Canadian Jewish group slams Carney government for equating anti-Zionism with antisemitism - Anadolu Ajansı

The Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) criticized the Canadian government on Friday for explicitly defining anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism, calling the move an "appalling capitulation" to pro-Israel groups such as the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA).

In a post on US social media platform X, the advocacy group said Ottawa had quietly redefined opposition to Zionism as antisemitism, warning the shift "endangers all Canadians' right to freedom of expression."

The IJV argued that anti-Zionism represents opposition to settler-colonialism in Palestine, which it said peaked during the 1948 Nakba and continues through Israeli policy, as well as opposition to the construction of "apartheid walls" and the "terrorizing of civilians by violent settlers."

It said anti-Zionism reflects the belief that Palestinians, like all peoples, deserve to live in dignity and safety, and that "Jewish life can flourish everywhere without a violent ethnostate."

The IJV accused the government of distorting the public's understanding of antisemitism and said the redefinition "writes over" the historical reality of Zionism's effect on Palestinians.

Warning that the move threatens Canadians' right to protest Israeli military actions in the Gaza Strip, the group stressed that it also undermines academic freedom, and silences Palestinian voices and their supporters.

The IJV urged Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree and Public Safety Canada to immediately retract the redefinition and recognize anti-Zionism as "a legitimate political viewpoint" rooted in anti-colonialism and human rights.

The criticism follows a summer progress report released earlier this week by Public Safety Canada on its National Commitments to Combat Antisemitism, which explicitly linked antisemitism to anti-Zionism.