A pro-Palestinian supporter waves a flag as pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel supporters hold opposing demonstrations at the McGill University campus, in Montreal, on May 2, 2024.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
Nokha Dakroub is a social worker, a long-time organizer in the Canadian Muslim community, and a former Peel District School Board trustee. Michael Morgenthau is a lawyer, a long-time organizer in the Canadian Jewish community, and former vice-chair of JSpaceCanada.
It was a snowy night in Montreal, ahead of the Liberals’ 2012 executive and policy convention, when we first met. The two of us really connected, both excited at the prospects for grassroots impact following a historic Liberal Party defeat.
Yet one topic was a point of tension.
We grew up in distant communities: a Jew from Toronto and a Muslim from Beirut. Our respective families each taught us to value our heritage and land-based traditions. However, we also were raised with very different ways of seeing the Middle East. Once, those differences felt insurmountable, and of course, the two of us have not always agreed. Today, though, our shared resolve for human rights is what truly matters.
We write this appeal aware of the fraught subject matter. We won’t get every word right or resonate with every lived experience, but we are speaking up because this moment demands courageous conversation. Our words stem from a shared disappointment in Justin Trudeau and his government, and our plea is this: that the next leader of the Liberal Party get serious about Palestinian human rights.
The violence in and around Israel and Palestine did not begin on Oct. 7, 2023. However, the atrocities of that day and the ones that followed have had a particularly devastating impact on Jewish and Arab communities in Canada. Every day, our friends and families share news of the latest horrors from back home. They also have to navigate a toxic polarization that’s increasingly characteristic of the Canadian social and political landscape.
When we joined the Liberal Party all those years ago, we were each looking for a political home that would celebrate our distinctive heritage and give voice to our shared belief in egalitarianism. At its best, we felt that the Liberal Party could lead our diverse society toward justice.
Yet the crisis that has persisted for more than a year is a moment that the Trudeau government has failed to meet. Its record in this time is marked by failed attempts to triangulate the issue: ambiguous arms trade policies, silence on anti-Palestinian racism, obstructing studies at the foreign affairs committee. They announced a co-existence grant but never followed up with funding. Few people in Gaza have managed to escape its horrors for safety in Canada.
Canadians, frustrated by inaction on Parliament Hill, have sought change elsewhere. There is an incredible energy in the peaceful protests, aid fundraising and movement-building that has been seen across the country. Yet, without a meaningful political process, a sense of despair pervades. When people feel silenced, some unfortunately turn to hostility and violence. We have seen what this looks like: cancelled Jewish artists, children harassed for wearing keffiyehs and vandalized offices of members of Parliament.
As the protests at Chrystia Freeland’s campaign launch demonstrate, the next Liberal leader will have no choice but to answer the Palestinian question. Will the next Liberal leader chart a different course?
Canadians want their government to stand up for Palestinians. A June poll from Angus Reid found that 53 per cent of Canadians considered Israel’s military campaign “too heavy handed.” This number jumps to 69 per cent amongst Liberal supporters. In August, more than 50 Liberal political staff wrote a letter pleading a change in government policy.
A new Liberal leader can reach these Canadians with concrete policy commitments. That includes official recognition of Palestine as a state alongside Israel, based on 1967 borders; ensuring that Canadian tax dollars are not flowing to illegal settlements in the West Bank; committing to a study of Canada’s impact on Israel and Palestine at the Foreign Affairs Committee; providing funding for the announced grant devoted to inter-community dialogue; committing to fully supporting the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court; formal recognition of anti-Palestinian racism (alongside antisemitism) in Canada’s anti-racism strategy; upholding Canadians’ right to protest as enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and supporting efforts to sustain the ceasefire and ensure the release of all hostages.
These policy proposals are a way to revive what we understand to be a core value of the Liberal Party: that government can be a force for good.
To be clear, none of these suggestions will bring justice for the victims of October 7 or of the war crimes that have taken place in Gaza. They are the first step in a process of Tawbah or Teshuva: reflection and reconciliation. They may also be steps towards a new Liberal Party that is grounded in the hopes of millions of Canadians for a better way of living together.