Israel does not occupy someone else’s land.

Israel is not an apartheid state.

Israel never practiced ethnic cleansing. …

No country has ever been called Palestine, and since 1964 the term has applied only to the Arabs of the land, who are not a distinct ethnic group.

This is just one example of anti-Palestinian racism promoted by the CAEF. A basic search for “Palestine” on the CAEF site turns up a few others, including:

The Arab-Palestinian “narrative” is a hoax, an appropriation of Jewish history, and is based on an ideology that has no supporting evidence. There are no ancient “Palestinian” relics in the land of Israel and no evidence of such a state.

The definition of a “Palestinian refugee” is inaccurate, and we are criticized by the United Nations and all the donor countries that continue to send millions of humanitarian and development aid to governments that fund themselves, commit fraud, and reward terrorism. It should not be accepted. A (and non-civil) civil servant who pays the people of Gaza even though he is not the government of Gaza. Refugee status assigned by UNRWA to so-called Palestinians does not require someone to have even lived on the land for more than two years.

(August 5, 2022 “Memory that does not rewrite history”)

These Israeli-born musicians are not from a country called Palestine.They are the beneficiaries of a democratic, free, multi-religious and law-abiding state called Israel, and it is a true story.

(“Letter from CAEF to City News,” July 27, 2022)

No country has ever been called Palestine, and their growing use of the label “Israel-Palestine” is another trick of their myth and bag of lies. should not be accepted. Until 1967, Arabs did not identify themselves as an ethnic group called Palestinians. They do not have a distinctive language, culture, or history that distinguishes those living in Mandatory Palestine from those living in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Until 1948, there were Jewish Palestinians and Arab Palestinians. [sic] Palestinian symbols at the time included the Star of David.

(“Palestine” is a false cause, false language and anti-Semitic campaign, May 29, 2022)

#FreePalestine is generally a genocide call to eradicate Israel. It’s not conscientious. The State of Palestine does not exist and has never existed. The so-called Arabs of Palestine will only be free if they get rid of the evil Islamist dictator who controls their lives.

(“How much can one NDP member lie in a Facebook post?”, April 20, 2022)

Vulgarity.

What the CAEF really cares about is lies, not social justice, and the Palestinian people as if they were a “genocidal” force of evil, completely cloaking Israel’s everyday criminal activities. . In doing so, it creates pseudo-versions of events that conveniently conflict with those held by major international human rights groups, from the United Nations and Betzelem to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and reproduces the “truth.” trying to invent Israel is an apartheid state, destroying the lives and heritage of the Palestinian people.

Of course, such situations may be different in a fictional world where Palestine “wasn’t a country” or just a “word”, as the CAEF has us believe.

Perplexingly, CAEF is an officially registered charity in Canada. But what are the public interests of promoting anti-Palestinian racism and erasure? Is it related to denial?

Last week, I emailed both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie. I asked to denounce the group for anti-Palestinian racism in the same way that the Canadian government rightfully denounces hate groups across the country. Is not …

This is worth noting. In August, while the Center for Community Media Advocacy (CMAC) received public funding, senior consultant Raismalouf was found to be making anti-Semitic tweets, according to Federal Diversity Minister Ahmed of his Hussen. caught my attention. Shortly thereafter, CMAC was not only condemned by the minister, but the group’s funding was also cut. Why not the same swiftness when it comes to anti-Palestinian racism?

Interestingly, one of the public supporters of CAEF’s November event is the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA). This is he is one of two groups that received a large grant from the Ontario government earlier this year..

The government press release announcing the grant stated:

“$150,000 to Israel and the Center for Jewish Affairs (CIJA) to develop bilingual classroom resources for students in grades 5-8 on the dangers of anti-Semitism; Resources will also be developed for parents on how they appear in media and online games.”

How can we trust the CIJA, which supports groups that deny both the existence of Palestine and Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine, to provide legitimate educational materials related to social justice, including anti-Semitism? What kind of business does such a group have within the democratic school that should not only be free from, but reject, the influence of all forms of anti-Palestinianism? ?

Invoking the CIJA as well as the CAEF is to downplay Palestinian judicial efforts. Most recently, it attacked the leader of Canada’s National Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh, sending emails promoting such efforts and launching a petition for the NDP to stop it. The email contains the following request to Prime Minister Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada (LPC): At least in Canada, no such party has reached strong support for Palestine, so they are pretty impressive. Nevertheless, the NDP requires his LPC to:

• Responds to reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Israeli human rights NGOs and UN, accepts recommendations to countries
• Refer murder of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to International Criminal Court
• pressure the Israeli government to stop plans to annex Palestinian territories in violation of international law
• Condemn the construction of illegal settlements, the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and the eviction of East Jerusalem, including Sheikh Jara
• Calls on Israel to stop forced eviction of villagers in Masafel Yatta
• Increase funding for the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) to assist Palestinian refugees
• condemn Israel’s undemocratic nation-state laws
• Condemn the Israeli government’s attacks on Israeli and Palestinian civil society. This includes the recent designation of six Palestinian human rights groups as “terrorists”.
• Condemn the ongoing blockade of Gaza and increase Canadian humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza
• Condemn military detention of Palestinian children and reaffirm support for the Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Vote for Human Rights in Palestine at the United Nations
• End all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements in Israel and Palestine
• Suspend all bilateral trade in arms and related materiel with the State of Israel until Palestinian rights are upheld

I have no objection to this. In fact, such demands have always pitted Palestinian activists against pro-Israeli voices aimed at denigrating and undermining them instead of demonstrating the “democratic” spirit they claim. It has been postponed for a long time in Canada where it has to be. Palestinian struggle for justice.

Both CAEF and CIJA do this. If they are truly a human rights organization, as they say, they wouldn’t. Palestinian justice is fundamentally about human rights and prohibits arbitrary detention, torture, atrocities, violence, rape, harassment, murder, displacement, and illegal occupation of Palestine (and other human rights violations around the world). It is to finish everything that characterizes it. But the actions of these groups are to divert attention from it, deny the legitimacy of those fighting to end it, and support the state of Israel, the monstrous culprit of human rights abuses.

Instead of blaming CAEF, the Canadian government supports it. “VIP speaker” scheduled at RISE UP Ottawa! Irwin Kotler is Canada’s special envoy for the preservation of Holocaust memory and the fight against anti-Semitism. This erroneously sends a false signal to the public that they can be against anti-Semitism and for Palestinian racism at the same time. Shouldn’t be surprising. Cotler himself says he is a Nakba denier, which unfortunately is still legal in Canada. The same is true for Holocaust denial, which is illegal in Canada, and understandably not.

Those of us who are genuinely concerned with fighting hate accept both Jews and Palestinians. But what we are not doing is accepting the criminal state of Israel. It is definitely not a function of the religion it claims to represent, namely Judaism, but it is impossible to take seriously given the nation’s terrible human rights record. It emanates from refusing to accept the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in the same way it does from refusing to accept (no criticism of Israel included).

It can be called opposition “Zionism” or Israeli “ultranationalism”, among many other terms. Ultimately, though, words don’t change the facts on the ground. The State of Israel is killing innocent Palestinians.

While denying this and outright demonizing (and trivializing) the Palestinian people, the CAEF has no right to call itself a “human rights” organization. There are countless other pro-Israel groups doing the same internationally. If not illegal, it is at least morally fraudulent. The group invokes the language of social justice to cover up their shared hatred of Palestine. At best, they are fake human rights groups that use imitations, “correct” PR, websites, advertisements, etc. to appear legitimate.

We don’t talk enough about this in Canadian schools. we should. Students have a right to learn about the truth, not what groups like CAEF and CIJA should teach them about Palestine. It gives students the power to reject hatred and ruins their education.