (more...)

Israel’s Secret Campaign to Combat Boycotts in Britain

Justin Trudeau, Joe Biden's "yapping chihuahua"

 

On October 1, 2024, following Iran's retaliatory missile strikes on Israel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that he "unequivocally condemned" Iran's attack and that Israel had a "right to defend itself". 

Trudeau used no such language when Israel destroyed Iran's Syrian Embassy in April of this year: Trudeau did not condemn Israel's criminal act, nor did he acknowledge that Iran has a right to defend itself. 

Nonetheless, despite condemning Iran and reiterating his support for Israel's right to 'self-defence', Trudeau called for de-escalation in West Asia.

Canadian author and activist Yves Engler spoke with Dimitri Lascaris about Trudeau's latest parroting of Washington's line. According to Lascaris, Justin Trudeau now behaves like Joe Biden's "yapping chihuahua", and Trudeau's unequivocal support for Israel's genocidal regime will do nothing to advance peace in the region.

Canada’s Failed Israel Policy Enables Regional War

 

With a regional war unfolding in the Middle East, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) decries the Trudeau government’s failed approach to Israeli belligerency over the past year.  CJPME believes that there’s a clear line between Israel’s horrific collective punishment against Palestinians following last year’s Oct. 7 attack by Hamas – considered a genocide by many – and the outbreak of regional war today.  Just hours ago, Iran launched a massive missile attack on Israel, citing Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders.  Israel’s subsequent vow of widespread retaliation will only plunge the region into greater misery and despair. 

“Canada’s strategy of acting in lockstep with the US on Middle East policy this past year has been a total failure,” declared Thomas Woodley, President of CJPME.  The US, for example, blocked a UN Security Council resolution for a ceasefire in Lebanon last week. “The failure is not theoretical.  The lives of millions of people will be devastated as a result of Canada’s indifference to Israel’s brutal violence,” added Woodley.  CJPME notes that the lives of millions of Palestinians, Lebanese and Israelis have already been disrupted by the violence, yet Canada has failed to publicly pressure the US or Israel to curb the violence.  Worse, Canada has been equivocal about whether it will even support international efforts at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and International Criminal Court (ICC) to hold the actors in these conflicts accountable.

“At each major juncture over the past twelve months, the Trudeau government has avoided holding Israel accountable,” continued Woodley.  “Canada has failed to publicly condemn the genocidal comportment of the Netanyahu government.  It has failed to condemn Israel’s reckless and illegal violence in Lebanon.  It has failed to take decisive action to withhold arms from Israel.  It has failed to support international resolutions and action at the UN, the ICJ and the ICC.  It has failed to review and cancel key bilateral agreements with Israel.”  CJPME points out that just yesterday, given Israel’s violence in Lebanon, Belgium called for EU sanctions on imports from Israeli settlements.  (more...)

Canada’s Failed Israel Policy Enables Regional War

Diana Buttu: Gaza Genocide Turns One

 

In this conversation, Diana Buttu discusses the alarming rise of Israel's right-wing government and the implications for Palestinians. I went back and reread Buttu’s New York Times piece from December 13, 2022. It was eerie how she predicted what was to come, regardless of the October 7 attacks. I asked Diana to reflect on her Op-Ed predicting the current situation, the normalization of genocide, and the power dynamics at play. Buttu critiques the portrayal of Israel as a victim and the erasure of Palestinian history, while also addressing the futility of the two-state solution. We also spoke about the disturbing reality of entertainment in genocide and the complicity of the international community, particularly Canada's stance.

The global order and the value of human life

 

We live in a world in which wealthy imperialist countries dominate and exploit the nations that are poor and oppressed

As the genocide in Gaza drags on month after month, a number of commentators have justifiably pointed to the dehumanization of the Palestinians, not only by Israel but also by politicians and conventional media in much of the Global North, as a root cause of the unfolding horror. Back in June, for example, Brice de le Vingne, head of the Doctors Without Borders Emergency Unit in Gaza, noted, “Since October (and certainly before), the dehumanization of Palestinians has been a hallmark of this war. Catch-all phrases like ‘war is ugly’ act as blinders to the fact that children too young to walk are being dismembered, eviscerated and killed.”

Such comments reflect the obvious reality that a sustained process of slaughtering civilians with weapons supplied by Western governments would not be possible without an assumption that the lives of the victims are sufficiently cheap to render them expendable. This has now been reinforced by Israel’s monstrous “pager attacks” in Lebanon. The United Nations has concluded, “Such attacks could constitute war crimes of murder, attacking civilians, and launching indiscriminate attacks, in addition to violating the right to life.”

To drive home how the large scale booby-trapping of electronic devices, some of which must inevitably explode in public places, rests on a presumption that the lives of the victims are of little account, it is only necessary to carry out a simple mental exercise. If we imagine a situation in which such a tactic were to be employed by a foreign intelligence service in any major city in the West, it’s not hard to envision the kind of response that would ensue: the outrage would be unrestrained and the reprisals would be swift and severe. Yet, such a vile crime against humanity is tolerated when it happens in Lebanon.

“The industry standard is to dehumanize Palestinians,” observes Palestinian writer and poet Mohammed El Kurd in an article for The Nation on the attitudes of Western media. “Our grief is negligible; our rage is unwarranted. Our death is so quotidian that journalists report it as though they’re reporting the weather. Cloudy skies, light showers, and 3,000 Palestinians dead in the past 10 days. And much like the weather, only God is responsible: not armed settlers, not targeted drone strikes.”  (more...)

The global order and the value of human life

Open Letter to Educators: The ADL is not a social justice partner

 

The Anti-Defamation League misrepresents itself as an expert on antisemitism and bias when, in fact, it is a divisive political interest group that unconditionally supports Israel. Educators should cut all ties with the ADL.

As longtime educators and advocates for educational excellence, we embrace the importance of supporting schools to tackle urgent questions of racism, injustice, and all forms of bigotry. We believe all our students have the right to be safe, to belong, and to develop as critical thinkers and constructive advocates in our diverse world. 

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has long marketed itself as an expert advisor to school communities on antisemitism and other forms of bias. However, despite its reputation as a civil rights organization, the ADL is not the social justice educational partner it claims to be. 

The ADL is a divisive political interest group that:

• sidelines historical, contextual, and systemic analyses of bias and racism in their curricula, focusing instead on individual feelings and actions; 
• restricts genuine inquiry in classrooms with pedagogy and content that leave little room for truly questioning assumptions and debating diverse perspectives on a wide range of topics;
• distorts the definition of “antisemitism” in ways that stoke fear among many Jews and pit Jewish comfort against Palestinian rights;
• pushes local, state, and federal educational policy that defends Israel at the expense of the rights of Palestinians, other people of color, and Jews who reject ethnonationalism;
• attacks schools, educators, and students with bad-faith accusations of antisemitism in order to silence and punish constitutionally-protected criticism of Israel and the political ideology of Zionism.  (more...)

Open Letter to Educators: The ADL is not a social justice partner

Covert Zionist cut-outs

 

In today's episode we'll be highlighting how billionaire Zionists are misusing their wealth to fund a disinformation campaign to fool the public about what's really going on in Palestine.

In our first report Latifa Abouchakra identifies the ringleaders of this malicious mega-rich gang of Zionist cranks.

Later in the show we look at the activities of a shadowy Israeli political marketing firm and who is funding it.

Pro-Israel ‘charities’ flout tax laws with seeming impunity

 

United Israel Appeal is the most important Israel-focused charity in Canada. Its violation of tax law highlights the hubris of Zionist charities, which have received billions of dollars in public subsidy over the years.

UIA is the principal Israel funding arm of Canada’s Jewish federations. With billions of dollars in assets the federations oversee community centres, museums and other facilities. They receive tens of millions of dollars annually in government grants (and tens of millions more through tax receipts to donors). The federations claim half of all Canadian Jews as supporters. The federations’ official “advocacy agent” is the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.

Since 1990 UIA has raised nearly $2 billion. Most of its money is transferred from the Toronto and Montreal Jewish federations.

During upticks in Israeli violence UIA has usually launched special fundraising campaigns. They raised $100 million as the genocide began last year.

As a complaint submitted to the Canada Revenue Agency in May detailed, UIA has largely failed to account for its wealth transfer to Israel. From 1997 to 2022, UIA indicated $1.15 billion on its T2 (international) filings but only $6.6 million of this sum identified specific entities that received the money. The CRA has allowed this wealth transfer to undisclosed recipients in Israel to go on for years.  (more...)

Pro-Israel ‘charities’ flout tax laws with seeming impunity

The saga of Western University’s Procedure 1.1: why did it come, go, and will it return?

 

On August 29, Western University administration imposed Procedure 1.1: Obtaining Authorization to Hold a Demonstration. The procedure demands that no demonstrations, including “picketing, marching, carrying signs, distribution of literature, and other related activities, usually in favour of or opposed to some action or opinion,” occur on campus without the approval of the Director of Campus Safety & Emergency Services.

Students view the procedure as stifling free speech. Faculty call it authoritarian. Legal scholars argue it may violate institutional, provincial, and federal laws, including the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. All view the procedure as a direct response to recent campus activism for human rights in Palestine.

On September 9, the administration said it will “pause” the procedure due to “concerns from the community” and will revisit the procedure within a policy review process.

Faculty say that the procedure never underwent initial consultation, a violation of due institutional process (see Consultation). They are wary that the administration will merely impose an altered version of the procedure, noting its harsh history with student protesters.

Here are the convictions from students, faculty, and a legal scholar that arguably led the administration to pause the procedure.  (more...)

The saga of Western University’s Procedure 1.1: why did it come, go, and will it return?

Canada's most significant support for Israel

 

As Israel ramps up its violence in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Yemen and the West Bank, professor Miles Howe joined Talking Foreign Policy to discuss Canada‘s most significant form of support for Israel. Hundreds of registered charities raise over a quarter billion dollars annually in subsidized donations in Israel. Recently the Canada Revenue Agency suspended the ability of the Emunim Fund to provide donors with tax credits in a move directly tied to the recent revocation of the Ne’eman Foundation’s charitable status.

U of T Alumni 4 Palestine

 

University of Toronto Alumni stand in solidarity with the demands of the students at the people’s Circle for Palestine Encampment, and amplify their call for the university to end its complicity in genocide, occupation and Israeli apartheid.

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Israel and VPNs

 

In today's episode, we ask why people should be concerned about Kape Technologies, which owns a number of the biggest virtual private network providers, or VPNs.

In our first report, we look at the man behind Kape Technologies, Israeli businessman Teddy Sagi. Later in the show, we highlight the fact that the CEO of Kape Technologies has a background with a covert Israeli military unit with a notorious reputation.

Related:

Exposed: How Israeli Spies Control Your VPN

If Canada wanted reconciliation, it would stand with Palestine

 

Canada is a settler-colonial state. Decolonization of this land means ending Canadian support for Israeli colonialism as well.

The Canadian state has tried to cultivate an image and identity as an exception among settler colonial nations—a leader in both Indigenous reconciliation and multiculturalism domestically and a neutral peacemaker on the world stage.

There’s one obvious exception to this cultivated image. Canada has made an exception of Palestine in its self-proclaimed dedication to racial equity and global human rights, supporting Israel unconditionally despite its documented apartheid, arbitrary detention and torture (including of children), forced expulsions, illegal settlements, ethnic cleansing and genocide against the indigenous Palestinian people.

“Palestine is not the exception,” says legal scholar Dr. Noura Erakat. “The rule is the colonial framework.”

Canada has a longstanding failure to respond to Indigenous and racialized voices calling for the most basic humanitarian treatment of Palestinians. Dr. Rinaldo Walcott said in October that this “exposes the bankrupt situational morality of Canadian politics in a settler-colonial country that can only but support white settler politics elsewhere as the condition of its own existence.”

The moral litmus test of Palestinian solidarity reveals the hollowness of so-called progressive policies of diversity, equity and inclusion—and reconciliation. Rather than redressing injustice, these policies have become redirections that do little to disturb structural inequities and the dehumanization of Black, Indigenous and racialized people.  (more...)

If Canada wanted reconciliation, it would stand with Palestine

Retired Canadian teachers: Divest from companies making bombs used in Gaza

 

Retired teachers disrupted the BC Retired Teachers Association (BCRTA) in Vancouver, Canada, to pressure the Teachers Pension Plan (TPP) and the BC Investment Management Corporation (BCI) to divest from companies manufacturing bombs and weapons used by Israel to attack on Palestine and Lebanon

Zionist influencers and ‘hasbara’ online

 

“Hasbara” – the Hebrew word that translates to “explanation”, “persuasion” – has been a central strategy of the Zionist movement. It’s taken the form of media-trained government spokespeople delivering soundbites on TV, PR campaigns advertising the Israeli army not just as moral but also cool, and extensive messaging on social media.

Nicholas Muirhead reports on the work of online hasbarists and how the genocide in Gaza has made their jobs a lot more challenging.

Featuring: 

• Hen Mazzig – Israeli author, commentator and influencer
• Saree Makdisi – Professor of English and comparative literature, UCLA
• Tamara Nassar  – Associate editor, Electronic Intifada
• Matt Lieb – Host, Bad Hasbara

Netanyahu Stole Jewish Identity, : Jewish Rabbi

 

Rabbi Dovid Feldman protested against Bibi Netanyahu outside his hotel at 61st St. & Park Ave in NYC on Friday, September 27, 2024. As Netanyahu came to NYC to address the United Nations, Rabbi Feldman condemned everything Israel stands for and its crimes against the Palestinian people. He also criticized Netanyahu for claiming to act in the name of the Jewish religion. Rabbi Feldman argued that Netanyahu has stolen Jewish identity, and that all of his propaganda is a total lie. He emphasized that Netanyahu does not speak on behalf of the Jewish religion.

Max Blumenthal slams Israeli-US state terror

 

At Rage Against The War Machine in Washington DC on September 28, 2024, Max Blumenthal slammed Joe Biden's endorsement of the Israeli attack that killed hundreds in order to assassinate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, and outlined how Greater Israel has grown to encompass the heart of the US political establishment.

Pretending journalists are terrorists

 

This edition of the program is about the British government's abuse of anti-terror legislation to suppress criticism of the Israeli genocide in Gaza and pogroms in the West Bank.

This attack is especially targeting journalism as the UK tries to represent journalists criticizing Israel as terrorists.

The CIA has co-opted American journalists

 

John Kiriakou is a former CIA analyst and case officer. He was the first U.S. government official to confirm that waterboarding was used to interrogate al-Qaeda prisoners. In 2012, he became the only CIA officer to be convicted for exposing the CIA's torture program.

On September 28, 2024, Dimitri Lascaris spoke with John Kiriakou about the ongoing hysteria around alleged foreign interference in Western elections. Lascaris and Kiriakou also discussed the extraordinary degree to which Western intelligence agencies now control the political discourse in the Western corporate media.

Israeli disinformation campaign

 

This edition of the program is about the Israeli operation of disinformation to try to divert the public attention from its savagery in Gaza.