What will be the last nail in the coffin for Israel? When will people stop listening to Jews and others who support Israel. When will the media tire of self-censorship around the issue of Gaza – most journalists afraid to go on record against Israel. When will wearing a keffiyah to school or work in a Toronto law firm or a hospital department be seen as a humanitarian gesture or nothing more offensive than a ribbon skirt* or a vyshyvanka** – not a provocation.
How long will the most powerful, richest countries in the world go on bowing and scraping to the likes of Netanyahu, his government, his army and his deadly force against the Palestinians. How long will the global north go on papering over Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the West Bank—or Israel’s thousands of killings of Arabs in Lebanon and Syria?
How long will the US, Canada, Germany and Italy continue to sell arms, weapons and parts to Israel? In Canada’s case, even when the government says it is not selling to Israel — it is.
Most western governments refuse to treat Israel as responsible for a genocide. The governments tend to ignore or underplay Israel’s killing of more than 60,000 Palestinians and wounding another 115,000. Israel has destroyed half a million homes, along with towns and cities the IDF left in rubble. Everything can be justified by phrase “Israel’s got the right to defend itself” which now means “Israel has the right to take revenge without limit.”
As Israel ramps up its slaughter and destruction in Gaza, Canada’s official Jewish organizations insist that Jews are the ones who are suffering – suffering because of antisemitism.
On campus, some Jewish students claim to have been offended by
professors (especially those of colour) who spoke against colonialism or in support of people in Palestine and Gaza
pro-Palestinian sit-ins or encampments—more than a dozen Canadian university campuses had encampments in support of Gaza last summer
pro-Palestine presence on campus –such as keffiyeh-wearing students
literature tables that distributed Palestinian handicrafts or books, or advertised rallies against Israel’s genocide
Palestinian flags
public panels from speakers who know what’s going on in Gaza or the Middle East
speakers or films that support the Palestinian cause on campus
DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) efforts that refuse to leverage Jews as one of the disenfranchised minority –such as Black people
“Comfortable” on campus means shutting down protests about Israeli genocide
All of the above makes some Jewish students “uncomfortable.” Uncomfortable is a word that I used to think was a bullshit weasel word and now know it is. Because “uncomfortable” means I don’t like something, or leave me alone. “Uncomfortable” does not mean dangerous or life-threatening. But the Jewish students and some Jewish profs feel discomfort because they hear or see people “dissing” Israel. And the Jewish students do not want to hear a bad word about Israel – or a bad word about what Israel is doing in the name of Jews worldwide. Why do we pay attention?
The aim of the “official” or establishment Jews is to silence criticism of Israel—frankly by any means necessary. But how do they achieve that? They attack, they attack, they attack.
People who support the pro-Israel interests in universities, hospitals, foundations, the media, government and businesses are out to destroy Israel’s critics;
to fire them. Item: Yara Jamal a video journalist for more than 2 years at CTV in Halifax was fired for being Palestinian-Canadian. She said she was born in Haifa, Palestine. Her bosses insisted it was Israel. Birju Dattani, hired to be CEO of the Canadian Human Rights Commission was forced to resign days before taking up his job — because he is against Israel’s genocide.
to throw them out of university programs. Item: Arij Al Khafagi was suspended from the University of Manitoba nursing program because she dared to criticize Israel in her social media posts.
to deprive them of their medical practice Item: Dr Yipeng Ge was suspended from his residency program in Ottawa because he had posted support for Palestinians on his social media. Dr Ben Thomson, a nephrologist in a hospital just north of Toronto, was suspended– his life and even the hospital he worked at was threatened because he posted against Israel’s genocide.
to black-list from articling positions in legal firms. Item: Law students at Toronto Metropolitan University face limits on their careers if they protest Israel’s genocide.
to eject them from political office. Item: Sarah Jama supported Palestinians in their struggle against Israel’s genocide; not only was she thrown out of the NDP caucus. And Ontario’s premier Doug Ford disallowed her to speak in the Ontario legislature.
Item: Recently, a teacher in Atlantic Canada who dared to talk about the importance of the UN food program, especially to people in war such as Gazans, was put under “investigation” for even mentioning the words war or Gaza.
The last nail in the coffin for Israel?
Perhaps it will be the 15 paramedics and aid workers that Israel tortured and killed on 23 March and made every effort to hide till rescue workers dug their bodies out of a mass grave. Diana Buttu is a Canadian lawyer based in Haifa. She was a legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team in the early 2000s and is a frequent commentator and writer on Palestinian and Israeli issues. On Zeteo, in her ‘Diary from a Palestinian in Israel’ Buttu wrote:
“I have had a difficult time even writing these words because I cannot stop thinking about the level of evil needed to carry this out. First, they [Israeli soldiers] had to stop the ambulance, the UN vehicle, and the fire truck. Then, they had to tie up the rescue workers. Then, they had to shoot them [at least 20 times each]. Then, they had to flatten the vehicles they were in, and then they had to use a bulldozer to bury the vehicles. This isn’t the work of one “rogue” soldier – as Palestinians are always led to believe, but the work of a group of soldiers – soldiers who have been told time and again that their actions in Gaza have no consequences and that they can do as they please.”
Though Israel continues to insist that 6 of the 15 were “Hamas terrorists” there is absolutely no evidence that is true. Today, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has demanded an independent international inquiry into Israel’s killing of the emergency workers in southern Gaza. The Red Crescent released the full video of the murdered men found on the phone of one of its 8 paramedics, saying Israel’s killings were a “fully fledged war crime.”
The organisation released the full video found on the phone of one of its eight paramedics who died when troops fired at a convoy of ambulances on 23 March, which it said constituted a “fully fledged war crime”.
In one minute and 16 seconds here you can see the ambulances, marked with lights flashing driving along in Rafah, then being stopped by the Israeli soldiers who killed fifteen men—in cold blood.
Today, a number of international aid agencies call the 15 murders deliberate—and demand an investigation. But which country will be the first one to speak up, call Israel and it’s supporters genocidal war criminals and demand an end to Israel’s 18 month long war on Gaza?
*A traditional skirt worn by Indigenous women; can also be worn by allies
**A Ukrainian embroidered blouse
Image at the top: Belfast’s International Wall in Northern Ireland is a long stretch of murals highlighting significant events and often attracts tourists. The words on the mural are the first lines of the now infamous poem by Gaza’s famous poet and academic Refaat Alareer “If I Die, You Must Live.” Days after writing this, in Dec. 2023, Alareer was deliberately targeted and killed by an Israel missile srike. For more about why and how Israel targets academics, poets, journalists, listen to this interview on Democracy Now! Read this article for more info.
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Judy Haiven is a writer and activist living in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Formerly, she was a professor in the Management Department of the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University and is a specialist in Industrial Relations. Judy Haiven is a founder of Equity Watch, a human rights organization dedicated to fighting bullying and discrimination in the workplace.
Contact: jhaiven [at] gmail.com
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