On Oct 4, 2024 which was Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana), at an event sponsored by Islamic Relief Canada at the CMHR, Tarek Loubani, an emergency doctor, stated in regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, “Liberation will come from us only through our struggle, through armed resistance,” (my emphasis) and—"anti-colonial struggle is always at the barrel of a gun” (my emphasis). Loubani didn't call for a negotiated agreement, in line with Canadian values.
The Winnipeg Jewish Review asked the CMHR as follows on Nov 3, 2024:
1. Does the CMHR have any standards in regard to whom it rents its space?
2. Would the CMHR rent out its space to ISIS and grant ISIS a platform at the CMHR? Would the CMHR rent out space to a Kahanist group and allow it to call for the forcible transfer of Palestinians from the West Bank or Gaza? If the CMHR would not rent out its space to ISIS or Kahanists, why did it allow its space to be used to platform a call for violence against Israel/Jews?
3. Since some Palestinian groups, such as Hamas have called for "armed resistance"/violence against Jews everywhere, does the CMHR have a problem with the fact that on Oct 4,2024 its space was used to essentially say violence is the only answer against Israel/Jews?
4. Can you name another instance where the CMHR has platformed a call for violence against any other people, other than the Jewish people?
5. What steps, if any, will the CMHR take to ensure this situation will not arise again?
6. Given what has transpired as described above, will the CMHR rent out space to Islamic Relief Canada again? (Note a report in the National Post indicating this organization has alleged ties to terror https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/global-affairs-gaza-charities-terror-links).
7. How is giving a platform to Tarek Loubani's statements described above any different from the CMHR platforming Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad?
A museum spokesperson (unnamed) responded to the above questions as follows:
"As part of our mandate to foster dialogue and reflection on human rights, we provide space to community groups interested in holding events. We have a strong code of conduct to govern all events and activities at the museum, which requires they are respectful and safe. Otherwise, we are not involved in setting the program or agenda of community events.
Recent community events at the museum have focused on the rise of antisemitism in Canada as well as first-hand stories from Gaza. These are important conversations that we know people have very strong feelings and opinions about. As is consistent with our practice since opening in 2014, we offer a space for visitors to engage in meaningful dialogue about human rights issues."
The above answer was sent to the Winnipeg Jewish Review on Nov 6,2024 hours before Israelis and Jews were the targets of anti-Semitic violence in Amsterdam.
The CMHR did not answer specifically whether its space would be used to call for violence against Israel/Jews. This avoidance of the question is shocking. The CMHR, a federally funded museum, ought to be ashamed of itself for failing to forthrightly address the question. And note that the CMHR responded with a statement by “a museum spokesperson,” without giving the name of the spokesperson such that no one is accountable for the rather pathetic answer that was given. The CMHR apparently does wish to exercise oversight with respect to the use of its spaces and its profiting therefrom in relation to discriminatory speech–at least if the agitation is directed against Israel. The CMHR has become a hotbed for discriminatory rhetoric and hateful speech—a very far cry from the vision of its Jewish founders [and its many Jewish donors].
My report above and the report by Penny Jones Square below were sent to MP Anthony Housefather, the advisor to Prime Minister Trudeau on Jewish community issues, and he responded, "I consider this to be a serious issue and a disturbing account, but I have not heard of this before and do not have sufficient knowledge of what occurred to comment at this point."
About Rhonda Spivak: Rhonda Spivak has a B.A. with Distinction and an L.L.B from the University of Manitoba. She practiced in the areas of constituional law at the Manitoba Department of Justice before beginning the Winnipeg Jewsh Review. She received her call to the Israeli Bar in 1996 after articling at the Association for Civil Rights in Jerusalem. She has travelled and conducted interviews in Israel and areas under the Palestinian Authority, including Ramallah, Jerico and Bethlehem.
Below is the report of the event at which Loubani spoke.
Pro-Palestinian Event at CMHR promotes Violence against Israel/Jews
By Penny Jones Square
“Imagining Liberation: The Struggle for Peace in Gaza Continues,” held at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) on October 4, 2024, was sponsored by Islamic Relief Canada (IRC), which has alleged ties to terror (https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/global-affairs-gaza-charities-terror-links), and was part of its nationwide fundraising tour. The event, attended by about 200 pro-Palestinian sympathizers, featured three speakers—Dr. Tarek Loubani, an emergency doctor, Ahmed Kouta, a nurse, and Hazem Balousha, a journalist—each demonizing Israel.
The event opened with the recitation of a verse from the Koran in Arabic, calling for the “destruction of disbelievers.”
Dr. Tarek Loubani, an emergency doctor, focused on the Nakba, what Palestinians view as the “catastrophe” that befell the Palestinians during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. He failed to mention that Israel accepted the UN Partition Plan of 1947, and that had the Palestinian side also accepted it, there would have been no war and no displacement of Palestinians during that war. The abiding cause of the Palestinian Nakba is the fact that five Arab armies invaded the nascent State of Israel. Loubani also failed to mention the 850 000 Jews expelled from Arab lands, who were absorbed by Israel. He actually said, “We were pacifist when the war started.” A strange and inaccurate claim to make whether he meant the 1948 war, the recurring Gaza conflicts, or the present war. “Liberation will come from us . . . only through our struggle, through armed resistance” (my emphasis), the opposite of a pacifist promise. As well, he said that “anti-colonial struggle is always at the barrel of a gun” (my emphasis)—which conveys a message of violence based on yet another false charge that Israelis are colonialists. Historical, archaeological, and DNA evidence supports the fact that Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel. There was no mention of a negotiated two state solution, but rather Loubani promoted a vision of violence to replace all of the State of Israel with Palestine. Loubani himself was charged after a ketchup spraying incident at MP’s office (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-doctor-charged-after-ketchup-spraying-incident-at-mp-s-office-1.7030144 ).
Ahmed Kouta, who served as a nurse in Gaza, side-stepped October 7 to bemoan the “occupation,” notwithstanding there has not been a Jew in Gaza since 2005 when Israel forcibly removed its citizens from settlements in Gaza. It is Hamas who has controlled Gaza since 2007, using billions in aid from western democracies, including Canada, to build underground terror tunnels, rather than invest in above ground infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and the like, for the betterment of the people of Gaza, brutally crushing any dissent of its reign of terror. It was Hamas who instigated the latest war, invading Israel with some 6000 terrorists who would have continued to rampage through all of Israel killing everyone in sight had they not been repelled. Kouta made no mention of the over 13,000 missiles that have been fired on Israel from Gaza and the same number from Lebanon since the start of the Hamas-Israel war, or that there have been thousands of ongoing rocket attacks since 2008.
Hazem Balousha, a journalist, spoke of “the beauty of a thriving Gaza” “turned upside down.” He failed to mention how Hamas is responsible for bringing ruin and destruction on Gazans. He called for an immediate ceasefire, which only ensures Hamas remains in power, and he failed to call for the release of Israeli hostages.
The event was promoted as “offering a deep, unfiltered look into the realities of life in Gaza and the unwavering pursuit of liberation.” The bright line separating good from evil was never clearer than on October 7, yet the moral clarity that should have demanded a categorical condemnation of the horrific massacre perpetuated by Hamas terrorists on October 7,2023 was lost on the presenters of this event and its audience.
The promotion for the event also referred to the current war as “the world’s most documented genocide,” the very crime Hamas and its willing accomplices perpetrated on October 7. How can one explain Israel’s providing polio vaccines to the Palestinian people? And contrary to the false claims of deliberate starvation and intentional targeting of civilians, there is evidence proving more aid has been delivered to Gaza throughout the war than before it. As well, the IDF has consistently attempted to avoid civilian casualties, a herculean task in urban warfare, especially when Hamas fighters hide behind civilians, use protected places, such as hospitals, schools, and humanitarian safe zones, as rocket launching pads or for storing weapons, and build their military infrastructure under homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
It is darkly ironic that an event purporting to be about a “struggle for peace” was largely about inciting violence. It is also darkly ironic that the charges made against Israel are precisely what Hamas is guilty of.
About Rhonda Spivak: Rhonda Spivak has a B.A. with Distinction and an L.L.B from the University of Manitoba. She practiced in the areas of constituional law at the Manitoba Department of Justice before beginning the Winnipeg Jewsh Review. She received her call to the Israeli Bar in 1996 after articling at the Association for Civil Rights in Jerusalem. She has travelled and conducted interviews in Israel and areas under the Palestinian Authority, including Ramallah, Jerico and Bethlehem.
