Dear ,

After years of following and supporting Independent Jewish Voices’ work, I finally decided to join as a member in September of this year. And I couldn’t be more fiercely proud to have done so.

When I joined, it was at the height of a nasty smear campaign led by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) against the NDP and our leader, Jagmeet Singh. CIJA had the chutzpah to go after Jagmeet simply because the NDP had recently released a bold policy platform that condemned Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights.

The attacks, as usual, were cartoonishly vicious and entirely unfounded. IJV was the only Canadian Jewish group to stand up and say “not in our name”, and to defend Jagmeet and the NDP from this broadside in bad-faith. Regardless of your political leanings, our democracy is diminished when people, parties, or organizations get misrepresented and smeared simply for defending human rights.

,  IJV is in the very last week of our fundraising campaign. We only have $2000 left to go before we make it over the finish line and hit our goal of $75 000. Will you join me in making a donation today to get us there?
Donate today and help us over the finish line

Or better yet, why not join as a member or supporter as I did? Joining is the best way to show our strength in numbers and build the Palestine solidarity movement in Canada.

As a Jewish New Democrat, and former federal candidate, I’m proud of the NDP’s new 13 point policy on Israel-Palestine. It’s grounded in a moral clarity that is vanishingly rare in Canadian foreign policy, and it came about because grassroots activists like you and I fought for it. 

Conservative Zionist groups like CIJA are out of touch and out of sync with the progressive Jewish community on Israel-Palestine. That’s why more and more of us are joining IJV, and expressing outrage over Israel's many indefensible policies. With Israel having elected its most right wing and overtly racist government ever, we are seeing CIJA and its allies reach new heights of desperation, viciousness, and moral bankruptcy. We need IJV to embody the values of social justice and respect for fundamental human rights that are so starkly absent in those aggressively puffed-up self-proclaimed pillars of the Jewish community in Canada.
Challenge the pro-Israel lobby: donate today

So I was also proud to sign IJV’s Together Against Apartheid pledge earlier this year, and I was thrilled to see my signature alongside dozens of Canadian elected officials from all levels of government! This is really the first time in Canadian history that so many of our leaders have been unafraid to use the term “Israeli apartheid”, and it’s much on account of IJV’s work.

This crucial organization, and the inspiring and thankless work it does deserves your support today. Please consider donating whatever your means allow.

In passionate solidarity,

Avi Lewis,

IJV member, filmmaker and Associate Professor of Geography at UBC

communications@ijvcanada.org
Donate to IJV or become a member!

PO Box 30087 RPO Woodbine Heights
1500 Woodbine Avenue
Toronto, ON M4C 5J2
Canada

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