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Independent Jewish Voices Canada

Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is a grassroots organization grounded in Jewish tradition that opposes all forms of racism and advocates for justice and peace for all in Israel-Palestine. Our strength comes from our members. IJV has active chapters in cities and on university campuses across the country.

Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada May 17
1982 newspaper ad in the Toronto Star. Image courtesy of author
Remembering the Committee of Concerned Canadian Jews and their fight for Palestinian rights
Paul Weinberg | A recollection and overview of the Committee of Concerned Canadian Jews, an early Canadian Jewish dissident grouping formed during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada April 7
No IHRA
NDP delegates need to stand up for what is right -- not give in to Israel lobby
Sara Rans, Rabbi David Mivasair, Sam Hersh | Two resolutions being proposed at the upcoming NDP convention are integral to the NDP's being an anti-racist and anti-colonial party.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada November 9
Image: Taylor Brandon/Unsplash
Anti-Zionism is not the same as anti-Semitism
Sid Shniad | It is essential for all to oppose anti-Semitism. At the same time, we must not allow the struggle for justice for Palestine to be impeded by deceptive misuse of the term.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada October 15
Sticker promoting bigotry which appeared in Halifax in the last weeks of September 2020. ​Image: Contributed photo
Two very different Jewish responses to bigotry: One promoting solidarity, the other promoting insularity
Larry Haiven | In the last weeks of September 2020, anonymous adhesive stickers bearing messages of bigotry appeared on utility poles and other surfaces in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada July 6
Daphna Levit presents Wrestling with Zionism: Jewish Voices of Dissent. Image: Contributed photo
'Wrestling with Zionism' gives voice to long tradition of Jewish dissent from Israel's dominant ideology
Daphna Levit | Jewish opposition to Zionism began with the inception of Zionism in Europe in the 19th century, and continues to this day.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada May 21
Palestinians crowd into checkpoint "cattle pen," Checkpoint 300, Bethlehem. Image: David Kattenburg
Canadians of conscience should not be smeared as 'anti-Semites' for boycotting apartheid Israel
David Kattenburg | By conflating boycotts and other pro-Palestinian activities with anti-Semitism, as it does in its 2019 audit of anti-Semitic incidents, B'nai Brith Canada undermines the fight it claims to champion.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada April 9
Image: Weeam Hammoudeh/Facebook
Dispatches from Palestine: COVID-19, curfews and mutual aid
Aaron Lakoff | "There are a lot of lessons that need to be learned ... and the solution needs to exist beyond national borders," says Weeam Hammoudeh, a professor and researcher in Ramallah, Palestine.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada March 19
Image: David Kattenburg
Two-faced baloney: Israel-Palestine and the rule of law in Ottawa
David Kattenburg | The Liberal government demonstrates its hypocrisy in proclaiming support for the rule of law while supporting Israel in its illegal occupation policies.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada March 12
Image: Photo by Bruce Reeve, modified by Independent Jewish Voices Canada
Say no to Bill 168: open letter to the honourable members of the Ontario legislature
Michelle Weinroth | Open letter urging members of the Ontario legislature to vote against a private member's bill in support of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of anti-Semitism.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada January 15
Image: Jagmeet Singh/Facebook
Why is Jagmeet Singh ignoring progressive voices on Palestine?
Sheryl Nestel | The NDP leader's recent remarks signal another alarming backslide when it comes to standing up for the Palestinian people.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada December 11
Image: IJV
Gazan writers organize for climate justice and liberation
Michelle Weinroth | Seemingly remote from Canadian concerns, the war on Gaza is closer to us than most think; it encapsulates the global eco-disaster we all share as inhabitants of a sick planet.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada October 2
Elections Canada poll sign. Image: Dennis Sylvester Hurd/Flickr
Federal election a good time to talk about Israel and Palestine
Larry Haiven | A critique of the submissiveness of Canada's major parties to the Israel lobby, and review of recent welcome changes in the period leading up to the October 21 federal election.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada September 17
Child visits Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Image: Lisa Leonardelli/Flickr
'Holocaust to Resistance' documents a life well lived
Sid Shniad | A review of Suzanne Weiss's memoir "Holocaust to Resistance" describing the connections between her experience as a Holocaust survivor and her struggles against injustice.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada September 3
Image: Independent Jewish Voices Canada
Government inaction on anti-Palestinian charity reflects Canada's racist power structure
Tyler Levitan | A description of the anti-Palestinian character of the Jewish National Fund, and a call to Canadians to challenge its immunity from criticism in Canadian society.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada June 28
Independent Jewish Voices Canada condemns NDP removal of federal candidate for tweets criticizing Israel
Independent Jewish Voices Canada | IJV Canada calls out the NDP for removing Rana Zaman from the party's candicacy for her tweets critical of Israeli policy.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada June 18
Anti-racism demonstration in Montreal, Nov. 2017. The placards read, “Without Fear, Without Hate,” “Fraternity Without Borders." Photo: Scott Weinstein
Against our petro-state's war on women, Iran and the Earth
Scott Weinstein | An examination of the links between patriarchy, racism, capitalism and environmental destruction, and a call to resist all of these together.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada May 20
The author underground at Psagot Winery, tasting their fine chardonnay. Image: David Kattenburg
Label the occupation: Winnipeg-based activist takes wine labelling case to court
David Kattenburg | A demand that wines produced in the post-1967 occupied Palestinian territories not be labelled "Product of Israel" makes its way to court this week in Toronto.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada May 15
Counter-protest against UJA Walk for Israel, 2018. Photo credit: Raghd Hamzeh
Unconditional support for Israel is unconditional support for injustice
Sheryl Nestel | A protest against Canadian apologists for Israel's occupation policies and human rights violations at the United Jewish Appeal's Walk for Israel.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada May 2
Linda Sarsour and Harold Shuster. Photo: Tyler Blashko
Freedom of expression is central to our democracy
Harold Shuster, Sid Frankel | Freedom of expression is central to our liberal democracy. The state has no right to intervene in events like the panel discussion with Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada April 26
Photo: Festival of Faiths/Wikimedia Commons
Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour deserves to speak in Winnipeg
Rabbi David Mivasair | A defence of Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour in the face of attacks against her.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada February 22
Sydney Nestel at a protest of the UJA-Toronto Walk with Israel, May 27, 2018. Photo: Raghd Hamzeh.
Trudeau seriously out of step with Canadian attitudes towards Israel's violations of Palestinian human rights
Sheryl Nestel | A critique of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's uncritical support of Israeli policies -- a stance at odds with that of many Canadians, including Jewish-Canadians.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada December 15
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ukraine, Dec. 2017.
Friends of Freeland's hardly friends to Canadian Jews
Judy Haiven | Description of fascist and anti-Semitic tendencies in Ukrainian state and military, to which Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland turns a blind eye.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada November 10
Holocaust survivor urges solidarity and justice
Suzanne Berliner Weiss | Justine Trudeau's recent apology to Jewish refugees rings hollow when he also denounces the non-violent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada September 17
Antisemitism is more complex than political criticism of Israel
Lia Tarachansky | Many don't understand that Israel/ עם ישראל (the Jewish collective identity), the State of Israel (founded in 1948), and the government of Israel are separate, although they sometimes overlap.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada September 16
JDL supporters do not represent my Judaism
SandraLaya Ruch | On August 29, 2018, Ruch witnessed actions by Jews that she found almost as appalling as the atrocities the Israeli government and army perpetrate against the Palestinians.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada August 23
“The World Is Too Small For Walls.” Graffiti on a concrete block in front of the apartheid wall in Bethlehem. Photo: Laurence Chiasson
An open letter to a student thinking about walking out of their 'Birthright' trip to cross the wall
Laurence Chiasson | An article in solidarity with participants on a Birthright Israel tour who left the tour to witness the lives and experiences of Palestinians.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada August 2
Muhammed Abu Marzouk
Canadians need a reality check about who exactly experiences hate crimes
Judy Haiven | Contrary to what groups like B'nai Brith Canada would have us believe, the main targets of violence in Canada are not Jews, but people of colour.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada July 20
Knesset in Jerusalem, July 31, 2001. Avishai Teicher, via PikiWiki-Israel free image collection project. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Passage of new law ends the debate: Israel now officially an apartheid state
Corey Balsam, Sid Shniad | While this new law doesn't change much in practice, it should lay to rest any remaining illusions about Israel's true nature.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada July 17
Jewish Voice for Peace statement on anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism and criticism of Israel are not the same
Reuben Roth | A critique of attempts by apologists for Israeli state policies to label criticism of Israeli policies as anti-Semitic.
Blog - Independent Jewish Voices Canada June 27
Janelle Monae performs at the 2012 TD Ottawa Jazz Festival, June 23, 2012. Photo: Brian Goldschmied. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Open letter to the Ottawa Jazz Festival
Concerned Residents of Ottawa, Amy Kishek, Geneviève Nevin, Trevor Purvis, Bill Skidmore | An open letter to the Ottawa Jazz Festival regarding its partnership with the State of Israel.

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