Palestine Debrief – Details, episodes & analysis

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Earlier in August the US government announced that General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems Inc. a Quebec-based company is the principal contractor in the sale of 50,000 high explosive mortar cartridges and related equipment to the Israeli military, which is worth $61 million US (or about $83 million in Canadian dollars). This is part of a total of $20 billion US weapon export announced and approved by the US to Israel. 

This catches Canada is several lies they have made since October. The lie of sending only “non-lethal” weapons. The lie that the Trudeau government stopped all arms exports to Israel earlier this year. As it turns out they do not need export permits nor approvals to send weapons to the US, which in turn sends them to the Israeli military. 

Here to talk to us more is Rachel Small from World Beyond War who has been monitoring and supporting grassroots resistance to the Canada-Israel arms trade. 

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Check out their map of the companies across Canada arming Israel here.

Thank you for listening to the ‘Palestine Debrief’ podcast. This podcast is produced by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and hosted by Wissam El Cheikh Hassan.

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Canada is adamant on their support to Israel, despite when it is becoming extensively clear that Israel is driving the whole world to the brink of a third world war. 

With the attack that happened last Friday night in a school in Gaza that killed 100 people gathering for morning prayers, it is imperative to understand why Canada refuses to change its stance on Israel.

Here to help us make sense of all this, is Professor of Sociology at Mount Royal University and author of 2 books, and writer of serval political articles on racism, decolonisation, in several news outlets Muhannad Ayyash.

Follow Dr. Mohannad Ayyash on X.

Thank you for listening to the ‘Palestine Debrief’ podcast. This podcast is produced by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) and hosted by Wissam El Cheikh Hassan.

Click here to support the work of CJPME.  Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or Tiktok.

Click here to leave us your comments, or email us at info@cjpme.org. 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions of our guests are their own and do not necessarily represent the positions of CJPME.

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In this episode, Tom is joined by Fargo Tbakhi, a queer Palestinian American writer and performance artist based in Washington D.C. and winner of 2018 Ghassan Kanafani Resistance Arts Prize. His writings have been published in various literary publications including The Berkeley Review. He is also the recipient of several fellowships. Fargo’s writings and performances challenge notions of erasure and colonization and propose a reality of a free and unoccupied Palestine.

Links:

• Follow Fargo on Twitter
•  Visit Fargo’s website to learn about him and his work 

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For years, Canada’s political parties have talked about their support for a “two state solution” in Palestine-Israel, but without doing anything to address the urgent realities on the ground. In the meantime, many people believe that Israel’s actions have effectively killed any possibility of a Palestinian state. Is the two state solution dead, and if so, how should Canada respond? In this episode, Tom and Michael discuss what an alternative policy could look like, and how Canada can advance justice and equality for all.   

Links from this podcast:

1. Links from this podcast:
   1. Beyond the Two-State Solution
   2. The Canadian Government’s official policy on Palestine-Israel: “Canadian policy on key issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”

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Our recent Webinar on BDS and the Labour Movement in Canada gave an eye-opening perspective on how labour activists are helping to create greater awareness within the labour movement on Palestinian human rights.  After a brief intro, we cut to the Webinar to hear Michael and his two guests, Katherine Nastovski and Hassan Husseini talk about efforts to pass BDS resolutions in different labour organizations.  BDS stands for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions strategies to pressure Israel to respect the human rights of Palestinians.  There have been successes and challenges, but Michael and his guests are optimistic that with the proper strategy, labour can help lead Canada to a broader adoption of BDS.  

Links from this podcast:

1. The International BDS Movement 
2. List of Canadian organizations, including labour unions, which have endorsed BDS 
3. Labour for Palestine

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Tom and Michael talk about the six Palestinian human rights organizations that were criminalized by Israel in October. Many in the international community have criticized the Israeli government for falsely designating these groups as “terrorists,” but Canada’s response has been quiet. What makes these six organizations so threatening to Israel’s leadership?  How might Israel’s “terror” designation impact human rights work in Palestine, and what is the best way for other countries – including Canada – to respond?   

Links from this podcast:

1. Email campaign: Canada must support human rights defenders in Palestine 
2. Joint letter from the Inter-Parliamentary Task Force

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Tom and Michael talk about the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) controversial definition of antisemitism. Many critics say that IHRA unfairly conflates criticism of Israel with antisemitism. How broadly has the IHRA definition been adopted in Canada, and what are some of the legitimate concerns about its adoption? What are the implications of IHRA for the Palestinian solidarity movement in Canada, and how are people pushing back?

Links from this episode:
1) IJV’s “No IHRA” resources and campaign
2) CJPME’s article in Canadian Dimension on how IHRA is intended to silence speech

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Tom and Michael talk about how the Green Party of Canada has handled  the question of Palestinian human rights, and how this issue impacted the tenure of former Green Party leader Annamie Paul. For the past few years the Green Party has wrestled with the question of Palestine, with a series of contradictory statements and positions on the issue.  Internal turmoil over the issue boiled over this past summer, and may have contributed to Paul’s premature departure as leader.  How has this issue caused so much tension within the party, and could things have been handled differently?

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Tom and Michael talk about Canada’s voting on the 16 annual UN General Assembly resolutions that relate to Palestinian human rights. In recent years, Canada has sided with Israel and a small minority of countries by voting against most of these resolutions. What exactly are these resolutions, and what is Canada likely to do this year? What does this say about Canada’s commitment to human rights?  

Links from this episode:

CJPME’s UN Dashboard

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Tom Woodley and Michael Bueckert introduce the CJPME Debrief podcast, and talk about their plans for upcoming episodes.  

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