CJPME Debrief

On this episode, Michael and Tom are joined by Jasmin Zine to talk about her new book on Islamophobia and the 9/11 generation. We discuss how Islamophobia is more than just “fear” or “hate” towards Muslims, and why we should understand it as a “structure of oppression.” We also talk about the surveillance that Muslims students face on campus, the gendered nature of Islamophobia, and evaluate whether Canada is doing enough to addres...

Earlier this year, McGill students won a major victory when a campus referendum passed by 71% to adopt a Palestine Solidarity Policy. Almost immediately, however, this decision was suppressed by university administrators and the student association. In this episode, Michael is joined by members of Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR McGill) to discuss their recent victory, and how they are dealing with McGill’s attempts t...

In a legal victory this month, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ruled that “Product of Israel” labels on wine from illegal Israeli settlements are “false” and violate Canadian consumer protection law. On this episode, Michael is joined by David Kattenburg and lawyer Dimitri Lascaris, who have led this multiple-year legal battle against settlement wine. We talk about what the legal decision means, the challenges ahead to g...

One year ago, Human Rights Watch published a landmark report on Israeli apartheid. On this episode Michael is joined by Omar Shakir, HRW’s Israel and Palestine director, to reflect on the reactions to that report and the growing international consensus on apartheid. In addition, we talk about his experience of being deported by Israel, documenting Israeli war crimes in Gaza, and the how killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh demon...

Among Canadian politicians, NDP MP Niki Ashton has been one of the most consistent voices in support of Palestinian rights. Ashton joins Michael and Tom to talk about why it is important for her to challenge Canada’s complicity in Israeli apartheid. We also discuss what it was like trying to advocate for Palestine under the pro-Israel leadership of Tom Mulcair, assess whether the position of the NDP has improved in recent years, an...

In this episode, we are joined by Nur Watad, a Palestinian Canadian living in London Ontario who is also the host of the brand new CJPME podcast “All Things Palestinian Canadian.” Tom and Michael speak to Nur about her vision for ATPC, and why it is important to provide a platform for discussions of Palestinian-Canadian identity, history, and culture. We also hear about Nur’s experiences growing up in Jerusalem on both sides of the...

In 2021, CJPME co-published the first national survey on anti-Arab racism in Canada,  in collaboration with the Arab-Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA) and the Canadian Arab Federation.  In this episode, Dania Majid, president of the ACLA joins us to talk about the survey and what it says about the insidious problem of racism against Arab-Canadians.  Together we discuss both high-level data and personal examples of how this racism...

It has been nearly three months since Amnesty International published their landmark report on Israel’s apartheid against the Palestinians. In this episode, Michael and Tom are joined by Saleh Hijazi, who leads Amnesty’s office in Jerusalem. We talk about why Amnesty came to the conclusion of apartheid, the threats they’ve faced from the Israeli government, and what ‘apartheid’ has to do with Israel’s current attacks at the Al-Aqsa...

Prof. William Lafi Youmans from George Washington University joins the discussion today as we talk about the image of Israel and the Palestinians in media and public opinion, and how this is changing.  Together we talk through the ways in which the public discourse on Palestine-Israel is changing, and the forces pushing it one way or another.  We also address the ways in which grassroots groups can help to shape the media discourse...

Tom and Michael discuss CJPME’s new report on Canada’s arms exports to Israel, and the alarming possibility that Canadian-made weapons may be contributing to violent and illegal Israeli practices. We break down what we know (and what we don’t know) about Canada’s arms exports to Israel, talk about recent trends from a historical perspective, and explain why an embargo on military trade is so necessary.


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Canadian lawyer Michael Lynk served as the UN's "Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights in the [occupied] Palestinian territories" from 2016 to 2022.. During his mandate Lynk faced intense criticism from pro-Israel voices, and Israel banned him from even visiting occupied Palestine. Nonetheless, he distinguished himself remarkably over his six-year term, and just issued a final report concluding that Israel...

Since its construction on a First Nations historical site, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg has been mired in controversy.  Throughout its brief history, interest groups have clamoured for influence over the content of the museum's galleries, and the colonial dispossession of Palestinians from their land is just one of many human rights atrocities which has been ignored by the museum's content developers.  W...

Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) has been campaigning for Palestinian rights and against Israeli apartheid since 2008. In March, they ramped up these efforts with a focused new campaign called “Together Against Apartheid,” which hopes to build on the momentum of Amnesty’s recent apartheid report. Tom and Michael are joined by IJV’s Corey Balsam and Louise Smith to discuss the campaign, and how Canadians can get involved.

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For Palestinian children under occupation, last year was the most violent since 2014. From bullets, to tear-gas, to arbitrary arrests, and early morning raids, there are many features of Israel’s brutal military occupation which make Palestine unsafe for children. Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) is an NGO which has been documenting Israeli abuses and advocating for the rights of children since 1991, and which ...

 Anyone who has spent time arguing about Israel and Palestine on the internet knows that there is a lot of misinformation out there, which aims to obscure the reality of Israeli apartheid and settler-colonialism. In this episode, Tom and Michael are joined by Rawan and Fathi, the creators of the fantastic resource website “Decolonize Palestine,” to talk about fighting the social media war, what decolonization means for Palestine, a...

In this episode, Tom and Michael discuss some of the recent outrageous claims, assertions, campaigns and complaints of pro-Israel lobby group B'nai Brith Canada.  We start with a ridiculous announcement suggesting that the Canadian government is falling over itself to fund “antisemitic NGOs” at home and abroad.  Next, we turn to a story where they are literally trying to police the Facebook likes of Montreal city councillors.  ...

In the first few hours of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many media commentators expressed disbelief that war could emerge again in Europe. War, these commentators seemed to suggest, was something that only happened in "impoverished and remote populations" in places "like Iraq" or "areas in North Africa." But the media's bias against the Middle East – especially Palestine – goes far beyond the naïve b...

There was a major BDS victory in February when the University of Toronto Students’ Association, one of the largest student unions in the country, passed a motion in support of divesting from companies that are complicit in the Israeli occupation. Tom and Michael are joined by Moe Alqasem of the Palestinian Youth Movement to discuss the vote and what it says about the state of the solidarity movement on campus today.

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Canada’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week has been prompt, forceful, and wide-ranging.  But there are obvious similarities between Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and Israel’s aggression against the Palestinians, raising questions about the consistency of Canada’s foreign policy.  In this episode, Tom and Michael examine Canada’s response to Russia’s invasion and explore the double-standard evident in how it r...