The letter below was drawn up in response to pervasive repression of speech and scholarship on Palestinian liberation. Law students and lawyers are being threatened with academic sanctions and job loss for advocating against Israel’s atrocities in Palestine.
We are deeply concerned by the growing chorus of statements from lawyers, law firms and law schools that are conflating expressions of solidarity with Palestinians and criticism of the State of Israel as antisemitic and conduct unworthy of learning or practicing law. In particular:
We reject the notion that it is antisemitic, hateful, or illegitimate to contextualize the October 7th, 2023 attack. Similarly, we reject the notion that it is antisemitic, hateful, or illegitimate to express support for Palestinians in the face of ongoing Israeli apartheid and genocide.
This is legitimate Charter-protected political expression. This speech echoes the United Nation’s Secretary General (the October 7th attack “did not happen in a vacuum”), the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace (“The Israeli government has lost any semblance of humanity as they wage a genocide against the people living in Gaza”), and numerous UN General Assembly resolutions affirming the right of the Palestinians to resist their demise (UNGA Resolution 45/130 (1990); Resolution 37/43 (1982); Resolution 3314 (1974)).
Lawyers and law students are not the only people who have faced harassment, workplace retribution, or job loss for speaking out for Palestine. Ontario MPP Sarah Jama’s censure and the York University's attempt to decertify student unions are but two high-profile examples. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has noted that this clampdown has led to “escalating levels of Islamophobia, harassment, racial profiling, and surveillance akin to that seen post-9/11.” It is intensifying the anti-Palestinian racism in Canadian society, as described by the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association.
This chilling effect on freedom of expression and academic freedom has the hallmarks of a new McCarthyism. A failure of those of us in the legal profession to voice our opposition to this conduct will only accelerate the erosion of the very protections that make dissent – and therefore democracy – possible. It is vital that the space for scholarship, speech and activism in defence of basic human rights be preserved.
We, the undersigned lawyers, legal institutions, legal workers and academics commit not to discriminate against anyone for speaking out for justice and freedom for Palestinians.
We will mentor you. We will support you. We are proud to call you colleagues.
The following alphabetical list will be periodically updated.
Organizations
Arab Canadian Lawyers Association
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
No More Silence
Scholar Strike Canada
South Asian Legal Clinic of BC
Toronto Metropolitan Faculty Association Equity Committee
Individuals and Law Firms
We are deeply concerned by the growing chorus of statements from lawyers, law firms and law schools that are conflating expressions of solidarity with Palestinians and criticism of the State of Israel as antisemitic and conduct unworthy of learning or practicing law. In particular:
- Lawyers are openly advocating on social media to blacklist law students and lawyers who have voiced support for Palestine;
- Lawyers are contacting the employers of lawyers and encouraging they be fired for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. Law firms (many of which issued unprecedented, political statements in support of Israel) are rescinding interview offers to students who sign open letters condemning Israel. Law schools are threatening those students with expulsion; and
- Lawyers are bullying and defaming others who have voiced support for Palestine or attended demonstrations in support of Palestine, calling them terrorists, antisemites, and other pejoratives. A disproportionate number of these lawyers who are being bullied, in potential violation of the rules of professional conduct, are junior members of the bar, racialized, and/or Muslim.
We reject the notion that it is antisemitic, hateful, or illegitimate to contextualize the October 7th, 2023 attack. Similarly, we reject the notion that it is antisemitic, hateful, or illegitimate to express support for Palestinians in the face of ongoing Israeli apartheid and genocide.
This is legitimate Charter-protected political expression. This speech echoes the United Nation’s Secretary General (the October 7th attack “did not happen in a vacuum”), the Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace (“The Israeli government has lost any semblance of humanity as they wage a genocide against the people living in Gaza”), and numerous UN General Assembly resolutions affirming the right of the Palestinians to resist their demise (UNGA Resolution 45/130 (1990); Resolution 37/43 (1982); Resolution 3314 (1974)).
Lawyers and law students are not the only people who have faced harassment, workplace retribution, or job loss for speaking out for Palestine. Ontario MPP Sarah Jama’s censure and the York University's attempt to decertify student unions are but two high-profile examples. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association has noted that this clampdown has led to “escalating levels of Islamophobia, harassment, racial profiling, and surveillance akin to that seen post-9/11.” It is intensifying the anti-Palestinian racism in Canadian society, as described by the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association.
This chilling effect on freedom of expression and academic freedom has the hallmarks of a new McCarthyism. A failure of those of us in the legal profession to voice our opposition to this conduct will only accelerate the erosion of the very protections that make dissent – and therefore democracy – possible. It is vital that the space for scholarship, speech and activism in defence of basic human rights be preserved.
We, the undersigned lawyers, legal institutions, legal workers and academics commit not to discriminate against anyone for speaking out for justice and freedom for Palestinians.
We will mentor you. We will support you. We are proud to call you colleagues.
The following alphabetical list will be periodically updated.
Organizations
Arab Canadian Lawyers Association
British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
No More Silence
Scholar Strike Canada
South Asian Legal Clinic of BC
Toronto Metropolitan Faculty Association Equity Committee
Individuals and Law Firms
- Aashish Kohli
- Aaina Grover
- Abigail Bakan, Professor, OISE, University of Toronto
- Adam Lee, LLM candidate, Osgoode Hall Law School
- Adam Veenendaal
- Aditi Iyer
- Adrian Carranza
- Adrian Smith, York University
- Afifa Hashimi
- Ahmad Barzak
- Ahmed Labib
- Ahsan Mirza, McMillan LLP (views are my own)
- Aidan "Connie" Campbell, Lawyer
- Aishah Nofal
- Aislin M. Jackson
- Ajay Parasram
- Alan Sears, Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Aleks Ivovic
- Alex Hunsberger
- Alex Kermer
- Alex Medley, University of Ottawa
- Alex Neve, Adjunct Professor of International Human Rights Law, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa
- Alexa Powell
- Alexandra Hobson
- Alexandra T. Da Dalt
- Alexandra Youssef
- Alexandria Bonney
- Ali Naraghi
- Ali Hammoudi, Windsor Law
- Aliah El-houni
- Allison MacIntosh
- Amanda Venner
- Amani Rauff
- Amir Hage
- Amina Jamal
- Amjad Khadhair
- Amy Brubacher
- Amy Kishek
- Ana Mihajlovic
- Anchal Bhatia
- Andrea MacNevin
- Andrea Sobko
- Andrea Vitopoulos
- Andrew Mindszenthy
- Anna Cooper, Pivot Legal Society
- Anne-Marie Singh, TMU
- Anver Emon, Faculty of Law University of Toronto
- Arash Ghiassi
- Ariana Agouridis
- Armaan Kassam, Canadian Muslim Lawyers Association - BC Branch, Executive Committee Member
- Asad Kiyani, Associate Professor, University of Victoria Faculty of Law
- Asaf Rashid, Asaf Rashid Law
- Ashley Wilson
- Astrid Mrkich
- Athena Law
- Ava Armand
- Avineet Kaur Cheema
- Aylin Manduric
- Baneet Hans
- Benjamin Hognestad
- Bessma Kassim
- Beverly Bain, Scholar Strike Canada
- Brenna Bhandar, Associate Professor, Allard Law Faculty, UBC
- Brendan Jowett
- Breshna Durrani
- Brett Hughes
- Brittany Scott
- Bruce Ryder, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
- Caitlin Meggs
- Camelia Alikashani
- Carol Drumm
- Carol Liao, Allard Law, UBC
- Caroline Grady
- Carranza LLP
- Catherine Lafferty
- Catherine Sadler
- Cheryl Gaster, Human Rights Lawyer, Retired
- Chimwemwe Undi
- Chris Rudnicki
- Christa Croos
- Christina Shiwsankar
- Christina Vira
- Claire Mummé, University of Windsor
- Cody O’Neil
- Cynthia Khoo
- Dahlia Aeta
- Damey Lee
- Dania Majid, Arab Canadian Lawyers Association
- Daniel Tucker-Simmons, Avant Law
- Danielle Bisnar
- Danielle Sabelli
- Danielle Sandhu
- Danika So, West Toronto Community Legal Services
- Darcy Lindberg, University of Victoria
- David Arruda
- David Shellnutt
- David W. Cass
- David Wiseman, uOttawa
- Davina Bhandar Athabasca University
- Dayeon Min
- Debbie Rachlis, Debbie Rachlis Law
- Deborah Cowen, Professor, University of Toronto
- Deborah Guterman, Cavalluzzo LLP, LLB/BCL McGill University
- Devon Paul
- Diana Abuseedou
- Diann Chea
- Dimitri Lascaris
- Dustin Fox
- E. Ascencio
- E. Bala
- Elise Mercier
- Ella Bedard
- Ella Henry
- Ellen Campbell, University of Victoria
- Emma Conlon
- Emmaline English
- Emily Beggs
- Emily Denomme
- Emily Dixon Law
- Emily Lewsen
- Emily O’Keefe
- Emma Landy
- Emma Sitland, McGill University (Alumni)
- Enid Gibney
- Erica Cartwright
- Erika Anttila
- Erika Chan
- Erika Richards, Woodward and Company Lawyers LLP
- Erin Sobat
- Esther Song
- Eugenia Cappellaro Zavaleta
- Eva Jewell, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Evaleen Hellinga
- Evan Szczucinski
- F. Lam
- F. Zeenath Zeath
- Fahad Ahmad, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Faisal Bhabha, Associate Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
- Fasiha Khan
- Fathima Cader
- Fatima Anwar, WITNESS
- Fatima Husain
- Fedora Mathieu, Immigration and Refugee Lawyer
- Flora Yu
- Francesca Ghossein
- Fred Wu
- Ga Grant
- Gabrielle Aquino
- Gachi Issa
- Gaelle Groux
- Gail Super, University of Toronto
- Garrett Zehr
- Gary Kinsman
- Geetha Philipupillai
- Gökbörü Sarp Tanyildiz, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brock University
- Golta Vahid Shahidi
- Grace Shin
- Grayson Alabiso-Cahill
- Gwendolyn Muir
- Hamna Anwar
- Hana Awwad Eidda
- Hani Al-Dajane, Emerge Law
- Hania Jahangir
- Hannah Bing
- Harpreet Grewal
- Harsha Walia
- Heath Soave
- Heidi Matthews, Assistant Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School
- Henry Goddard Rebstein
- Henry Off
- Hina Ansari
- Hodan Ahmed, CAMWL
- Humera Jabir
- Hussain Bukhari, Barrister and Solicitor
- Ike Birk
- Iler Campbell LLP
- Imalka Nilmalgoda
- Imtenan Abd-El-Razik
- Ioana Dragalin-Reeves, Furgiuele Law
- Irina Ceric, University of Windsor
- Isabel Davila Pereira
- Isabelle Busby
- Iqra Azhar
- Iqra Rafique
- Jackie Esmonde
- Jack Jones
- Jaclyn Salter
- Jacqueline Louie
- Jacqueline Ohayon, University of Victoria
- James Yap
- Jamie Liew, University of Ottawa
- Jamie Shilton
- Jamie Magnusson, Scholar Strike Canada
- Janet Mosher, Osgoode Hall Law School
- Jason Birring
- Jasleen Kaur
- Jeff Carolin
- Jenna Meguid
- Jennifer Nedelsky, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
- Jeremy Greenberg (University of Toronto, J.D. 2019)
- Jerico Espinas
- Jessica Asch
- Jessica Chandrashekar
- Jessica Frappier
- Jessica Gadea Hawkins, Lincoln Alexander School of Law
- Jesse Gutman, lawyer
- Jia Wang
- Jillian Rogin, University of Windsor
- Jillian Toonders
- Joanna Berry
- Joanna Chan
- John No
- Jordyn Gooden
- Joshua Sealy-Harrington, Assistant Professor at Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University
- Joy Wahba
- Juan Carranza
- Judy Haiven, Retired Professor, Saint Mary's University Halifax NS
- Julia Fyfe
- Juliana Saxberg
- Julian Riddell
- Kally Ho
- Kareem Ibrahim Law
- Karen Segal
- Karenna Williams
- Karla Carranza
- Kas Pavanantharajah
- Kat Snukal
- Katie Douglas
- Katie Lay
- Katie Mysak
- Katrina Sriranpong
- Kelty McKerracher
- Kendall Yamagishi
- Kendra Strauss
- Kerry McGladdery Dent, Partner, Spero Law
- Khalid Janmohamed, Lincoln Alexander School of Law
- Khalil Jessa
- Kim Veller
- Kiran Kang
- Kiran Fatima, University of Calgary
- Krisna Saravanamuttu
- Krista Rodriguez Paralegal & RCIC
- Kristen Lloyd
- Kristen Thomasen
- Kristina Cooke
- Kulvinder Deol
- Kyle Thompson
- Kylie Sier
- Laith Sarhan
- Dr. Layal Shuman, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Leena Halees
- Leigh Salsberg
- Leila Gaind
- Leilani Farha
- Lily Hassall, Labour Lawyer (Vancouver, BC)
- Dr. Lila Pine, RTA School of Media, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Lindsay Bailey
- Lindsay Holder
- Lindsay Stidwill
- Lindsey Tulk
- Lisa Kelly, Queen’s University, Faculty of Law
- Lisa H
- Liz Adeseha
- Liza Hughes, BC Civil Liberties Association
- Lorraine Chuen
- Lyndsay Watson, Pivot Legal Society
- Macdonald Scott, Carranza LLP
- Maia Rotman
- Makda Yohannes
- Malian Levi
- Mara Selanders
- Mark Phillips, lawyer
- Marianne Salih
- Dr Marusya Bociurkiw, Professor, TMU
- Mathieu Bélanger
- Matthew Campbell-Williams, MCW Law
- Matthew Tran
- Mediators Beyond Borders International, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Meena Dhillon
- Meghan McDermott
- Megan Phyper
- Melanie Anderson
- Melanie Snow
- Melissa Crawford
- Meryam Miftah-Idrissi
- Michael Blazer
- Michaelin Scott
- Michelle Adormaa Owusu
- Mike Leitold, sole practitioner
- Ming Cheng
- Mohamad Jamal Bsat
- Monica Chohan, Chohan Law
- Mustafa Jilani
- Mustafa Koc, TMU
- N Gitanjali Lena, Lena Legal Services
- Nabila Khan
- Nada Moumtaz, University of Toronto
- Nana Yanful
- Natasha Bakht, Professor, Shirley Greenberg Chair for Women and the Legal Profession, University of Ottawa
- Navjot Jassar
- Nazanin Khodarahmi, Law Society of British Columbia
- Nicole Freeman
- Nick Kennedy
- Noah Escandor
- Nofil Nadeem
- Nora Fathalipour
- Nusra Khan
- Oliver Backman
- Orlagh O’Kelly
- Padraigin Murphy
- Paniz Khosroshahy
- Parmbir Gill
- Penni Stewart, Professor Emerita, York University
- Perrie Law
- Poeme Manigat
- Pooja Parmar, University of Victoria
- Pri S, Osgoode Hall Law School alum
- Priyanka Vittal
- Rabia Malik
- Rachel Zellars, Saint Mary's University
- Ramna Safeer
- Randa Farah, University of Western Ontario
- Randall K. Cohn
- Ranya El-Sharkawi
- Rashedul Amin, Rashed Amin Law
- Rathika Vasavithasan, Parkdale Community Legal Services
- Rebecca Glass
- Rebecca Meharchand
- Rebecca Ward
- Rebecca Watson, TMU
- Rebekah Smith
- Riaz Sayani
- Richa Sandill
- Rick Frank
- Robert Richardson, R Richardson Law
- Rosel Kim
- Rosemary Hu
- Roxana Parsa
- Ruth Wellen
- Ryan Deshpande
- Rye Dutton
- S. Praud, JFK Law LLP
- Sabrina Sukhdeo
- Sadaf Kashfi
- Saeed Teebi
- Safiyah H
- Sahar Rizvi
- Sakshi Chadha
- Salematou Camara
- Sam Misra
- Samuel Geisterfer
- Sandra Ka Hon Chu
- Sandy L.
- Sara Ageorlo
- Dr. Sara Ghebremusse, Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario
- Sarah L. Boyd
- Sarah Mikhaiel
- Sarah Pringle
- Sarah Riley Case
- Sedef Arat-Koc, Associate Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Seema Shafei
- Serena Cheong
- Sepideh Khazei
- Sevda Mansour
- Shabnam Sukhdev, York University
- Shafaq Ahmad
- Shahed Rifai
- Shailaja Nadarajah
- Shama Ansari
- Shane Martinez
- Sharifa N. Khan, Lawyer
- Sharry Aiken, Queen's University
- Shawn Abrahim
- Shawn Smith
- Sherif Foda
- Sherifa Hadi
- Shermaine Chua
- Sherry Ghaly
- Sheru Abdulhusein
- Sheryl Nestel, Affiliated Scholar, New College, U of Toronto
- Shiri Pasternak, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Sima Atri
- Simona Petti
- Sonali Sharma
- Sonya Sabet-Rasekh
- Sophie Chase
- Sophie Chen
- Sophie Chiasson
- Soumia Allalou
- Stephanie Tadeo, J.D., University of Ottawa
- Stephen Ellis
- Steve Daniels, Associate Professor, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Subuhi Siddiqui, Paths Law
- Suha Abu-Jazar
- Sukhpreet Sangha
- Sujith Xavier, Associate Professor, University of Windsor
- Summer Ibrahim
- Sumrana Taher
- Sunia Hassan
- Susan Dhaliwal
- Susan Toth, Spero Law
- Susanna Allevato Quail, Partner, Allevato Quail & Roy
- Swathi Sekhar, Sekhar Law Office, Director of Protection Initiatives, Rainbow Railroad, Adjunct Professor, Queens University Faculty of Law
- Talia J
- Talukder Law
- Tamara Ramusovic
- Tamir Israel
- Tanya Thakur
- Tara Williamson, Indigenous Law Research Unit
- Taraneh Ashrafi
- Tariq Amin Khan, Toronto Metropolitan University
- Taryn Hamilton
- Tasha Donnelly, Donnelly Criminal Law
- Tasha Manoranjan
- Tess Sheldon, Assistant Professor, Windsor Law
- Theresa Donkor
- Thy Phu, University of Toronto
- Tina Gougoushvili
- Tina Yang
- Ummni Khan, Carleton University
- Val Lem
- Valantina Amalraj
- Varda Anwar
- Vasanthi Venkatesh, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
- Veromi Arsiradam
- Veronica Martisius, BC Civil Liberties Association
- Vic Natola
- Victoria Peter
- Vincent Wong, University of Windsor
- Vinh Nguyen, University of Waterloo
- Vinidhra Vaitheeswaran
- Vyas Saran
- Yavar Hameed
- Yomna Khatib
- Yumna Siddiqi
- Zachary Al-Khatib, Liberty Law LLP
- Zahir Kolia, Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology
- Zainab Asadullah
- Zeeshan Baig, PropertyLegal.ca
- Zosia Hortsing
