Is it possible to deepen consciousness of Canada’s role in genocide while registering thousands to support an insurgent NDP leadership bid? That’s the aim of my Palestine outreach strategy.
Every week there are dozens of rallies, film screenings, talks and other Palestine-related events that take place across the country. From small communities like Nelson, BC, to the Greater Toronto Area, Victoria on the West Coast to Saint John’s out east, Canadians of conscience are organizing and attending events challenging their country’s contribution to a live-streamed holocaust.
Polls show that more than half of Canadians believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and large margins want Canada to reduce its support for the apartheid state. According to Canada’s special envoy on combating Islamophobia, a significant share of Canada’s two million Muslims believe Ottawa’s backing for Israel reflects its indifference Muslim life. “This ongoing, horrifying situation is deeply, deeply damaging the sense of belonging that people feel,” Amira Elghawaby told Canadian Press recently. And yet many Muslims and others who feel this way don’t even understand the full scope of Canada’s unique, often illegal, support for Israel.
My campaign’s Palestine outreach strategy is a straightforward, if ambitious, bid to tap into the mix of anger and activism towards Israel while deepening consciousness of Canada’s role. The aim is offering information flyers at as many anti-genocide events as possible and to sign up people attending them to support my bid to lead the NDP.
As part of this effort, we already have campaign volunteers in a handful of cities handing out leaflets and coordinating other activists to assist in their community. We want dozens, even hundreds, more to be leafleting and to establish coordinators in two dozen cities. The campaign’s mobilization committee has a subcommittee focused on realizing this plan. While hundreds of leaflets have already been distributed and dozens of volunteers have been signed up at events, this effort requires scale. To have the impact we would like will require handing out tens of thousands of leaflets and having sign-up sheets/tablets at hundreds of events. As our campaign network builds, we will hopefully have the capacity to do targeted outreach at cultural and other events organized by Palestinian and Muslim Canadians.
An online version of the leaflet has circulated widely, helping to build our current 600 strong volunteer network as well as spur many to take out NDP memberships. But the aim of this strategy is to get thousands of individuals to become NDP members to vote for someone who has repeatedly stood up to the genocide lobby. As student union vice-president I was expelled from Concordia university in the aftermath of the 2002 protest against Benjamin Netanyahu and fifteen years ago I wrote a book titled Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid.
But the leafleting strategy is primarily designed to deepen consciousness of Canadian complicity in genocide. The leaflet, which is available in English and French and different versions for home versus office printing, offers a good overview of Canada’s unique backing for Israel. It states:
End Canada’s role in Genocide.
- Two-way arms embargo
- Revoke charity status of groups funding Israel
- Abolish anti-Palestinian “terrorism list”
- Stop Canadians joining IOF
- Abrogate Israel Free Trade Agreement
- End Operation Proteus
- Prosecute Canadians who fought in Gaza
Many attending protests aren’t aware of the scope of Canada’s contribution to the destruction of Palestine and Palestinians. Some who I’ve leafletted were unaware, for instance, that Canadians are fighting in the Israeli military.
If you want to raise awareness of Canada’s role in genocide and assist a leading critic of Canada’s support for apartheid become NDP leader, please support this effort.
To join 600 individuals who’ve already signed up to volunteer to support my bid for the NDP leadership register here or check out my new website
You must be logged in to post a comment.