24.09.2020
Editorial Note
Canada is home to a number of anti-Israel groups, such as United Network for Justice & Peace in Palestine & Israel (UNJPPI) and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME). Such groups claim they “enable Canadians of all backgrounds to promote justice, development and peace in the Middle East, and here at home in Canada.” Interestingly, a group that calls for peace in the Middle East opposes the new peace agreement between Israel and the Emirates. Recently the two groups sponsored a survey which “shows that an overwhelming majority of Canadians would support International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation of Israel.” In contrast, there isn’t and never was, any Israeli group that focuses on distributing hatred against Palestinians or Arabs.
At the same time, on the academic front, a battle over the directorship of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) of the University of Toronto is currently taking place. Pro-Palestinian activists support the nomination of Dr. Valentina Azarova, known for her anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian views. Interestingly, Azarova had previously taught at Birzeit University, Palestine. According to reports, Azarova’s nomination has been rescinded. Al-Jazeera called revoking Azarova’s candidacy an “Anti-Palestinian racism.”
However, the administration of the University of Toronto announced that Azarova was not officially a candidate and sent out a statement announcing that “The hiring process for the IHRP director, which is a managerial staff position — not a faculty one — was confidential, and the university is continuing to do its best to maintain confidentiality, notwithstanding insinuations and the selective disclosure of information, including emails, that have been published out of context.”
A group of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian activists, among them Israeli professors and academics, such as Adi Ophir, Ariella Aisha Azoulay, Neve Gordon, Anat Matar, Uri Horesh, Hilla Dayan, Shoshana Madmoony-Gerber, Noa Shaindlinger, and Dorit Naaman, among others, voiced their concern in a petition about “Palestine Speech Suppression.” These academics were said to be “deeply troubled and exasperated by the pervasive repression of speech and scholarship on Palestine.” They claim there is “a broader and intensifying climate of suppression” in Canada, where pro-Palestinian activists are “subjected to smear campaigns, event cancellations, physical violence, professional disciplinary measures, and condemnation by the Prime Minister and other political leaders, for opposing Israel’s gross violations of international law and expressing solidarity with Palestinians.” They also used their petition to accuse the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism as conflating anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism by equating legitimate criticism of Israel and the advocacy for Palestinian rights with anti-Semitism.
Not surprisingly, Israeli academic from the University of Haifa, Dr. Itamar Mann, who has been promoting an anti-Israel agenda, as IAM discussed last week, is a colleague of Azarova and supports her work. He said: “She’s a human rights practitioner in a wide variety of areas.” Mann has “worked closely with Azarova at the non-profit Global Legal Action Network [GLAN] on migration and refugee issues in Europe.” Worth noting that GLAN, since 2018, has been working to advance the Occupied Territories Bill in Ireland.
In April 2020, Azarova, representing GLAN, has been cooperating with the Palestinian civil rights group Al-Haq. They produced a report together which they then offered to the Working Group on Business and Human Rights of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland. Their report discusses situations of “prolonged occupation” where companies operate economic dealings in occupied territory. For them, these are “unlawful situations” and “attempts by occupying States to acquire (parts of) occupied territory, or otherwise alter the status of the territory by force, and the flagrant denial of the right of peoples to self-determination they entail.”
The battle over the nomination of Azarova prompted members of the election committee to resign in protest, including the chair of the committee, Prof. Audrey Macklin, who is a long-time political activist. For example, in 2002, she was among a group of nine Canadian women who traveled to Israel and Palestine to seek women co-existence projects, producing a report for Miftah, a Palestinian NGO, aimed at influencing the Canadian public at home. Also, she was a signatory of an “Open Letter from 400+ Canadian Academics Opposing the IHRA Definition of anti-Semitism,” published in February 2020 by Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV).
Azarova’s work includes the 2017 article “Israel’s Unlawfully Prolonged Occupation: Consequences under an Integrated Legal Framework”, arguing that ” June 2017 marks 50 years of Israel’s belligerent occupation of Palestinian territory.” Azarova ignores that the Palestinians and their allies, the Arab states, were the belligerents who started several wars against Israel since its founding in 1948. Azarova often relies on reports by NGOs with anti-Israel agenda such as Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, Amnesty International and others.
The pro-Palestinian activists accuse a sitting judge, a donor to the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, in intervening with Azarova appointment, something the University has denied.
Clearly, had Azarova been appointed to head IHRP at the University of Toronto, the program would have become an epicenter of anti-Israel legal scholarship.
Canadians should note that Palestinian and pro-Palestinian groups are obsessed with attacking Israel. In some cases, it is outright anti-Semitism. Working for democracy and human rights in the Palestinian Territories – a much needed work – is not on their agenda.
‘Anti-Palestinian racism’: Appointment row at Toronto universityUniversity of Toronto’s law school allegedly blocks hiring of scholar due to her work on Israel’s human rights abuses.by Mersiha Gadzo20 Sept 2020
Toronto, Canada – Students and teachers at the University of Toronto have called for the reinstatement of an international scholar’s job offer after it was allegedly rescinded by management over her work on Israel’s human rights abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The university’s law school has been accused of blocking the hiring of Valentina Azarova as director of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) following pressure by a sitting federal judge, who is also a major donor to the faculty, according to emails seen by the Toronto Star newspaper.
In an email sent to law school Dean Edward Iacobucci on September 12, also seen by Canadian daily The Globe and Mail, two former directors of the IHRP programme said the school made an offer to Azarova that she accepted in August.
However, when a judge in the Tax Court of Canada, whose name has not been disclosed, expressed concerns about Azarova, Iacobucci rescinded the offer, media reports said on Thursday.
The decision led to a series of resignations at the university, including law professor Audrey Macklin, who chaired the hiring committee that unanimously found Azarova to be the best candidate for the position. On Thursday, a second member of the committee, Vincent Wong, resigned.
The IHRP programme’s three-member advisory board – Vincent Chiao, Trudo Lemmens and Anna Su – have also resigned.
‘Apologise for improper interference’
More than 100 IHRP students and alumni have also sent a letter to Iacobucci, calling for a “thorough and public review of donor practices at the law school, as well as of the alleged improper external influence and pressure by, in this case, a member of the judiciary”.
“As a public institution, the Faculty should not be swayed by wealth and influence at the expense of academic freedom and fair and accountable hiring practices,” said the letter, calling on the “Faculty to reinstate Dr Azarova’s offer” and “to apologise for this improper interference in the hiring process”.
“As students, we look to the IHRP to engage with pressing international legal issues, including Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories,” the letter read.
“Dr Valentina Azarova’s scholarship on this topic is principled and reputable. She was unanimously selected by the hiring committee after months of consideration.”
Azarova, an international legal practitioner and researcher, told The Globe and Mail she was offered the IHRP director’s position and accepted it in August through a Zoom call.
She has held positions at several universities, including in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, with immigration detention, arms trade, occupation and annexation being her areas of research.
However, in a letter sent to the Faculty of Law on Thursday and shared with Al Jazeera, Iacobucci denied any offer was made for Azarova.
“Even the most basic of the conjectures that are circulating in public, that an offer was made and rescinded, is false,” he wrote, adding that he “would never allow outside pressure to be a factor in a hiring decision”.
Iacobucci said conversations with a candidate were ongoing, but no offer of employment was made due to “legal constraints on cross-border hiring” within the timeframe required.
“Other considerations, including political views for and against any candidate, or their scholarship, were and are irrelevant,” he wrote.
Kelly Hannah-Moffat, vice president of human resources and equity at the university, told Al Jazeera the “hiring process for IHRP director, which is a managerial staff position, not a faculty one, was confidential”.
“[And] the university is continuing to do its best to maintain confidentiality, notwithstanding insinuations and the selective discourse of information,” she said.
Leslie Green, a law professor at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario wrote a letter of complaint to the Canadian Judicial Council on Thursday, noting that neither the University of Toronto nor Dean Iacobucci has clearly denied that a judge on the Tax Court attempted to influence (or did influence) the outcome of the appointment.
“We don’t have a response. Dean Iacobucci is one person who can probably tell the public whether any judge intervened or not and, if so, why,” Green told Al Jazeera.
“To leave a cloud hanging over the whole Court, and over a judge whose name circulates in social media, is very damaging.
“Complaints have been made to the Canadian Judicial Council. They have a legal duty to investigate cases like this. If the reports of judicial interference are correct, any Palestinian Canadian – perhaps any Muslim – with a matter before the Tax Court would have reasonable grounds to fear bias. This is not some legal technicality. It is about basic justice,” Green said.
‘Anti-Palestinian racism’
Dania Majid, president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA), said Iacobucci’s denial that an offer was made to Azarova was “appalling” considering that members of the hiring committee had resigned in protest.
“He is throwing his faculty under the bus for an error he has made. It’s unacceptable,” Majid told Al Jazeera.
“It has sent a terrible message to the students at the law school, faculty members, to all prospective Palestinian students, that their voices, their opinions are not welcome on campus and he will not be there to defend their rights to express those opinions if they were to come under attack.”
Majid said the controversy came as no surprise since “anti-Palestinian racism is alive and well in legal institutions as it is in other institutions”.
“This is a story of how Palestinian voices, Palestinian academics or those who work on Palestine are specifically targeted in order to delegitimise the Palestinian voice,” Majid said.
The ACLA has demanded that the law school report “this matter of interference” to the Canadian Judicial Council and an investigation should be conducted.
Corey Balsam, national coordinator for Independent Jewish Voices Canada, said the incident is indicative of “a broader chill being felt throughout the North American academia”.
“Those who openly criticise Israel and support justice for Palestinians are finding themselves under attack left, right and centre,” he told Al Jazeera.
Balsam said pro-Israel groups have intensified their attacks to force universities to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) controversial redefinition of anti-Semitism that includes certain forms of criticism of the Israeli state.
“It’s likely no coincidence that the incident with Azarova occurred at University of Toronto, which has been one of the main targets of this campaign in Canada,” Balsam said.
A bill to adopt the redefinition is currently before the Ontario provincial government, with Majid being “very concerned” about it.
“What does that mean for those who are doing work on Palestine? They are going to come under attack [if they] speak up for Palestinian rights.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-judicial-council-urged-to-investigate-judge-accused-of/Canadian Judicial Council urged to investigate judge accused of blocking senior U of T appointmentSEAN FINE JUSTICE WRITER
19.09.2020
The Canadian Judicial Council is being urged to investigate a judge on the Tax Court of Canada who allegedly intervened to block an international scholar from a senior job at the University of Toronto, over concerns about the scholar’s work on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
The university’s law dean, Edward Iacobucci, has not denied allegations that a Tax Court judge attempted to interfere in the appointment of Valentina Azarova as director of the law school’s International Human Rights Program. Two former directors of the program made the allegations in writing to him. He has said, however, that assertions that outside influence affected the outcome are “untrue and objectionable.”
The Tax Court itself, in an e-mail to The Globe on Thursday from Sophie Matte, executive legal counsel to Chief Justice Eugene Rossiter, declined to comment on the allegations involving one of its judges.
The judicial council is a disciplinary body for judges. It can act on a complaint from the public, or its executive director can launch a complaint himself. Its potential sanctions range from a reprimand to a recommendation to Parliament that a judge be removed from the bench.
Leslie Green, a law professor at Queen’s University, wrote a letter of complaint to the judicial council on Thursday. He said it is irrelevant whether external influence caused the school to change course. What matters, he said in his letter to the council, is whether a judge attempted to influence a university appointment. It would be “very troubling,” he said, if the attempted influence were related to Dr. Azarova’s research on Israeli occupation.
“It would put the integrity and impartiality of the Court in jeopardy,” he wrote. “Any party or lawyer before it who is Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim could reasonably fear bias.”
The judicial council told The Globe it cannot undertake an investigation into a complaint unless it has the name of the judge in question. Prof. Green did not name the Tax Court judge, but said in an e-mail to The Globe and Mail that it would astonish him if the CJC felt it had no obligation to investigate allegations that impugn the integrity of a judge, when the court has been named.
The Arab Canadian Lawyers Association has called on the law school itself to file a complaint with the judicial council, since the school would have first-hand knowledge of the judge’s identity, in its view.
Dania Majid calls the judge’s alleged intervention a discriminatory act against Palestinians, raising questions about his impartiality.
“What if an issue comes before him related to a Palestinian charity? I would question his ability to rule on that in an unbiased way,” she said in an interview. She called the events a “stark, open and transparent example of the type of anti-Palestinian racism that is out there in the legal sector,” adding: “It’s causing a great chilling effect in our community. It just rocks you to the core.”
Peter Russell, a political science professor emeritus at the U of T, told The Globe that, if the allegations are true, the judge in question appears to have committed “a very serious misdemeanour.”
“It’s the kind of situation that really requires investigation by the Canadian Judicial Council – there’s quite a bit at stake here for the public interest.”
One leading authority on legal ethics said that the judge appears to have done nothing wrong.
“I don’t see how the judge’s privately expressing to the university an objection to the appointment could be seen as compromising his independence or impartiality in any matter he is called upon to decide,” Gavin MacKenzie, a former treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario, and a published author of works on legal ethics, said in an e-mail.
Carmen Cheung and Samer Muscati, former directors of the human rights program, alleged in a letter to Mr. Iacobucci last weekend that a Tax Court judge had expressed concern to the administration about Dr. Azarova, the hiring committee’s unanimous choice for the job, after which, they said, an offer to her was rescinded. They did not name the judge.
Eugene Meehan, a former executive legal officer at the Supreme Court of Canada, said the Tax Court had acted appropriately in remaining silent on the allegations while events take their course.
“No point in throwing someone in front of an oncoming bus when there may ultimately be no bus,” he said.
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Search for new director of U of T law faculty’s International Human Rights Program leads to resignations, allegations of interference
By Shree ParadkarRace & Gender ColumnistThu., Sept. 17, 2020The faculty advisory board of the International Human Rights Program (IHRP) at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law has resigned following a controversy over the hiring of a new director for the program.
Edward Iacobucci, dean of the prestigious law school, has come under fire, accused of rescinding an offer of directorship to prominent international academic Valentina Azarova.
Several national and international scholars wrote to the university to express their consternation that the reversal came after reports of pressure from a sitting judge — a major donor to the faculty. He reportedly expressed concerns in private over Azarova’s past work on the issue of Israel’s human rights abuses in Palestine. All the letters mentioned here have been seen by the Star.
“The recent search for an executive director has generated substantial controversy, including allegations of outside interference in the hiring process,” Vincent Chiao, Trudo Lemmens and Anna Su, three members of the faculty advisory committee, wrote to Iacobucci on Wednesday. “We are disappointed by this outcome, the lack of fair process, including the failure to provide reasons for the decision taken.”
Audrey Macklin, who chaired that committee, and was part of the selection panel that unanimously found Azarova the best candidate for the job, resigned from the board last week.
In a statement to the Star, the university cited confidentiality in personnel matters, but said, “We can confirm that no offer of employment was made to any candidate, and therefore, no offer was revoked. The Faculty of Law has cancelled the search. No offers were made because of technical and legal constraints pertaining to cross-border hiring at this time,” said Kelly Hannah-Moffat, vice-president of human resources and equity. Azarova, who is based in Germany, declined to speak to the Star.
But a letter to Iacobucci from two past directors of the IHRP on Sept. 12 contradicts the university’s assertion that no offer of employment was made.
“Azarova — the hiring committee’s top candidate — accepted the faculty’s offer in mid-August,” wrote Carmen Cheung and the most recent director, Samer Muscati. “The Faculty of Law put Dr. Azarova in touch with immigration counsel to advise her on her options for securing a permit to work in Canada, and Dr. Azarova began planning to move with her partner from Germany to Toronto, where her stepchildren reside.”
Azarova has taught law and international law and has worked to establish human rights enforcement mechanisms in Europe and beyond and has consulted for United Nations fact-finding missions, among other accomplishments.
The dean cited confidentiality, and offered one statement to faculty at a meeting on Monday and to individual letter writers. “The uninformed and speculative rumours have reached such a level that, no offer of employment having been made, the University has decided to cancel the search for a candidate at this time.”
Letters to the university from international scholars, members of an alumni steering committee and other faculty strongly condemned what they saw as “improper external pressure” and “impropriety of such interference by alumni.”
“The mere perception of interference has the potential to undermine the integrity of the Faculty of Law’s hiring process and the reputation and future work of the IHRP,” says a letter from two co-chairs of the IHRP Alumni Steering Committee.
Cancelling the search effectively maintains the status quo that the IHRP remains without a permanent director.
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Scandal-hit U of T law school internal emails contradict dean’s new email to staff over key hiring decision
By Shree ParadkarRace & Gender ColumnistFri., Sept. 18, 2020
The fallout of bombshell accusations that University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law gave in to external pressure on a key hiring continues to grow after a new email from the dean raises fresh contradictions and questions.
On Thursday the Star reported on allegations that the law school rescinded a job offer to respected scholar Valentina Azarova after a sitting judge — and major donor to the faculty —expressed concerns over her academic work on Israeli settlements on Palestinian territories.
The job was for the position of director of the law faculty’s prestigious International Human Rights Program (IHRP). Azarova, who is based in Germany, declined to speak to the Star. The Star attempted to contact the judge’s court Friday but did not get a response.
The university told the Star Friday it was standing by the Dean’s email to staff. “The hiring process for the IHRP director, which is a managerial staff position — not a faculty one — was confidential, and the university is continuing to do its best to maintain confidentiality, notwithstanding insinuations and the selective disclosure of information, including emails, that have been published out of context,” said Kelly Hannah-Moffat, vice-resident of human resources and equity.
The entire faculty advisory board has resigned over the hiring decision and on Thursday, a member of the hiring committee quit his job at U of T. Official complaints have been filed with the Canadian Judicial Council, which has the authority to investigate and discipline judicial misconduct if necessary.
After the story broke Thursday, Dean Edward Iacobucci sent an email, obtained by the Star, to all the law professors at 6:34 p.m: “Let me say at the outset that assertions that outside influence affected the outcome of that search are untrue and objectionable,” he wrote. “University leadership and I would never allow outside pressure to be a factor in a hiring decision.”
But he did not mention if an outside judge attempted to influence the decision. Nor did the university in its response to the Star’s specific questions on this.Queen’s University law professor Leslie Green sought precise clarification in his complaint to the judicial council: Did a judge know who were the shortlisted candidates? And if so, how? Did a judge speak with the dean or others in the faculty about the merits of any candidate? Did a judge attempt to influence the outcome?
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https://www.palestinechronicle.com/canada-university-rescinds-job-offer-due-to-pressure-from-pro-israel-donor/
Canada University Rescinds Job Offer Due to Pressure from Pro-Israel Donor
September 18, 2020 Blog, News
The University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law has become embroiled in controversy following a decision by the dean of the prestigious law school to rescind an offer of directorship to prominent international academic Valentina Azarova because of her past work exposing Israel’s human rights abuses in Palestine.
Several national and international scholars wrote to the university to express their objection to its decision, according to the Star, a local paper. Azarova was expected to take up the prestigious position of director at the International Human Rights Program (IHRP). The Star, which has seen the correspondence between the university and faculty staff, said that pressure from a sitting judge, presumed to be pro-Israeli, who is also a major donor to the faculty, led to the offer being rescinded.
Several staff members at the university have resigned in protest. Audrey Macklin, who chaired the faculty advisory committee, and was part of the selection panel that unanimously found Azarova the best candidate for the job, quit from the board last week.
In a letter to the Star, the university denied Azarova was offered the position saying that “no offer of employment was made to any candidate, and therefore, no offer was revoked.” But a letter to Edward Iacobucci, dean of the law school from two previous directors of IHRP, contradicts the university’s assertion that no offer of employment was made.
“Azarova — the hiring committee’s top candidate — accepted the faculty’s offer in mid-August,” wrote Carmen Cheung and the most recent director, Samer Muscati. “The Faculty of Law put Dr. Azarova in touch with immigration counsel to advise her on her options for securing a permit to work in Canada, and Dr. Azarova began planning to move with her partner from Germany to Toronto, where her stepchildren reside.”
A second faculty member, Trudo Lemmens, also resigned in protest. “As a faculty member of an academic institution which values academic freedom and human rights issues, I have no clear understanding of why the appointment didn’t take place” Lemmens is reported saying in the Star before announcing his decision to quit. “That’s why I joined colleagues in resigning because I’m not in a position to firmly defend the process and the decision. This is particularly important because I so strongly believe in the value of the program and the integrity of the program.”
Academics who had worked with Azarova’s defended her stance regarding Israel, while expressing concerns over the efforts to silence critics of the occupying state.
“Her criticism of Israel is extremely legitimate within Israel,” Itamar Mann, associate professor, the University of Haifa Faculty of Law, who worked closely with Azarova said. “It’s a criticism that I share. It’s a criticism of long-standing human rights violations of international law, primarily through the project of settlements which is unquestionably illegal and that’s the kind of majority position around the world. It’s not an exotic position to take at all.”
“Even from the perspective of people who imagine themselves as helping defend or support Israel, I think this would be a grave mistake. Being able to debate is an essential part of democracy.”
Azarova has taught law and international law and has worked to establish human rights enforcement mechanisms in Europe and beyond and has consulted for United Nations fact-finding missions, among other accomplishments.
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https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSequFh6r-FJdpe875P–bXBnJ4jjOEw0A5yPwiFcK-E2GxRzg/viewform
Statement on Palestine Speech Suppression and University of Toronto Faculty of LawSTATEMENT FOR SIGNING BY LAWYERS AND ACADEMICS (BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE CANADA).
SIGNING DEADLINE IS WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23, 10 AM
PLEASE INPUT YOUR FULL NAME AND ANY POSITION AND INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION IN THE FORM BELOW THE STATEMENT TEXT. THE LIST OF SIGNATORIES WILL BE UPDATED PERIODICALLY.
IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANY DIFFICULTIES SIGNING, PLEASE CONTACT: azeezah.kanji@utoronto.ca.
STATEMENT TEXT:
As lawyers and academics, we are deeply troubled and exasperated by the pervasive repression of speech and scholarship on Palestine. This includes recent reports that University of Toronto’s Faculty of law rescinded an employment offer to noted international human rights scholar Dr Valentina Azarova, following a complaint by a sitting judge regarding her research on Israel’s occupation policies [1].
The reported treatment of Dr Azarova is consistent with a broader and intensifying climate of suppression. Lawyers, academics, journalists, teachers, artists, students, activists, and trade unions in Canada have been subjected to smear campaigns, event cancellations, physical violence, professional disciplinary measures, and condemnation by the Prime Minister and other political leaders, for opposing Israel’s gross violations of international law and expressing solidarity with Palestinians. (for examples see [2]) In August, Indigenous CBC journalist Duncan McCue was required to apologize simply for using the word “Palestine” on-air.
The situation in Canada mirrors that in other countries. In the United States, for example, 1,494 incidents targeting free speech were reported to NGO Palestine Legal from 2014 to 2019; 74% were directed at students and academics at universities. In France, rights activists have been criminally convicted for their support of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign pressuring Israel to comply with international law. This criminalization was recently condemned by the European Court of Human Rights as a violation of freedom of expression.
The clamp-down threatens to be further exacerbated by the institutionalization of the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) definition of antisemitism.
As a 2018 letter from more than 40 Jewish organizations around the world warns: “The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, which is increasingly being adopted or considered by western governments, is worded in such a way as to be easily adopted or considered by western governments to intentionally equate legitimate criticisms of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism, as a means to suppress the former.” A statement signed by more than 400 academics opposes the implementation of this definition in Canada for this reason.
Even the original drafter of the IHRA definition, Kenneth Stern, has cautioned against “enshrin[ing] this definition into law” due to the danger of legally conflating anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Yet Ontario’s Bill 168 proposes to do precisely that, by mandating use of the IHRA definition to interpret anti-discrimination and anti-hate laws. Motions to adopt this problematic definition have also been tabled in municipal councils across the country.
The intensification of speech repression coincides with the intensification of Palestinian oppression and dispossession, with Israel’s planned formal annexation of Palestinian territory – denounced by 48 UN human rights experts as the “crystallisation of an already unjust reality.”
In the face of these gross and flagrant transgressions, it is vital that the space for scholarship, speech, and activism in defence of the most basic rights of Palestinians be preserved. This includes the work of scholars like Dr Azarova. It is highly perturbing when academic institutions and law faculties – instead of protecting free speech and fundamental rights – are participants in the suppression.
We call on the University of Toronto Faculty of Law to restore Dr Azarova’s employment offer and issue an apology. We also call on the Canadian Judicial Council to investigate the conduct of the judge who complained about Dr Azarova’s appointment. And we call on all academic and government institutions to cease subjecting those defending justice for Palestinians to censorship and penalization.
[1] https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-u-of-t-law-school-under-fire-for-opting-not-to-hire-human-rights/, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-canadian-judicial-council-urged-to-investigate-judge-accused-of/; https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/09/racism-appointment-row-toronto-university-200919163253751.html
[2] For example:
Drafted by:
Dania Majid, Arab Canadian Lawyers Association
Azeezah Kanji, legal academic and journalist
SIGNATORIES:
1. Diana Buttu U of T Law Alum
2. Noura Erakat Assistant Professor, Rutgers University- New Brunswick
3. Judith Butler UC Berkeley
4. Richard Falk, Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law, Princeton University
5. John Dugard SC, Emeritus professor of law, Leiden and Witwatersrand; Former Judge ad hoc International Court of Justice
6. Avi Shlaim Emeritus Professor of International Relations, University of Oxford
7. Sherene Razack Distinguished Professor, UCLA
8. Neve Gordon Professor of International Law, Queen Mary University of London
9. David Palumbo-Liu Louise Hewlett Nixon Professor, Stanford University
10. Joel Beinin Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, Emeritus, Stanford University
11. Noam Chomsky Laureate Professor, U of Arizona; Institute Professor (emeritus), MIT
12. Katherine Franke James L. Dohr Professor of Law, Columbia University
13. Iain Scobbie Professor of Public International Law, Director of the Manchester International Law Centre, University of Manchester, UK
14. Vijay Prashad Director, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
15. Nick Estes Assistant Professor, American Studies
16. Eve Tuck Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair, University of Toronto
17. Snehal Shingavi associate professor, English, UT Austin
18. Andrew Ross Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University
19. Malini Guha Associate Professor, Carleton University
20. Kikélola Roach Unifor Chair in Social Justice & Democracy at Ryerson University
21. Ruhan Nagra University Network for Human Rights
22. Nicola Perugini Senior Lecturer, University of Edinburgh
23. Johnny E. Williams Professor of Sociology, Trinity College
24. Min Sook Lee Associate Professor, OCAD University
25. rosalind hampton Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
26. Aziz Choudry Associate Professor/Canada Research Chair, Integrated Studies of Education, McGill University
27. Diana Allan Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology and the Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University
28. Bill Mullen Retired Professor Purdue University
29. Beverly Bain Women and Gender Studies/ Department of Historical Studies University of Toronto
30. Sanober Umar Assistant Professor, York University
31. Nadia, Abu-Zahra Associate Professor and Joint Chair in Women’s Studies, University of Ottawa and Carleton University
32. Yavar Hameed Human Rights Lawyer, Hameed Law
33. Deborah Cowen Professor, University of Toronto
34. Eric Shragge Associate Professor (retired) School of Community and Public Affairs, Concordia University
35. Michelle Hartman Professor, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University
36. John Greyson Associate Professor, Film, York University
37. Diane Lamoureux Professeure émérite, science politique, Université Laval
38. Cheryl Gaster, LL.B., C. Med
39. Nader Hashemi Director of the Center for Middle East Studies, University of Denver
40. Charlotte Kates Coordinator, International Committee, National Lawyers Guild (U.S.); International Coordinator, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
41. Professor Rabab Abdulhadi Director and Senior Scholar, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies, San Francisco State University
42. Professor Rabab Abdulhadi Director and Senior Scholar, Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Studies, San Francisco State University
43. Kevin A. Gould Associate Professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
44. Mary Ellen Davis Part-time Faculty, School of Cinema, Concordia University
45. Dror WARSCHAWSKI Sorbonne Université, Paris, France
46. Dyala Hamzah Associate professor (History), Université de Montréal
47. Natasha Bakht Full Professor, Shirley Greenberg Chair for Women and the Legal Profession, University of Ottawa
48. Bill Bowring Professor of Law, Birkbeck College, University of London
49. Dr Saqib Qureshi Fellow at the LSE
50. Stefan Kipfer Associate Professor, York University
51. Suzanne Adely National Lawyers Guild, USA
52. Sherene Seikaly Associate Professor of History, UCSB
53. Amith Gupta NYU Law ’17
54. Adnan A. Husain Director, School of Religion, Queen’s University
55. Hatem Bazian Professor, Zaytuna College; Lecturer, UC Berkeley and Director, Islamophobia Studies Center
56. Devra Weber Emérita Professor, University of California Riverside
57. Nicholas Pope Lawyer, Hameed Law
58. Kanishka Goonewardena Associate Professor, Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto
59. Janan Arafa Lawyer
60. Ivan Huber Prof. Emeritus, Biology, Fairleigh Dickinson Univ., Madison, NJ
61. John M. Willis Associate Professor of History, University of Colorado, Boulder
62. sang kil associate professor, san jose state university
63. Martha L. Schmidt, LL.M., J.D. National Lawyers Guild International Committee
64. William Clare Roberts Associate Professor of political Science, McGill University
65. Darryl Li Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Chicago
66. Ariel Salzmann Assistant Professor, Islamic and World History
67. Heike Schotten Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts Boston
68. Malek Abisaab Associate Professor of History and Islamic Studies. McGill University
69. Sarah Leah Whitson DAWN, Executive Director
70. Rinaldo Walcott Professor, University of Toronto
71. Karen Dubinsky Professor, Queen’s University
72. Yves Winter Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, McGill University
73. Zulma Oliveras -Boricua Queer Activist
74. Mahmood Ibrahim Professor, Cal Poly Pomona
75. Dana Sajdi Professor, Boston College
76. Yolanda Arroyo – Cátedra de Mujeres Negras Ancestrales de Puerto Rico
77. Dorit Naaman Professor, Film and Media, Queen’s University
78. Vida Samiian Visiting Researcher, Linguistics, UCLA
79. Rasigan Maharajh Chief Director, Institute for Economic Research on Innovation
80. Sam Tecle Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
81. steve núñez PhD Student, Philosophy – UConn; Adjunct Faculty, Philosophy & Religion – UNC-Wilmington
82. Dr. Tarek Khalefih Consultant Pediatricians, assistant professor McMaster university
83. Lara Braitstein Associate Professor, School or Religious Studies, McGill University
84. Edward Hon-Sing Wong Doctoral Candidate, York University Social Work
85. Natalie Rothman Associate Professor of History, University of Toronto
86. Alejandro I. Paz Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Toronto
87. Bengi Akbulut Assistant Professor, Concordia University
88. Judy Rebick Lecturer, Ryerson University
89. Dr. Atif Kubursi Emeritus Professor of Economics McMaster University
90. Dr. Ardi Imseis Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University
91. Paul Hamel Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
92. Karina Vernon Associate Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough
93. Huwaida Arraf Civil Rights Attorney, National Lawyers Guild Palestine Subcommittee Co-chair
94. Jehan Helou IBBY Palestine
95. Jonathan, Alschech Assistant Professor UNBC
96. Aneil Rallin Associate Professor, Rhetoric, Soka University of America
97. Omer Aijazi Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Toronto
98. Elizabeth Bishop Associate Professor, History, Texas State
99. Shahla Razavi Retired Associate Professor, Mt. San Jacinto Community College
100. Suvir Kaul A M Rosenthal Professor, University of Pennsylvania
101. Gavin Smith Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
102. Sondra Hale Research Professor, university of California (UCLA)
103. Nejwa Ali Syracuse University, MA
104. William Clare Roberts Associate Professor of Political Science, McGill University
105. Sarah Shamash Sessional Faculty, Emily Carr University of Art + Design
106. Chris Chapman Associate Professor, York University
107. Robert Kirchner University of Alberta, Linguistics (retired)
108. Sophie Bourret-Klein MA Student, University of Toronto
109. Bruce Lofquist Human Rights Advocate
110. Sareer Fazil, Esq. Attorney At Law
111. Dr. Ernie Epp Professor Emeritus, Lakehead University
112. Anne-Emanuelle Birn University of Toronto
113. Ajay Rao Associate Professor, University of Toronto
114. Maureen Korp, PhD Independent scholar, researcher and writer, Ottawa
115. Murray Smith Professor of Sociology, Brock University
116. Michael Bueckert Recent PhD Graduate, Carleton University
117. Herbert Gamberg Professor of Sociology (retired) Dalhousie University
118. Michael D. Kirkpatrick Assistant Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland
119. sylvat aziz associate professor, queen’s university, kingston ontario
120. Vincent Mosco Professor Emeritus, Queen’s Univeristy
121. Jasbir Puar Professor, Rutgers University
122. Michael A Lebowitz Professor Emeritus of Economics, Simon Fraser University
123. Naomi Binder Wall PhD Candidate, OISE, University of Toronto
124. Stephen Marmura Associate Professor, St. Francis Xavier University
125. Matthew Rowlinson Professor of English, Western University
126. Paola Rivetti Associate Prof, Dublin City University, Ireland
127. Girish Daswani Associate Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough
128. Samir Gandesha Associate Professor, Director of the Institute for the Humanities
129. Anna Badillo M.Phil International Peace Studies Trinity College, Dublin
130. Julie Guard Professor, University of Manitoba
131. Ian Barnard Professor of Rhetoric and Composition, Chapman University
132. Atiqa Hachimi Associate Professor, Department of Historical and Cultural Studies, University of Toronto Scarborough
133. Rebecca Anweiler Assistant Professor, Queen’s University
134. Malavika Kasturi Associate Professor, History, University of Toronto
135. Itay, Epshtain Senior Humanitarian Law and Policy Consultant, Humanitarian Policy
136. Marjorie Griffin Cohen Emeritus Professor, Simon Fraser University
137. Omar Ramahi Professor, University of Waterloo
138. Elaine Coburn Associate Professor, York University
139. Jamie Hilder Assistant Professor, Critical and Cultural Studies, Emily Carr University of Art and Design
140. Wendy Strachan Sr. Lecturer Simon Fraser University rtd
141. Linda Freeman Emeritus Professor Carleton University
142. Pierre, Jemima UCLA
143. Althea Thauberger Assistant Professor, Department of Art History, Visual Art & Theory, The University of British Columbia
144. Mark Thomas Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, York University
145. Egla Martinez Associate Professor, Human Rights and Social Justice, Carleton University
146. Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan Past President, National Lawyers Guild and Adjunct Professor, John Jay College
147. Lara Sheehi Clinical Psychology Faculty, The George Washington University
148. Jill Glessing Professor, Ryerson University
149. Bikrum Gill Assistant Professor, Political Science, Virginia Tech
150. Enda Brophy Associate Professor, Simon Fraser University
151. Kristin Smith Associate Professor, Ryerson University
152. Sarah Schulman Distinguished Professor, City University of New York
153. Nathan Kalman-Lamb Lecturing Fellow, Duke University
154. Reg Whitaker Distinguished research Professor Emeritus, York University
155. Bassam Khawaja NYU School of Law
156. Aejaz Dar Attorney in Private Practice
157. James Cavallaro ED, University Network for Human Rights, Visiting Professor, Wesleyan University
158. Samir Gandesha Associate Professor, Director of the Institute for the Humanities
159. Neha Moharir MPhil student, University of Cambridge
160. Clint Burnham Professor, Simon Fraser University
161. Larry Haiven Professor Emeritus, Saint Mary’s University
162. Nicholas Sammond Professor, University of Toronto
163. Mireille Fanon Mendes France Ex UN Expert
164. Irina Ceric Lawyer and Kwantlen Polytechnic University faculty member
165. Richard Marcuse Instructor, Anthropology, University of Victoria, retired
166. Eve Spangler Associate Professor, Sociology, Boston College
167. Duane Fontaine PhD (cand.), Simon Fraser University
168. Reuben Roth Associate Professor, Workplace & Labour Studies, Laurentian University
169. Jayeeta Sharma Associate Professor, University of Toronto
170. Kevin Moloneu Dept of Languages, York University
171. Jesook Song Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto
172. Margaret Ferguson Distinguished Professor of English Emerita
173. Alessandro Delfanti Associate professor, University of Toronto
174. Fathia Shawish Palestinian
175. Michael Zeitlin Associate Professor, English Language and Literatures, University of British Columbia
176. Emily Gilbert Professor, University of Toronto
177. Jesse Greener Professor of Chemistry, Universtié Laval
178. Natalie Oswin Associate Professor, Geography, University of Toronto
179. Andreas Motsch Associate Professor, French, University of Toronto
180. Ain ul Khair Ph.D. Candidate, Central European University
181. Kamel Hawwash Professor, University if Birmingham, UK
182. James Penney Professor, Trent University
183. Sanda Munjic Associate Prof., University of Toronto
184. Kristen Bos Assistant Professor, Historical Studies/WGSI, University of Toronto
185. Alejandra Sanchez Alvarez ecce Instructor and ECPN PSI Pedagogist at Capilano university, BC
186. Martin Klein Professor Emeritus, History, University of Toronto
187. Robert Beshara Critical Praxis Cooperative
188. Sara Matthews Associate Professor, Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University
189. Whitney Kemble Librarian, University of Toronto Scarborough
190. Kass Banning Associate Professor, TS, University of Toronto
191. Steven Gelb Professor (retired) University of San Diego
192. Marty Roth Emeritus professor English, University of Minnesota
193. Bernd Baldus Professor emeritus, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
194. Judith Taylor Associate Professor, University of Toronto
195. Luca Somigli Professor, Italian Studies, University of Toronto
196. Rania Salem Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Toronto
197. Jeremy Wildeman Research Fellow, Universit of Ottawa
198. John Noyes Professor, University of Toronto
199. Yildiz Atasoy Professor and Director of Centre for Sustainable Development, Simon Fraser University
200. Ross Frank Associate Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, U.C. San Diego
201. J. David Hulchanski Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto
202. Soleman Abu-Bader Professor, Howard University
203. Seth Wigderson Professor of History, University of Maine at Augusta, Ret. Emeritus
204. Nigel Haggan Independent scholar (PhD UBC)
205. Denise Nadeau Affiliate Assitant Professor, Concordia
206. Peter Fitting professor emeritus U of Toronto
207. David Galbraith Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
208. Katherine Bullock Lecturer, University of Toronto
209. Greg Bird Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University
210. Daniel White Professor, University of Toronto
211. Victor Li Associate Professor (Emeritus), English, University of Toronto
212. Noa Shaindlinger College of the Holy Cross
213. Jamila Ghaddar Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
214. Conrad Alexandrowicz Associate Professor, University of Victoria
215. Valentina Capurri Sessional, Ryerson University
216. Itrath Syed PhD Candidate, School of Communication, Simon Fraser University
217. Elia Zureik Professor Emeritus, Queen’s University, Ontario Canada
218. Harjeet Singh Grewal Instructor Department of Classics and Religion, University of Calgary
219. Karim Agha
220. Donald Fisher Past Principal, Emeritus College, University of British Columbia
221. Val Marie Johnson Associate Professor, Social Justice & Community Studies, Saint Mary’s University
222. Rupaleem Bhuyan Associate Professor, Social Work, University of Toronto
223. Laura U. Marks Professor, Simon Fraser University
224. Dia Da Costa, Professor, University of Alberta
225. Laleh Khalili Professor of International Politics, Queen Mary University of London
226. John Abromeit Professor of History, SUNY, Buffalo State
227. Jody Berland Professor, York University
228. Madina Siddiqui MDes Candidate – Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCAD University
229. Charles Reeve Chair, Arts & Sciences, OCAD University
230. Mary Louise Adams Professor, Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen’s University
231. StephenLaudig Attorney
232. Wael Hallaq Columbia University
233. Alexander Vesuna, History & Equity Studies Undergrad
234. Nahla Abdo Professor, Carleton University
235. Cynthia Levine-Rasky Associate Professor, Sociology, Queen’s University
236. Ron Bourgeault Emeritus Instructor, Sociology, University of Regina
237. Stephen D’Arcy Associate Professor, Huron at Western
238. Sirma Bilge Professor, Sociology, Université de Montréal
239. Sylvie Paquerot Associate Professor, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa
240. Peter Eglin Professor Emeritus of Sociology, Wilfrid Laurier University
241. Leo Panitch Emeritus Professor of Politics York University
242. Stéphanie Wahab Professor, Portland State University
243. Michael Bradfield |Professor, Economics, Dalhousie |University, (Retired)
244. Peter Gose Professor Emeritus, Anthrpology, Carleton University
245. Ted Rutland Associate Professor, Concordia University
246. Abigail Bakan Professor, OISE, University of Toronto
247. Sujith Xavier Associate Professor, Faculty of Law University of Windsor
248. Mark Ayyash Associate Professor, Sociology, Mount Royal University
249. Stan Persky Professor (retired), Capilano University
250. Steve Heeren Retired Prof., University of Regina
251. Howell Morgan Psychoanalyst
252. James Cairns Associate Professor, Social and Environmental Justice, Wilfrid Laurier University
253. Pierre Beaudet Université du Québec en Outaouais
254. Harriet Friedmann Professor Emerita, University of Toronto
255. Rachad ANTONIUS Full Professor, Sociology, Université du Québec à Montréal
256. Matthew Webster Lecturer, University of British Columbia, rtd
257. Cornelia Baines Professor Emerita, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
258. Jason Hannan Associate Professor, University of Winnipeg
259. Jeremy Tai Assistant Professor, McGill University
260. Muhammad Ali, Khalidi Presidential Professor of Philosophy, CUNY Graduate Center
261. andré carrington Associate Professor of English, University of California Riverside
262. Anat Matar Senior lecturer, Tel Aviv University
263. James Eastwood Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London
264. Prabha Khosla Gender Justice Specialist, ReFocus Consulting
265. Joanne Naiman Professor Emerita, Sociology, Ryerson University,Toronto
266. Marwan Ali Un
267. Courtney R. Baker Associate Professor, UC Riverside
268. Rosa Sarabia Professor Department of Spanish & Portuguese, Univ.of Toronto
269. Mike Palamarek Sessional Assistant Professor, Glendon College, York University
270. Roger Beck Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
271. Andrea Meeson Former Graduate Studies Administrator, University of Toronto
272. Matthew Flisfeder Associate Professor, The University of Winnipeg
273. Promise Li Ph.D student, Department of English, Princeton University
274. Mary Jo Iozzio Professor of Moral Theology, Boston College
275. Norman Epstein Professor Emeritus, Dept. Of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia
276. Wafaa Hasan Lecturer, McMaster University
277. Sunera Thobani Professor, The University of British Columbia
278. Smaro Kamboureli Avis Bennett Chair in Canadian Literature, University of Toronto
279. Neil Naiman Senior Scholar, York University
280. Shaheen Shariff Professor, McGill University
281. Bianca Dahl Assistant Professor, University of Toronto Scarborough
a. Laura Westra University of Windsor
282. Asha Varadharajan Associate Professor, Queen’s University
283. Arman Chak Barrister & Solicitor, ForensicLaw
284. Randa Farah Associate Professor, UWO
285. Gökbörü Sarp Tanyildiz Lecturer, Brock University
286. Vladimir Safatle Professor, Universidade de São Paulo
287. Rakhshan Rizwan Researcher, Comparative Literature, Utrecht University
288. Bhavani Raman Associate Professor, Univ. of Toronto, Associate Professor, Department of History
289. Andrew Baines Professor Emeritus University of Toronto
290. Jeffrey Monaghan Associate Professor, Carleton University, Institute of Criminology
291. R. Magaly San Martin, PhD Professor, Sheridan College
292. Dr. Farhan Mujahid Chak QATAR UNIVERSITY
293. Sailaja Krishnamurti Associate Professor, Saint Mary’s University
294. Rubén Gaztambide-Fernández Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
295. Francis Cody Associate Professor, Anthropology and Asian Institute, University of Toronto
296. Cynthia Franklin Professor of English, University of Hawai’i
297. Omri Tayyara PhD Candidate, University of Toronto
298. Faisal Bhabha Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
299. Dr. Jeff Noonan Professor of Philosophy, President, Windsor University Faculty Association, University of Windsor
300. Shanon Fitzpatrick Asst. Professor of History, McGill University
301. David McNally Distinguished Professor, University of Houston
302. Aby Diagne lawyer
303. Bill Skidmore Instructor (Retired) Carleton University
304. Jorge Filmus Professor, Univ. of Toronto
305. Eleanor MacDonald Associate Professor, Political Studies, Queen’s University
306. Trevor Purvis Assistant Professor, Carleton University
307. Hussein Hamdani Partner, Simpson Wigle
308. ismail Poonawala Prof. Emeritus of Arabic & Islamic Studies, UCLA
309. Denise Margaret Matias Associate, Center for Development Research (ZEF) Bonn, Germany
310. Harry Shannon Professor Emeritus, McMaster University
311. Dr. Edwin Daniel, FRSC Professor Emeritus, University of lberta, and McMaster University
312. Carol Gigliotti Professor Emerita, Emily Carr University of Art and Design
313. Denis Kosseim Professor, Philosophy Departement, André-Laurendeau College
314. Destiny Mae, Ramos-Alleyne Undergraduate Student, University of Toronto
315. Rebecca Comay Professor, Dept of Philosophy, University of Toronto
316. Alberto Toscano Reader in Critical Theory, Goldsmiths, University of London
317. Melanie Newton Associate Professor, University of Toronto
318. Larry Hannant Adjunct Associate Professor, University of Victoria
319. Ilan Kapoor Professor, York University
320. Brenna Bhandar SOAS, School of Law
321. Jennifer Nelson Former Assistant Professor, Alumnus, University of Toronto
322. Stephen Rockel Associate Prof, University of Toronto Scarborough
323. Ahlam Tarayra Executive Director, MUSAWA-the Palestinian center for the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession
324. Adrian Ivakhiv Professor, University of Vermont
325. Eric Tucker Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
326. Kari Dehli Professor Emerita, University of Toronto
327. sanders, carol retired attorney; member Jewish Voice for Peace
328. Robert Sweeny Emeritus, Memorial University of Newfoundland
329. Fizza Mir PhD student, York University
330. Harry Smaller Associate Professor Emeritus, York University
331. Clint Burnham Professor, Simon Fraser University
332. Mario Prost Senior Lecturer, Keele University
333. Lara Khattab Instructor, Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies, Human Rights and Social Justice, Carleton University
334. Christopher A. Shaw Professor, University of British Columbia
335. Sharry Aiken Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen’s University
336. Dana Seitler Professor of English, Director Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies
337. Adrian Smith Associate Professor, York University
338. Gary Kinsman Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Laurentian University
339. Loubna, Qutami Assistant Professor, Department of Asian American Studies, UCLA
340. jorji temple Simon Fraser University, PhD Candidate
341. Denis Rancourt Researcher, Ontario Civil Liberties Association (ocla.ca)
342. Anne Meneley Professor, Dept of Anthropology, Trent University
343. Vinh Nguyen Associate Professor, University of Waterloo
344. Mary Boyd Director, MacKillop Centre for Social Justice
345. Daniel Tysdal Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, Department of English, University of Toronto Scarborough
346. Scott Richmond Associate Professor, Cinema Studies Institute, University of Toronto
347. Craig Reinarman Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies Emeritus, University of California, Santa Cruz
348. Arman Chak Barrister & Solicitor, ForensicLaw
349. Elizabeth Whitmore Professor Emerita, Carleton University
350. Ronnie Joy Leah, Ph.D. Instructor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Science, Athabasca University
351. Kristin Plys Assistant Professor, Sociology, University of Toronto
352. Tanzil Chowdhury Assistant Professor, Queen Mary Univesity of London
353. Danny Heap Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, University of Toronto
354. Viviane Saglier Postdoctoral fellow, McGill University
355. Laurie Adkin Professor, Political Science, University of Alberta
356. Dr. Mary-Jo Nadeau Retired faculty, PhD York University, Sociology, Toronto, Canada
357. Dr. Edwin Daniel Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta and McMaster University
358. DONNA YOUNG Assistant Professor University of Toronto
359. Yasmin Jiwani Professor, Concordia University
360. Madalena Santos Instructor, Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Carleton University
361. dr george pollard Associate Professor, Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, OTTAWA
362. Pearce Clancy PhD Researcher, Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland, Galway
363. Judith E. Tucker Professor, Georgetown University
364. Tatiana Young University of Hawai’i
365. Haideh Moghissi Emerita Professor, York University, Toronto
366. Geoffrey Reaume Associate Professor, York University
367. Jennifer Nedelsky Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
368. Baha Abu-Laban Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Alberta
369. Rashmi Luther Lecturer (Retired), School of Social Work, Carleton University
370. Aarif Pathan assistant clinical professor University of Alberta
371. Jenna, Kelsall Nursing Student, Nipissing University
372. Craig, Cowan Associate Professor, University of Manitoba
373. Hicham Safieddine Assistant Professor, King’s College London
374. Deborah Gordon Associate Professor Women’s Studies Wichita State University
375. Anne Murphy Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
376. Lara Karaian Associate Professor, Criminology, Carleton University
377. Yvonne Haddad Emerita Professor, Georgetown University
378. Jacqueline Ismael Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary
379. Greg Albo Professor, Politics, York University
380. Byron Miller Professor, University of Calgary
381. François Tanguay-Renaud Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, and Co-Director of the Jack & Mae Nathanson Centre on Transntional Human Rights, Crime and Security
382. Joan Russow Co-Coordinator Global Compliance Research Project
383. John L. Esposito University Professor, Georgetown University
384. Dina Georgis Associate Professor, University of Toronto
385. Alaeddine Mokri Graduate Student, The George Washington University
386. Eamonn Meehan LLM.
387. Merih Danali Princeton/Wake Forest University
388. Joyce Green Professor (on leave) University of Regina
389. Ayman Agamy Computer Science Student, University of Manitoba
390. Sadique Pathan Mental Health Therapist
391. Nicholas, Doerger MSEE, Cleveland State University
392. Maureen FitzGerald Retired, Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto
393. Shoshana Madmooni-Gerber Associate Professor, Communication and Journalism Suffolk University
394. Dr. Jody Baker Lecturer, Simon Fraser University
395. Davina Bhandar Faculty, centre for social Sciences, Athabasca University
396. Rosa Pires Part-time teacher, Concordia University
397. Matthias Mushinski PhD student, Concordia University
398. Imraan Mir Kashmir Law and Justice Project
399. Robert Latham Professor, York University
400. Baljit Nagra Assistant professor. University of Ottawa
401. Samer Abdelnour Lecturer, University College London
402. Patricia Harms Associate Professor, Brandon University
403. Shahrzad Mojab University of Toronto
404. Paul Kellogg Professor, Athabasca University
405. Patrick Keilty Associate Professor, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto
406. Paul Leduc Browne Professeur honoraire, Université du Québec en Outaouais
407. John P. Portelli, Professor, University of Toronto
408. Sedef Arat-Koc Associate Professor, Ryerson University
409. Ata Hindi Research Fellow, International Law, Birzeit University
410. Lorraine Weir Professor, University of British Columbia
411. Sara Carpenter Associate Professor, University of Alberta
412. Andrew Brook Prof of Philosophy and Cognitive Science Emeritus, Carleton University, Ottawa
413. Paul Cohen Associate Professor, History, University of Toronto
414. M Cristina Cuervo Associate Professor, University of Toronto
415. Saptarishi Bandopadhyay Assistant Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
416. Sabrien Amrov PhD candidate , university of Toronto
417. Mustafa Koc Professor, Ryerson University
418. Jeff Shantz Faculty, Department of Criminology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
419. Rasha Salti Commissioning Editor, Arte
420. Yahya El-Lahib Associate Professor, University of Calgary
421. Sherena Razek PhD student, Brown University
422. Swathi Sekhar Immigration and Refugee Lawyer, Toronto
423. Dr. Hilla Dayan Amsterdam University College
424. Takashi Fujitani Professor, University of Toronto
425. Joseph Carens Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Toronto
426. Amahl Bishara Assoc. Prof. U Chair of Anthropology, Tufts University
427. Blair Kuntz Middle East Studies Librarian, University of Toronto
428. Roderick Hill Professor of Economics, University of New Brunswick
429. Clelia O. Rodriguez Lecturer, Dept. of Curriculum, Teaching & Learning, OISE
430. Nasrin Rahimieh University of California, Irvine
431. Khaled Elgindy Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University
432. John Philpot Attorney, Barreau du Québec, Just Peace Advocates
433. Jennifer Kelly Assistant Professor, University of California Santa Cruz
434. Michael McIntyre Assoc Prof, DePaul University
435. Dr. Gerald Rowe Adjunct Professor, Institut Armand Frappier – INRS
436. Michael Z. Letwin Former President, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys/UAW 2325; Labor for Palestine
437. Charlotte-Anne Malischewski Lawyer, Toronto
438. Larry B Harder Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture (Retired), University of Guelph
439. Jessie Stein Phd Researcher, CUNY Graduate Center
440. Anna Zalik Associate Professor, York University
441. David Alamouti Senior Lecturer, Film Production, Solent
442. Susan Russell Retired/Lecturer/Adjunct Professor, SFU Linguistics
443. Beshara Doumani Professor, Brown University
444. Stephen Sheehi Sultan Qaboos Eminent Professor of Middle East Studies, William & Mary
445. Amna Shakil Lawyer, City of Toronto
446. Françoise Vergès Professor, France
447. Thomas Kemple Professor, University of British Columbia
448. Khaled A. Beydoun Professor of Law
449. Natalie Kouri-Towe Assistant Professor, Simone de Beauvoir Institute, Concordia University
450. Cynthia Levine-Rasky Associate Professor, Sociology, Queen’s University
451. David Simpson Distinguished Professor, Emeritus. U of California-Davis
452. May El-Abdallah Arab Canadian Lawyers Association
453. Zakaria Odeh Executive Director of the Civic Coalition for Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem
454. Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb Professor of Media Studies, California State University, San Bernardino
455. Sabrien Amrov PhD candidate , university of Toronto
456. Sarah Gwyneth Ross Professor of History, Boston College
457. Justin Barski PhD Candidate, University of Rochester
458. Carole H Browner Professor UCLA
459. Sharri Plonski Lecturer in International Politics, Queen Mary University of London
460. Linda Mokdad Associate Professor, St. Olaf College
461. Jonathan Kuttab lawyer, founder of Al-Haq
462. Tasha Manoranjan Executive Director, People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL)
463. Elana Baurer General Counsel, Jewish Voice for Peace
464. Sojourner King Lawyer, Principal, Sojourner King Law
465. Sabrien Amrov PhD candidate , university of Toronto
466. Susan Ferguson Associate Professor Emerita, Wilfrid Laurier University
467. Brian Iler Partner, Iler Campbell, Barristers & Solicitors, Toronto
468. Martha Rosler Professor II Emerita, Rutgers University, New BrunswicK, NJ
469. Astrid Mrkich Mrkich Law, Barrister & Solicitor
470. Marilynn Johnson Professor, Boston College
471. Fathima Cader Cader Law
472. Mohamad Sawwaf CEO & Doctoral Candidate, Manzil Islamic Bank & Henley Business School, UK
473. Bruce Stanley Adjunct Professor of International Relations, Richmond, the American International University in London
474. Jens Hanssen University of Toronto
475. Natasha Hay PhD Candidate, Centre for Comparative Literature, University of Toronto
476. Yakov Rabkin Professor Emeritus, University of Montreal
477. Molly Joeck PhD candidate, University of British Columbia
478. Heather Sykes Professor, OISE, University of Toronto
479. Catherine Leclerc Associate Professor, Littératures de langue française, traduction et création, McGill University
480. Amina Mire Associate Pressor, Carleton University
481. Alan Sears Professor, Sociology, Ryerson University
482. Andrew P. Lyons Professor Emeritus, Anthropology, Wilfrid Laurier University and Research Associate, Anthropology, University of Waterloo.
483. Chandni Desai Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
484. Nestor E. Rodriguez Associate Professor, University of Toronto
485. Andrew P. Lyons Professor Emeritus, Anthropology, Wilfrid Laurier University and Research Associate, Anthropology, University of Waterloo.
486. Danielle Seid Assistant Professor, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
487. Razan AlSalah Assistant Professor, Communication Studies Department, Concordia University
488. Bernie Koenig retired, professor of Philosophy, Fanshawe College, London Ontario
489. Malcolm Blincow Associate Professor Emeritus, Anthropology, York University
490. Sumi, Hasegawa Retired Faculty Lecturer, McGill University
491. Kayume Baksh LL.B, M.D.
492. Genevieve DUMAS Emerita Professor, Queen’s University
493. Janice Williamson Professor Emeritus, English & Film Studies, University of Alberta
494. Manal Hamzeh Professor, Gender & Sexuality, New Mexico State University
495. Yani Kong Doctoral Candidate, The School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University
496. Heidi Matthews Assistant Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School; Co-Director, Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security, York University
497. Erin, Steuter Professor, Mount Allison University
498. Ellen Dichner Distinguished Lecturer, School of Labor & Urban Studies, City University of NY
499. Mitchell Goldberg Refugee and immigration lawyer
500. Nancy Gallagher Professor Emerita, University of California, Santa Barbara
501. Uri Horesh Senior Lecturer, Achva Academic College.
502. Edward Andrew Political Science, U of Toronto
503. Jess Bier Assistant Professor, Erasmus University Rotterdam
504. Micheline Beaudry Professeure retraitée de nutrition publique, Université Laval
505. Dana Amr Masters in International studies, wollongong University
506. Michael Gervers Professor, University of Toronto
507. Rosemary MacKenzie Retired Librarian, Dalhousie University
508. Alistair Welchman Professor of Philosophy, University of Texas at San Antonio
509. Zahi Zalloua Professor, Whitman College
510. Charles Wilkins Associate Professor, Wake Forest University
511. Thea Lim Professor, Sheridan College
512. Andrea Sobko Lawyer, Toronto, Canada
513. Chandler Davis Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
514. Stephen Roddy Professor, University of San Francisco
515. Barbara Jackman Lawyer, Jackman & Associates
516. Peige Desjarlais PhD Candidate, York University
517. John Zilcosky Professor, University of Toronto
518. Amar Bhatia Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
519. Harriet Lyons Professor Emerita, University of Waterloo
520. Jonathan Rosenhead Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics
521. John Clarke Packer Visitor in Social Justice York University
522. Richard Fung Professor Emeritus, OCAD University
523. Alissa Trotz University of Toronto
524. Adriana Premat University of Western Ontario
525. Tong Lam Associate Professor, University of Toronto
526. Hannah Boast Assistant Professor, University College Dublin
527. Maurice Dufour Lecturer, Marianopolis College
528. Dr Bruce Spencer Professor Emeritus, Athabasca University
529. Sondra Hale Professor Emerita, U. of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
530. David Warren Postdoctoral Fellow, Washington University in St. Louis
531. Diana Ralph Associate Professor, retired, Carleton University
532. Vannina Sztainbok Lecturer, University of Toronto
533. Rebecca Johnson PhD candidate, McGill University
534. Sabine Bitter Professor, School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University
535. Dorota Lech Toronto International Film Festival
536. Nalini Mohabir Assistant Professor, Concordia University
537. Thomas Brown Professor Emeritus, Simon Fraser University
538. Ivy Sichel Associate Professor University of California Santa Cruz
539. Peter Chidiac Professor, Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario
540. Jeffrey Skoller Associate Professor, UC Berkeley
541. Shariff Dessouki Doctor, McMaster University
542. b.h. Yael Professor, Faculty of Art, OCAD University
543. Henry Hakamaki Graduate researcher, Bernhard-Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine
544. Omar Mohammad Clinical instructor University of Alberta
545. Jihan El Tahri General Director of DOX BOX
546. Christo, El Morr Associate Professor, York University
547. Adam Miyashiro Associate Professor, Stockton University
548. Les Levidow Senior Research Fellow, Open University, UK
549. Audra Ruple Graduate Student, University of Akron
550. Banerji, Anna Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, U of T
551. Stephen Collis Professor, Simon Fraser University
552. Daniel Segal Jean M. Pitzer Professor, PITZER COLLEGE
553. Gary Fields Professor, University of California, San Diego
554. Mark Hunter Professor, University of Toronto
555. Dr. Raed Hawa Professor, University of Toronto
556. David Hill Professor Emeritus, University of Calgary
557. Hana Masri Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania
558. Tess Sheldon Assistant Professor, Windsor Law
559. Dolores Chew Faculty, Marianopolis College
560. Riaz Sayani Criminal defence lawyer, Toronto, Canada
561. Garry Potter Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
562. Jillian Rogin Assistant Professor, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
563. Ariella Aïsha Azoulay Professor of Comparative Literature and Modern, Culture & Media, Brown University
564. Uri Strauss Attorney
565. Alex Latta Associate Professor, Wilfrid Laurier University
566. Adi Ophir Professor Emeritus, Tel Aviv University, Visiting Professor, Brown University
567. Vincent Wong PhD Candidate, Osgoode Hall Law School
568. Rain Wright Lecturer, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa
569. Carol Liao Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
570. Anita Tijerina Revilla Professor, Cal State LA
571. Paul Copeland C M Life Bencher Law Society of Ontario
572. Steven Maynard Associate Professor, Queen’s U, Kingston, Canada
573. Doug Rigby Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine
574. Colleen O’Manique Professor, Trent University
575. Joy Moore Professor Dawson College Montreal retired
576. Katherine Blouin Associate Professor, University of Toronto
577. Jordan Strom PhD student, Simon Fraser University
578. Sara Ghebremusse Assistant Professor, Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia
579. Thomas Lamarre Professor Emeritus, McGill University
580. James Rowe Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria
581. Jalal Kawash Teaching Professor, University of Calgary
582. Dolores Delgado Bernal Professor, California State University, Los Angles
583. Tanya Titchkosky Professor, University of Toronto
584. Alessandra Capperdoni Instructor, Simon Fraser University
585. Mohammed Nabulsi Alumni, University of Texas School of Law
586. Veldon Coburn Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa
587. Emilio Dabed Adjunct Professor of Law, York University, Toronto
588. David Barsamian, author
589. Jasminka Kalajdzic Associate Professor, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
590. Himani, Bannerji Professor Emeritus, York University
591. Kevin Edmonds Associate Professor, Caribbean Studies, University of Toronto
592. Vanessa Ramos President, Asociación Americana de Juristas
593. Geoff Martin Part-time faculty, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB, Canada
594. Livia Alexander Assistant Professor, Montclair State University
595. Josephine Savarese Associate Professor, St. Thomas University
596. Deborah Guterman Lawyer, Toronto, Ontario
597. Martha Roth Writer
598. Gettle, Julia PhD Candidate, Brown University
599. Jessica Hatrick Doctoral Student, University of Southern California
600. Nicholas Barone PhD student, Princeton University
601. Miriam Lowi Professor, The College of New Jersey
602. David Warren Lawyer, U of T graduate
603. Kevin Jon Heller Professor of International Law and Security, University of Copenhagen
604. Ben Burgis Lecturer (Philosophy), Georgia State University Perimeter College
605. Dennis Kortheuer California State University, Long Beach Emeritus
606. Louise Aucoin Law professor, retired, U de Moncton
607. Shiri Pasternak Assistant Professor, Criminology, Ryerson University
608. Hana Masri Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania
609. Najib Safieddine Assistant professor. University of Toronto.
610. Franck Magennis Barrister in England and Wales
611. Claire Mumme Associate Professor, University of Windsor
612. Anthony Tirado Chase Professor, Occidental College
613. Raphael, Vagliano Immigration and refugee lawyer at Jared Will & Associates, Toronto
614. Chris Chien PhD candidate, University of Southern California
615. Elene Lam PhD Candidate , McMaster University , School of Social Work
616. Jillian Rogin Assistant Professor, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
617. Sara Dehm Lecturer, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
618. Sherif Foda Barrister and Solicitor
619. Arun Kundnani Writer
620. Anjum Faridi Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University
621. Kristen Thomasen Assistant professor, Windsor Law
622. Melissa Weiner Associate Professor, College of the Holy Cross
623. Rob Heynen Associate Professor, York University
624. Debarati Biswas Adjunct Lecturer, Hunter College, CUNY
625. Rania Tfaily Associate Professor, Carleton University
626. Vasuki Nesiah Professor of Practice, The Gallatin School, NYU
627. Uzoma Esonwanne Associate Professor, University of Toronto
628. Pamela Arancibia PhD Candidate, Italian Studies, University of Toronto
629. Sut Jhally Professor Emeritus, University of Massachusetts at Amherst
630. Benjamin Tinholt Lawyer
631. Sameh Al Natour Assistant Professor, Ryerson University
632. Donna Szoke Associate Professor, Brock University
633. Melissa Williams Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
634. Stewart Istvanffy international human rights lawyer
635. Valarie Waboose Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
636. Elena Basile Sessional Lecturer, University of Toronto
637. Cynthia Wright Associate Professor, York University
638. Vincent Romani Associate professor, political science, UQAM, Montreal
639. Reem Bahdi Associate Professor, Windsor Law (and U of T alum)
640. Shibil Siddiqi Barrister & Solicitor, Toronto
641. Rawan Arraf Principal Lawyer, Australian Centre for International Justice
642. Yasmeen Abu-Laban Professor, Political Science, University of Alberta
643. Jordan Morelli Professor, Queen’s University
644. Jim Lafferty Fellow, Institute for the Humanities, University of Southern California
645. Parmbir Gill Lawyer
646. Vasanthi Venkatesh Assistant Professor, University of Windsor Faculty of Law
647. Robert Ware Prof. Emeritus, Univ. of Calgary
648. James Bhandary-Alexander Clinical Lecturer in Law, Research Scholar , Yale Law School
649. Jody Berland Professor, York University
650. John T. Maher Attorney, New York, Former Adjunct Prof. of Law
651. DJAOUIDA SIACI International Lawyer, DS ATTORNEY AT LAW firm
652. Kajri Jain Associate Professor, University of Toronto
653. Majd Zakout Lawyer
654. Lila Sharif Assistant Professor, UIUC
655. Izzeldin Abuelaish Associate Professor. Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
656. Rashmi Kumar Criminal Defence Lawyer
657. Mervyn Nicholson Professor, Thompson Rivers University
658. Lisa Kelly Assistant Professor, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law
659. Mara Horowitz Adjunct Lecturer, SUNY Purchase
660. Hanadi Shatata Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse
661. David Letwin Part-Time Lecturer, Rutgers University, PTLFC-AAUP-AFT Local 6324
662. Richard Moon Distinguished University Professor, University of Windsor
663. M. V. Ramana Professor, University of British Columbia
664. Saeed Rahnema Professor, rtd. York University
665. Ethan Ackelsberg PhD Candidate, Ohio State University
666. Eric Ball English instructor, Langara College (retired)
667. Zahra Binbrek Lawyer
668. Howard Winant Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
669. Omar Zahzah PhD, Independent Scholar
670. Pierre Cloutier de Repentigny University of Ottawa
671. Shivangi Misra Policy Manager, lawyer, Feminist Alliance for International Action, Ottawa
672. Dr. James Deutsch Assistant Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
673. Guy S Goodwin-Gill Professor, University of New South Wales
674. Carol Liao Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
675. Victoria Wan Staff Lawyer, Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
676. Philip Howard Assistant Professor, McGill University
677. Mary Ann Higgs Lawyer, Kingston, Ontario
678. Natasha Baker civil rights attorney
679. Jonathan AC Brown Professor, Georgetown University
680. Lobna Mahdi Graduate Student, University of Toronto
681. Sunaina Maira Professor, University of California-Davis
682. Michelle Stack Associate Professor, University of British Columbia
683. Katharine Fortin Assistant Prof, Utrecht University
684. Rush Rehm Professor, Classics and Theater, Stanford University
685. Imtenan Abd-El-Razik Staff Lawyer, Waterloo Region Community Legal Services; Lecturer – Ryerson University
686. Dr. Bryant William Sculos Visiting Assistant Professor, Worcester State University
687. Margaret Ferguson Distinguished Professor of English Emerita University of California Davis
688. Betty Ackah PhD Candidate, Simon Fraser University
689. Jennifer Tyburczy Associate Professor, University of Califorinia Santa Barbara
690. Tahsina Alam Lawyer, Law Society of Ontario
691. James, Godfrey PhD Researcher, Birkbeck, University of London
692. Neel Ahuja Associate Professor, University of California-Santa Cruz
693. Khaled Abou El Fadl Professor, UCLA School of Law
==========================================================
CJPME Factsheet No. 220, published September, 2020: This factsheet provides an overview of the UAE-Israel normalization agreement. Is this really a “peace deal,” and is Canada right to welcome it ?
THE UAE-ISRAEL NORMALIZATION AGREEMENT
Factsheet Series No. 220, created: September 2020, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East
On August 13, 2020, the so-called “Abraham Agreement” was announced by United States President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (known by the initials MBZ). Announced as an “historic peace deal,”[i] the three countries agreed to the full normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel.
WHAT EXACTLY DID UAE AND ISRAEL AGREE TO?
The final details are not yet confirmed, as several issues still have to be negotiated before the final agreement is signed. However, several key aspects were noted in the announcement:
The UAE and Israel agreed to establish full bilateral economic and diplomatic ties, known as “normalization.” It was announced that delegations from the two countries would meet over the coming weeks to sign bilateral agreements regarding “investment, tourism, direct flights, security,” embassies, and a myriad of other “areas of mutual benefit.”
The US, Israel and UAE would launch a “Strategic Agenda for the Middle East to expand diplomatic, trade, and security cooperation.”
Israel would “suspend” its plans to annex portions of the West Bank to focus on normalization.
The announcement affirmed the right of “all Muslims who come in peace,” including UAE citizens, to visit and pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.[ii]
IS THIS A PEACE DEAL?
No. Although the UAE-Israel agreement is often marketed as a “peace deal,” this is a misnomer. UAE will become only the third Arab country to recognize Israel, following Egypt which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, and Jordan which signed a treaty in 1994. Unlike those countries, however, the UAE does not share a border with Israel, and the UAE and Israel have never been at war.
Importantly, Israel and the UAE have been quietly cultivating unofficial relations for years, including in defence cooperation, intelligence surveillance, and trade in weapons.[iii] The recent agreement formalizes and builds upon these existing, yet surreptitious, relationships.
WHY DIDN’T THE UAE AND ISRAEL ALREADY HAVE OFFICIAL RELATIONS?
The UAE, like most countries in the Arab world, has refused to enter into normalized relations with Israel since it was established in 1948, as a protest against the partition of Palestine. For decades, Arab states have insisted that normalization must be predicated upon a just resolution for the Palestinians. This was the case for the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, led by Saudi Arabia, which insisted that a Palestinian state must be created before normalization could take place.[iv]
The UAE-Israel deal contradicts this longstanding position, “decoupling” the Arab-Israel conflict from the Israel-Palestine conflict.[v] The deal is widely recognized by the Israeli leadership as confirmation that they do not need to give up occupied territory, but that they can circumvent the issue while establishing relationships with Arab states.[vi]
Following the announcement, the United States and Israel have hinted that other states may soon follow the UAE by entering into normalization agreements with Israel. US officials have been visiting countries including Bahrain, Oman, and Sudan, to try to generate support for future deals.[vii] As of September 1, 2020, there are 30 UN member states that do not recognize Israel.
DOES THE AGREEMENT PUT AN END TO ISRAEL’S ANNEXATION PLANS?
No. Although the UAE has boasted that its deal has stopped Israel’s annexation plans and saved the two-state solution,[viii] what Israel has actually agreed to is a temporary “suspension” or pause on any formal announcement on annexation.
In fact, Netanyahu has repeatedly said that annexation remains on the table,[ix] and this has been echoed by both Israeli and US officials.[x] At a fundamental level, Israel’s annexation plans remain consistent with Trump’s so-called “Deal of the Century,” which the US continues to promote as a resolution to the conflict.[xi] For this reason, the Israelis could revive their annexation plans at any time.
ARE THERE OTHER MOTIVES BEHIND THIS DEAL?
All three countries are interested in expanding military cooperation in the region, particularly to counterbalance the influence of Iran.[xii] For its part, the UAE aspires to become a regional power,[xiii] and in recent years has contributed to brutal military offensives in Afghanistan, Yemen and Libya, deploying air strikes and arming militias.[xiv]
Another major motivation for the deal is how it will boost arms sales. The UAE is a major purchaser of US weapons, on which it spends an estimated $20b out of its annual defence budget of $23b, and normalization is expected to provide Israel with greater access to the UAE market for arms.[xv] Importantly, the US has been wanting to sell F-35 fighter jets and armed drones to the UAE, but Israel has so far opposed any such deal on the grounds that it could erode its ‘qualitative military edge.’ The UAE has an understanding that the normalization deal will allow it to go ahead with its purchase of the F-35 jets, although Israel still opposes this.[xvi]
HOW HAS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY REACTED?
Many countries welcomed the UAE-Israel agreement (and the promised suspension of annexation), including Canada, the UK, Egypt, Bahrain, and Oman. Others, such as Iran, Turkey, and Qatar criticized it.
Civil society groups, activists, and academics have protested against the deal in the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman.[xvii] State repression against those who criticize the deal has been reported in the UAE, Jordan, and Egypt.[xviii]
HOW HAVE THE PALESTINIANS REACTED?
Palestinians of all backgrounds expressed outrage over the UAE-Israel deal, as the UAE abandoned the longstanding principle that normalization can only occur if there is an end to Israel’s oppression of Palestine. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the deal a “betrayal of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa and the Palestinian cause,” and the Palestinian Authority recalled its ambassador to UAE.[xix] Hamas called the deal “a reward for the Israeli occupation’s crimes,” and a “stabbing in the back of our people.”[xx] Others have raised concerns that the deal could bring about changes to the status quo over access to the Temple Mount and Al-Aqsa Mosque, possibly triggering violence.[xxi]
IS CANADA RIGHT TO WELCOME THE DEAL?
Canada welcomed the agreement as a “positive step toward peace and security in the region,”[xxii] but this optimism is unfounded. The UAE-Israel agreement is a ”peace deal” between countries never at war, which accelerates military spending and militarism in the Middle East. Moreover, it avoids the core issue of Israel’s occupation of Palestine and lessens the incentive for Israel to respect Palestinian human rights. The UAE’s opportunistic path is not likely to end division and conflict in the region and may in fact intensify and prolong it.
[i] Lahav Harkov and Omri Nahmias, “Israel, UAE reach historic peace deal: ‘We can make a wonderful future’” Jerusalem Post, August 14, 2020.
[ii] Haaretz, “’Historic Diplomatic Breakthrough’: Read the Full Statement on Israel-UAE Agreement,” August 13, 2020.
[iii] Ian Black, “Just Below the Surface: Israel, the Arab Gulf States and the Limits of Cooperation,” LSE Middle East Centre Report, March 2019, pp. 12-16.
[iv] Dana El Kurd, “Palestinians are a side note in the UAE-Israel political charade,” +972 Magazine, August 27, 2020.
[v] Anshel Pfeffer, “Don’t Compare MBZ and Bibi to Sadat and Begin – the UAE-Israel Deal Is Much Bigger Than Peace,” Haaretz, August 17, 2020.
[vi] Times of Israel, “Full text. Netanyahu on why UAE deal is different: Palestinians lost their veto,” August 16, 2020.
[vii] Tovah Lazaroff, “Pompeo ends Middle East tour with no further peace declarations,” Jerusalem Post, August 27, 2020.
[viii] Reuters, “UAE says deal was done to manage threat annexation posed to two-state solution,” August 13, 2020.
[ix] Cnaan Liphshiz, “Netanyahu says West Bank annexation ‘remains on the table’ following Israel-UAE agreement,” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, August 14, 2020; Tova Lazaroff, “Netanyahu pledges annexation, plans to open school year in a settlement,” Jerusalem Post, August 31, 2020.
[x] Noa Landau, “After Netanyahu Commits to Future Annexation, Trump Says It’s ‘Now Off the Table,’” Haaretz, August 13, 2020; Times of Israel, “Israel says annexation still going ahead, just suspended for a little while,” August 13, 2020.
[xi] For more information see CJPME Factsheet No. 218, The Trump Plan for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, February 2020.
[xii] Israel Hayom, “UAE, Israeli defense ministers pledge cooperation,” August 26, 2020; Ian Black, “Just Below the Surface: Israel, the Arab Gulf States and the Limits of Cooperation,” LSE Middle East Centre Report, March 2019, pp. 12-16.
[xiii] Dana El Kurd, “Palestinians are a side note in the UAE-Israel political charade,” +972 Magazine, August 27, 2020.
[xiv] Jason Pack, “The Israel-UAE Deal Won’t Bring Peace, but It Will Prolong the War in Libya” Foreign Affairs, August 21, 2020; David Kirkpatrick, The Most Powerful Arab Ruler Isn’t M.B.S. It’s M.B.Z.” New York Times, June 2, 2019.
[xv] Hagai Amit, “The Real Deal for Israel and the UAE is Weapons,” Haaretz, August 17, 2020.
[xvi] Neri Zilber, “Peace for Warplanes?” Foreign Policy, August 31, 2020.
[xvii] Tamara Nassar, “‘Silent Majority’ rejects Gulf ties with Israel,” Electronic Intifada, August 19, 2020.
[xviii] Al Bawaba, “’Help Us Find Critics’: UAE Smart App Allows Reporting Residents Who Tweet Against Normalization With Israel,” August 17, 2020; Times of Israel, “Rights groups urge release of Jordanian jailed over cartoon on Israel-UAE deal,” August 28, 2020; Al-Monitor, “Egyptian news media warned not to criticize UAE-Israel deal,” August 27, 2020.
[xix] Rami Ayyub, “Palestinians warn Israel-UAE deal imperils Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque,” Reuters, August 14, 2020.
[xx] Jack Khoury and Noa Landau, “Palestinians Slam ‘Betrayal’ by UAE in Deal With Israel: ‘Reward of the Occupation’s Crimes’” Haaretz, August 13, 2020.
[xxi] Nadda Osman, “Israel-UAE deal: Normalisation raises concern over change in status of Al-Aqsa – Report,” Middle East Eye, August 30, 2020.
[xxii] Levon Sevunts, “Canada welcomes normalization of relations between Israel and U.A.E.” Radio Canada International, August 14, 2020.
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http://mondoweiss.net/2020/09/84-of-canadians-think-the-icc-should-investigate-israeli-officials-over-alleged-war-crimes
84% of Canadians think the ICC should investigate Israeli officials over alleged war crimes“This demonstrates that Canada’s tendency to apply double standards when it comes to Israel is very unpopular with Canadians,” IJV’s National Coordinator Corey BalsamBY MICHAEL ARRIA SEPTEMBER 16, 2020
A new survey conducted by EKOS Research Associates shows that an overwhelming majority of Canadians would support International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation of Israel.
The poll, which was co-sponsored by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), and the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine-Israel (UNJPPI), found that 84% of Canadians think the ICC should investigate alleged war crimes committed by Israeli officials. 86% of Canadians do not believe that the human rights record of Israel should be overlooked because the country is an ally of Canada. 82% want Canada’s current policy toward Jerusalem to be maintained, with the city being shared rather than it being recognized as Israel’s capital exclusively.
“This demonstrates that Canada’s tendency to apply double standards when it comes to Israel is very unpopular with Canadians,” said IJV’s National Coordinator Corey Balsam in a statement, “Although successive governments have tended to mute their criticism of Israel, Canadians believe that Israel’s violations should be treated as seriously as those of any other country.”
This poll comes just days after the Trump administration announced that it would sanction ICC officials over their investigation into alleged U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan. Earlier this year, members of congress sent (AIPAC-backed) letters to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling on the Trump administration to protect Israel from any ICC probes.
You can read the whole survey at CJPME‘s website.
===========================================https://www.cjpme.org/understanding_bds
Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East:
UNDERSTANDING BDS There are several ways to help a regime comply with international standards of ethical and legal behaviour. Unfortunately, innumerable UN resolutions and even a ruling from the International Court of Justice have not moved Israel to respect the human and humanitarian rights of Palestinians. In 2005, over 170 organizations from Palestinian civil society appealed to the world to impose a strategy of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) on Israeli institutions in an attempt to move the Israeli government to respect Palestinian rights. CJPME has chosen to heed this call, and encourages its members and adherents to likewise take concrete steps to support this BDS campaign.
https://www.cjpme.org/survey2020
2020 SURVEY ON CANADIAN ATTITUDES ON ISRAEL-PALESTINE
Overview
CJPME is delighted to release the results of a Canada-wide survey it has co-sponsored with Independent Jewish Voices Canada, and the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine-Israel.
CLICK HERE for the latest survey results – Release 2 – from Wednesday, September 16.
Part 1 (Released June 16, 2020): Out of Touch: Canada’s Foreign Policy Disconnected from Canadians’ Views, or in .pdf format.
– Canadians’ position vis-à-vis Israel’s annexation plans
– Canadians’ view on greater alignment with the international community, especially regarding Canada’s bid for a UN Security Council seat
Part 2 (Released September 16, 2020): No Double Standards: Canadians Expect Greater Impartiality Vis-À-Vis Israel, or in .pdf format.
– Canadians’ position vis-à-vis an ICC investigation of Israel
– Canadians’ view on the status of Jerusalem
The survey was conducted by EKOS Research Associates between June 5-10, 2020, with a random sample of 1,000 Canadian adults aged 18 and over. The margin of error associated with the in-scope sample is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The raw data from the EKOS poll, including and excluding residuals, has been made available for download.
Note that all charts presented on this page are public domain – free of copyright restrictions.==========================================================
https://unjppi.org/blog-posts/ekos-opinion-survey-2020-israel-palestine-canadas-foreign-policy
EKOS Opinion Survey-2020 Israel-Palestine – Canada’s Foreign Policy
6/19/2020
In a new initiative for UNJPPI, we recently partnered with Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) on a national opinion survey of Canadian attitudes on issues related to Israel-Palestine. With UNJPPI’s emphasis on education and advocacy, the information such a survey could provide is considered of significant value to us.
The survey work was done in June 2020 by EKOS Research Associates, a well-known professional Canadian surveying organization.
The survey examines Canadian attitudes towards Canada’s bid for a seat on the UN Security Council and Israel’s announced plans to annex more Palestinian territory.
The results show that 74% of Canadians want the government to express opposition to Israeli annexation in some form, and the largest number of Canadians (42%) want to impose economic and/or diplomatic sanctions against Israel. Sanctions against Israel are popular among supporters of the NDP (68%), Green Party (59%), Bloc Quebecois (54%), and Liberal Party (42%).
Executive Summary
A recent survey conducted by EKOS Research Associates confirms that Canadian foreign policy is out of touch with the preferences of Canadians. The survey sought to probe the opinions of Canadians on international issues of immediate public importance, including Canada’s response to Israel’s recently announced intent to annex additional Palestinian territory, and Canada’s bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council. The survey demonstrates that a strong majority of Canadians want the government to express opposition to Israeli annexation, including through the imposition of sanctions. It further demonstrates that Canadians want Canada to increase its international engagement on a range of issues, including peacekeeping, combatting climate change, and support for Palestinian human rights.
EKOS Research Associates (https://www.ekos.com/) conducted a national online survey of 1,009 Canadians, between June 5-10, 2020, on behalf of Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (http://cjpme.org), Independent Jewish Voices Canada (http://www.ijvcanada.org/) and the United Network for Justice and Peace in Palestine-Israel (http://www.unjppi.org/). The margin of error associated with the sample is plus or minus 3.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The survey found that Canadians want their government to oppose Israel’s plans to annex parts of the West Bank. A significant majority (74%) of Canadians want the government to express opposition to Israeli annexation in some form. Moreover, 42% want Canada to impose economic and/or diplomatic sanctions against Israel. Sanctions against Israel are popular among supporters of the NDP (68%), Green Party (59%), Bloc Quebecois (54%), and Liberal Party (42%).
These results demonstrate that if the Trudeau government wanted to take concrete steps beyond simple statements of opposition to Israeli annexations, there would be considerable support for imposing sanctions from within the Liberal Party, across most of the opposition parties, and generally within the Canadian public.
The survey also found that Canadians are generally supportive of increasing Canada’s contributions to the international community in several specific areas where Canada lags behind its competitors in its campaign for a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC):
• A strong majority of Canadians felt the government should increase its commitment to combatting climate change.
• A narrow majority of Canadians felt the government should increase its contribution to international peacekeeping.
• A majority of Liberal, NDP and Green supporters think the government should increase support for Palestinian human rights. Conservative supporters less so.
These results confirm that, by taking further action to improve its international profile, the Canadian government could not only improve its candidacy for a seat on the UNSC, but also respond to the priorities of Canadians.
The results further reveal a notable polarization between supporters of the Conservative Party and everyone else on most issues. This suggests that Canada’s pro-Israel approach to foreign policy is out of touch with the perspective of most Canadians, and is catering to the views of particular political constituencies.
israel-academia-monitor.com 
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