Why is it so difficult to advocate for Palestine in Canada? What have we learned from the movement’s failures and successes? Moreover, where do we go from here?
Palestine solidarity activists grapple with these questions through a wide-ranging exploration of the movement’s various actors, approaches and fields of engagement, along with connections to national and transnational struggles against racism, imperialism and colonialism.
Despite many successes by a broad coalition across the spectrum of Canadian civil society and enjoying wider awareness than ever before, Palestine activism is also under attack like never before. Forced to contend with relentless political condemnation, media blackouts, administrative roadblocks, co-ordinated smear campaigns, legal intimidation and institutional silencing, activists doggedly continue and invite fellow Canadians to join the struggle.
Through the experiences of the contributing authors, all seasoned veterans of the movement, Advocating for Palestine in Canada offers an indispensable and first-hand view into the complex social and historical forces at work in one of the world’s most urgent issues, and one which also has huge implications for freedoms enjoyed by Canadians.
Free webinar happening March 30, 2023
On March 30, 2023, join Michael Bueckert, Libby Davies, Hassan Husseini, Michael Keefer, Nyla Matuk, Sheryl Nestel and moderator Robert Massoud.
Our panel shares their unique views and wide experiences advocating for Palestine in Canada, revealing a solid civil society movement in the face of strong institutional opposition. Our panelist share how they came to Palestine activism, why they continue and where they see the movement going.
Join us on Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT.
This event is sponsored by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), Fernwood Publishing, Another Story Bookshop, Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV). With partners Zatoun and rabble.ca.
Register for this free, online event here.
About our panel…
Michael Bueckert is vice President at Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East. He also has a PhD in Sociology with a specialization in Political Economy from Carleton University. Bueckert’s dissertation explored the opposition to boycott movements.
Chapter: Singled Out: South Africa, Israel and Accusations of Unfair Criticism
Libby Davies served as the MP for Vancouver East from 1997-2015 and is former NDP Deputy Leader and House Leader. Davies continues to be an outspoken advocate for human rights, housing, peace, and social justice. She has also been awarded the Order of Canada. Davies is the co-host of rabble’s live political panel, Off the Hill. She is also the author of Outside In: a Political Memoir.
Chapter: Foreward
Hassan Husseini is a labour negotiator with a public sector union in Ottawa. Husseini has been active in labour, social and international solidarity movements for thirty years. He also holds an MA (Carleton University) in legal studies and is planning a return to academia to complete PhD in Middle East politics.
Chapter: Campus Palestine Activism in Ottawa from the 1970s to the 2010s
Michael Keefer is professor emeritus at the University of Guelph, a former president of Association of Canadian and University Teachers of English. He has also published widely on early modern history and philosophy and on state crime against democracy and Indigenous rights.
Chapter: Knowing and Not Knowing: Canada, Indigenous Peoples, Israel and Palestine
Nyla Matuk is the author of two books of poetry: Sumptuary Laws and Stranger. She is also the editor of an anthology, Resisting Canada. Her poems have appeared in the Poetry Review, The Walrus, The New Yorker, and other journals and anthologies in Canada, the US and UK. In 2018, Nyla served as the Mordecai Richler Writer in Residence at McGill University.
Chapter: The Elephant in the Room
Sheryl Nestel has been active in Palestinian rights movement in Canada, US and Israel-Palestine for over decades. She served eleven years on the steering committee of IJV and is involved in their research program and other projects.
Chapter: Zionist Loyalty and Euro-Jewish Whiteness: Untangling the Threads of a Lethal Complicity
Our moderator, Robert Massoud, founded Zatoun, Fair Trade olive oil from Palestine in 2004. He founded Zatoun to serve as a symbol of light, hope and peace to connect Canadians to Palestine. He is invited to speak with a message of creative participation and nonviolent resistance in the struggle for a just peace for Palestine-Israel.
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