Month: November 2022

Vancouver City Council adopts anti-Palestinian IHRA definition

On November 16, despite strong and diverse opposition, Vancouver City Council adopted the dangerous and divisive IHRA definition. The IHRA is designed to “chill” speech on Palestine and institutionalizes anti-Palestinian racism.
Canada Palestine Association is grateful for all the speakers who took the time to express their opposition to the IHRA in front of council before the vote. They represented the best of Vancouver and showed that our voices will not be silenced. #NoIHRA

Several Palestinians addressed the council, including CPA Chair Hanna Kawas.

An open letter was also sent to the Vancouver Mayor and Councillors the day after the motion was passed. (Full text bellow)
"Council should know that their lack of due diligence or intentional disinformation is at the expense of the inalienable rights of a whole nation and desecrates the memory of our dispossessed Palestinian parents and grandparents."

Open Letter to Vancouver Mayor and Councillors:

On November 16, Vancouver City Council officially institutionalized anti-Palestinian racism by adopting the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. This happened despite overwhelming opposition from a broad cross-section of your constituents, including progressive Jews, indigenous leaders, human rights groups and Palestinians.

I was one of the speakers who addressed council before the vote (52:48 min. into the video). I was shocked that the author of the motion, who asked me a question after my presentation, claimed that she was not aware of illustrative example #7 that I (and others who followed me) referenced. This is all the more astounding given that Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung had introduced this motion twice, in 2019 and 2022, and specifically mentioned in her motion “THAT the City of Vancouver adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism and list of illustrative examples..”

However, she still attempted to discredit my presentation by saying: “I have the illustrative examples in front of me, and I am just looking through to find the one you are referencing that speaks of it a racist endeavour and I can not find it … I can’t see any language that speaks to it being a racist endeavour or similar to what you are describing…” (59:30 min. into the video…I was frankly flabbergasted, but I promised council to supply them with the example and here is a screenshot of it, taken from the very link included in Kirby-Yung’s motion.)

Are we to believe that when she presented this motion both times that she did not read nor comprehend what was in the motion? Was she just woefully misinformed or was there another agenda behind this motion? The whole process speaks volumes about the procedure that unfolded and the callous disregard for truth, compassion, or decency. Council should know that their lack of due diligence or intentional disinformation is at the expense of the inalienable rights of a whole nation and desecrates the memory of our dispossessed Palestinian parents and grandparents.

Several councillors mentioned in their closing comments before the vote that international affairs is not in their mandate, but they were supporting the motion because their sole concern was with Vancouver affairs. This didn’t stop Mayor Ken Sim though, in his tweet immediately following the passing of the motion, from saying: “We are proud to stand with the Jewish community both in Vancouver and around the world.” So it seems the global approach can be embraced when politically advantageous…such hypocrisy will not go unnoticed.

Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung got the highest number of votes among councillors in the recent 2022 election. I lament the 72,545 Vancouverites that voted for her, and I mourn the city of Vancouver that has institutionalized anti-Palestinian racism.

As I stated in my presentation, we “will not be silenced nor intimidated; we will always fight back against such racism to preserve our dignity and human and national rights.” We will expose Vancouver City Council’s racism locally, nationally and internationally; our first actions will be to put you on the Canadian BDS Coalition “Shame List” and to also inform the anti-racist community of this infamy.

Hanna Kawas
Chairperson, Canada Palestine Association

Background info on the #NoIHRA campaign.

Mark Int’l Day of Solidarity/Boycott Israeli Wines Picket Nov. 26

Great photos from our picket/instore flash action: #BoycottIsraeliWines #NoIHRA

Join local groups in Vancouver to mark the annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People with a picket to “Tell the BC NDP Govt to Pull Israeli Apartheid Wines”.
Major international and Israeli human right groups, including Amnesty International, have determined that Israel is committing the crime of apartheid. Yet the BC government insists to carry Israeli wines in publicly owned BC liquor stores, even though most are linked to the illegal Israeli settlement enterprise.
The wines in question are either from the Golan Heights Winery and its joint venture the Galil Winery; or from the Israeli Teperberg Winery, which proudly displays a map on its website showing vineyards in occupied Palestinian territory.
More info: https://cpavancouver.org/boycottisraeliwines-campaign/
Cosponsors for this event include BDS Vancouver-Coast Salish, Canada Palestine Association, ILPS Canada, Independent Jewish Voices Vancouver, Samidoun Vancouver 

This event is taking place on the unceded and occupied territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples. The organizers stand in full solidarity and support of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination and with the ongoing movements to defend land, water and Indigenous peoples from plunder and settler colonialism.

FB Event Page: Boycott Israeli Wines/Mark Int’l Day of Solidarity with Palestinians | Facebook

Vancouver and #NoIHRA, Again!

Action Alert:
Here is the text of the motion introduced to Vancouver City Council. We encourage all supporters to sign up to speak against the motion either in-person or by phone through this link. #NoIHRA

Update: The BC Civil Liberties Association put out a letter on Nov. 7 reaffirming that they “are strongly opposed to the IHRA definition because of its threat to freedom of expression”. And in a welcome move, the Union of BC Indian Chiefs also penned a letter to Vancouver City Council in which they expressed “grave concerns” and urged them to “not proceed” with adoption of the IHRA. They stated: “We do not condone protecting Israel from criticism in relation to its settler colonial policies and mistreatment of Palestinians.”

Vancouver city council on the brink of institutionalizing anti-Palestinian racism – Mondoweiss

CPA Statement:
Three and a half years ago, Vancouver city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung introduced a motion to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. That motion in July 2019 was not passed; however, the same councillor recently gave notice to reintroduce a similar motion this month to the new Vancouver city council. She is now representing the ABC “A Better City” party that even included adoption of the IHRA definition in their platform. And since they won a majority in the recent civic elections, they seem to be rushing to vindicate themselves this time around.

Back in 2019, Vancouver was one of the first city councils where the pro-Israel lobby attempted to have the IHRA definition formally accepted. Many segments of the progressive and anti-racist community in Vancouver responded quickly and as already noted, the result was that the motion was not adopted. And all the reasons that were valid in 2019 are still valid in 2022, as evidence increases of how the IHRA definition is being used to silence Palestinian voices and criticism of Israel.

The IHRA definition was wrong then and it is wrong now. Passing it now at Vancouver city council will not change that nor will it change our determination as Palestinian Canadians to raise our voices against our oppression, and against anti-Palestinian racism and all those who maintain it. We will continue to speak out forcefully and reject the concept that our narrative must be constricted and restrained. If other communities are granted the right during discussions of discrimination to say: “Nothing about us without us”, then so are Palestinian Canadians. Or are we to be treated differently, like lesser beings?

Passing this anti-Palestinian definition will not deter us, but it will tarnish the reputation of the city of Vancouver. No longer can Vancouver promote itself as diverse and tolerant. Rather, it will be presented internationally as a city that callously engages in racism against vulnerable minorities (in this case the Palestinian, Arab and Moslem communities), a policy that could have negative implications on tourism and investment.

We join hands with many allies, from progressive Jews to anti-racist and human rights groups to church and union organizations, to say #NoIHRA. Adopting this dangerous and vague definition of anti-Semitism will only serve to harm the reputation of Vancouver as a welcoming city for all people.