Parliament’s Two Reports on Islamophobia and Antisemitism Acknowledge Anti-Palestinian Racism While Perpetuating It

On December 10, 2024, the JUST Committee issued two reports, on tackling Islamophobia and Antisemitism, with 34 recommendations between them for the Canadian government. CJPME notes that while the former report recommends acknowledging discrimination against Palestinians, the latter defines Palestinian perspectives as antisemitic and urges universities to crack down on pro-Palestine activism, including democratic expression through principled boycotts of Israel.

“To be sure, it is a positive step forward that Parliament has acknowledged the need to identify anti-Palestinian racism. Now, Canada must adopt an appropriate definition that accurately identifies how this takes place systemically – including through expressions of Zionism such as Nakba denial,” said Alex Paterson, Senior Director of Strategy & Parliamentary Affairs for CJPME. “All of this potential progress on APR, however, is undermined if Trudeau continues to push discredited definitions of antisemitism that intentionally suppress Palestinians’ lived experiences and repress campus-based human rights defenders. Parliament is contributing to the very racism problem that it has identified,” added Paterson.

CJPME is encouraged that the JUST report on Islamophobia recommends that Canada “formally recognize discrimination towards Palestinians as a distinct group” and adopt an action plan in consultation with “Muslim, Arab and Palestinian communities.” The report discusses the issue of APR at length, including the repercussions of Islamophobia and APR for pro-Palestine advocacy.

However, CJPME is alarmed that the recommendations of the Committee’s antisemitism report are primarily focused on erasing Palestinian identity and lived experience. In particular, the report is interested in the suppression of forms of pro-Palestine protest and speech that is critical of Israel, especially on university campuses.

For example:

The report erases Palestinian lived experience by defining anti-Zionism as inherently antisemitic and seeks to protect Zionism from criticism. However, Zionism is the political ideology behind the creation of the state of Israel and the ideological justification for the Nakba. Palestinians experienced the founding of Israel as dispossession and oppression due to the Zionist forces executing a planned mass ethnic cleansing of historic Palestine. By defining opposition to Zionism as antisemitic, the report’s recommendations threaten to silence discussion of these experiences.

The report calls for political persecution against Palestinians and their allies by encouraging universities to crack down on pro-Palestine student encampments and so-called “abuse-of-podium” style demonstrations, while seeking changes to the criminal code to make it easier for police to crack down on protests.

The report calls for the erosion of the democratic rights of Palestinians and their allies by encouraging universities to oppose the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS) and academic boycotts of Israel. BDS is a Palestinian-led and non-violent movement to put economic pressure on Israel until it complies with international law, modelled on the successful example of the South African anti-apartheid movement.

The report encourages Canada to reinforce systemic racism against Palestinians by urging the federal government and other institutions to adopt the controversial and anti-Palestinian International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism (IHRA), which conflates criticism of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism. This recommendation puts the committee at odds with broad segments of civil society, including the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), which recently passed a resolution opposing IHRA and defending the 18 faculty associations that endorsed boycotts or sanctions against Israel.

“In one report, the Committee explores how anti-Palestinian racism is contributing to repression and violence against pro-Palestine advocates; in the other report, the Committee recommends treating pro-Palestine activism (including non-violent boycotts) as antisemitic, with an intent to shut it down. This is entirely incoherent and contradictory,” said Paterson.

CJPME is especially disappointed with the NDP’s decision not to provide a dissenting opinion on the Antisemitism report and its recommendations. This contradicts the recent statement from NDP critic for Diversity and Inclusion Blake Desjarlais, who opposed IHRA and suggested alternative definitions “to ensure that the federal government’s working definition is not weaponized to silence legitimate criticisms of state institutions and their actions or to deny the experiences of others.” CJPME urges the NDP to publicly condemn the report and clarify that pro-Palestine protest, including BDS, is not antisemitic and should not be opposed by the federal government.