In shadow of Israel’s war on Gaza, Palestinian diaspora fights to be heard

As Palestinian Canadians fought to get their families out of Gaza, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau happened to be in the process of updating its anti-racism strategy.

The federal initiative sets out policy priorities to address systemic racism and discrimination in Canada, including in the public service. And in that, Palestinian community advocates saw an opportunity.

“We pushed the government: ‘You need to recognise [anti-Palestinian racism] ... We need to start by having this recognised in the anti-racism strategy,’” said Majid.

But when Ottawa unveiled its updated plan for 2024 through 2028, that call went unheeded.

The new strategy acknowledged that Canada has seen “unprecedented levels of hate towards Jewish, Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian communities” since October 2023, and that Palestinians — like “other racialized and religious minority communities” — face systemic racism.

Yet anti-Palestinian racism was not explicitly listed in the document, which defines four types of racial and religious discrimination: anti-Asian and anti-Black racism, as well as anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

“This Strategy is designed to support all at-risk communities including Palestinian Canadians,” a spokesperson for Kamal Khera, the Canadian minister who oversees the strategy, told Al Jazeera in an email when asked why anti-Palestinian racism was not formally included.

Waleed Saleem, the spokesman, said the government consulted with communities, including through a National Summit on Islamophobia and roundtable discussions “with Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Canadians”.

He added that $51m ($70m Canadian) “in direct funding to communities is available for all, including Palestinian communities”.

Salma Zahid, a Canadian MP from Trudeau’s Liberal Party who has been pushing for the inclusion of anti-Palestinian racism, told Al Jazeera she couldn’t say why the term didn’t end up in the new plan.

“What I can say is that I am pushing them to recognise this and have it included,” she said.

Zahid organised a series of roundtables over the past few months to hear from Palestinians across Canada about their experiences — and she said it is clear that anti-Palestinian racism “is systemic, it is deep, and it existed even before October 7”.

She now plans to submit a report to Khera, the minister, about what was discussed. “The purpose of this is to recognise anti-Palestinian racism, define it, and have a plan – put out recommendations – to combat it,” Zahid said.