Independent Jewish Voices (Canada)


Independent Jewish Voices is an organization that describes itself as representing Canadian Jews who have a strong commitment to social justice and universal human rights. The organization was founded in 2008 as a result of a national conference called on behalf of the Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians.
IJV promotes the expression of alternative Jewish voices, particularly in respect of the grave situation in the Middle East, which threatens the future of both Israelis and Palestinians as well as the stability of the whole region. It is guided by the following Basis of Unity:
  1. Human rights are universal and indivisible and should be upheld without exception. This is as applicable in Israel and Occupied Palestine as it is elsewhere.
  2. Palestinians and Israelis alike have the right to peaceful and secure lives.
  3. Peace and stability require the willingness of all parties to the conflict to comply with international law.
  4. There is no justification for any form of racism, including anti-Semitism, anti-Arab racism or Islamophobia in any circumstance.
  5. The battle against anti-Semitism is vital and is undermined whenever opposition to Israeli government policies is automatically branded as anti-Semitic

    Positions

IJV asks that Israeli policies comply with international law and follow international conventions on human rights. This includes withdrawing from land Israel occupied after the Six-Day War in 1967, respecting the universal right of refugees to return to their homes or receive compensation, dismantling the Separation Wall and Israeli settlements on the West Bank and Golan Heights, and correcting laws and practices within Israel that discriminate against the rights of non-Jews.
IJV has not adopted a position on the question of a one-state versus a two-state solution, but believes it is crucial for Israelis and Palestinians to have fully equal rights in any solution.

Criticism of the Canadian Jewish Congress

IJV has been highly critical of the Canadian Jewish Congress, now reorganized as the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. In an interview with the Kelowna Daily Courier, Sid Shniad of IJV accused the CJC of "playing the anti-Semitic card... because they don't have a lot else. They want to intimidate; they want to shut down. They want people to avert their eyes when it comes to the ongoing crisis there to allow them to do what they have been doing." He further added that the CJC is "playing a losing game. They're placing themselves on the wrong side of the issue of free speech. It can't be won. You don't win people's hearts and minds by telling them to shut up and go away." He also stated that it was "outrageous" that Bernie Farber, CEO of the CJC, attended a conference of the United Church of Canada "to try to shut down this debate".
Conversely, the Canadian Jewish Congress has often criticized IJV. Bernie Farber, chief executive of the CJC, stated that "no one ever says Israel is perfect" and predicted the fledgling group will have trouble finding support. Farber stated that the alliance "will remain a rump on the edge of Jewish society." In January 2010, Farber described IJV as a "fringe group" that spews "vile, anti-Zionist" rhetoric.

Criticism of Canadian government

In 2010, Canada's bid for a seat on the UN Security Council failed and Prime Minister Stephen Harper blamed it on "a rising tide of antisemitism". Diana Ralph of IJV denied that the criticism of Israeli policies was anti-Semitic and stated, "We believe that it is legitimate and ethically necessary for Canadians of conscience to criticize Israeli human rights abuses and to support non-violent remedies." In response, Melanie Phillips, writing in The Spectator, described Independent Jewish Voices as "...those obnoxious Finklers... part of that broader coalition of hatred which should surely be called Jews for Injustice Against Jews".
IJV opposed the appointment of Vivian Bercovici as Canadian ambassador to Israel in 2014, calling her an "apologist for Israel's crimes".

Other

IJV has also spoken out against Canadian chapters denying members the right to hold open discussions of Israel.
In May 2014, IJV called on the Canadian government to deny entry of Moshe Feiglin, Deputy Minister of the Israeli Knesset, because of his allegedly racist views. According to IJV spokesperson Sheryl Nestel, these include "support for the transfer to neighbouring Arab states of the 1.4 million Palestinians who are citizens of Israel. Feiglin is also an advocate of annexing the West Bank and the Gaza strip and of the exercise of full Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem, both of which are in direct contravention of international law."

Activism

Support for BDS

In June 2009, IJV became the first Canadian Jewish organization to join an international campaign in support of the call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. IJV stated that it will:
IJV has promoted the boycott of SodaStream, a company selling water carbonation devices manufactured in the occupied West Bank.
In 2012, the United Church of Canada decided to boycott goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Church was accused of bias and anti-Semitism. IJV spokesperson Tyler Levitan defended the Church's campaign in a public statement, saying that "The Israel lobby, unable to defend Israel's occupation and brutal treatment of the Palestinian people, can only slur those who support Palestinian human rights."
In 2014, IJV widened its BDS initiatives to include Block the Boat, a campaign to cause financial loss to the Israeli Zim Integrated Shipping Services company by blocking its ships from unloading.

Countering pro-Israel advocacy

In an article written for the Winnipeg Free Press and reprinted widely since, IJV member Jason Kunin wrote that "pro-Israel advocacy depends upon on the active dissemination of Islamophobia. Not surprisingly, engendering hatred in this manner inflames anti-Jewish sentiment among Arabs and Muslims. None of this is a recipe for making Jews safe" and that "Defenders of Israel often argue that Israel is forced to do what it does — to destroy people's homes, to keep them under the boot of occupation, to seal them into walled ghettos, to brutalize them daily with military incursions and random checkpoints — to protect its citizens from Palestinian violence."
In an interview with the Ryerson Free Press in July 2009, then IJV co-chair Diana Ralph expressed confidence that "progressive Jews in alliance with other pro-justice groups had the potential to build a movement powerful enough to expose, weaken and eventually defeat the Canadian Israel lobby." Ralph also claimed that "in spite of heavy pro-Israel propaganda, most Jews are far more progressive than the Israel lobby which claims to speak for them."

2008–09 and 2014 Gaza wars

IJV opposed the Gaza War of 2008–09. In a press release issued at the beginning of the conflict, the group stated that:
IJV participated in the Code Pink delegation which brought humanitarian relief to the territory in May 2009.
IJV was again moved to outrage and action in 2014 by the Israeli bombing and invasion of Gaza, and what they saw as the support of Israel's actions by Stephen Harper and other national parties. "The Liberal party is in lockstep with the Conservatives in not even mentioning Palestinian casualties and the NDP won't mention the word Palestine", said Tyler Levitan of IJV. IJV organized and joined protests across Canada.

Opposition to the Jewish National Fund

IJV has criticized the Jewish National Fund for "discriminatory policies of ethnic exclusion, and its role in the historic and ongoing dispossession of Palestinians from their lands." IJV has mounted a campaign in conjunction with other organizations to have the charitable status of the JNF's Canadian branch revoked.
Members of IJV and others disrupted an event put on by JNF Canada in Toronto in September 2014.

History

First national conference

The Alliance of Concerned Jewish Canadians and other activists held a national Independent Jewish Canadians Conference on March 28–30, 2008 with Naomi Klein as its keynote speaker. The participants affirmed their support for international law, their opposition to all forms or racism, and pledged to counter the view that any criticism of Israel's government and military policies is automatically anti-Semitic. Specifically, they opposed the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza which commenced in 1967.
The conference passed a resolution creating an interim steering committee that would found a national progressive Jewish organization. The steering committee adopted the name Independent Jewish Voices shortly afterwards. ACJC co-founder Eibie Weizfeld split with the new group and continues to lead an organization called ACJC which is unconnected with IJV.
The seven stated goals of IJV are:
  1. To give Jewish Canadians an alternative that works for peace and justice
  2. To challenge the Jewish establishment's views on the Middle East
  3. To open up discussion about Israeli government and military actions
  4. To support the right of Canadians to discuss Israeli policies without fear of being accused of anti-Semitism
  5. To promote contacts with Muslims and Arabs in Canada and to demonstrate that we can work together for peace
  6. To oppose wars of aggression
  7. To work in solidarity with the peace movements and war resisters within Israel

    Controversies

In 2009, a minor controversy ensued when the National Post publicized former IJV co-ordinator Diana Ralph's contribution of a chapter to The Hidden History of 9-11, in which she wrote that the attacks of September 11, 2001 were being used by the United States government as a pretext to "seize control of Eurasia, and thereby the entire world." She also wrote that "It is difficult to draw another conclusion than that Bush's associates organized the 9/11 attacks to kick-start popular support for this war" and that "The 'war on terror' is a concept modelled on Israel's assaults on Palestinians to provide a cover for campaigns of territorial conquest."
Howard Davidson, a member of the IJV steering committee, stated that Ralph's past has "nothing to do with the IJV" and that "The positions of Diana Ralph stated in those articles do not represent the positions of the IJV."
Shortly after the National Post article, Ralph stepped down as IJV's co-ordinator. She wrote a rebuttal to the allegations directed at her.
In February 2015, IJV linked to an article by anti-Zionist writer Alan Hart on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts. The link was to a version of the article that had been reposted on the far-right website Veterans Today, with an editor's note that contested the numbers of Jews that were killed in the Holocaust. B'nai Brith Canada accused IJV of thereby promoting Holocaust denial. IJV apologized, condemning the charge of Holocaust denial, and writing that they had been careless in not examining the editor's note and the Veterans Today website.