Conflict in the "Holy Land” between Jews and Palestinian Arabs escalated with the Balfour Declaration of 1917. That’s when Great Britain announced its commitment to the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people” in Palestine.  In the decades that followed, and having been the colonial power appointed the Palestine Mandate by the League of Nations, the British government facilitated the transfer of Jews from Europe and the establishment of their institutions in Palestine.

The founding in 1948 of the state of Israel resulted in the Palestinian Nakba — the destruction of Palestinian society and dispossession of its people.  Seventy-five years later, we can see the remains of several failed peace processes, partition plans and other attempts to divide the land of historic Palestine between its Palestinian Arab and Jewish inhabitants.  And conflict (occupation, oppression, suffering, “apartheid") continues.

Where do we go from here?

Our panel of distinguished experts will look at the landscape today from both historical and contemporary perspectives and explore what the future may hold.  Considering the non-solutions to date, what untried options could be considered today or in the future for bringing peaceful coexistence to the land?  And if the land couldn’t be divided, how else might it be shared?

Panelists:

Rami George Khouri Rami Khouri Co-Director of Global Engagement at the American University of Beirut (AUB), professor of journalism and Journalist-in-Residence at AUB, and a non-resident senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Derek Penslar is the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History at Harvard University and the Samuel Zacks Professor of Jewish History Emeritus at the University of Toronto.

Shibley Telhami is the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development and the Director of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, and a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Mira Sucharov is Professor and Associate Chair at the Department of Political Science at Carleton University, and the author or editor of five books, including, most recently, Borders and Belonging: A Memoir

After nearly three decades of leading Human Rights Watch, Ken Roth stepped down as its executive director last year and was soon offered a position as a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.  But as The Nation first reported this month, Roth's fellowship was revoked by the dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, Douglas Elmendorf.  According to news reports, which neither Dean Elmendorf nor the school’s spokesperson has denied, Dean Elmendorf vetoed the appointment because of Mr. Roth’s and Human Rights Watch’s criticism of human rights violations by the government of Israel.  

In 2020, the appointment of Valentina Azarova as a director at the University of Toronto’s Law School’s International Human Rights Program was also rescinded due to her “writings on Palestine.”  

Activists claim there’s a “Palestine exception to free speech” at North American universities, and donor-driven censorship is overriding academic freedom and integrity even at the most prestigious of institutions. 

Join us for a conversation with Ken Roth on these and other related topics, with panelists Denise Reaume, Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, Dania Majid, co-founder and president of the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association

How British colonialism, Zionist aggression, and Arab incompetence
created today's ravaged Middle East.

A conversation with Rami Khouri, Director of Global Engagement, American University of Beirut, and nonresident senior fellow, Harvard Kennedy School

Khouri Conversations and the Festival of Arabic Music & Arts are proud to present: Free Trip ro Egypt

Seeking to build a bridge of mutual understanding and friendship, a Canadian-Egyptian entrepreneur of the Muslim faith decides to reach out to the very people who fear him. Traveling across the U.S. to find Americans concerned about an Islamic threat, Tarek Mounib makes the strangers he encounters an intriguing offer … a Free Trip to Egypt, an eye-opening and profound journey captured in a new documentary, the platform for the launch of a global social impact campaign. The result is a film about the transformational power of human connection, and a remarkable experiment in kindness and empathy.

The film screening will be followed by a Q&A moderated by Khouri Conversations, hosting producer Tarek Mounib (Kindness Films). 

Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, Toronto

Political leadership in Palestine has been anemic for many years. The Palestinian Authority (under the PLO) has become so corrupt, ineffective, and incompetent that most Palestinians have lost faith in it. Some argue the Abraham Accords would not have taken place with such enthusiastic participation by several Arab countries under different Palestinian circumstances. Hamas, on the other hand, while seen by many Palestinians as the only remaining response to Israeli oppression, has no world credibility and is dismissed as a terrorist organization by most Western countries.

Where do the Palestinians go from here – along with their hopes for peace, dignity, and liberty? What prospects are there for changes in leadership that can provide a path forward to Palestinian empowerment? When will the Palestinians offer a compelling vision for universal rights -- dignity, freedom, and security -- for everyone living between the river and the sea?

About Khaled Elgindy

Khaled Elgindy is a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute where he also directs MEI’s Program on Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian Affairs. 

He is the author of the newly-released book, Blind Spot: America and the Palestinians, from Balfour to Trump, published by Brookings Institution Press in April 2019. Elgindy previously served as a fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution from 2010 through 2018. Prior to arriving at Brookings, he served as an adviser to the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on permanent status negotiations with Israel from 2004 to 2009, and was a key participant in the Annapolis negotiations of 2007-08. Elgindy is also an adjunct instructor in Arab Studies at Georgetown University.

Khaled’s writings have a appeared in wide range of publications, including The Christian Science Monitor, CNN.com, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The Los Angeles Times, The National Interest, The Washington Quarterly, and others. He is frequently quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Hill, Politico, and other print media, and is a regular commentator on TV and radio, including Aljazeera, BBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, PBS Newshour and others.

Thirty-three American state legislatures have passed laws punishing boycotts of Israel since 2015. The bills came in response to growing support for a Palestinian-led movement to oppose Israel's occupation through boycott, divestment, and sanctions, known as BDS. Boycott is a documentary that details the dangers of such legislation that was passed with virtually no public scrutiny (streaming at the Hot Docs Festival until May 7, 2022). Join us for a conversation with film director, Julia Bacha

About Julia Bacha

Julia Bacha is a Peabody award-winning filmmaker and the Creative Director at Just Vision. She started her filmmaking career in Cairo, where she wrote and edited  Control Room  (Sundance 2004), for which she was nominated to the Writer’s Guild of America Award. Subsequently, she directed Encounter

Point  (Tribeca 2006),  Budrus  (Berlinale 2009),  My Neighbourhood  (Tribeca 2012), and Naila and the Uprising (IDFA 2017). Julia’s films have been broadcast on PBS, HBO, CBC in Canada, among others.

In addition to over thirty film festival awards, Julia is the recipient of the 2011 Ridenhour Film Prize, the 2012 Doc Society Creative Impact Award, a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2017 Columbia University Medal of Excellence, and the 2019

Chicken & Egg Award. Originally from Brazil, Julia is a  Documentary Branch Member of AMPAS  and has given two TED talks, “Pay attention to nonviolence” and “How women wage conflict without violence.”

About Boycott

When a news publisher in Arkansas, an attorney in Arizona, and a speech therapist in Texas are told they must choose between their jobs and their political beliefs, they launch legal battles that expose an attack on freedom of speech across 33 states in America.

Boycott traces the impact of state legislation designed to penalize individuals and companies that choose to boycott Israel due to its human rights record. A legal thriller with “accidental plaintiffs” at the center of the story, Boycott is a bracing look at the far-reaching implications of anti-boycott legislation and an inspiring tale of everyday Americans standing up to protect our rights in an age of shifting politics and threats to freedom of speech.

In February this year, Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organization, issued a damning report titled “Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians: a cruel system of domination and a crime against humanity.”  This was preceded by two similar characterizations of Israel’s “crimes of apartheid” made last year by Human Rights Watch and Israel’s own leading human rights organization, B’Tselem.
How have America’s political class, civil society, Arab and Jewish American organizations reacted?  Find out at our conversation with Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP), and a leading authority on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the role of the U.S. Congress.

A Conversation with Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP).

Karen Hamilton is the former General Secretary of The Canadian Council of Churches, an award-winning author, a speaker of nine languages and has extensively traveled in the Middle East, Africa, and Al Andalusia.  She leads faith-study tours to Israel-Palestine, and will discuss the role interfaith peacemaking can play in the Israel-Palestine context.

Many organizations are engaged in peacemaking in Israel-Palestine, both on the ground and here in North America.  Are they moving the needle?  Or is their work mostly about “feeling good,” as some claim? Gregory Khalil describes the Telos model and the difference it is making, in conversation with Jeffrey Wilkinson and Raja Khouri.

With:

Gregory Khalil
President and Co-founder, Telos

Jeffrey Wilkinson

Researcher and social psychologist

Describing Israel as an apartheid state has always been a controversial proposition, one found to be offensive by many Jews.  In April 2021, Human Rights Watch, the world’s preeminent human rights organization, issued a report accusing Israeli authorities of the “crimes of apartheid and persecution.”  Find out why and how with HRW’s Sari Bashi, and the potential policy implications to Canada from former ambassador to Israel, Jon Allen.

Surveys show that most Canadian Jews have a strong emotional attachment to Israel – stronger for example, than that of American Jews.

This is true even of those progressive Jews who are critical of Israeli policies and actions toward the Palestinians. Why is this?

In her most recent book, "Borders and Belonging: A memoir," Professor Mira Sucharov reflects candidly on growing up as a progressive Jewish Canadian woman, scholar, and activist.

Raja Khouri and Peter Larson, of the Ottawa Forum on Israel/Palestine, will interview Mira about her book, and her evolving ideas about the Israel/Palestine dilemma.

A special collaboration between Canada Talks Israel Palestine and Khouri Conversations

The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) “working definition of antisemitism" has been adopted by the Canadian and Ontario governments. While attempting to create a universal understanding of what antisemitism is, many claim the definition is broad and vague, allowing its use to silence pro-Palestinian voices and suppress free speech. Our panel will encompass the many dimensions of this issue.

We have been witnessing a crisis in liberal democracy in the West and worldwide – with a recent history of democratic backsliding and a rise of illiberalism, populism, and authoritarianism.  What does this mean to us here in Canada, and for the future of the “two-state” paradigm in Israeli-Palestinian relations?

Join Raja Khouri in a conversation with Peter L. Biro, Founder of Section 1 and editor of the recently-released Constitutional Democracy Under Stress: A Time For Heroic Citizenship, and Karen Mock, a contributing author and president of JSpaceCanada.

A conversation with Peter Beinart, Editor-at-large, Jewish Currents, Professor, City University of New York, who penned an essay titled Yavne: A Jewish Case for Equality in Israel-Palestine.  It's been called the "Beinart earthquake."  Participate in this webinar to find out why!

A conversation on the relationship between New and Indigenous Canadians.

How should New Canadians understand their place in the history and legacy of the colonization of the Indigenous lands that became Canada? What role can they play in the process of reconciliation?

A cross-cultural panel will shed light and engage in a conversation with the audience. Environics Institute’s recent research between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth will be examined.

Bill 168, currently before the Ontario legislature, calls for the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of Antisemitism, inclusive of its list of illustrative examples. Jewish organizations of many stripes, including JSpaceCanada, have lobbied parliamentarians to pass the bill. Pro-Palestinian and civil liberties groups have called for the opposite. Why is the IHRA definition engendering such opposing reactions? And how can we, as Canadian communities, work together to heal divisions and counter all forms of discrimination?

Hear from Mohamad Fakih his first-hand account of the court case he won, the motivations that led him to launch it, and the sentiments that accompanied his two-year journey. A discussion on the rise of hate groups, recent attacks on places of worship worldwide, and the potential impact of Quebec's Bill 21 will ensue.

Featuring a stellar panel with:

Bernie Farber, Chair, Canadian Anti-hate Network

Dr. Barbara Perry, Professor, Ontario Tech University and Director of the Centre on Hate, Bias and Extremism

Eman Elhusseini, a Palestinian Muslim, and Jewish Jess Salomon are professional comediennes from Montreal who fell in love and got married. They now live and work in New York City (stand-up comedy capital of the world!) and will be delivering a rare performance in Toronto. Following their comedy routine, we will sit down with Eman and Jess and have a conversation about their unique mix of identities.

LGBTQ2+ rights in Canada have come a long way since the police bathhouse raids of 1981 in Toronto. Today, gay couples can get married and have children. Their rights are enshrined in legislation and human rights codes. Toronto’s annual Pride Month attracts hundreds of thousands to the city to celebrate, show pride and stand in solidarity.

One hurdle, a large one, remains in the path to full equal rights: religious belief. To many, their culture’s interpretation of religion defines being gay as a sin. And LGBTQ2+ individuals who are religious have often suffered in attempting to reconcile these two sides of their identity.

But religions can often be interpreted in many ways, and none is a monolith.

Panelists:
Rev. Brent Hawkes, Founder, Rainbow Faith & Freedom Movement
Michale Coren, Author and Columnist
Tasnim Jessa-Pardhan, Finance Executive.
Ahmed Ahmed, Human Rights Professional

A new animated feature documentary
Directed by Cam Christiansen
Written by and Starring David Hare
2018 | 82 min

"A fascinating study of the Israeli-Palestinian divide… compelling"
-The Hollywood Reporter

Preeminent UK playwright and screenwriter David Hare—whom The Washington Post referred to as “the premiere political dramatist writing in English”—writes and stars in this innovative animated feature that explores the reality of the wall separating Israel and Palestine as no film has before. Rich with rhythmic, raw imagery, the film is framed by Hare’s journey, as both his heart and mind are shaken by the incongruities and contradictions of life in the shadow of the wall.

Watch trailer: https://vimeo.com/233828588

Palestinian and Jewish communities, almost everywhere, remain deeply divided by competing narratives, opposing views, negatives stereotypes, profound prejudices, and complicated histories. Will this ever change? Historically, the two sides have lived within their own narratives, ones driven by an age-old, bitter conflict over land, identity and the pursuit of self-determination.

These self-imposed bubbles of ideological comfort zones have come with doctrines that left no room for, or the possibility of an alternative narrative.

Yet, there are those who have challenged orthodoxy. Meet Zena and Savyon, two 17-year-old Israeli girls, one Palestinian, the other Jewish. Hear their narratives, before and after they managed to make their way out of their bubbles, thanks to an innovative program called Heart-to-Heart that brought them to summer camp together in Canada.

Zena Abu Zarka is a 17-year-old Palestinian Arab girl who is in her final year of high-school in Kfar Qara, Israel. She is an alumnus of the 2015 Heart-to-Heart program.

Savyon Tzorf is a 17-year-old Jewish girl who lives near Binjamina and is about to finish 12th grade at a kibbutz school. She is an alumnus of the 2015 Heart-to-Heart program.

Mira Sucharov is Associate Professor of Political Science at Carleton University, and is a frequent op-ed writer on the topic of Israel-Palestine.

It has been called oppressive, ultra-religious, a barrier, even a threat to public safety. Niqab-wearing women in public get stared at, harassed and, at times, physically assaulted by total strangers. In the meantime, many Muslims vehemently oppose the niqab and claim it is not a religious requirement, rather a cultural, patriarchal vestige from times gone by. Some politicians found in it the mother of all wedge issues.

No one is indifferent about the niqab. Regardless, niqab-wearing women are in Canada – and they have rights. What does the future hold for them? Will they integrate? Will they be accepted?

Panelists:

Aima Warriach, student, graphic designer, writer
Faisal Bhabha, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
Pamela Divinsky, Executive Director, Mosaic Institute
Huda Bukhari, Executive Director, Arab Community Centre of Toronto
Alia Hogben, Executive Director, Canadian Council of Muslim Women

In response to the vilification of the Arab community by influential voices in the public realm, director Nisreen Baker brings us Things Arab Men Say, a short documentary that paints a very different picture of this multi-faceted group. Join Jay, Ghassan, and their friends as they gather at Jamal’s Eden Barber Shop for a haircut, a shave, and a lively discussion on politics, religion and identity.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion featuring:
- Filmmaker Nisreen Baker
- Arif Virani, MP for Parkdale – High Park & Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage (Multiculturalism)
- Kamal Al-Solaylee, award-winning author and professor of journalism at Ryerson University

TRAILER https://www.nfb.ca/film/things_arab_men_say/