National Coordinator @IndJewishVoices. Capoeira Angola. Polyglot. Montréalais. He/him. #FreePalestine
Joined January 2020
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Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
Collective punishment is a crime. Israel’s blockade of the West Bank and the ethnic cleansing and siege of Hebron is unconscionable. Over 2,000 al-Khalilis have been expelled from their homes and not allowed to return. Israeli troops have turned Palestinian homes into military outposts.
@AnitaAnandMP and the Canadian government must not sit idly by. Escalate sanctions now!
Since this morning, I’ve been unable to leave my home. All checkpoints in H2 and exits from Hebron are closed. Israeli forces have begun demolishing homes and shops near the site of the attack.
Residents are living in fear, cut off from basic necessities.
We urgently call on the UN, international governments, and humanitarian organizations to act now: protect civilians, demand an end to unlawful demolitions and collective restrictions, and ensure safe access to essential supplies and emergency services.
Hebron must not be forgotten. We need urgent action, not just statements of concern.
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
A reminder to @MarkJCarney and @AnitaAnandMP: regardless of who wins Israel’s next elections at the end of the month, there is no reason to expect meaningful change in its treatment of Palestinians.
At least eight Israeli parties, projected to win at least 60-70% of seats in the Knesset, openly reject Palestinian statehood, with many of them proud of their role in stopping it, and some even calling Netanyahu’s approach too weak. The problem is clearly not only with the current governing coalition. Opposition to Palestinian self-determination runs much deeper.
Canada cannot allow a change in government to become an excuse for resuming business as usual. Now is the time for Canada to send Israel a message that as long as they deny Palestinians their human rights, they will face escalating sanctions.
Sanction Israel Now.
@CanadaFP @CanadianPM
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
No, @AHousefather. Zionism is not simply about Jewish self-determination or Israel’s so-called right to exist. Nor can anti-Zionism simply be equated with antisemitism.
Zionism in practice is about support for a state project in which Jews dominate over Palestinians. Would Housefather defend a Canada constituted as an Anglophone Christian state, where Indigenous Peoples and everyone else are discriminated against and treated as a demographic threat? Or does he support a state for all its citizens?
Enough with the double standards. Opposing settler colonialism and ethnostates, and supporting democracy and equal rights are not antisemitism.
Send a letter: bit.ly/AZsafety
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
The Nobel peace prize was just awarded to the UN official that found Israel guilty of an ongoing genocide
An extraordinary turning point & a vindication of everyone who stood against Israel's atrocities in Gaza!
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
Anti-Zionism is not antisemitism! Public Safety Canada has described anti-Zionism as a form of antisemitism.
This sets a dangerous precedent for Palestinian rights.
Send an email to tell Canada’s Minister of Public Safety to retract this statement.
cjpme.org/antizionism
CIJA has been lobbying the gov't to brand anti-Zionism a form of antisemitism since at least Sept. 2023. breachmedia.ca/anti-zionism-…
Shame on Ministers @gary_srp + @SeanFraserMP for giving in and throwing Palestinians and pro-justice Canadians under the bus.
Send them an email now.
📢 Take action today — tell Canada that anti-Zionism is not antisemitism! bit.ly/AZsafety
Last week, Public Safety Canada said that anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism. This is a dangerous distortion of the definition of antisemitism. It confuses the public about the true nature of antisemitism, erases Jewish anti-Zionist histories, and promotes anti-Palestinian racism. The fact that this came from Public Safety Canada is deeply troubling, as it will have a direct impact on how expressions of Palestine solidarity is policed.
We know that, far from being a form of bigoted hatred, anti-Zionism is an affirmation of the rights of all people to live in peace and dignity. We need to make it clear that Public Safety Canada's misdefinition is unacceptable, and that Canadians from all walks of life do not want antisemitism to be weaponized to silence voices speaking out in support of Palestinian human rights. Take action and add your voice today. Go to bit.ly/AZsafety and tell Canada: anti-Zionism is not antisemitism!
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
Tonight I’ll be dipping apples in honey with my family and making fervent wishes for a sweeter year to come. We live in a terrifying time, but there is still much to be savoured, including our freedom to build hope together in collective struggle. Happy Rosh Hashanah to all who celebrate!
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
Thank you to @avilewis for his words. We completely echo the sentiment here. It is absolutely unacceptable for Minister Miller @MarcMillerVM to insert himself into the curation of this important exhibition.
This is completely out of line.
Minister Miller says, "It isn't up to me to speak to, or insert myself in, the curation of any particular exhibit.” And then he does exactly that.
His comments are a direct attack on the independence of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights – exactly what the Museums Act is meant to prevent.
The story of the Nakba needs to be told. It’s a hard history to confront: Israel’s independence was achieved with massacres, ethnic cleansing, and the forcible displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians.
And it’s a story that’s not over: all of those assaults on human dignity and fundamental human rights continue to this day.
This is the very purpose of museums like the CMHR: to shine a light into the corners of history and connect historical events to the present. Public education informed by the principles of justice and human rights.
The “error that needs to be rectified” is not the exhibit, it’s the Heritage Minister’s unacceptable political interference. He should retract his comments, apologize, and leave curating to the curators.
cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/…
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights is set to launch its groundbreaking exhibit on the Nakba, which has been developed alongside the Palestinian Canadian community.
Unfortunately, the Museum is facing relentless attacks from the pro-Israel lobby, which is exerting major pressure on @MarcMillerVM to have the exhibition cancelled. Miller has so far declined to interfere with the Museum’s programming.
Join us in emailing Minister Miller and the CMHR to encourage him to stand firm in support of the Nakba exhibit, defend museum independence, and reject efforts to silence Palestinian histories.
cjpme.org/support_nakba_exhi…
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
While there is much to contest in yesterday’s address on antisemitism, credit to @MarkJCarney for leaving Israel mainly out of it and for not entertaining the absurd claim, promoted by some community leaders and clergy, that Canada’s mild criticism of Israel is somehow responsible for domestic antisemitism…
Let’s be real: Antisemitism is not being driven by Canada’s mild condemnations or inadequate attempts at holding Israel accountable to international law.
Antisemitism is driven by far-right actors, and by Israel’s actions themselves: its devastating genocide in Gaza, apartheid policies, land theft in the West Bank, flattening of entire villages in southern Lebanon.
Legacy Jewish institutions that continue to proudly identify with Israel and defend it from criticism have lost the plot on fighting antisemitism. Defending a genocidal apartheid state from criticism does nothing to keep Jewish Canadians safe. #cdnpoli
theglobeandmail.com/politics…
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
IJV Montreal members have spoken out against the misrepresentation of this protest, thanks to @atRachelGilmore for unpacking the media distortion of this story
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
Nearly 200 former senior diplomats have sent a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney urging him to act now and impose robust sanctions on Israel.
Join us in writing to @MarkJCarney, @AnitaAnandMP and your MP to demand that they listen to former diplomats and sanction Israel now! bit.ly/sanction-israel
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
Israel is committing genocide and ethnic cleansing. Bombing schools, hospitals, churches, synagogues. Attacking health workers, civilians. Assassinating journalists. Occupying + seizing land. Blockading. Practicing apartheid.
Time for sanctions, boycotts, divestment & isolation.
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
The President of the United States is openly threatening to commit genocide against 90 million people.
Prime Minister Carney: if there was ever a moment to denounce this illegal war, withdraw your support, and call for accountability for war crimes—it’s now.
ALT Screenshot of a post from Donald Trump: A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don't want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen, WHO KNOWS? We will find out tonight, one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the World. 47 years of extortion, corruption, and death, will finally end. God Bless the Great People of Iran!
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
In response to President Trump's genocidal threat against Iranians that "an entire civilization will die tonight", @MarkJCarney said today that Canada expects all parties to abide by international law, which includes not targeting civilians or civilian infrastructure.
But the U.S. and Israel have already flagrantly violated these laws in their bombardment of Iran, including the destruction of an 80 year old synagogue in a residential neighbourhood of Tehran.
Words are not enough in the face of these atrocities. What action will our government take to stop the senseless killing of civilians?
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
Mazel tov to IJV members @avilewis and Niall Ricardo, for their elections to leadership positions in the NDP!
With Lewis as leader, Ricardo as president, and Leah Gazan among its most high profile MPs, the NDP is now Canada’s most Jewish-led party.
Despite this, the largest Jewish advocacy and pro-Israel lobby group in Canada, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), is kvetching, whining or complaining, rather than kvelling. In a statement released shortly after Lewis’ win was announced, CIJA had the audacity to suggest that Lewis’ victory has made the NDP a hostile place for Canadian Jews.
CIJA and pro-Israel lobby groups have long promoted a belief that politicians cannot take fighting antisemitism in Canada seriously while also supporting and advocating for Palestinian human rights. But this is a false dichotomy. Lewis and Ricardo show us clearly that there is a different way forward for Canadian political leaders, where we can have clear-eyed condemnation of Israel’s genocide and apartheid, while simultaneously standing for justice for all, including Jews.
Read our full statement: ijvcanada.org/ijv-members-el…
Corey Balsam 🍉 retweeted
Jewish advocacy is when you attempt to undermine the only Jewish party leader the second he becomes leader.
Btw, when Lewis wins a seat, the NDP caucus will be 1/3 Jewish.
In response to the election of Avi Lewis as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Rachel Chertkoff, Senior Vice President, Community Engagement, and Richard Marceau Senior Vice-President, Strategic Initiatives and General Counsel, Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, issued the following statement:
“Today, the New Democratic Party elected Avi Lewis as its leader. We are left with a deep sense of sadness.
“Rachel’s uncle ran for a provincial arm of the NDP in 1963. He believed, as so many Canadian Jews of his generation did, that the democratic left was a natural home for a community that had faced persecution. It is hard to imagine that he would recognize the party today.
"The two of us, along with other concerned Jewish and allied activists, have spent years at the table with NDP leaders, staff, and members. We engaged in good faith and made the case that protecting Jewish Canadians from hatred is not partisan, but foundational. The hope we had that these leaders could bring themselves back from the brink is now exhausted.
“This weekend’s convention was a stark reminder of how far the party has drifted from its roots as the voice of Canada’s working class and trade union movement. Canadian Jews helped build that movement. Today, many are made to feel they no longer belong in it.
At a time when antisemitism has reached a crisis, the NDP has become a hostile place for the vast majority of Jewish Canadians who want to fight for progressive values. 94 per centof Jewish Canadians support the existence of the State of Israel yet have been pushed out.
“Avi Lewis is himself Jewish, and we respect his family’s history in this party. But Jewish identity is not a shield against accountability. When a leader declares that Zionism is inseparable from ethnic cleansing, he is not engaging in legitimate policy critique. He is telling Jewish Canadians that a core part of their identity is illegitimate. That is exclusion.
“On the eve of this convention, rabbis from across our community issued a clear call. They warned that Jewish members feel increasingly alienated, that antizionism is being used as a cover for antisemitism, and that NDP spaces are becoming unsafe for Jewish and all Canadians with mainstream views.
“We have said before and repeat now that criticism of Israeli government policy is legitimate. But there is a line between criticism and the systematic delegitimization of Jewish identity. That line has been crossed repeatedly. Today, it was crossed again, without ambiguity.
“We will hold Avi Lewis, as we hold every public leader, accountable.
“But we will not pretend today is anything other than what it is. A painful rupture, decades in the making, with dangerous implications for our community and all Canadians.”
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