Criminalizing Palestine Advocacy: Canada's Bill C-51

Over 70 major organizations denounce government threat to combat advocacy for Middle East Peace

by IJV

On April 15th over 70 Canadian and Québec organisations are releasing a statement denouncing a set of governmental attacks on Palestinian human rights advocacy, including a Foreign Affairs Memorandum of Understanding with the State of Israel, that promises to combat Palestinian and Israeli peace advocates. In
conjunction with Bill C-51, which allows for more warrantless surveillance of Canadians, free speech related to Middle East affairs will be severely limited in Canada.

On April 15 at 12:30 PM at the Centre St-Pierre, 1212, rue Panet, Montreal, a press conference will present the statement and answer questions about this important Canada-wide declaration that defends the right to freely criticize any country and denounces a government effort to restrict human rights advocacy in Canda in support of Middle East and limit free speech regarding the State of Israel.

“Canadian government attacks on the Palestine solidarity movement as outlined in our statement follows the spirit of the government's disdain for civil rights as seen in the widely criticized Bill C-51,” says Fabienne Presentey, spokesperson for IJV. “As the statement explains, Canadians must be able to speak freely,  criticizing other countries’ policies and actions while employing non-violent pressure tactics of our choice, such as boycotts, to incite changes in government policy.”

The press conference, organized by representatives from major unions, academic and civil rights organizations from across Canada, will present the statement, “Oppose the Canadian Government's Threat to Criminalize Criticism of Israel » and address questions from the media

“The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, Ligue des droits et libertés (Quebec), and the Canadian Labour Congress and affiliates’ statement echo our concerns – showing widespread cross-country  opposition to the government's attempts to silence criticism of and boycotts targeting Israel by falsely equating them with a hatred of Jewish people,” concludes Presentey.
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For Immediate Release*

April 14, 2015
Montréal, QC, Canada


The statement was initiated by Independent Jewish Voices – Canada (IJV) and endorsed by over 70 organizations across the country, including the unions FTQ, CSN,  CUPW, CSQ, FIQ, the Quebec student organization ASSE, the Green Party of Canada, the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, La ligue des droits et liberties and numerous other civil society organizations.

ABOUT Independent Jewish Voices

Founded in 2008, Independent Jewish Voices – Canada is a national human rights organization whose mandate is to promote a just resolution to the dispute in Israel and Palestine through the application of  international law and respect for the human rights of all parties.

For more information:

Tyler Levitan (IJV Campaigns Coordinator)