(CIJA attempt to quash the Palestinian flag raising) This was just the latest attempt to silence Palestinian voices in Canada. Suppressing these truths won't bring saftey -- Toronto Star
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Sid Shniad
Dec 1, 2025, 5:53:37 PM (6 days ago) Dec 1
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https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/this-was-just-the-latest-attempt-to-silence-palestinian-voices-in-canada-but-these-stories/article_a5189b22-d2d5-43d3-ab2f-a475f6be446e.html
This was just the latest attempt to silence Palestinian voices in Canada. Suppressing these truths won't bring saftey
The Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at Toronto City Hall on November 17, 2025, to mark the 37th anniversary of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence.
Andres Valenzuela/Toronto Star
By Jon Allen and Mary Mouammar, Contributors
Mary Mouammar is a former member of the Immigration and Refugee Board and a former Refugee Resettlement Expert with UNHCR who was deployed abroad in six countries. Jon Allen is a former Canadian ambassador to Israel and a Senior Fellow at the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary History
The recent attack by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights for daring to include an exhibit on the Palestinian Nakba is the latest attempt to suppress the Palestinian narrative in Canada. It follows B’nai Brith Canada’s effort to prevent the Palestinian flag from being raised at Toronto City Hall, even though Canada recently recognized Palestine as a state. This turned a peaceful, one-day gesture of pride for Palestinians into a political storm that served only to sow further divisions between Jews and Palestinians at a time when polarization is already at an all-time high.
These are not isolated incidents but rather they reflect a pattern in which mainstream Jewish organizations exert pressure on institutions and community leaders to silence Palestinians and those who support them.
The Jewish community in Canada is absolutely entitled to safety, dignity, and protection of its rights. They marched in celebration of Israel’s independence and to remember the victims of Oct. 7. This was important for the community. Why then should anyone object to the desire of Palestinians in Canada to tell their story?
For decades, we have read books and watched films about the birth of the state of Israel, the plucky David and the war it fought for its independence against multiple Arab states. Meanwhile the Palestinian narrative, as real and as important as Israel’s, was often dismissed or simply erased. Only recently have Canadians become aware of the expulsion of Palestinians, the loss of their homes, and the displaced families that accompanied 1948.
Efforts to suppress these truths through court challenges or political pressure is both wrong and self-defeating. Celebrating Palestinian self-determination or criticizing Israel when the criticism is justified should not be conflated with antisemitism. Real antisemitism, the hatred of Jews for being Jewish, is dangerous and growing and should be fought head on. Suppressing Palestinian rights and ignoring Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank will not help that fight.
Indeed, many Jewish Canadians reject this. For over a year, Women in Black, led by prominent Jewish women including Michele Landsberg, have held weekly silent vigils protesting the devastation in Gaza. Their courage should be celebrated. Instead, they too face intimidation and pressure from mainstream community organizations.
Canada must not allow itself to become a place where human rights institutions are bullied into erasing Palestinian history, or where gestures of inclusion are treated as existential threats. Museums must be free to tell the truth. Cities must be free to recognize the communities who live in them. Canadians must be free to hear every side of a story without intimidation.
Silencing Palestinians will not bring safety. It will not prevent antisemitism. It will not produce justice. Demanding equality and dignity for one group cannot come at the expense of another.
Let the museum speak. Let the flag fly. And let Palestinians — and all who stand with them — be heard.
Toronto Star Dec. 1, 2025
This was just the latest attempt to silence Palestinian voices in Canada. Suppressing these truths won't bring saftey
The Palestinian flag was raised for the first time at Toronto City Hall on November 17, 2025, to mark the 37th anniversary of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence.
Andres Valenzuela/Toronto Star
Mary Mouammar is a former member of the Immigration and Refugee Board and a former Refugee Resettlement Expert with UNHCR who was deployed abroad in six countries. Jon Allen is a former Canadian ambassador to Israel and a Senior Fellow at the Bill Graham Centre for Contemporary History
The recent attack by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) on the Canadian Museum for Human Rights for daring to include an exhibit on the Palestinian Nakba is the latest attempt to suppress the Palestinian narrative in Canada. It follows B’nai Brith Canada’s effort to prevent the Palestinian flag from being raised at Toronto City Hall, even though Canada recently recognized Palestine as a state. This turned a peaceful, one-day gesture of pride for Palestinians into a political storm that served only to sow further divisions between Jews and Palestinians at a time when polarization is already at an all-time high.
These are not isolated incidents but rather they reflect a pattern in which mainstream Jewish organizations exert pressure on institutions and community leaders to silence Palestinians and those who support them.
The Jewish community in Canada is absolutely entitled to safety, dignity, and protection of its rights. They marched in celebration of Israel’s independence and to remember the victims of Oct. 7. This was important for the community. Why then should anyone object to the desire of Palestinians in Canada to tell their story?
For decades, we have read books and watched films about the birth of the state of Israel, the plucky David and the war it fought for its independence against multiple Arab states. Meanwhile the Palestinian narrative, as real and as important as Israel’s, was often dismissed or simply erased. Only recently have Canadians become aware of the expulsion of Palestinians, the loss of their homes, and the displaced families that accompanied 1948.
Efforts to suppress these truths through court challenges or political pressure is both wrong and self-defeating. Celebrating Palestinian self-determination or criticizing Israel when the criticism is justified should not be conflated with antisemitism. Real antisemitism, the hatred of Jews for being Jewish, is dangerous and growing and should be fought head on. Suppressing Palestinian rights and ignoring Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank will not help that fight.
Indeed, many Jewish Canadians reject this. For over a year, Women in Black, led by prominent Jewish women including Michele Landsberg, have held weekly silent vigils protesting the devastation in Gaza. Their courage should be celebrated. Instead, they too face intimidation and pressure from mainstream community organizations.
Canada must not allow itself to become a place where human rights institutions are bullied into erasing Palestinian history, or where gestures of inclusion are treated as existential threats. Museums must be free to tell the truth. Cities must be free to recognize the communities who live in them. Canadians must be free to hear every side of a story without intimidation.
Silencing Palestinians will not bring safety. It will not prevent antisemitism. It will not produce justice. Demanding equality and dignity for one group cannot come at the expense of another.
Let the museum speak. Let the flag fly. And let Palestinians — and all who stand with them — be heard.
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