The Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians(ACJC) was formed in 2005 as a coalition of Canadian Jews critical of the policies of the Israeli government, particularly toward the Palestinians. The ACJC argued that Israel wrongly "claim[ed] to speak in the name of Jewish people around the world," and that "those of us who have a different vision" should "come forward publicly to present our views to the Canadian Jewish community and to the people of Canada."
In June 2006, the ACJC defended the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) resolution for a boycott of Israel in disagreement with the condemnation of the trade union by the Canadian Jewish Congress, an umbrella group of various Jewish organizations. CUPE Ontario president Sid Ryan cited the ACJC's support while defending his union against charges of anti-Semitism. [1]
The ACJC attempted to affiliate with the Canadian Jewish Congress in July 2006. Its application was initially rejected in August 2006, with the ACJC's defence of the CUPE resolution on Israel being cited as a reason although the ACJC did not identify with the entire contents of the CUPE resolution. Josh Rotblatt, CJC's director of operations, wrote that "no member organization of CJC can support an economic boycott of the state of Israel, not to mention approving wording which describes the nature of the Israeli state as 'apartheid.' " The decision was reviewed at a subsequent meeting of the CJC's national officers, as the result of an appeal by law professor Michael Mandel acting on behalf of the ACJC. [2] The CJC once again refused to accept the ACJC's application.
In response to the group's exclusion, ACJC Administrative Secretary Abraham Weizfeld said that the CJC had become dominated by sectarian forces, adding that the "CJC's refusal to include all tendencies in the Jewish community should be seen as a futile attempt to marginalize growing Jewish opposition to Israel's behaviour and to the exclusive character of the Israel State". Weizfeld also criticized the CJC's June 2007 decision to discontinue the practice of holding direct elections for its board of directors. He noted that 25% of the Board's seats are now reserved for the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy, which he described as providing "unquestioning support to Israel, regardless of what it does". [3]
In his article announcing the formation of Independent Jewish Voices, a group of prominent British Jews in disagreement with the Jewish community leadership's position on Israel, Brian Klug referred to the ACJC as one of several similar Jewish groups internationally "who are confronted with the same climate are taking similar steps to make their voices heard." [4]
The ACJC supported international law, opposed all forms or racism (including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia), and desired to counter the view that any criticism of Israel's government and military policies is automatically racist. Specifically, the ACJC opposed Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza which commenced in 1967. The Principles adopted at the ACJC conference supported the view that:
"There is no justification for any form of racism, including anti-Semitism, anti-Arab racism or Islamophobia, in any circumstance. The battle against anti-Semitism is vital, and it is undermined whenever opposition to Israeli government policies is automatically branded as anti-Semitic."
ACJC's founding general principles were:
1. Like Jews everywhere, we, too, are greatly concerned about Israel and the direction it has taken, especially in recent years, but we are also concerned with how the Israel-Palestine conflict is impacting on Jews in Canada.
2. We believe that Israel has a right to exist within the pre-1967 borders, but it should evacuate the Occupied Territories in order to permit the Palestinians to establish a viable, independent, democratic, and just society that can live in peace and harmony with a rejuvenated Israel.
3. We believe that Israeli Jews must learn to live in peaceful and co-operative co-existence with the Palestinians. We will, accordingly, promote groups and programs that support such goals as well as the principle of reconciliation among Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
4. We believe that the Government of Canada should give strong support to the UN and its resolutions and follow an even-handed policy in respect to the Middle East conflict.
5. Our members believe in the future of Jewish communities based in Canada, organized by Canadian Jews, and working in our interests. Though Israel will always be an important concern for us, we do not necessarily approve of all the policies undertaken by Israel. Indeed, we believe that Canadian Jews must be free to state any differences they have with the Israeli government.
6. The ACJC wishes to reclaim the Canadian-Jewish heritage of sympathy to and affiliation with progressive causes. [5]
The ACJC organized a national Independent Jewish Canadians Conference on March 28–30, 2008, with Naomi Klein as its keynote speaker. Following a conference, as a result of a split with ACJC co-founder Eibie Weizfeld, a number of people left ACJC and joined with various non-ACJC members to form Independent Jewish Voices (Canada). Weizfeld and his supporters continued as ACJC.
In 2007, the ACJC sharply criticized Bnai Brith Canada for supporting "security certificates," which are used by the Canadian Federal Government to detain and deport non-citizens without warrants or criminal procedures. Diana Ralph stated that "These days, B'nai Brith seizes every opportunity to come down firmly in opposition to fundamental human rights principles." The ACJC press release, posted on Canadian Dimension, stated that "It is ironic that B'Nai Brith should defend a law so similar to those Nazis employed against Jews in the name of national security. Hermann Goering's testimony at the Nuremberg war crime trials eerily echoes B'Nai Brith's stand on security certificates." [6]
In 2007, Weizfeld, as Administrative Secretary of ACJC, protested the controversial denial of tenure by DePaul University to pro-Palestinian professor Norman Finkelstein. In an email to the President of DePaul, Weizfeld wrote that "Your university has lost a world-class scholar and a much admired teacher in a tenure process tainted by external pressures aiming to shut down academic discussion." The alliance praised Finkelstein, who they stated "distinguished himself as a careful scholar who has, through his widely read and appreciated books, documented and raised important issues regarding Israeli governments' violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Israel and Palestine. We regard this as a service in the cause of creating understanding of human rights issues and promoting the ideas of peace and justice."
New antisemitism is the concept that a new form of antisemitism which developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, tends to manifest itself as anti-Zionism and criticism of the Israeli government. The concept is included in some definitions of antisemitism, such as the working definition of antisemitism and the 3D test of antisemitism. The concept dates to the early 1970s, although the identification of anti-Zionism with antisemitism has "long been de rigueur in Jewish communal and broader pro-Israel circles".
The Canadian Jewish Congress was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for human rights, equality, immigration reform and civil rights in Canada.
B'nai Brith Canada is a Canadian Jewish service organization and advocacy group. It is the Canadian chapter of B'nai B'rith International and has offices in Toronto, Winnipeg, Montreal, and Vancouver.
Mohamed Elmasry is a Canadian engineering professor, imam, and Muslim community leader.
The Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC) was a Canadian Muslim non-profit organization.
The Canadian Arab Federation (CAF) was formed in 1967 to represent the interests of Arab Canadians with respect to the formulation of public policy in Canada. It presently consists of over 40 member organizations.
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) is an organization that describes itself as representing Canadian Jews who have a strong commitment to social justice and universal human rights. The organization was founded in 2008 as a result of a national conference called on behalf of the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians.
The Jewish lobby are individuals and groups predominantly in the Jewish diaspora that advocates for the interests of Jews and Jewish values. The lobby references the involvement and influence of Jews in politics and the political process, and includes organized groups such as the American Jewish Committee, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, B'nai B'rith, and the Anti-Defamation League. While there is overlap in membership between the Jewish lobby and the Israel lobby, the two terms are not interchangeable, as the Jewish lobby is defined by its ethnic makeup, while the Israel lobby is defined by its political agenda.
Brian Klug is Honorary Fellow in Social Philosophy at Campion Hall, Oxford and an emeritus member of the philosophy faculty at Oxford University. He is also an honorary fellow of the Parkes Institute for the Study of Jewish/non-Jewish Relations, University of Southampton and fellow of the College, Saint Xavier University, Chicago.
Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) is an organization launched on 5 February 2007 by 150 prominent British Jews including Nobel laureate Harold Pinter, historian Eric Hobsbawm, lawyer Sir Geoffrey Bindman, Lady Ellen Dahrendorf, film director Mike Leigh, and actors Stephen Fry and Zoë Wanamaker. The organization is reportedly "born out of a frustration with the widespread misconception that the Jews of this country speak with one voice—and that this voice supports the Israeli government's policies". IJV stated it was founded "to represent British Jews...in response to a perceived pro-Israeli bias in existing Jewish bodies in the UK", and, according to Hobsbawn, "as a counter-balance to the uncritical support for Israeli policies by established bodies such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews".
Disinvestment from Israel is a campaign conducted by religious and political entities which aims to use disinvestment to pressure the government of Israel to put "an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories captured during the 1967 military campaign." The disinvestment campaign is related to other economic and political boycotts of Israel.
Anti-Zionism is opposition to Zionism. Although anti-Zionism is a heterogeneous phenomenon, all its proponents agree that the creation of the modern State of Israel, and the movement to create a sovereign Jewish state in the region of Palestine—the biblical Land of Israel—was flawed or unjust in some way.
Antisemitism in Canada is the manifestation of hostility, prejudice or discrimination against the Canadian Jewish people or Judaism as a religious, ethnic or racial group. This form of racism has affected Jews since Canada's Jewish community was established in the 18th century.
The Ontario wing of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) has supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel since 2006. Their stance has encountered opposition from the Canadian Jewish Congress and parts of the press but also widespread support from university professors, Independent Jewish Voices, Palestine House, Canadian Arab Federation and labour unions. In 2009 the CUPE Ontario university workers' committee proposed to extend the campaign to boycott any joint work with Israeli institutions that carry out military research. That resolution became the focus of extensive controversy and was modified in response to pressure from the CUPE national president; the amended version was brought before the CUPE Ontario conference in May 2009 and passed with a 2/3 majority.
Criticism of Israel is a subject of journalistic and scholarly commentary and research within the scope of international relations theory, expressed in terms of political science. Israel has faced international criticism since its declaration of independence in 1948 relating to a variety of topics, both historical and contemporary.
Michael Neumann is a professor of philosophy at Trent University in Ontario, Canada. He is the author of What's Left? Radical Politics and the Radical Psyche (1988), The Rule of Law: Politicizing Ethics (2002) and The Case Against Israel (2005), and has published papers on utilitarianism and rationality.
" 'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism" is a 2006 essay written by Alvin Hirsch Rosenfeld, director of Indiana University's Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and professor of English and Jewish Studies. It was published by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) with an introduction by AJC executive director David A. Harris. The essay claims that a "number of Jews, through their speaking and writing, are feeding a rise in virulent antisemitism by questioning whether Israel should even exist".
The current campaign for an academic boycott of Israel was launched in April 2004 by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) as part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign. The campaign calls for BDS activities against Israel to put international pressure on Israel, in this case against Israeli academic institutions, all of which are said by PACBI to be implicated in the perpetuation of Israeli occupation, in order to achieve BDS goals. Since then, proposals for academic boycotts of particular Israeli universities and academics have been made by academics and organisations in Palestine, the United States, the United Kingdom, and other countries. The goal of the proposed academic boycotts is to isolate Israel in order to force a change in Israel's policies towards the Palestinians, which proponents argue are discriminatory and oppressive, including oppressing the academic freedom of Palestinians.
The working definition of antisemitism, also called the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism or IHRA definition, is a non-legally binding statement on what antisemitism is, that reads: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." Accompanying the working definition, but of disputed status, are 11 illustrative examples whose purpose is described as guiding the IHRA in its work, seven of which relate to criticism of the Israeli government. As such, pro-Israeli organizations have been advocates for the worldwide legal adoption of the definition.
Anti-Palestinianism, or anti-Palestinian racism, refers to prejudice and discrimination against Palestinians by groups, individuals, or governments. As a prejudice directed at an Arab group that is predominantly Muslim, it overlaps with anti-Arab racism and Islamophobia. The phenomenon is common in Israel, the United States, and Lebanon, among other countries.