Position Statements

A deal for a temporary halt to Israel’s genocidal bombardment of Gaza has been announced. IJV welcomes this news with hope, grief, and worry for the days to come. As we watch celebrations of the ceasefire in Gaza, we are grateful for the relief this will bring to Palestinians who have been suffering under Israel’s 15 month-long campaign of genocidal violence.

Following the sudden and unexpected fall of the Assad regime in Syria, we stand at a crossroads for justice and liberation across the region. We have witnessed the mass liberation […]

Across Canada and internationally, we are seeing a marked rise in violent repression of the Palestine solidarity movement. Independent Jewish Voices condemns the mounting criminalization of Palestine solidarity activism, and […]

As Jewish organizations and groups, we express our support for Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967.

In June 2024, IJV members voted to adopt the following position statement:

Independent Jewish Voices unequivocally stands in support of Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian Territory, in the face of a shameful smear campaign orchestrated by organizations […]

We must commit to doing more for indigenous communities on this national day for truth and reconciliation and beyond. On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Independent Jewish Voices […]

For the past few days a campaign of terror has unleashed havoc and death in Lebanon. On Tuesday a coordinated explosion of pagers across Lebanon left 12 dead, hundreds in […]

JNF Canada’s charity status has been officially revoked. On August 10th the revocation notice for JNF Canada was published in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Canadian Government. […]

We mourn the deaths of six Israeli hostages found killed over the weekend just as we mourn the 47 Palestinians killed the same day by Israel, and the more than […]

On August 21, over 100 Jewish institutions and synagogues in Canada received bomb threats. Independent Jewish Voices is appalled and outraged by these heinous acts of terror, which are a […]

Pro-Israel organizations in Canada are trying to chalk up another victim of a campaign of “civil terror” meant to silence critics of the Israeli genocide in Gaza. Some Jewish organizations […]

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) and Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU) are  horrified by the Quebec provincial government’s and local media’s uncritical reception of CIJA’s Unlearn It curriculum, which includes harmful […]

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) applauds the agreement reached between the University of Windsor and the Uwindsor Liberation Zone encampment students. The University of Windsor is following a long tradition of […]

This week marks nine months of Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza. The latest official estimates indicate that over 38,000 Palestinians have been killed so far, though […]

The dismantling of the “Al-Soumoud” camp in front of the Quebec Deposit and Investment Fund (CDPQ) is the result of the SPVM’s violent repression of citizens’ right to refuse Quebec’s […]

Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) joins with the Yukon Human Rights Commission in rejecting calls for the appointment of Birju Dattani as the new head of the Canadian Human Rights […]

Allegations of widespread antisemitism in Canada have penetrated the media and the political sphere. But a careful analysis of these claims shows that while there is a rise in antisemitic […]

It has now been a month since the first student-led encampment in solidarity with Palestine was established on the lower field of McGill University in Montréal. During that time dozens […]

Dr. Sheryl Nestel on behalf of Independent Jewish Voices Canada My name is Dr. Sheryl Nestel. I am a retired sociologist and Affiliated Scholar at New College at the University […]

As the Israeli campaign of genocidal violence against the civilian population of Gaza reaches the 8 month mark, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has […]

Fleeing constant bombardment, a doctor – descended from refugees, like most of the population of Gaza – scribbles “remember our names” on a hospital whiteboard. A teenage boy carries his […]

The letter below is a submission from an IJV member to the Standing Committee of Justice and Human Rights regarding the study on Antisemitism and Additional Measures that could be […]

April 11, 2024 Dear Minister Bibeau, Over the past several years, you have been notified of concerns about a number of Canadian charities providing funds to organizations supporting the Israeli […]

The world has watched for six months as Palestinians are murdered, injured and displaced en masse by the Israeli occupation. Canada has aided and abetted this atrocity. Canadian arms deals […]

On February 9, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) announced that 14 federal public servants who are members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) had filed […]

Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) is anti-Zionist. While it had many strains historically, today Zionism is generally understood to denote the political ideology that has provided the basis for Israel’s settler-colonial […]

Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) condemns Canada’s shameful decision to suspend further funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) while Palestinians in Gaza face the disastrous consequences […]

Independent Jewish Voices Canada welcomes with optimism and hope the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) historic decision this morning, which detailed that provisional measures are required of Israel. Israel must […]

Over the past 100+ days, notably thanks to the brave journalists of Gaza, we have seen harrowing evidence of a genocide being perpetrated by the Israeli army with the overt […]

IJV welcomes Canada’s vote at the UN General Assembly today calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire, the protection of civilians, the immediate, unconditional release of all hostages and humanitarian access”. While […]

As Jewish people, most of us have grown up hearing stories of the Holocaust. No one should be better prepared than us to recognize genocide. And many Jewish people are […]

IJV welcomes with relief the announcement of a temporary pause to the devastating violence taking place across the Gaza Strip. The accompanying exchange of hostages for political prisoners is a […]

“From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” For sharing these ten simple yet powerful words, a Calgary activist was arrested, a Montreal film screening was cancelled, a […]

Following the deadly Hamas attacks, Israel has engaged in non-stop bombing in the last weeks on the 2.3 million people living in the Gaza strip. We are witnessing civilian Palestinian […]

With over 1,000 Israeli and more than 700 Palestinian casualties so far, the pain felt by those of us both in the region and connected to it cannot be overstated. […]

On October 16-17, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) and Canada’s Jewish Federations are putting on a conference in Ottawa called Antisemitism: Face It, Fight It, co-sponsored by […]

Last week, Canadian lawmakers invited a Ukrainian Nazi into the House of Commons, then gave him two standing ovations. Though House Speaker Anthony Rota has rightly resigned after inviting former […]

To the Honourable Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada I write to you today on behalf of Independent Jewish Voices, a national Jewish organization with chapters across Canada […]

A U.S. jury has sentenced to death the gunman who killed eleven worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue in 2018. When Robert Bowers entered the synagogue, he yelled, “All […]

Last Wednesday, June 28, a gender studies class at the University of Waterloo was targeted in an apparent hate crime that left a professor and two students injured. This was […]

Israeli forces have “pulled out” of their recent incursion into the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, leaving at least 12 Palestinians dead, including 5 teenagers, as well as […]

May 15th marks the 75 anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (“catastrophe” in Arabic). Nakba Day is observed in Palestine and around the world to commemorate the displacement of hundreds of […]

Dear Members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, As you are aware, there is a motion put forward by MP Heather McPherson that may soon be […]

Joint statement from Independent Jewish Voices Canada and l’Union Juive Française pour la Paix (UJFP) For a second time in a decade, France is seeking to extradite Dr. Hassan Diab […]

On Monday, after weeks of mass protests, Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu finally announced that he would be pausing his far-right government’s controversial plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary.  In order […]

Mohammed Alzaza was a 15-year-old Palestinian teenager in Gaza when he and his 12-year-old cousin were hit by an Israeli drone strike while playing on the beach in August, 2011.  […]

Independent Jewish Voices Canada is calling for immediate action by the Canadian government in response to yesterday’s comments by a senior Israeli minister that the Palestinian town of Huwara should […]

Dear fellow Canadian Jews, It is with sadness – but not surprise – that we watch in real time as the state of Israel moves to gut its judiciary. In […]

Independent Jewish Voices condemns the Canadian government’s confirmation today that Canadian Heritage grantees must attest to the IHRA definition of antisemitism in order to receive or keep their funding. These […]