The View From Here: 2023

Sunday, December 31, 2023

2023 – The year Canada and the West chose to support Apartheid Israel as it committed genocide against Palestinians

By Fareed Khan

As the Christmas holiday season concludes and we begin a new year many Canadians have been feeling anything but festive, with many calling for "no Christmas as usual". It's hard to be cheery and celebrate when the news has been showing us destroyed hospitals, mosques, churches, and the bodies of dead children – horrific atrocities being committed by the Israeli military against Palestinians for almost three months.

From Bethlehem to San Diego - Saturday December 23, 2023
Balboa Park Rally, March, Bridge Closure & Banner Drop for Palestine.

In general, 2023 has been a very difficult year for Canadians when it comes to issues of hate and human rights. There has been an overall rise in hate crimes this year, with an explosion in hate directed at members of the LGBTQ2+ community, and a significant increase in reported hate crimes directed at Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, and Jews in response to Israel's military assault on Gaza since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel.

The open displays of hate and anti-LGBTQ2 demonstrations that have occurred across the country in 2023 are particularly troubling. They are the result of a concerted effort by conservative elements in society, including Conservative politicians, to target this community and deny them their fundamental human rights, and are the culmination of an organized effort over the past two years by conservative political and religious groups in the US, which have found adherents and supporters in Canada.

However, public and media attention shifted from other forms of hate in October when Israel responded to the October 7th Hamas attack by unleashing a brutal and indiscriminate military assault on Palestinians in Gaza, a people without an army navy or air force. An exercise in "self-defence", which was endorsed by Canada and other Western nations, turned into a mass slaughter of innocent civilians, galvanizing millions to protest in major cities around the world in support of Palestinians. The attacks also unleased a wave of anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia and antisemitism that has put Canadian Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs and Jews on high alert as the possibility of violent acts of hate has increased.

Despite the overwhelming show of support for Palestinians in weekly demonstrations across Canada and other nations Western for 12 weeks leaders have ignored the wishes of their citizens, including Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and have continued to stand behind Israel. To add insult to injury some political leaders have also levelled accusations of supporting terrorism and "antisemitism" against pro-Palestinian voices.

As of December 30th more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military, with over 11,800 of them being children, according to Euromed Human Rights Monitor. As Gaza is turned into a post-apocalyptic wasteland the death toll of Palestinians is bound to rise by tens of thousands, with Israeli officials stating that the military campaign will continue for months until Hamas is totally wiped out.

Since October the thoughts of millions of Canadians have been with the Palestinian people who have been facing a campaign of genocide orchestrated by Israeli political and military leaders. But the tide seems to be turning in the public relations war that Israel has been waging as Jews in the West join millions of others in protests and campaigns opposing the apartheid state.

While polls in Canada have been showing that a majority of Canadians oppose the government’s support for Israel, they have also been making their views known via memes on social media. One that has been making the rounds poses the question "if you've ever wondered what you would have done had you been alive when Nazis were exterminating Jews, you're doing it now in your response to the Israeli genocide of Palestinians." Given the horrific news coming out of Gaza it is a question that many in Western nations are asking as a way to motivate people to stand up in defence of innocent civilians facing unimaginable horrors while their governments do nothing. In other words, this a chance for ordinary people to take action to stop a genocide in progress in a way that people did not when the Nazis began the Holocaust.

There is also the issue of an explosion in racism and hate resulting from the war in Gaza across Western society. In Canada people are seeing a level of racism against Palestinians within the Canadian political establishment and broader society that is no different than the anti-indigenous racism that existed in Canada which underpinned the genocide of Indigenous people in this country. What is happening in occupied Palestine is also anti-indigenous racism against an Indigenous people, and the Assembly of First Nations has joined millions of Canadians in recognizing Palestinians as indigenous to the land that they and their ancestors have lived on going back to the centuries before the birth of Christ.

So what are Canadians to do when our politicians have revealed that they harbour racism in their hearts, particularly when innocent civilians are being murdered with impunity at a rate of more than 350 people per day on average?

Continue to hold them accountable for their political positions which endorse racism either at home or overseas. Name and shame those politicians who pay lip service to fighting racism and defending human rights. Stand with persecuted people in Canada and internationally, particularly those people who are being targeted in a campaign of genocide like the Palestinians are. Join with other organizations who have far more resources to see if Canadian political leaders can be charged with complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity. And most importantly work to remove politicians from office who seem to have no issue with violent, racist brutality being committed against a racialized people (Palestinians), but will go to the wall for a nation of people who are white (Ukranians) when similar crimes are committed against them.

It is evident from statements by Israeli leaders and the US, which has been running interference for Israel at the UN to prevent a real ceasefire, that the people of Gaza will be subjected to horrors and atrocities by Israel for months. In the face of this Canadians must continue pressuring our politicians to rediscover their humanity, which they seem to have lost over the past three months. As Canadians we cannot back down in the face of hate or egregious human rights violations, particularly when they are being enabled by the politicians we have elected. We must call out racism and rights violations wherever we see them, and continue to work with and support those who want to eliminate hate from society.

In the face of a genocide that is happening before our eyes all people of conscience, who believe in basic human dignity and humanity, must become part of a movement that calls for holding the perpetrators of atrocities committed in Gaza accountable, as well as those among our political elites who are complicit in the horrors being committed by a racist, apartheid nation that seems to see the Palestinians as nothing less than sub-human, a ideologically extremist leadership that is willing to commit genocide to create a nation devoid of non-Jews, as was the original intent of the founders of the Zionist ideology.

Fareed Khan is a human rights activist and founder of Canadians United Against Hate.

Friday, December 29, 2023

Canadians will not forget the cowardice and criminality of Canadian leaders who continue to support Israel as it commits genocide of Palestinians

The genocidal intent of Israeli leaders towards Palestinians was made clear when Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech on October 28th where he invoked a passage from the Old Testament which says: “Now go and smite the Amalekites, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”

By Fareed Khan

When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, instigating World War 2, Polish Jews, who had been watching the persecution of their brothers and sisters in Germany over the previous decade, were suddenly in the crosshairs of the Nazis. By the spring of 1940 the Nazis controlled Poland and several other European countries, and had begun the process of rounding up Jews in all the territories they had conquered and imprisoning them in Jewish “ghettos” and a network of concentration camps.

Over the course of World War 2 more than six million Jews were killed along with 11 million others who did not fit the Nazi image of what “Aryans” should look like, and the names of Buchenwald, Auschwitz-Birkenau, and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps have become embedded in history.

After the war United Nations adopted the Genocide Convention, and eventually established the International Day of Commemoration for Victims of Genocide and International Holocaust Remembrance Day so that the horrors committed during World War 2 would not be forgotten with the passage of time. But as the world has witnessed since the 1940s genocide has been committed repeatedly in different parts of the world.

At this time another genocide is being committed by Israel against Palestinians, with more than 28,000 Palestinians killed (more than 11,000 of them being children) as of December 23rd, according to the Geneva-based group Euro-med Human Rights Monitor.

As another campaign of state-sponsored mass murder and genocide takes place in real time nations like Canada and the US, which have repeatedly claimed to be defenders of the “international legal order", do nothing to stop it, and even support Israel by accepting the assertion that it is acting in “self-defence” in response to the October 7th attacks by Hamas, even though under international law an occupying nation cannot claim the right to self-defence against a people it is occupying according to United Nations officials.

For 12 weeks Israeli forces have been conducting a brutal military campaign against the people of Gaza with little regard that thousands of innocent civilians are the primary victims of their “war on Hamas”. The casualty figure for Palestinians show that Israel has, with seeming deliberate intent, targeted civilians and civilian infrastructure. The death toll of children alone should give pause to anyone who possesses a shred of humanity to stop the assault, but some Israeli politicians have called for the extermination of all Palestinians in Gaza, with one even suggesting that Israel should drop a nuclear bomb on the territory.

Under Section 2 of the Genocide Convention the crime of genocide is defined as any one of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, including:

Killing members of the group;
Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and
Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

Israel has been committing genocidal crimes against Palestinians for decades with Western complicity, with early Zionist leaders like Israel’s first prime minister David Ben Gurion calling for the “transfer” (i.e. ethnic cleansing) of all non-Jews from the lands of historic Palestine, even through the use of force. And for almost three months it has been committing three of the crimes defined under the Genocide Convention simultaneously.

Yet neither Canada nor any of its western allies are doing anything to stop Israel’s campaign of mass murder against a defenceless people, who possess neither army, navy nor air force. The question is why?

The only reason that makes sense is a deliberate policy of anti-Palestinian racism and hate within the political ecosystems of Canada and other Western nations and within those societies.

Compare this response to how Canada, the US and their European allies have responded to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. The same crimes that Russia committed against Ukrainians are being committed by Israel against Palestinians. In response the US has given more than US$46 billion in military and economic aid to the Ukrainian government, while Canada has committed more than CAD$ 9.5 billion. In addition, Russia has been repeatedly condemned and sanctioned, and the spectre of genocide has been invoked in that conflict, while no such actions or words have been forthcoming against Israel even though Palestinian deaths are more than 250% greater than those of Ukrainians. The contrast in the West’s response couldn’t be more stark, with the only difference being that Ukrainians are white and Christian while Palestinians are racialized and largely Muslim.

Hundreds of thousands of Canadians of all faiths and backgrounds have demonstrated in the streets weekly since early October, along with millions around the world, demanding a full ceasefire and a flow of humanitarian aid to Palestinians. But no Western leader has been willing to do what is necessary to stop the slaughter.

In Canada, 71% of Canadians support a ceasefire and have demanded that Justin Trudeau’s government take action which would end Israel’s unceasing attacks on Palestinians. But despite the death toll, the Trudeau government’s actions have been limited to calling for a “humanitarian” ceasefire, and supporting a non-binding resolution in the UN General Assembly which was overwhelmingly supported by UN members. Trudeau’s father, Pierre Trudeau, was a bit of a maverick on the world stage when he was Canadian prime minister, and occasionally broke ranks with Canada’s allies. If he were alive today he would be ashamed at his son’s lack of humanity, and unwillingness to speak in defence of a people who are being murdered with impunity.

Liberal and Conservative politicians, often say Canada is a “rule of law” nation, a defender of the “international legal order”. Those statements have been proven to blatant lies based on Canada’s lack of reaction to the genocide of Palestinians.

The only solution is for Canada to be more aggressive in its response to Israel if it wants to continue to lay claim to being a defender of the so-called “international legal order”. The only way to do this is for Canadian leaders of all stripes to demonstrate humanity for Palestinians by taking the following actions:

Immediately begin working with the UN to implement a ceasefire and permit unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza;
Work with other Western nations invoke the UN doctrine of "Responsibility to Protect" to defend Palestinian civilians from Israeli aggression;
The Canadian government and parliamentarians officially recognize Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people as genocide;
Canada work with the UN to bring to trial before the International Criminal Court all political and military leaders in this war under charges of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide; and
That Canada make a sincere, concerted effort through the UN and other forums to end more than half a century of a brutal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, which is the ultimate source of the decades of tragedy leading to what the world is witnessing today.

In addition to the anti-Palestinian racism we are witnessing at the political level, we are also seeing an explosion in neo-McCarthyism across society. Those speaking in defence of Palestinian rights are being persecuted, harassed, intimidated, doxed and even fired from their jobs. It seems that condemning Israel for the mass murder and genocide of a defenceless people is being criminalized at a societal level. Doctors, contract workers, and even those on minimum wage have been fired, and Canadian journalists are also being threatened and let go from their jobs for daring to speak publicly in support of Palestinians.

Those journalists who have not are having their freedom to tell the truth about Israeli crimes suppressed and restricted by news media executives under threat of sanction, with CTV journalists being told they can’t even use the word “Palestine”. This is happening to thousands of people across the country simply for defending Palestinian rights, and they are being unjustly accused of being anti-Semitic for expressing their humanity.Western societies (including in Canada) are living in a very dangerous moment in time and all people of conscience have to raise their voices in defence of human rights. Because if we fail to protect Palestinians today as their rights are egregiously violated, a people who are now the most persecuted minority in the world, it will be at the price of a world governed by barbarity, brutality and the highest form of injustice, similar to when the Nazis began the extermination of six million Jews.

Canadians will not forget this moment, and the lack of humanity, cowardice and gutless behaviour shown by Justin Trudeau, Pierre Poilievre and other Canadian politicians. They have chosen to give in to anti-Palestinian racism, hate and Islamophobia being pushed by Israel and their Zionist allies and agents. Canadians will remember this severe failure in humanity and morality, and they will make sure all politicians who chose to side with a nation committing genocide will pay the heaviest price possible in their political careers.

Fareed Khan is a human rights activist and founder of Canadians United Against Hate.

Wednesday, December 13, 2023

Israel commits genocide against Palestinians and neither Canada nor the world does anything to stop it

By Fareed Khan

As the world enters the third month of Israel’s war against Palestinians in Gaza the death toll has surpassed 24,000 according to the Geneva-based human rights group Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, with more than 9,400 of those deaths being children.

Despite the grisly and rising toll in lives Israel’s war on Gaza is taking on Palestinians, despite almost 800 lawyers, scholars, and experts signing a letter stating that Israel's military is committing genocide in Gaza, and despite an Israeli Holocaust expert labelling Israel’s deadly assault a “textbook case of genocide”, the Canadian and other Western governments still continue to support Israel and the claim that it has a right to “self-defence” in response to the October 7th attack by Hamas. A recently released Mainstreet poll shows that 71% of Canadians oppose the Canadian government’s stance and want a ceasefire.

After voting against a previous ceasefire resolution in the UN General Assembly in October Canada finally joined more than 150 other nations by voting in favour of a ceasefire on December 12th. This vote comes on the heels of a failed resolution in the UN Security Council on December 8th which also called for a humanitarian ceasefire but was vetoed by the United States.

The response of Canadian political leaders of all stripes to the untold suffering and misery being inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza by Israel over the past two months has shown that there is a deep-seated racism against the Palestinian people in Canada's political class, and a level of inhumanity towards them that is repulsive. Evidence of this is demonstrated by the narratives used by Canadian politicians that have diminished or negated more than seven decades of Israeli oppression, occupation and brutality against Palestinians, the refusal of the Canadian government to call for a ceasefire until yesterday, despite the continually rising Palestinian death toll, and the continued “self-defence” justification in support of Israel. According to the UN an occupying power has no right to claim this against a people they occupy, and this is supported under international law so one has to wonder why this fallacy continues to be repeated ad nauseum.

Since the initial Hamas attack against Israel on October 7th sympathy for Israel has turned to revulsion as people around the world witness a nation committing genocide against an oppressed people in real time. As the Palestinian death toll has mounted hundreds of thousands of Canadians and millions more worldwide have shown their solidarity with the Palestinian people by coming out to demonstrations opposing the war and demanding a ceasefire week after week. In a demonstration in Ottawa in late November a crowd estimated at more than 20,000, with thousands bussing or driving in from cities and towns in Quebec and Ontario, filled Parliament Hill, where speakers of all faiths and racial backgrounds condemned the Trudeau government for being complicit in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians. At a pro-Palestinian demonstration in London, UK in early November it is estimated that more than 300,000 were in attendance. Crowds numbering in the tens or hundreds of thousands in support of Palestinians have also been seen at demonstrations in the US, across Europe and in many Arab and Muslim countries, showing that Israel’s unceasing assault on Palestinians has galvanized the world.

Canadians have been showing up in the tens of thousands for weekly demonstrations every weekend since early October and yet Canadian politicians have essentially ignored the demands being made in support of Palestinian rights. Trudeau, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre and every other Canadian politician who continues to defend Israel's military assault as so-called exercise in “self-defence” seem to be oblivious to the calls for justice, and are demonstrating a callous inhumanity to the suffering of the Palestinian people by their weak response to Israeli violence. They and others who have opposed an immediate ceasefire for two months have the blood of thousands of innocent Palestinians on their hands, and are complicit in Israeli crimes. As this war against Palestinian civilians continues and as the death toll rises ever higher Canadians will not forget the cowardice, prejudice and racism demonstrated by Canada's political class at the next election.

In addition to the prejudiced and racist response of the Canadian government and political class, biased coverage of the war by Canadian news media is also a contributing factor to the explosion in anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia that is taking place across Canada. The same is the case in the US where mainstream media has come down heavily on the side of Israel, as well as in the UK, Fance and other European countries where pro-Palestinian voices are disparaged or given far less coverage than those of Israeli officials or people connected to Zionist organizations.

A recently released investigative report by Canada’s Breach Media, which obtained internal CTV memos and emails, showed that executives at Canada’s most watched news channel have instructed their newsrooms not to use the word “Palestine” in their coverage of the war and not to mention specific numbers when it comes to Palestinian deaths.

One also has to question the fairness of giving considerably more air time to Israeli officials and pro-Israel voices since the beginning of October when compared to the number of Palestinian voices, regardless of whether it was on CTV, CBC, Global or other Canadian news media. The biased coverage favouring Israel shows the deeply embedded racism against Palestinians that exists in mainstream news outlets in Canada.

As a small example one need only look at the language used in Canadian news coverage of the release of Israeli hostages (who have been held for two months) compared to the language used when talking about the thousands of Palestinians who have been illegally imprisoned, and have essentially been hostages in Israel jails for years. They have been left to rot in Israeli prisons without charges being laid, without trials being held, and with allegations of torture by prison guards. Yet the media does not tell their stories or speak about them in the same compassionate tones they have used when telling stories of Israeli hostages. Instead of “prisoners” or “hostages” Palestinians are “detainees”, and there is no mention that some Palestinians were imprisoned when they were children, in some cases for throwing stones.

Where were the compassionate interviews with the families of these Palestinians? Where was the balanced media stories about them? Canadians need to ask why news media in this country is not telling their stories and have to speak out about the blatant anti-Palestinian bias that has been shown by Canadian news media over the past two months and for years before that.

The blatant and deeply embedded anti-Palestinian racism evident in the actions and words of Canada’s political class and its news media ecosystem, as well as by corporate leaders and others, has been laid bare for everyone to see. Canadians who want justice for a persecuted and oppressed people will never forget this betrayal of Palestinian human rights by these elites, and those who continue to oppose a ceasefire. The pro-Israeli apologists have woken a sleeping dragon and there will be a price to pay for standing by and doing nothing while Israel commits genocide with impunity against Palestinians before our eyes.

Fareed Khan is a human rights activist and founder of Canadians United Against Hate.