April 11, 2024
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 […]
April 7, 2024
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 […]
February 21, 2024
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 […]
February 8, 2024
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 […]
January 30, 2024
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 […]
January 26, 2024
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 […]
January 18, 2024
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 […]
December 12, 2023
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 […]
December 8, 2023
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 […]
November 23, 2023
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 […]
November 14, 2023
“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 […]
November 7, 2023
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 […]
October 8, 2023
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. […]
October 5, 2023
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 […]
September 27, 2023
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 […]
September 14, 2023
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 […]
August 17, 2023
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 […]
July 7, 2023
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 […]
July 6, 2023
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 12, 2023
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 […]
May 8, 2023
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 […]
May 4, 2023
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 […]
March 28, 2023
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 […]
March 21, 2023
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. […]
March 2, 2023
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 […]
February 14, 2023
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 […]
February 13, 2023
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 […]
November 22, 2022
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) stands with Ontario MPP for Ottawa-Centre Joel Harden, who recently came under fire from pro-Israel lobby groups and the Jewish Federation of Ottawa for comments […]
November 8, 2022
Dear Mayor Sim and Members of Council, Let’s fight antisemitism together! Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Canada is an organization dedicated to the pursuit of social justice for all. In particular, […]
October 17, 2022
October 13, 2022 Hon. Ahmed Hussen Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Youth Dear Minister: I write to you today on behalf of Independent Jewish Voices, a national Jewish organization with […]
September 30, 2022
On this second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) recognizes this day’s vital importance as a moment of remembrance and reckoning throughout Canada. We honour the […]
September 14, 2022
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) commends trustees of the York Region District School Board (YRDSB – Ontario’s third largest school board) for heeding the concerns of anti-racist parents and community […]
September 9, 2022
A few members of Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver attended a mayoral town hall event September 7th at Temple Sholom hosted by the pro-Israel lobby group CIJA (Centre for Israel and […]
September 6, 2022
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) commends a recent strong shift in the federal New Democratic Party (NDP) which has seen it publicly making bolder calls for justice and peace in […]
August 9, 2022
We, member groups of the International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine, are filled with sorrow and outrage at Israel’s unprovoked aerial bombardment of the community of Gaza, Palestine. We […]
June 21, 2022
On June 13th of 2022, our National Coordinator Corey Balsam was invited to speak to Canadian parliamentarians at an event hosted by the Canada-Palestine Parliamentary Friendship Group. Below, we reproduce […]
April 8, 2022
The following is an open letter sent on behalf to Independent Jewish Voices Montreal (IJV) to the McGill University administration on April 7, 2022. Dear Suzanne Fortier (Principal and Vice-Chancellor) […]
March 23, 2022
Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) Canada joins with millions of people around the world in calling for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We also […]
March 3, 2022
On January 11, several groups of Canadian rabbis issued a statement regarding the United Church 2022 General Council discussions on the church’s policy positions on antisemitism, Israel and Palestine. Those […]
November 16, 2021
Independent Jewish Voices-Toronto congratulates the hundreds of courageous students at Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute for staging a walk-out and demonstration on Friday, November 12th, in protest of anti-Palestinian racism and […]
October 4, 2021
Subject: Joint submission re: Online harms legislation To whom it may concern, As organizations and individuals with expertise in anti-racism, we are profoundly concerned by the government’s proposed “online harms” […]
September 30, 2021
Dear Ms. Russell-Rawlins, Ms. Kelman, Mr. Spyropoulos and Ms. Spence, It takes real courage to stand up for freedom and justice when you know that you will be attacked in […]
September 30, 2021 Statement from Independent Jewish Voices – York Re: Antisemitism training by Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) for members of the York Federation of Students (YFS). On Monday, September […]
September 23, 2021
Well, here we are at the end of another Canadian federal election. We’ve emerged from a highly unpopular election campaign in the middle of a global pandemic with largely the […]
June 23, 2021
As Jews who believe in social justice for everyone, Independent Jewish Voices Toronto (IJV) supports Javier Davila, one of eight equity advisors with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Recently, Davila […]
June 21, 2021
June 21st marks National Indigenous People’s Day in Canada. It is a day to celebrate the cultures and contributions of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples across these lands. However, […]
June 10, 2021
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) denounces the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) for unilaterally adopting the extremely divisive and widely rejected IHRA definition of antisemitism in Quebec yesterday. Benoit Charette, Quebec’s […]
May 28, 2021
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) congratulates a group of Toronto artists for calling on the Koffler Centre of the Arts to live up to its new “social justice” mandate by […]
May 27, 2021
Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV) and the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association (ACLA) are disappointed but not surprised by the outcome of the Canadian Judicial Council’s (CJC) review of the conduct […]
May 19, 2021
Dear Mayor John Tory and Premier Doug Ford. In the wake of a large rally protesting Israeli aggression and violence against Palestinians attended by well over 10,000 people in Nathan […]