Advocating for Palestine in Canada: Histories, Movements, Action

Edited by Emily Regan Wills, Jeremy Wildeman, Michael Bueckert, Nadia Abu-Zahra 

Fernwood Publishing, 2022

Review by Maysam Ghani

 

 

 

 

“When does the processing of fear result in solidarity instead of further harm?” This question ignites Advocating for Palestine in Canada: History, Movements, and Action, a powerful collection of essays released in 2022, now available to read online for free on Issuu. 

 

The book navigates the myriad obstacles confronting the Palestinian solidarity movement within the Canadian settler-colonial context, offering a rich overview of both historical and contemporary activism. Responses to fear are revealed through each contributor’s commitment to movement-building in the face of repression.

 

Contributor Nyla Matuk’s opening piece, “The Elephant in The Room,” reminds readers that her experience of anti-Palestinian racism in the diaspora is merely an “aftershock” of the colonial violence experienced by Palestinians on the ground. Contributor Sheryl Nestel echoes author Houria Bouteldja’s sobering question, “Is Zionism yet another name for your capitulation?” Nestel urges self-interrogation and critical examination of how Zionism strategically constructs a victimhood narrative to accord them impunity for war crimes and justify their “right to self defence.” In exposing how the weaponization and erasure of identity is used to advance a settler-colonial narrative, both authors contextualize personal struggles as reflections of political realities. 

 

Contributors Michael Keefer and Hassan Husseini expose the Canadian government’s opposition of BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) against Israel as a reflection of its own history of genocide. This perspective deepens support for Palestinian calls to cut ties with Israel amid state-sponsored repression. Keefer and Husseini, alongside contributor (and recent Herizons writer) Rana Nazzal Hamadeh, illuminate how the growing support for Palestinian resistance and strategic campaigns like BDS and Israeli Apartheid Week advance a collective consciousness.The success of our efforts is often revealed by the intensity of the state and institutional repression we face.

 

Feminist ethics call us to see our own political predicament—our captivity of mind, body, and spirit—as intertwined with the suffering of others who bear the brunt of imperial violence. In light of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, collective organizing has surged, building on decades of activism chronicled in this collection. Calls for a free Palestine expose the contradictions of the West, demanding a profound transformation and a reckoning of a world where the few prosper at the cost of widespread destruction.

 

 

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